Book Review: Wild Beauty by Anna-Marie McLemore

Book Title & Author: Wild Beauty by Anna-Marie McLemore
Published by: Feiwel & Friends on October 3rd, 2017
Genre: Magical Realism
Pages: 340
Format: ARC
Source: Gifted
Goodreads
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Synopsis:Love grows such strange things.
For nearly a century, the Nomeolvides women have tended the grounds of La Pradera, the lush estate gardens that enchant guests from around the world. They’ve also hidden a tragic legacy: if they fall in love too deeply, their lovers vanish. But then, after generations of vanishings, a strange boy appears in the gardens.
The boy is a mystery to Estrella, the Nomeolvides girl who finds him, and to her family, but he’s even more a mystery to himself; he knows nothing more about who he is or where he came from than his first name. As Estrella tries to help Fel piece together his unknown past, La Pradera leads them to secrets as dangerous as they are magical in this stunning exploration of love, loss, and family.

Review:
Is "holy wow" a phrase I can use without sounding weird, because that's the only way to describe how I feel after reading this book. Full disclosure: It took me a really long time to get through this book, but I'm going to attribute that to my health being in the crapper. When I finally picked it back up in June, I found myself captivated by the writing and the story that the writing told.

In magical realism, it generally takes me a lot longer to get into the book, but 9 times out of 10, it's totally worth it and I end up really enjoying or even loving the book. Thankfully, this was one of those 9 out of 10 times and it also made me realize I need to read ALL of McLemore's books ASAP.

Normally, writing like what was in the book bugs me because it just seems too flowery and I hate flowery writing. In this case, it worked and somehow made the book and its contents more magical. From learning about the secrets of LaPradera to witnessing two separate romances, both of which I enjoyed (which is rare) to learning the mysteries of Fel and how he fit into everything.

One of the biggest hooks for me in books, is the inclusion of family and this book had that. From the five cousins to their mothers and grandmothers etc. And this family was very close knit, which is another huge plus for me. They had all experienced loss of some sort. Whether it was loss of a lover or loss of family.

I loved the bisexual representation in this one. It was so well done and there was so much of it. More than I usually see in even a contemporary and definitely more than I see in magical realism. Ugh, it was beautiful.

Learning about the history of the Nomeolvides women was totally fascinating and I found myself hooked on that, far more than I expected to be.

Final thoughts: If it hadn't taken me so long to get through this book, I'd be giving it a full 5 stars. I definitely need to read the rest of McLemore's books and so should everyone else.

Book Review: A Line in the Dark by Malinda Lo

Book Title & Author: A Line in the Dark by Malinda Lo
Published by: Dutton Books for Young Readers on October 17th, 2017
Genre: Contemporary
Pages: 288
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased
Goodreads
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Synopsis: The line between best friend and something more is a line always crossed in the dark.
Jess Wong is Angie Redmond’s best friend. And that’s the most important thing, even if Angie can’t see how Jess truly feels. Being the girl no one quite notices is OK with Jess anyway. While nobody notices her, she’s free to watch everyone else. But when Angie begins to fall for Margot Adams, a girl from the nearby boarding school, Jess can see it coming a mile away. Suddenly her powers of observation are more curse than gift.

As Angie drags Jess further into Margot’s circle, Jess discovers more than her friend’s growing crush. Secrets and cruelty lie just beneath the carefree surface of this world of wealth and privilege, and when they come out, Jess knows Angie won’t be able to handle the consequences.

When the inevitable darkness finally descends, Angie will need her best friend.

“It doesn’t even matter that she probably doesn’t understand how much she means to me. It’s purer this way. She can take whatever she wants from me, whenever she wants it, because I’m her best friend.”

A Line in the Dark is a story of love, loyalty, and murder.

Review: 
My obsession with this book started when I first saw the cover. The cover is so eye-catching and that usually makes me even more excited for a book. I put this book on the list of books I wanted to buy and FINALLY bought it about a month or so ago.

First thing: Don't skip the prologue. I normally don't skip the prologue, but this time, I didn't see it. I skipped right over it and onto chapter one. I fully believe that reading the prologue right away would have made me enjoy the book more.

I wanted so desperately to love this book as psychological thrillers are my jam in a big way. Unfortunately, this book was only okay for me. It really didn't have that "thriller" feel to it. It wasn't fast paced like I feel psychological thrillers that are under 300 pages should be. 

Jess in particular really got on my nerves. I have a thing about needy/clingy people and to me, Jess was extremely needy/clingy, especially with Angie. Jess actually bordered on stalkerish, now that I think more about it. I actually preferred Angie's romance with Margot over Angie's friendship with Jess. I wanted more of Angie & Margot's relationship in the book.

I do have to say that I LOVED all the queerness in this book. Massive props to Lo for the awesome lesbian representation in this book. 

There were two parts to this book. A "before" and an "after" The first half is told in Jess's first person POV and the 2nd part was told in 3rd person POV along with police transcripts & interviews with the girls. I thought for sure the switch would throw me off and it did for a little bit, but I quickly adjusted to it.

Final thoughts: This book was okay, there were parts I liked and parts I wasn't a fan of. Give it a shot if it still sounds like something you'd enjoy. It just wasn't thrillery enough for me.