A review by palomapepper
The Weight of Feathers by Anna-Marie McLemore
3.0
I wanted to like this so much more than I did.
Pros:
- Hilarious to read if your name is Paloma.
- Well-done magical realism intertwined with powerful superstitions. French/Romani and Mexican heritages help to give this Romeo and Juliet story a unique twist.
- Gorgeous, mellifluous writing style. McLemore’s writing style feels like a mosaic, piecing together fleeting images, scents, and sounds into a cohesive (and beautiful) whole.
Cons:
- Plot moves at a snail’s pace. (This could be OK if you’re content to sit and revel in the gorgeous language. In the right kind of mood, the slow pacing could feel perfect.)
- Italicization of every non-English word is REALLY irritating, especially for the repeated names of relatives. I’m pretty sure that by the 90th mention of “Abuela”, even the most monolingual reader is smart enough to figure out the word’s meaning via context clues!
- While Cluck was a fairly well-fleshed out individual, I had trouble connecting to Lace. When I try to envision her personality, I come up blank; she seemed to be the sum of things that happened to her, rather than having a defined personality of her own.
- The last 10% of the book dumps a lot of exposition on the reader. It’s good stuff, but I wished it had been spread out more evenly or hinted at more strongly throughout the book.
Pros:
- Hilarious to read if your name is Paloma.
- Well-done magical realism intertwined with powerful superstitions. French/Romani and Mexican heritages help to give this Romeo and Juliet story a unique twist.
- Gorgeous, mellifluous writing style. McLemore’s writing style feels like a mosaic, piecing together fleeting images, scents, and sounds into a cohesive (and beautiful) whole.
Cons:
- Plot moves at a snail’s pace. (This could be OK if you’re content to sit and revel in the gorgeous language. In the right kind of mood, the slow pacing could feel perfect.)
- Italicization of every non-English word is REALLY irritating, especially for the repeated names of relatives. I’m pretty sure that by the 90th mention of “Abuela”, even the most monolingual reader is smart enough to figure out the word’s meaning via context clues!
- While Cluck was a fairly well-fleshed out individual, I had trouble connecting to Lace. When I try to envision her personality, I come up blank; she seemed to be the sum of things that happened to her, rather than having a defined personality of her own.
- The last 10% of the book dumps a lot of exposition on the reader. It’s good stuff, but I wished it had been spread out more evenly or hinted at more strongly throughout the book.