When the Moon Was Ours

This is magical book that is written in a dreamlike, lush prose throughout. The focus is so much on the way of describing things than what actually happens that I’m not sure it will be to everyone’s taste, but I found it a wonderful, if very unusual, reading experience.McLemore’s husband is trans, and that personal experience really shines through in the writing. A review described it as ‘a love letter to her husband’, and that definitely feels accurate. It’s loving and tenderly written, without shying away from important parts of the trans experience like sex and coming out.Miel is latina and Sam is Pakistani, and the cultures are a solid foundation of the plot in multiple ways. I can’t speak to the accuracy of the representation, but McLemore is latina, so this is #ownvoices.I really enjoyed this book - at first I tried to work out the metaphors behind certain magical realism choices, but eventually I just settled into enjoying the story for it’s own sake, and really loved it. I think this a story that will reward rereading.

I got the hardcover version of this story simply because of the cover & it did not disappoint! It was carefully wrapped when it was delivered & arrived safely, with a fun bookmark. Both the jacket and the hardcover are stunning & I feel like showing it off every time I take it out

It's a really beautiful book, the cover is a bit strange tho, when arrived it had some strange dots of blue on the yellow moon. The writing is beautiful, it is poetic and fantasy even if it isn't fantasy. It's like reading a fairy tale.

The book was in a fine condition, I got a signed version... but the story was not so attractive and plus too many unsolved things, was not easy to follow... I can recommend the company but not the book

This is the second book that I have read recently which highlights the bacha posh tradition, and I can't decide how I feel about it. The instances were very different, as in the previous novel, the girl who was dressing as a boy was still a girl even while she struggled and chafed against the bonds that held girls down after living with the freedom given to boys, while in this novel the bacha posh tradition is used to offer an excuse for why Sam is living as a boy until he is able to face his own truth - that he is a transgender male. Even with the background of this tradition, I still found myself getting angry with Sam's mother. Yes, she was accepting; but she was also afraid and used her acceptance as a shield to not have to talk to Sam about what he was feeling. "He'll figure it out at some point" is such a copout when you are using a tradition that has the expectation of the girl going back to living and dressing as a girl in order to marry when you know your child is not a girl.That being said, I have to applaud McLemore for her character development, because it was so easy to connect with the characters and what they were going through, empathizing with their struggles as they try to figure out who they are, how they got there, who they lost along the way, how to be a friend. Just when I thought I had figured out what was going on and was ready for the resolutions to begin, another twist would rise up and another secret revealed. It was painful to see all of these characters who are hurting around each other and who could heal if they would be honest with their friends to get the support they need, yet refusing to reveal their struggles, their weaknesses, because they are afraid of how they would be seen and how others would react.This book was so much heavier than I was expecting from the cover, and even the blurb, and I loved it all the more for it. The magical realism with the myths and legends, as well as the family dynamics and history that were woven throughout provided such a rich tableau from which to illustrate the story that I felt like I was being drawn into the world.That feeling was only amplified by listening to the audiobook, which was dual-narrated by Raviv Ullman and Bailey Carr for the different points of view of Sam and Miel, respectively. Both narrators gave such masterful performances that I was feeling the fear that Miel was experiencing and the uncertainty that Sam was struggling with. Listening to this book created an experience that I do not think I would have had if I had simply read the book. Listening to it also cemented this book a position on my list of books that I will revisit and reread (relisten, in this case) in the future. If you have the opportunity to listen to the audiobook for this novel, take it. It is absolutely worth it.