Wild Beauty by Anna-Marie McLemore was a little different than the stuff I usually read. Sure, it had romance and magic, but it felt more series and rooted (which will be really ironic in a second) than most books I usually read.

In Wild Beauty, the Nomeolvides women all live in a place called La Pradera. From the outside, it looks like absolute paradise. It’s the only place these women, who can create flowers and plants from their bare hands, can live safely. But these women are trapped here. If they try to leave, the land punishes them. And if they fall in love, their lover suddenly disappears.

Estrella and her cousins, Gloria, Dalia, Azalea, and Calla, are the newest generation of Nomeolvides women, and they’re all in love with the same girl. Fearing that they’ll lose her, they pray to La Pradera to protect her. The next day, Estrella finds a boy with no memory of who he is or where he comes from.

Though I may have gotten lost a couple times, this story was nothing short of beautiful. It really transports you into this garden space of lush flowers and trees. The lyrical prose of this book is just stunning.

I also loved Estrella and Fel. They are so bloody adorable together.

The representation in this novel is very good. The majority of the characters are bisexual (this includes the mothers and the grandmothers), and they address is quite often. It’s also eventually revealed that Fel’s brother was gay, so he doesn’t have any resentment toward the cousins (thank god).

But other than talking about bisexuality, this story also touched on immigrants and workers rights. All the women (and Fel) are latina. Though the youngest generation doesn’t, all the other characters speak Spanish, and the culture and language are beautifully woven into the story. However, the family who owns the land is white. And The Nomeolvides women are often treated as property and parlour tricks rather than people.

Even though this book took its time, I think it was well-paced. Everything was beautiful and reading this book really transported me into this world of beautiful flowers and heartbreak.