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A review by citrus_seasalt
Lakelore by Anna-Marie McLemore
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
4 stars! I liked the prose and both our characters, and the narrative’s focus on bullying and being gaslit as a victim really hit me hard as a neurodivergent person(although me and Lore’s experiences differ in a multitude of ways). I also got very invested in the romance, and thought it played out beautifully for the most part! T4T relationships, yay. With that said, this book is far from being perfect. The magical realism plot gets lost in order to center Lore and Bastián’s personal issues, and as a result, the story’s focus gets muddied. I also thought Bastián’s chapters tended to get a little repetitive over the course of the book, focusing on anecdotes about struggling with their ADHD, while Lore had a more consistent arc about moving on from their past and learning to believe/side with themself. In my experience, the difference in emotional impact and subject matter when switching POVs was significantly more noticeable in the audiobook(which was on my second read).
Anna-Marie McLemore’s books have a few tropes in them, which I’ve noticed across reading six of them, and unfortunately Lakelore is not immune to that. Specifically, the “breakup for a chapter or two because circumstances dictate we can’t be together if we want to keep our physical and/or emotional well-being intact. However, I as a/the protagonist will lie, and say the breakup is because I’ve lost or never truly had romantic feelings in order to be left alone, which my love interest will begrudgingly accept” trope. (How is it so consistent across their books?! I don’t know, but it’s been in, like..three. HALF of the books by them I’ve read, as of the time I’m writing this review.) Granted, this conflict gets resolved pretty quickly, but I still hate communication and that it had to happen with Lore and Bastián. I get that Lore didn’t want their own stuff resurfacing, in both the literal and metaphorical sense, but telling Bastián they don’t love them feels unnecessarily cruel…Ugh.
I still have this in my “four-star favorites”, though, because Lakelore is a deeply meaningful book to me. And I think it’s important, too! I like it’s representation, and the the themes it addresses. Because I could tell that in discussing Bastián’s self doubt, and Lore’s trauma, it was written from a standpoint that could only be from personal experience. In my perception as a reader, Anna-Marie McLemore writes their heart out onto the pages of most of the books they’ve published. It’s not something that is different with Lakelore. That’s something that keeps me returning to their work even with my criticisms, and a large part in my adoration of this book. Plus, this was the first one of their books I’d read. It made me fall in love with their writing.
Maybe another part of my positive bias comes from my audio reread, too. I liked the narration, and knew of both of the narrators (Avi Roque and Vico Ortiz)(Bastiàn and Lore’s chapters, respectively) from TV roles I’d come to love and find comfort in as a nonbinary person looking for solid representation. (On my Goodreads account, I even have a Lumity profile picture I drew myself!) To come back to Lakelore and realize they had some part in it when I’d already loved this book and read it a month or two prior was really cool to me! Obviously compared to some other points, it’s minor, but still neat imo.
So in conclusion, I really love this book and regard it as one of my favorites, but I understand the criticisms and why some people don’t.
Anna-Marie McLemore’s books have a few tropes in them, which I’ve noticed across reading six of them, and unfortunately Lakelore is not immune to that. Specifically,
I still have this in my “four-star favorites”, though, because Lakelore is a deeply meaningful book to me. And I think it’s important, too! I like it’s representation, and the the themes it addresses. Because I could tell that in discussing Bastián’s self doubt, and Lore’s trauma, it was written from a standpoint that could only be from personal experience. In my perception as a reader, Anna-Marie McLemore writes their heart out onto the pages of most of the books they’ve published. It’s not something that is different with Lakelore. That’s something that keeps me returning to their work even with my criticisms, and a large part in my adoration of this book. Plus, this was the first one of their books I’d read. It made me fall in love with their writing.
Maybe another part of my positive bias comes from my audio reread, too. I liked the narration, and knew of both of the narrators (Avi Roque and Vico Ortiz)(Bastiàn and Lore’s chapters, respectively) from TV roles I’d come to love and find comfort in as a nonbinary person looking for solid representation. (On my Goodreads account, I even have a Lumity profile picture I drew myself!) To come back to Lakelore and realize they had some part in it when I’d already loved this book and read it a month or two prior was really cool to me! Obviously compared to some other points, it’s minor, but still neat imo.
So in conclusion, I really love this book and regard it as one of my favorites, but I understand the criticisms and why some people don’t.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism and Bullying
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Medical content and Sexual harassment