Anna-Marie McLemore

The del Cisne girls have never just been sisters; they re also rivals. They know that one day, they ll find themselves drawn into a dangerous game to determine which sister will stay a girl and which will be cursed to live as a swan.

Blanca & Roja

Jamieson

“I was a girl who would never exist in a fairy tale, not just because of the brown of my body but because of my heart, neither pure enough to be good nor cruel enough to be evil. I was a girl lost in the deep, narrow space between the two forms girls were allowed to take.”



Beyond shocked to learn the cover is not in fact a rose and is actually two swans entwined

Like all Anna-Marie McLemore books, this was so beautifully written and I thought this one had an ethereal quality about it I really liked. Swan Lake is one of my favourite stories ever and I think the author did such a lovely job retelling it. I don't always vibe with retellings but I loved what Anna-Marie McLemore did with this one. Specifically, the exploration of womanhood and the expectations placed upon marginalised women to exhibit certain traits and act a certain way to fit within certain spaces.

mélia m-d

The story was beautiful and unique and i loved the queer representation throughout.

courtney garrison

Friends, I didn’t know what I would think of this one, but god it was so amazing. Such beautiful writing and so magical, I never wanted it to end. Anna Marie’s book Wild Beauty is one of my favorites and I can now add this one right in alongside it because this one is just as good if not better.

This is a magical realism and a Snow White rose red retelling. It is also LGBTQIAP as a character is genderqueer and the love story between this character and another is so beautiful.

Your main characters Blanca and Roja are sisters. They grow up in the del Cisne family. But they have a curse on their family. Generations ago a woman in there family begged the swans for a daughter. They granted her two but said they would always take one back.

Generations of sisters have been taken one stays and the other turns into a swan. Now it is Blanca and Rojas turn to go before the swans to see who stays and who goes, but the girls have decided they won’t go that easy. They have grown up promising each other they would always fight the swans, that they would never allow themselves to be taken.

Your other two Characters which don’t really feel like side characters to me at all are Barclay and Page. They are both running from their families when the lacing woods take them and set them free.

All of their stories intertwine and create such a chaotic but heart wrenching situation for all of them. They are all fighting together and against themselves at the same time.

Both Sisters are trying to protect one another from the swans. Barclay has found a dark family secret that he feels terrible about and wants to set the truth free. Page loves her parents, he runs because they don’t understand that he is more than a tomboy and it is okay being called both him and her. The love between all these characters is so powerful and heartbreaking. I felt so bad for them and what each of them were going through.

Roja is honestly the main main character for me because she is such an intense part of the story. I also fell in love with her vicious no fucks given attitude. She was so brutally honest at times but was also vulnerable and relatable. She was so incredibly loyal but also so insecure. She honestly didn’t feel like the villain she thought herself out to be. She didn’t think she deserved to be saved because she was the girl with the bloodstained hair and brown skin, while her sister was the yellow-haired girl with golden skin. It was heartbreaking to watch her beat herself up thinking that she was essentially worthless.

Blanca is such a stubborn protective loyal sister. All she has done is look out for Roja and try to protect both of them, but she realizes, in the end, one of them will go and the other will stay. She fights and lies to her sister to protect. She tries so hard because she is the older one and believes she is responsible for her sister. She was such a tough character, but so loving and loyal to her sister.

Barclay was running from his own family secrets. He had let himself go to the forest so he didn’t have to worry or face those troubles anymore. When he meets a red-haired girl who takes him in he finds that he can no longer run from what his family has done or what he has become.

Page went to the forest worried about Barclay and because his family didn’t understand him. He didn’t want to be the girl wearing dresses and cooking and being a girl. He wanted to wear jeans and collar shirts. He was okay with being called him and her, he just wanted to be accepted even if they didn’t understand.

Now nobody writes magical realism the way Anna Marie does. The beautiful writing and magic just have this way of sucking you in. If you have read wild beauty you understand some of what I mean. The way the story flowed perfectly with four different points of view going was so perfectly done.

Two things impressed me most about this was one how Anna Marie flipped between everyday things and the magic in the woods was so perfectly wound together and two how she depicted periods. I’ve never seen a fantasy book include it much less make it a part of the storyline, it was impressive.

Overall this book was amazing and magical. I never wanted it to end. Anna Marie never disappoints and I hope you all get the chance to read this amazing and beautiful book.

I don't know how to rate this! 
I feel like 4 stars is too low for this beauty and it's really not 5 stars.
Anna-Marie McLemore's writing is really beautiful. 
It just needed a little bit more for me to give it five stars.
The cast is really diverse. The story is beautiful. I think I need to reread it physicaly to fully enjoy the story.

Blanca & Roja

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