LAKELORE
Author: Anna-Marie McLemore
Source: Audio from Libro.fm
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Publication Date: March 8, 2022
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In this young adult novel by award-winning author Anna-Marie McLemore, two non-binary teens are pulled into a magical world under a lake - but can they keep their worlds above water intact?
Everyone who lives near the lake knows the stories about the world underneath it, an ethereal landscape rumored to be half-air, half-water. But Bastián Silvano and Lore Garcia are the only ones who’ve been there. Bastián grew up both above the lake and in the otherworldly space beneath it. Lore’s only seen the world under the lake once, but that one encounter changed their life and their fate.
Then the lines between air and water begin to blur. The world under the lake drifts above the surface. If Bastián and Lore don’t want it bringing their secrets to the surface with it, they have to stop it, and to do that, they have to work together. There’s just one problem: Bastián and Lore haven’t spoken in seven years, and working together means trusting each other with the very things they’re trying to hide.
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Content Warning: ableism, transphobia
LAKELORE follows two non-binary, trans, neurodivergent, Mexican teens as they discovers a magical world under a lake. Everyone who lives near the lake knows the stories about the world underneath it, an ethereal landscape rumored to be half-air, half-water. Then again, they also believe it all to be just a myth. But Bastián Silvano and Lore Garcia has seen that world, they are the only ones who have been there. If Bastián and Lore don’t want it bringing their secrets to the surface with it, they have to stop it, and to do that, they have to work together. Now, can they trust each other with the very things they are trying to hide?
Anna-Marie McLemore's books are immersive and emotional in a way that they will fill you up with all those feelings that you never knew you could feel. They are vulnerable and astonishingly beautiful works of art. LAKELORE is no exception to the pattern. It's so achingly exquisite and written with such tenderness that I just want to passage through these pages and take residence under the waters of the said Lake.
But I know magical realism isn't for everyone and some of the metaphors and prose may not hit the same for everyone. I also know that McLemore does a fantastic job bringing the magical to the realism in a way that makes sense, but might not be enough for someone who wants it to be more fantasy.
Through alternating first-person points of view, this book explores gender transitioning and genderfluidity with brilliant precision. Anna tells us a story of two teenagers whose lives should have been simple but the journey they overtake was anything but easy. Just because somethings seems easy to your eyes doesn't mean it'll be the same for everyone. The author does their best to create aware about so many important matters.
LAKELORE is a thought provoking, tears-jerking, soul-crushing, poignant and emotionally impactful book. It will break your heart in thousand pieces and then stitch them together again. Yet scars would remain and with those scars this book will stay with you in years to come. But thinking about this book wouldn't only remind you of those scars but also fill your heart with an astounding sense of hope and love.
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