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The Mirror Season
"An unforgettable story of trauma and healing, told in achingly beautiful prose with great tenderness and care." —#1 New York Times-bestselling author Karen M. McManus
When two teens discover that they were both sexually assaulted at the same party, they develop a cautious friendship through her family’s possibly-magical pastelería, his secret forest of otherworldly trees, and the swallows returning to their hometown, in Anna-Marie McLemore's The Mirror Season...
Graciela Cristales’ whole world changes after she and a boy she barely knows are assaulted at the same party. She loses her gift for making enchanted pan dulce. Neighborhood trees vanish overnight, while mirrored glass appears, bringing reckless magic with it. And Ciela is haunted by what happened to her, and what happened to the boy whose name she never learned.
But when the boy, Lock, shows up at Ciela’s school, he has no memory of that night, and no clue that a single piece of mirrored glass is taking his life apart. Ciela decides to help him, which means hiding the truth about that night. Because Ciela knows who assaulted her, and him. And she knows that her survival, and his, depend on no one finding out what really happened.
When two teens discover that they were both sexually assaulted at the same party, they develop a cautious friendship through her family’s possibly-magical pastelería, his secret forest of otherworldly trees, and the swallows returning to their hometown, in Anna-Marie McLemore's The Mirror Season...
Graciela Cristales’ whole world changes after she and a boy she barely knows are assaulted at the same party. She loses her gift for making enchanted pan dulce. Neighborhood trees vanish overnight, while mirrored glass appears, bringing reckless magic with it. And Ciela is haunted by what happened to her, and what happened to the boy whose name she never learned.
But when the boy, Lock, shows up at Ciela’s school, he has no memory of that night, and no clue that a single piece of mirrored glass is taking his life apart. Ciela decides to help him, which means hiding the truth about that night. Because Ciela knows who assaulted her, and him. And she knows that her survival, and his, depend on no one finding out what really happened.
320 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 16, 2021
205 people are currently reading
19426 people want to read
About the author
Anna-Marie McLemore
32 books3,503 followersAnna-Marie McLemore (they/them) is the author of William C. Morris Debut Award Finalist The Weight of Feathers; Wild Beauty; Blanca & Roja, one of TIME Magazine’s 100 Best Fantasy Novels of All Time; Indie Next List title Dark and Deepest Red; Lakelore, an NECBA Windows & Mirrors title; and National Book Award longlist selections When the Moon Was Ours, which was also a Stonewall Honor Book; The Mirror Season; and Self-Made Boys: A Great Gatsby Remix. Their latest release is Venom & Vow, co-authored with Elliott McLemore, and Flawless Girls will be released by from Feiwel & Friends in May 2028. Their adult debut, The Influencers, is forthcoming from Dial Press.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,643 reviews
August 27, 2021
ARC provided by the publisher
this was perfect in every single way and this story is going to help heal so many lives. <3
----
anna marie and their stories mean... everything to me. but when a little bird told me thismight have HAS pan rep? no no, this book is going to be life changing, i just know it.
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Buddy read with Maëlys! ❤
this was perfect in every single way and this story is going to help heal so many lives. <3
----
anna marie and their stories mean... everything to me. but when a little bird told me this
Blog | Instagram | Youtube | Ko-fi | Spotify | Twitch
Buddy read with Maëlys! ❤
August 19, 2021
This was a really hard book to read at times, but wow am I so glad that I stuck with it. Going into this one, I was really interested in the premise, but I didn't know if I would enjoy it because I have really struggled with McLemore's flowery writing style in the past. Luckily I am very happy to report that I absolutely LOVED the writing this time around and I actually ended up reading this in one sitting because I couldn't put it down. With that being said, this wasn't an easy read. This book deals very heavily with sexual assault and even features depictions of it on page, so please tread with caution if that is something that you are sensitive to. But overall, I really enjoyed this and am definitely excited to try reading more from McLemore in the future!
CW: sexual assault, ptsd, homophobia
CW: sexual assault, ptsd, homophobia
July 31, 2021
everything may suck but at least I’ll never be let down by Anna-Marie McLemore
rtc!
rtc!
// buddy read with cath
June 13, 2022
Na wstępie chcę podkreślić, że jest to książka poważna, o przerażających problemach, które niestety zapewne mają miejsce każdego dnia. Jestem tego świadomy i moja opinia jaka by nie była nie ma zamiaru umniejszać przesłaniu tej książki.
Niestety jednak po prostu mi się ona nie podobała. Elementy metafizyczne(?), realizmu magicznego to prawdopodobnie to co najbardziej odrzucało mnie od tej historii. Zupełnie nie podobał mi się motyw odłamków szkła. Również ten dotyczący wszystkich słodyczy, ciastek, ogólnie wypieków nie przypadł mi do gustu. Masa hiszpańskich nazw na te wszelkiego rodzaju wybory po prostu mnie męczyła i odrywała od historii. Sprawa znikających drzew wydaje mi się absurdalna i nie wyobrażam sobie jakby miało to wyglądać… Dodatkowo nie wnosi ona za wiele do historii… Miałem wrażenie, że było to poruszane na wielu stronach tylko po to, żeby na koniec podsumować to jednym zdaniem, które w mojej opinii było słabą przenośnią.
Podsumowałbym to tak: historia i jej przesłanie szalenie istotna, uważam, że powinno się o tym mówić, jednakże sposób w jaki całość została przekazana po prostu do mnie nie trafia. Wszelkiego rodzaju występujące tutaj zabiegi językowe, metafory i ten „realizm magiczny” nie były dla mnie.
Ocena: 2,0.
Niestety jednak po prostu mi się ona nie podobała. Elementy metafizyczne(?), realizmu magicznego to prawdopodobnie to co najbardziej odrzucało mnie od tej historii. Zupełnie nie podobał mi się motyw odłamków szkła. Również ten dotyczący wszystkich słodyczy, ciastek, ogólnie wypieków nie przypadł mi do gustu. Masa hiszpańskich nazw na te wszelkiego rodzaju wybory po prostu mnie męczyła i odrywała od historii. Sprawa znikających drzew wydaje mi się absurdalna i nie wyobrażam sobie jakby miało to wyglądać… Dodatkowo nie wnosi ona za wiele do historii… Miałem wrażenie, że było to poruszane na wielu stronach tylko po to, żeby na koniec podsumować to jednym zdaniem, które w mojej opinii było słabą przenośnią.
Podsumowałbym to tak: historia i jej przesłanie szalenie istotna, uważam, że powinno się o tym mówić, jednakże sposób w jaki całość została przekazana po prostu do mnie nie trafia. Wszelkiego rodzaju występujące tutaj zabiegi językowe, metafory i ten „realizm magiczny” nie były dla mnie.
Ocena: 2,0.
June 1, 2022
Najcięższy reread w moim życiu.
Nie mam słów
Nie mam słów
June 25, 2021
☆ 5 / 5 ☆
“Every moment of our life, it goes with us. It lives forever. And a lot of those moments you don’t have much say over. So the ones you do, you’ve got to do everything with them. So that what lives forever is something you want to live with.”
This book is stunning and raw and sheds light on rape culture, the aftermath of sexual assault and the survival that comes with it. While heartbreaking it is more than that because there is so much love and hope in it, and finding magic in life again. I hope it finds all the people who might need it. This is a deeply personal book too and I’m begging everyone to also read the author’s note.
Ciela’s world comes crashing down one night when she and a boy she doesn’t know get assaulted at the same time in rooms mirroring each other. She loses her bisabuela’s gift: the ability to tell what exact kind of pan dulce someone will need, and the world around her turns into shattered mirrors.
“I hope he hasn’t put all this together, this thing we have in common that he can’t remember and I can’t forget.”
Ciela is convinced that what happened, especially where it concerns Lock, is her fault and the guilt of it weighs on her. We slowly unwrap and discover the many layers of that guilt and what led her to believe that she was responsible. The starting premise was never uncomplicated or lacking but as the story progresses Anna-Marie McLemore gives it even more depth and explores more angles and perspectives.
When Lock comes back into Ciela’s life he doesn’t remember her but she can’t get him out of her mind. Their dynamic shifts a lot throughout the whole book but at its beginning Ciela knows his trauma and events he is not even aware of. This adds to her guilt and she is in an ongoing battle between knowing he should know what happened and not wanting to shatter his world even more.
“We cannot keep each other together. Neither of us can do that for the other. It’s our own work. But we help each other keep track of the pieces. We make sure nothing gets lost.”
Their budding friendship and relationship was really sweet though and while they bond over trauma, their relationship is more than that. There is a lot about finding your trust in other people again and opening yourself up in different ways. They take the time to learn about each other and discover their sanctuaries. It’s a slow buildup of trust and a very deep understanding of how the things that have happened to them can be navigated.
Together and separately we can see them as real people who exist beyond that night. Their storylines aren’t limited to it and we get to see them in a lot of different settings and contexts. I think it’s a very important point and is definitely emphasised by Ciela and Lock reclaiming bits and pieces of who they are throughout the book.
“They counted on any girl—especially a pretty-enough queer brown one—doing whatever they asked in exchange for their favor. Bearing anything, enduring anything, excusing anything. They wrote their assumptions into the curves and colors of my body.”
This is especially true of Ciela who is trying to get her magical gift back, but who’s also had the love and confidence she had for herself ripped away. Putting time and effort in her physical appearance was something she took a lot of pride in and that her family has also encouraged, but she can’t bring herself to do it anymore.
This is not only an exploration of what the trauma has taken from her but also showcases the commodification and hypersexualisation of brown and queer bodies. It is very apparent that the people involved during that night looked at her differently because of the colour of her skin, because of her curves and her demeanour. They had already taken that consent as guaranteed because in their eyes an out pansexual brown girl could never say no.
“Months ago, I didn’t cry, and I didn’t scream, because I thought if I started crying or screaming I’d never stop. But now I don’t care if I scream forever. If I scream forever, they will have to hear me forever.”
Anna-Marie McLemore also doesn't hesitate to highlight the power dynamics pre-existent to that night and how that continues to play a role in the choices Ciela and Lock make. No one would pick to listen to her voice as a brown queer girl against her white and rich classmates. Lock also holds no power there when they’re both poor against people who have their names written on the town’s buildings.
Lock’s situation also comes with the stigma and misconception that boys don’t get raped, that they have the power to stop things or that the way things happened to him simply don’t count.
Ciela and Lock are still both getting through that trauma but together they also find their voices. They share their stories with each other first and use that as a building block moving forward, but telling others and speaking up is not a straightforward path and there is no schedule to it. I think it struck the balance of showing there will be people to listen without shaming silence.
“Yes,” I say, and when I say it I am not afraid, of him or myself. This close to him, my heart is not scar tissue around a sliver of glass. It’s a living thing, hot and luminous.”
One of my favourite parts of the story was Ciela’s magic and how its strength paralleled her mindset and healing. Her gift leaves her but as she slowly starts helping out and standing up for Lock, and most importantly for herself, it comes back to her. As she lets go of the weight of a responsibility that is not hers, as she rediscovers the things she loves and enjoys and reclaims all the parts of herself she thought were lost, her powers bloom once again.
I also loved Ciela’s relationship with Jess, her ex and now best friend. Ciela ends up isolating herself from her family and friends by fear of being looked at differently, but once she tells her story to Jess she is met with nothing of the sort. It was just so important to see that she had a good support system to help her through and to see a strong and healthy friendship bring a little more light to her life.
Throughout this book, Anna-Marie McLemore refenres the fairytale of The Snow Queen and the story reflects itself in the shards of mirror warping the characters’ vision of the world but also in their love helping each other putting back the pieces together. It's this love, and care, and hope that stays with you throughout the whole story, and it took my breath away.
Youtube ☆ Twitter
Buddy read with Melanie ♡
“Every moment of our life, it goes with us. It lives forever. And a lot of those moments you don’t have much say over. So the ones you do, you’ve got to do everything with them. So that what lives forever is something you want to live with.”
This book is stunning and raw and sheds light on rape culture, the aftermath of sexual assault and the survival that comes with it. While heartbreaking it is more than that because there is so much love and hope in it, and finding magic in life again. I hope it finds all the people who might need it. This is a deeply personal book too and I’m begging everyone to also read the author’s note.
Ciela’s world comes crashing down one night when she and a boy she doesn’t know get assaulted at the same time in rooms mirroring each other. She loses her bisabuela’s gift: the ability to tell what exact kind of pan dulce someone will need, and the world around her turns into shattered mirrors.
“I hope he hasn’t put all this together, this thing we have in common that he can’t remember and I can’t forget.”
Ciela is convinced that what happened, especially where it concerns Lock, is her fault and the guilt of it weighs on her. We slowly unwrap and discover the many layers of that guilt and what led her to believe that she was responsible. The starting premise was never uncomplicated or lacking but as the story progresses Anna-Marie McLemore gives it even more depth and explores more angles and perspectives.
When Lock comes back into Ciela’s life he doesn’t remember her but she can’t get him out of her mind. Their dynamic shifts a lot throughout the whole book but at its beginning Ciela knows his trauma and events he is not even aware of. This adds to her guilt and she is in an ongoing battle between knowing he should know what happened and not wanting to shatter his world even more.
“We cannot keep each other together. Neither of us can do that for the other. It’s our own work. But we help each other keep track of the pieces. We make sure nothing gets lost.”
Their budding friendship and relationship was really sweet though and while they bond over trauma, their relationship is more than that. There is a lot about finding your trust in other people again and opening yourself up in different ways. They take the time to learn about each other and discover their sanctuaries. It’s a slow buildup of trust and a very deep understanding of how the things that have happened to them can be navigated.
Together and separately we can see them as real people who exist beyond that night. Their storylines aren’t limited to it and we get to see them in a lot of different settings and contexts. I think it’s a very important point and is definitely emphasised by Ciela and Lock reclaiming bits and pieces of who they are throughout the book.
“They counted on any girl—especially a pretty-enough queer brown one—doing whatever they asked in exchange for their favor. Bearing anything, enduring anything, excusing anything. They wrote their assumptions into the curves and colors of my body.”
This is especially true of Ciela who is trying to get her magical gift back, but who’s also had the love and confidence she had for herself ripped away. Putting time and effort in her physical appearance was something she took a lot of pride in and that her family has also encouraged, but she can’t bring herself to do it anymore.
This is not only an exploration of what the trauma has taken from her but also showcases the commodification and hypersexualisation of brown and queer bodies. It is very apparent that the people involved during that night looked at her differently because of the colour of her skin, because of her curves and her demeanour. They had already taken that consent as guaranteed because in their eyes an out pansexual brown girl could never say no.
“Months ago, I didn’t cry, and I didn’t scream, because I thought if I started crying or screaming I’d never stop. But now I don’t care if I scream forever. If I scream forever, they will have to hear me forever.”
Anna-Marie McLemore also doesn't hesitate to highlight the power dynamics pre-existent to that night and how that continues to play a role in the choices Ciela and Lock make. No one would pick to listen to her voice as a brown queer girl against her white and rich classmates. Lock also holds no power there when they’re both poor against people who have their names written on the town’s buildings.
Lock’s situation also comes with the stigma and misconception that boys don’t get raped, that they have the power to stop things or that the way things happened to him simply don’t count.
Ciela and Lock are still both getting through that trauma but together they also find their voices. They share their stories with each other first and use that as a building block moving forward, but telling others and speaking up is not a straightforward path and there is no schedule to it. I think it struck the balance of showing there will be people to listen without shaming silence.
“Yes,” I say, and when I say it I am not afraid, of him or myself. This close to him, my heart is not scar tissue around a sliver of glass. It’s a living thing, hot and luminous.”
One of my favourite parts of the story was Ciela’s magic and how its strength paralleled her mindset and healing. Her gift leaves her but as she slowly starts helping out and standing up for Lock, and most importantly for herself, it comes back to her. As she lets go of the weight of a responsibility that is not hers, as she rediscovers the things she loves and enjoys and reclaims all the parts of herself she thought were lost, her powers bloom once again.
I also loved Ciela’s relationship with Jess, her ex and now best friend. Ciela ends up isolating herself from her family and friends by fear of being looked at differently, but once she tells her story to Jess she is met with nothing of the sort. It was just so important to see that she had a good support system to help her through and to see a strong and healthy friendship bring a little more light to her life.
Throughout this book, Anna-Marie McLemore refenres the fairytale of The Snow Queen and the story reflects itself in the shards of mirror warping the characters’ vision of the world but also in their love helping each other putting back the pieces together. It's this love, and care, and hope that stays with you throughout the whole story, and it took my breath away.
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Buddy read with Melanie ♡
January 2, 2023
Bardzo ważna książka, która oddaje głos osobom, które boją się mówić o doświadczonej krzywdzie. Bo nikt im nie uwierzy, bo będą musiały przeżywać tę traumę na nowo, bo... no właśnie. To równocześnie opowieść o Królowej Śniegu z piękną metaforą, w której w sercu - zamiast odłamka lodu - tkwi odłamek lustra. Trzeba tylko pamiętać, że cała ta historia to wielki, krzyczący trigger warning dotyczący przemocy seksualnej.
June 17, 2022
Miałam 12 lat
Nie dostałam jeszcze pierwszej miesiączki, nie miałam włosów na nogach, byłam zwykłym czytającym Harry’ego Pottera dzieckiem.
Wtedy dostałam pierwsze nieodpowiednie zdjęcie na snapchacie. „Żony pedofila” tak ktoś określał, mnie i moje dwie koleżanki, które spotkało dokładnie to samo.
Nauczyciele, rodzice, policja. Nic więcej nie pamietam, z dnia, w którym powiadomiono o tym wyższe organy.
Rozmowy ze specjalistami policyjnymi podczas, których czułam się jakby próbowano udowodnić mi winę?
Dosłownie „sama się prosiłaś” ale jak? Miałam 12 lat
Po wielu spotkaniach, i dwóch latach sprawę umorzono. Niby nie szło znaleźć winnego….
Musiało minąć 6 lat od tych wydarzeń, musiałam przeczytać „Sezon luster” żeby zdać sobie sprawę, że te wydarzenia, które wyglądają na niewinne, wywołały u mnie wstręt do nagości, seksualności.
To jedna z najważniejszych książek, jakie miałam okazje przeczytać w swoim życiu…
Ogromnie polecam i naprawdę mam nadzieje, że jak najwiecej osób sięgnie po te książkę.
Współpraca z @wydawnictwoyoung
Nie dostałam jeszcze pierwszej miesiączki, nie miałam włosów na nogach, byłam zwykłym czytającym Harry’ego Pottera dzieckiem.
Wtedy dostałam pierwsze nieodpowiednie zdjęcie na snapchacie. „Żony pedofila” tak ktoś określał, mnie i moje dwie koleżanki, które spotkało dokładnie to samo.
Nauczyciele, rodzice, policja. Nic więcej nie pamietam, z dnia, w którym powiadomiono o tym wyższe organy.
Rozmowy ze specjalistami policyjnymi podczas, których czułam się jakby próbowano udowodnić mi winę?
Dosłownie „sama się prosiłaś” ale jak? Miałam 12 lat
Po wielu spotkaniach, i dwóch latach sprawę umorzono. Niby nie szło znaleźć winnego….
Musiało minąć 6 lat od tych wydarzeń, musiałam przeczytać „Sezon luster” żeby zdać sobie sprawę, że te wydarzenia, które wyglądają na niewinne, wywołały u mnie wstręt do nagości, seksualności.
To jedna z najważniejszych książek, jakie miałam okazje przeczytać w swoim życiu…
Ogromnie polecam i naprawdę mam nadzieje, że jak najwiecej osób sięgnie po te książkę.
Współpraca z @wydawnictwoyoung
May 26, 2022
Mój patronat!
Jedna z najtrudniejszych i najważniejszych książek, jakie czytałam.
TW przemoc seksualna, zastraszanie (szantażowanie ofiary), trauma, opisy scen gwałtu, podanie narkotyków, queerfobia, rasizm, seksualizacja
Jedna z najtrudniejszych i najważniejszych książek, jakie czytałam.
TW przemoc seksualna, zastraszanie (szantażowanie ofiary), trauma, opisy scen gwałtu, podanie narkotyków, queerfobia, rasizm, seksualizacja
June 17, 2022
wow. książka mega wciągająca i mocna:/
December 27, 2022
Daje 4.4🫶🏻 Ta książka jest piękna (jeśli w ogóle można ją tak nazwać), unikatowa, a przede wszystkim bolesna. Ciężko mi będzie napisać recenzje, aby nie pominąć żadnej rzeczy, którą chciałabym Wam przekazać😭
March 21, 2021
Loved the messages in this book even though I did not feel enamored with the writing style. In The Mirror Season, Anna-Marie McLemore writes about two young adults who were sexually assaulted at the same party (so big trigger warning for graphic depiction of sexual assault in the book as well as mentions of it in this review). Ciela, our protagonist, recalls the assault whereas Lock, the new boy at her high school, does not. The story follows Ciela as she befriends Lock and forms an intimate relationship with him, all while fighting off continued harassment from their shared rapists as well as feelings of guilt and anxiety from that one awful night.
I appreciated McLemore’s emphasis on the importance of consent. I also felt that they did an excellent job of portraying the emotions that accompany a sexual assault: the self-doubt and self-gaslighting, the guilt and shame, the confusion and the sense of there being no control. McLemore includes spot-on commentary about race and colorism (e.g., brown girls get treated much worse than white girls), class, and the power of friendship. The ending of the novel feels hopeful without sugarcoating the pain that follows trauma.
I just didn’t love the writing style in this book – it felt a bit heavy at times. A brief example includes when Celia has a conversation with her best friend Jess and McLemore writes “Jess sighs, like she’s summoning her patience.” I feel that McLemore could have just written “Jess sighs” to get the point across. These little additional phrases or descriptors that occurred throughout the book distracted me from the story and its characters. Though I felt the book a bit over-written, I still feel grateful for McLemore for addressing such an important issue, for drawing from their own experience, and for incorporating thoughtful commentary related to identities that are often marginalized and underrepresented in fiction.
I appreciated McLemore’s emphasis on the importance of consent. I also felt that they did an excellent job of portraying the emotions that accompany a sexual assault: the self-doubt and self-gaslighting, the guilt and shame, the confusion and the sense of there being no control. McLemore includes spot-on commentary about race and colorism (e.g., brown girls get treated much worse than white girls), class, and the power of friendship. The ending of the novel feels hopeful without sugarcoating the pain that follows trauma.
I just didn’t love the writing style in this book – it felt a bit heavy at times. A brief example includes when Celia has a conversation with her best friend Jess and McLemore writes “Jess sighs, like she’s summoning her patience.” I feel that McLemore could have just written “Jess sighs” to get the point across. These little additional phrases or descriptors that occurred throughout the book distracted me from the story and its characters. Though I felt the book a bit over-written, I still feel grateful for McLemore for addressing such an important issue, for drawing from their own experience, and for incorporating thoughtful commentary related to identities that are often marginalized and underrepresented in fiction.
May 31, 2022
Ta książka zostawia po sobie pustkę w sercu i łzy w oczach.
July 4, 2021
(4.5/5)
The Mirror Season is a magical realistic book (that is, a contemporary retelling of the Snow Queen) that follows Graciela Cristales after the events at a party she went to at the beginning of the summer, and is told from her perspective. Ultimately, The Mirror Season is a story about healing and growth after severely traumatic events that the characters experience, and how they learn to bounce back from them.
Initially, I was a little hesitant to read this book considering the sensitive subject matter that it regards, but as I got really into the story, I found that it was incredibly compelling and easy to read, because even though there are some dark moments, by the end, you really find yourself rooting for the characters.
Graciela, mostly referred to as ‘Ciela’, is the main character - a queer, Mexican girl who lost her ability to tell what type of pan dulce a person will want before they even know it - a gift passed down to her by her great-grandmother - after being assaulted at a party. Most of the dialogue, in the beginning, doesn’t even involve other people - it’s just Ciela narrating things in her head.
However, as the book progresses, so does Ciela. She learns to grow out of her shell, and comes closer to the person who she was before that fateful night. It’s clear that Ciela is compassionate, independent, and takes responsibility for her actions, which only makes her story all the more compelling to the reader.
Speaking of progression, this book is a character-driven novel. The pacing of the book ultimately reflects how the characters are doing, and how they grow as people, for the better or worse. The book begins with Ciela taking Lock to the hospital, directly after the events of the party. It’s there that she touches a mirrored rose, which shatters, a fragment of which buries itself deep into her, turning her as cold and sharp as glass. The summer passes, and Ciela begins the new school year. It’s there that she meets Lock again, a painful reminder of that night, but also poses an opportunity to regain her talent the more she gets to know him and help him out. Things seem to be going swimmingly between the two and Ciela completely regains her gift until the truth of what happened at the party comes out, and they decide to avoid each other. Things start winding down until the night festival of the swallows, in which Ciela and Lock finally confront the kids who perpetrated their assault at the party. The book closes with Lock and Ciela deciding to report what happened.
An event that took place in the story and was incredibly important to the growth of the characters was probably when Lock and Ciela stood up to the other kids in the forest. I can’t say much to avoid spoilers, but I will say this: by standing up to the kids that had caused both of them so much pain, Lock and Ciela were able to overcome the fear and control that they had over them, and it really made things take a turn for the better. I doubt the story would have ended as it did without this specific scene.
Apart from all that, there are also the interpersonal relationships that this book brings to the table, and how they grow and change over the course of the story. In particular, trust comes up a lot when these relationships are present. For one, there’s the relationship between Ciela, and her best friend, Jess. These two used to be in a romantic relationship before deciding to pursue a platonic one instead, and as a result, are really close. That being said, at the beginning of the novel, Ciela has a lot of difficulty talking to other people about what happened and remains closed off from everyone, keeping her feelings locked inside. The book progresses, and Ciela finally tells her what really happened - all because she trusted Jess enough to do so, seeing as to how she’s been standing by her side the whole time.
Something that really needs to be said about The Mirror Season is just how beautiful the prose is. Anna-Marie McLemore really knows how to write and they aren’t afraid to show you that. There’s figurative language sprinkled in everywhere, and it just makes the reading experience all the more impactful. Everything in this book is so incredibly vivid and clear, it’s like you’re actually transported there, into the book, alongside the characters.
Apart from everything that I've mentioned so far, there are also some beautiful passages that were included in the book regarding Ciela's heritage/culture and how it impacts how she is treated by others, as well as her sexuality, which is often disrespected by her peers. I found it interesting and somewhat eye-opening to read about, and I think that there are many readers who will be able to personally relate to and heal from McLemore's words.
Overall, I would definitely recommend this book to others, keeping in mind the content of this book. It’s a book that really needs to be read, not just for the beautiful prose and captivatingly realistic characters, but also because it brings up a lot of important topics that aren’t necessarily spoken about as much as they should, like how the justice system often fails people of color. I'm so glad I read this book, and honestly wish I could give Lock and Ciela a hug for all they've been through.
The Mirror Season is a magical realistic book (that is, a contemporary retelling of the Snow Queen) that follows Graciela Cristales after the events at a party she went to at the beginning of the summer, and is told from her perspective. Ultimately, The Mirror Season is a story about healing and growth after severely traumatic events that the characters experience, and how they learn to bounce back from them.
Initially, I was a little hesitant to read this book considering the sensitive subject matter that it regards, but as I got really into the story, I found that it was incredibly compelling and easy to read, because even though there are some dark moments, by the end, you really find yourself rooting for the characters.
Graciela, mostly referred to as ‘Ciela’, is the main character - a queer, Mexican girl who lost her ability to tell what type of pan dulce a person will want before they even know it - a gift passed down to her by her great-grandmother - after being assaulted at a party. Most of the dialogue, in the beginning, doesn’t even involve other people - it’s just Ciela narrating things in her head.
However, as the book progresses, so does Ciela. She learns to grow out of her shell, and comes closer to the person who she was before that fateful night. It’s clear that Ciela is compassionate, independent, and takes responsibility for her actions, which only makes her story all the more compelling to the reader.
Speaking of progression, this book is a character-driven novel. The pacing of the book ultimately reflects how the characters are doing, and how they grow as people, for the better or worse. The book begins with Ciela taking Lock to the hospital, directly after the events of the party. It’s there that she touches a mirrored rose, which shatters, a fragment of which buries itself deep into her, turning her as cold and sharp as glass. The summer passes, and Ciela begins the new school year. It’s there that she meets Lock again, a painful reminder of that night, but also poses an opportunity to regain her talent the more she gets to know him and help him out. Things seem to be going swimmingly between the two and Ciela completely regains her gift until the truth of what happened at the party comes out, and they decide to avoid each other. Things start winding down until the night festival of the swallows, in which Ciela and Lock finally confront the kids who perpetrated their assault at the party. The book closes with Lock and Ciela deciding to report what happened.
An event that took place in the story and was incredibly important to the growth of the characters was probably when Lock and Ciela stood up to the other kids in the forest. I can’t say much to avoid spoilers, but I will say this: by standing up to the kids that had caused both of them so much pain, Lock and Ciela were able to overcome the fear and control that they had over them, and it really made things take a turn for the better. I doubt the story would have ended as it did without this specific scene.
Apart from all that, there are also the interpersonal relationships that this book brings to the table, and how they grow and change over the course of the story. In particular, trust comes up a lot when these relationships are present. For one, there’s the relationship between Ciela, and her best friend, Jess. These two used to be in a romantic relationship before deciding to pursue a platonic one instead, and as a result, are really close. That being said, at the beginning of the novel, Ciela has a lot of difficulty talking to other people about what happened and remains closed off from everyone, keeping her feelings locked inside. The book progresses, and Ciela finally tells her what really happened - all because she trusted Jess enough to do so, seeing as to how she’s been standing by her side the whole time.
Something that really needs to be said about The Mirror Season is just how beautiful the prose is. Anna-Marie McLemore really knows how to write and they aren’t afraid to show you that. There’s figurative language sprinkled in everywhere, and it just makes the reading experience all the more impactful. Everything in this book is so incredibly vivid and clear, it’s like you’re actually transported there, into the book, alongside the characters.
Apart from everything that I've mentioned so far, there are also some beautiful passages that were included in the book regarding Ciela's heritage/culture and how it impacts how she is treated by others, as well as her sexuality, which is often disrespected by her peers. I found it interesting and somewhat eye-opening to read about, and I think that there are many readers who will be able to personally relate to and heal from McLemore's words.
Overall, I would definitely recommend this book to others, keeping in mind the content of this book. It’s a book that really needs to be read, not just for the beautiful prose and captivatingly realistic characters, but also because it brings up a lot of important topics that aren’t necessarily spoken about as much as they should, like how the justice system often fails people of color. I'm so glad I read this book, and honestly wish I could give Lock and Ciela a hug for all they've been through.
Read
February 7, 2022"If I scream forever, they will have to hear me forever."
CW for sexual assault.
So What’s It About?
Graciela Cristales's whole world changes after she and a boy she barely knows are assaulted at the same party. She loses her gift for making enchanted pan dulce. Neighborhood trees vanish overnight, while mirrored glass appears, bringing reckless magic with it. And Ciela is haunted by what happened to her, and what happened to the boy whose name she never learned.
But when the boy, Lock, shows up at Ciela's school, he has no memory of that night, and no clue that a single piece of mirrored glass is taking his life apart. Ciela decides to help him, which means hiding the truth about that night. Because Ciela knows who assaulted her, and him. And she knows that her survival, and his, depend on no one finding out what really happened.
What I Thought
I know that many people absolutely love Anna-Marie McLemore’s books, and this is the first of theirs that I have read. I really, really loved some things about this book, but a few others left me less than satisfied. The story’s strongest point is absolutely the relationship between Ciela and Lock - the way they support each other, laugh together, fight back against their perpetrators in silly and serious ways and develop a friendship that blossoms into love. Their relationship is incredibly sweet and a powerful demonstration of survivor solidarity and how transformative it can be.
McLemore also depicts the aftermath of sexual assault quite well, I think, in the way that Ciela pieces together her distorted memories over time and is convinced that keeping it secret is the only way to survive. The perpetrators have an entirely different view of the assault and don’t even think that they did anything wrong, instead believing that they did something friendly that was then maliciously misinterpreted and blown out of proportion.
The author is also keen on expressing that aspects of oppression and identity influence the experience of being victimized and being a survivor. Ciela makes it clear that being brown and curvy makes the perpetrators sexualize her, there is one line where one of the kids says that Ciela is only making a big deal out of what happened because she doesn’t like dick, and Lock expresses how he feels doubly victimized and shameful about his assault because he is a boy and didn’t think that boys got assaulted. Overall, I feel that the exploration of Lock's struggle was given the most care.
The only big possible caveat for the story’s treatment of sexual assault is that Lock and Ciela have sex while Ciela is hiding the truth that she is the one who performed oral sex on him while he was drugged. When he finds this out he is incredibly betrayed and makes it clear that he wouldn’t have had sex with her if he had known this. When we take into consideration the fact that consent has to be informed -meaning that no one is withholding any information that would prevent the other person from consenting - I don’t think it’s wrong to say that this could be interpreted as another huge violation for Lock, even if Ciela didn’t do it maliciously. I think this is a very interesting choice for the book to make, but it just kind of...fizzles when it’s dealing with the ramifications. Lock ends up just needing some time to work through it, Ciela apologizes, and then their relationship resumes by the end of the book. I can’t help but wish that the book had really dug deeper into this. Reader mileage will certainly vary regarding how this is dealt with by the book.
My other main problem is that the fantasy elements here don’t work very well for me. This is a very loose retelling of The Snow Queen - the key thing is that a mirror shard gets in the fairy tale character Kai’s eye just as it gets in Lock’s eye in this book, and it magnifies people’s bad features and doesn’t show their good ones. I think this parallels how Ciela filters the world after the assault, blaming herself and holding all kinds of cognitive distortions. In execution, the book just features scene after scene of mirror shards appearing, Ciela hiding them in her closet and describing her heart being embedded with shards. I know that hiding the mirror shards also represents hiding the story of the assault, but the whole thing just falls a little bit flat and repetitive for me. The one bit that really worked for me was the conclusion when the mirrors shows the perpetrators who they really are - Ciela thinks that she has to hide the mirrors, but they are actually the things that set her and Lock free.
I liked the other bit of magic in the story - Ciela is able to tell what kind of pan dulce bakery customers need to help them with whatever they’re struggling with, and this magic is influenced by how she stands up for herself in other areas of her life. My unreasonable quibble with this magic, though, is that lots of lines are spent rattling off the names of pan dulce without really describing them. This is just more of a missed opportunity than anything, I think, when I compare it to Robin McKinley’s Sunshine and how dedicated McKinley was to describing baked goods in mouth-watering detail!!!
Overall, I am very grateful for McLemore's courage in telling a story of survivorship that is clearly very close to their heart and their own experience of trauma. That is an incredibly difficult thing to do, and I think the world is better for it every time a survivor gives voice to their experience.
CW for sexual assault.
So What’s It About?
Graciela Cristales's whole world changes after she and a boy she barely knows are assaulted at the same party. She loses her gift for making enchanted pan dulce. Neighborhood trees vanish overnight, while mirrored glass appears, bringing reckless magic with it. And Ciela is haunted by what happened to her, and what happened to the boy whose name she never learned.
But when the boy, Lock, shows up at Ciela's school, he has no memory of that night, and no clue that a single piece of mirrored glass is taking his life apart. Ciela decides to help him, which means hiding the truth about that night. Because Ciela knows who assaulted her, and him. And she knows that her survival, and his, depend on no one finding out what really happened.
What I Thought
I know that many people absolutely love Anna-Marie McLemore’s books, and this is the first of theirs that I have read. I really, really loved some things about this book, but a few others left me less than satisfied. The story’s strongest point is absolutely the relationship between Ciela and Lock - the way they support each other, laugh together, fight back against their perpetrators in silly and serious ways and develop a friendship that blossoms into love. Their relationship is incredibly sweet and a powerful demonstration of survivor solidarity and how transformative it can be.
McLemore also depicts the aftermath of sexual assault quite well, I think, in the way that Ciela pieces together her distorted memories over time and is convinced that keeping it secret is the only way to survive. The perpetrators have an entirely different view of the assault and don’t even think that they did anything wrong, instead believing that they did something friendly that was then maliciously misinterpreted and blown out of proportion.
The author is also keen on expressing that aspects of oppression and identity influence the experience of being victimized and being a survivor. Ciela makes it clear that being brown and curvy makes the perpetrators sexualize her, there is one line where one of the kids says that Ciela is only making a big deal out of what happened because she doesn’t like dick, and Lock expresses how he feels doubly victimized and shameful about his assault because he is a boy and didn’t think that boys got assaulted. Overall, I feel that the exploration of Lock's struggle was given the most care.
The only big possible caveat for the story’s treatment of sexual assault is that Lock and Ciela have sex while Ciela is hiding the truth that she is the one who performed oral sex on him while he was drugged. When he finds this out he is incredibly betrayed and makes it clear that he wouldn’t have had sex with her if he had known this. When we take into consideration the fact that consent has to be informed -meaning that no one is withholding any information that would prevent the other person from consenting - I don’t think it’s wrong to say that this could be interpreted as another huge violation for Lock, even if Ciela didn’t do it maliciously. I think this is a very interesting choice for the book to make, but it just kind of...fizzles when it’s dealing with the ramifications. Lock ends up just needing some time to work through it, Ciela apologizes, and then their relationship resumes by the end of the book. I can’t help but wish that the book had really dug deeper into this. Reader mileage will certainly vary regarding how this is dealt with by the book.
My other main problem is that the fantasy elements here don’t work very well for me. This is a very loose retelling of The Snow Queen - the key thing is that a mirror shard gets in the fairy tale character Kai’s eye just as it gets in Lock’s eye in this book, and it magnifies people’s bad features and doesn’t show their good ones. I think this parallels how Ciela filters the world after the assault, blaming herself and holding all kinds of cognitive distortions. In execution, the book just features scene after scene of mirror shards appearing, Ciela hiding them in her closet and describing her heart being embedded with shards. I know that hiding the mirror shards also represents hiding the story of the assault, but the whole thing just falls a little bit flat and repetitive for me. The one bit that really worked for me was the conclusion when the mirrors shows the perpetrators who they really are - Ciela thinks that she has to hide the mirrors, but they are actually the things that set her and Lock free.
I liked the other bit of magic in the story - Ciela is able to tell what kind of pan dulce bakery customers need to help them with whatever they’re struggling with, and this magic is influenced by how she stands up for herself in other areas of her life. My unreasonable quibble with this magic, though, is that lots of lines are spent rattling off the names of pan dulce without really describing them. This is just more of a missed opportunity than anything, I think, when I compare it to Robin McKinley’s Sunshine and how dedicated McKinley was to describing baked goods in mouth-watering detail!!!
Overall, I am very grateful for McLemore's courage in telling a story of survivorship that is clearly very close to their heart and their own experience of trauma. That is an incredibly difficult thing to do, and I think the world is better for it every time a survivor gives voice to their experience.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 26, 2025
What a remarkable way to tackle the toughest of topics.
June 19, 2022
myślę, że gwiazdki i jakiekolwiek oceny nie oddadzą prawdziwej wartości tej opowieści
jest ciężka,
jest cholernie ciężka, ale i cholernie ważna
tak jak powiedziała Alex w swoim filmiku - osoba autorska wali prosto z mostu, nie owija w bawełnę
i tak…to dotyka, atakuje czytelnika z podwójną siłą, ale i z podwójną siłą na nas wpływa, uświadamia nas
jeśli wiecie, że jesteście gotowi czytać o napaśc!ach $ek$ualnych - proszę, przeczytajcie Sezon Luster
jest ciężka,
jest cholernie ciężka, ale i cholernie ważna
tak jak powiedziała Alex w swoim filmiku - osoba autorska wali prosto z mostu, nie owija w bawełnę
i tak…to dotyka, atakuje czytelnika z podwójną siłą, ale i z podwójną siłą na nas wpływa, uświadamia nas
jeśli wiecie, że jesteście gotowi czytać o napaśc!ach $ek$ualnych - proszę, przeczytajcie Sezon Luster
May 5, 2021
if i could define this book with one word, it would be: painful.
November 20, 2022
》I'm standing in front of the mirror, staring at my reflection and I wonder - what did I just read...
The prose is so beautiful that it hurts to read...
The story is so haunting, so achingly real that it's hard to believe....
It's about a night, so horrific, that you can't forget it no matter how much you try.
"No" is a powerful word and we know it, don't we? So why do we sometimes play it off like it's only two letters that doesn't mean anything?
A tale so complex, so spell-binding, so disturbing that it makes you forget your identity. It makes you question everything you have ever known.
A terrible night, some wrong choices, a trauma that may last for more than a lifetime - doesn't define someone, does it? Can it? Should it?
"The Mirror Season" is not a story of two teenagers who were both sexually assaulted at the same party. It's about how they survived. How they fought back. The book is about how they learned to trust again...
Clearly Anna-Marie McLemore does have a way with words. I never imagined imagined someone could reshape the fairy tale of The Snow Queen in such manner. But they have done it and perfectly so. The book deals with some very very sensitive subjects. But all of these have been handled with so much care and tenderness that I can't help but declare this book a masterpiece in its own unique way.....
Now that I look back to my review, I see it scattered around like shards of a broken mirror. Sorry but I can't fix it. Maybe, some things doesn't need to be fixed.....
"This thing we have in common that he can’t remember and I can’t forget."
"By fighting back, I put a crack in how their world worked. I took the gleam off the honors they bestowed.
And they still hate me for it."
The prose is so beautiful that it hurts to read...
The story is so haunting, so achingly real that it's hard to believe....
It's about a night, so horrific, that you can't forget it no matter how much you try.
"No" is a powerful word and we know it, don't we? So why do we sometimes play it off like it's only two letters that doesn't mean anything?
A tale so complex, so spell-binding, so disturbing that it makes you forget your identity. It makes you question everything you have ever known.
A terrible night, some wrong choices, a trauma that may last for more than a lifetime - doesn't define someone, does it? Can it? Should it?
"The mirrored glass has taken enough. It’s turned me into a girl who’s always searching the world for the glint of silver."
"The Mirror Season" is not a story of two teenagers who were both sexually assaulted at the same party. It's about how they survived. How they fought back. The book is about how they learned to trust again...
Clearly Anna-Marie McLemore does have a way with words. I never imagined imagined someone could reshape the fairy tale of The Snow Queen in such manner. But they have done it and perfectly so. The book deals with some very very sensitive subjects. But all of these have been handled with so much care and tenderness that I can't help but declare this book a masterpiece in its own unique way.....
"Every moment of our life, it goes with us. It lives forever. And a lot of those moments you don't have much say over. So the ones you do, you've got to do everything with them. So that what lives forever is something you want to live with.”
Now that I look back to my review, I see it scattered around like shards of a broken mirror. Sorry but I can't fix it. Maybe, some things doesn't need to be fixed.....
March 29, 2025
4.5 stars.
on-my-shelf
February 13, 2022Loss of magic as a metaphor for violation is really fascinating and I'm excited to finally read this.
March 17, 2023
To jest ta jedna z historii co zostanie z tobą na długo i jakikolwiek komentarz jest zbędny tutaj…..
April 26, 2021
I definitely liked this more than The Snow Queen! Gorgeous prose, but it's an Anna-Marie McLemore book so that's to be expected. I really loved Ciela and Lock, but Ciela in particular.
Read
July 6, 2024
TW: molestow4nie seksu4lne, queerfobi4, wykorzystywanie, r4sizm, victim shaming , n4paść, PTSD, bullying szkolny, odrzucenie, Seksizm, alkohol, pigułka gw4łtu, depresja, presja społeczna, presja rówieśnicza, przemoc, body shaming, slut shaming
„Nie mogę wyrzucić odłamków ani wsypać ich do oceanu. Nie wiem, jak się ich pozbyć, żeby się nie połamały i nikogo nie zraniły. Więc je ukrywam…”
Jestem przekonany, że wielu ludzi ma w sobie pewne doświadczenia i przeżycia, które bardzo zaowocowały w naszej głowie – do tego stopnia, że wpływają na nasze ogólne funkcjonowanie. Każdy z nas reaguje inaczej na dane zdarzenia i różnie sobie z nimi radzi (albo i nawet nie radzi). Po takich doświadczeniach pojawiają się przede wszystkim emocje, które są bardzo różnorakie. Często też po takich doświadczeniach, które długo zostają w naszej głowie (nieraz nieprzepracowane), czujemy uczucie wstydu. Szczególnie, kiedy nie pamiętamy wszystkiego, ale mamy przebłyski, co się wydarzyło. Najgorzej jest w momencie, kiedy dochodzi do etapu odkrywania prawdy na temat tego, co się stało. To wiąże się z wieloma obawami i procesami, jakie trzeba w głowie przejść, żeby dojść do meritum.
Należy jednak wiedzieć, że nie wszystko jest zero-jedynkowe, bo to, jak przebiega proces, jest tak naprawdę zależne od tego, jak na nas (jak wspomniałem wyżej) dana sytuacja wpływa. Nie bez znaczenia jest także, jakie inne problemy mamy w głowie, jakie mamy emocje z tym związane oraz jakim środowiskiem i ludźmi się otaczamy. Czynników wpływających na to jest mnóstwo i trudno tutaj wymienić wszystkie.
Dzisiaj przyjrzymy się problematyce radzenia sobie z tr4umą i z czym się to wiąże oraz jak tr4umatyczne wydarzenia mają na nas wpływ...Wszystko to w recenzji dzisiejszej (dla mnie najważniejszej, razem z „Dorosłą”) książki pod tytułem „Sezon Luster” osoby autorskiej, jaką jest Anna-Marie McLemore. Zaznaczę od razu, że to będzie jak dla mnie jedna z najtrudniejszych, a zarazem najważniejszych (jak nie najważniejsza) recenzji do tej pory, ponieważ tak jak w przypadku „Dorosłej”, brak mi słów na to, w jak piękny a zarazem prawdziwy, dosadny i bolesny sposób są opisywane sytuacje w tej książce…. A w tym przypadku, to będzie zupełnie inna recenzja od pozostałych….
Książka „Sezon Luster” opowiada o historii dwójki bohaterów, jakimi są Ciela Lock. Ciela pracuje w cukierni i od początku posiada pewien dar, który pozwala jej na wykrywanie tego, czego ktoś tak naprawdę pragnie i potrzebuje w wypiekach. Niestety ta dwójka bohaterów spotyka się w jednych z najgorszych możliwych okoliczności, ponieważ dochodzi do napaści i wykorzystania s3ksualn3go tej dwójki bohaterów podczas imprezy. Konsekwencją tego życie dwójki bohaterów rozpadło się na kruche kawałki i zostali nie dość, że pozostawieni z uczuciem niepokoju i bezradności, to jeszcze z traumą, która będzie miała elementarny wpływ na ich życie i trudno ją będzie przepracować. Po tym wszystkim, niestety, Ciela między innymi traci swój cenny dar, jednocześnie pamiętając wszystko, co się wtedy wydarzyło. Obawiając się powiedzieć o tym komukolwiek oraz tego, że nikt jej nie uwierzy i nie zrozumie tego, co przeżyła, milczy. Lock natomiast nie pamięta niczego, ale ma przebłyski, które go przytłaczają i sam próbuje zrozumieć całą tę sytuację, tym samym czuje niepokój i poczucie winy z powodu całej absurdalnej i okrutnej sytuacji, która miała miejsce.
Szczerze mówiąc, to książka „Sezon Luster” jest powieścią, którą jest mi niesamowicie trudno opisać jakimikolwiek słowami oraz wyrazić to, co ja czuję i myślę o tej książce. To, jak bolesna, autentyczna i pełna cierpienia jest ta książka, ale jednocześnie jest w sposób metaforyczny i baśniowy pięknie napisana, dająca nadzieję na lepsze jutro, powala mnie na kolana. Ja, sięgając po nią, wiedziałem na co się piszę, bo czytałem niedawno „Dorosłą” i miałem podobne odczucia, a skala emocji w tych książkach jest bardzo do siebie zbliżona. Zresztą słusznie na początku książki (tak samo jak w "Dorosłej") są podane TW, więc osobom, które również przeżyły takie sytuacje, lub są wyczulone, radzę, aby były ostrożne, czytając te powieść. W przypadku „Sezonu Luster” chcę tu osobiście się przyznać, że gdyby jakaś książka w pełni oddała większość moich uczuć i wspomnień, to właśnie byłaby ta powieść… Jest to dla mnie niesamowicie ważna pozycja i odkrycie 2021 roku i zastanawiam się, co gdyby ktoś pokazał mi te książkę w przeszłości albo w sposób wyważony dał mi do zrozumienia, że mam prawo czuć niepokój. Może moje życie zupełnie inaczej by się potoczyło, bo wtedy to mówiono mi jedynie, żebym się wziął w garść…Bo oprócz innych problemów ukazuje sytuacje, które są tutaj bez zarzutów świetnie wypunktowane (o czym powiem za chwilę), mamy tutaj ukazany proces przepracowywania tr4umy i dochodzenia do prawdy oraz z jakimi obawami, poczuciem bezradności, i sfrustrowania się to wiąże. Szczególnie, że mamy tu sytuacje, że bohaterowie łączą się zupełnie inaczej, niż poprzez to, co ich spotkało. Bardziej właśnie ma to znaczenie w kontekście zwalczania tr4umy, która wyniszczyła życia dwójki bohaterów w niepojęty sposób.
Dodam, że ta książka w mojej opinii idealnie punktuje ogromną ilość wątków, bo pokazuje wiele mechanizmów obronnych i wiele myśli, które się pojawiają po takich zdarzeniach. Jedną z nich jest uczucie bezradności i wewnętrzny mechanizm, powodujący myśl, że nie jesteś w stanie tego uzewnętrznić z powodu obawy niezrozumienia, dyskryminacji, wyśmiania oraz poczucia, że w tej sytuacji nie masz nic do powiedzenia, bo boisz się zrujnowania czyichś celów z powodu naszych problemów. Pojawia się tu także problem tego, jak środowisko, w którym żyjemy, ma wpływ na nasze funkcjonowanie oraz jak przepracowujemy te doświadczenia. W tym przypadku jest tu ukazane uczucie dezorientacji i zaniepokojenia.
Chyba nie będę wam musiał pisać, że ta książka jest moim zdaniem WARTA WSZYSTKIEGO, KAŻDEJ ZŁOTÓWKI, bo po przeczytaniu do tego momentu myślę, że to wiecie. Przede wszystkim, chciałbym wam powiedzieć, że przy tej książce wylałem niesamowitą ilość łez i wiele razy poczułem dużo emocji, przypominając sobie moje najdrastyczniejsze przeżycia i uczucia, z którymi gdzieś tam się zmagam do tej pory. Jednocześnie utwór ten daje uczucie ciepła i nadziei, że emocje w takiej sytuacji są normalne. Obawy, które są wypunktowane w tej książce, w mojej opinii są niesamowicie trafne. W pewnych momentach miałem ochotę rzucić czytnikiem, czytając tę książkę (tu się przyznam, że podobnie miałem w "Dorosłej"), bo nie byłem w stanie znieść krzywdy i dyskryminacji, jaka tam ma miejsce i ile muszą znieść postacie…
Jak wspomniałem, dla mnie ta książka jest książką mojego życia z powodu tego, że sam przechodziłem przez coś podobnego i wiem, jak trudno jest się przyznać przed samym sobą, że FAKTYCZNIE TO PRZEŻYŁEŚ. A najgorsze jest z mojego doświadczenia mówienie ofierze, że "Pewnie go sprowokowałeś/aś/oś, co?", lub "CZEMU JESTEŚ TAKI MIĘKKI/MIĘKKA/MIĘKKIE I NIC Z TYM NIE ZROBISZ?", to jest jak strzał prosto w serce... Ta książka daje nadzieję , ale JEDNOCZEŚNIE pokazuje, jak trudno jest to przepracować w jakikolwiek sposób i ile zmiennych ma na niego wpływ. Od siebie dodam na koniec to, co książka ma zamiar pokazać....Nie bójcie się wyrażać emocji i szukać pomocy, bo uczucie niepokoju i obawa przed podołaniem po takiej sytuacji są odczuwane SZCZEGÓLNIE (choć wiele czynników i sytuacji tak może wpływać). NIE BÓJ SIĘ WALCZYĆ O SIEBIE, MASZ PRAWO SZUKAĆ WSPARCIA ....
Mam nadzieję, że ten post pomoże wam zrozumieć pewne kwestie i że zachęciłem was do tej książki. Jednak jeśli czujecie, że nie podołacie lub już czytacie i macie ochotę przerwać, zróbcie to. Ona poczeka. Mimo wszystko jest niesamowicie istotną i potrzebną książką, która mimo baśniowości i ciepła ma w sobie ogrom cierpienia....
EDIT (BARDZO WAŻNY): KOCHANI, DOSZEDŁEM DO WNIOSKU, ŻE W PRZYPADKU TAKICH KSIĄŻEK (NAWET, JESLI BĘDĄ DLA MNIE KSIĄŻKAMI ŻYCIA), KTÓRE RUSZAJĄ OSOBISTE REJONY, DOŚWIADCZENIA, BĄDŹ SĄ MI NAJBLIŻSZE W JAKIMŚ STOPNIU, ALBO SĄ MANIFESTEM , ALBO COŚ JEST POPARTE UPUSTEM, FAKTAMI CZY TEŻ DOZNANIAMI AUTORA NA PAPIERZE - NIE OCENIAM KSIĄŻEK. NAWET TEJ, KTÓRĄ CZYTAŁEM WIELOKROTNIE W SWOIM ŻYCIU I JEST MI JEDNĄ Z NAJBLIŻSZYCH KSIĄŻEK EVER. I JEST CZYMŚ, CO DAŁO MI PRZESTRZEŃ I WYRAZ MOIM DOŚWIADCZENIOM I KALIBER. NIE OCENIAM, JEŚLI TO JEST OPARTE NA CZYMŚ...REALNIE MANIFESTALNIE PRAWDZIWYM ETC. (WKLEJAM TO DO TYCH KSIĄŻEK, KTÓRE WIEM, ŻE MAJĄ WPIS I SĄ NAJWAŻNIEJSZE )
June 18, 2022
Nie umiem opisać tego, co czułam podczas czytania. Była to trudna lektura, pełna złości i bezsilności.
December 24, 2021
This book... This book shattered me like a dropped piece of mirrored glass, and then gave me the hope and the reminder that broken things will always be able to catch the light...
Imbued with elements of magical realism and written in their signature lyrical voice, McLemore tells the story of a boy and a girl who are sexually assaulted at the same party. They develop a cautious friendship and navigate together through the healing-journey that follows their ordeal. Filled with pain as well as love, their journey takes them through her family's magical pastelería, his secret forest of otherworldly trees, anatomically correct hand-puppets and a ceiling filled with condom-balloons…
If I were to critique this book on a technical level it would be a very short review: take any of the positive things I said in my reviews on AM’s previous books and apply them to this one. All are true: stunning lyrical writing, a raw and unflinching portrayal of hard hitting topic combined with magical elements that somehow feel “more real that reality”, and deep and complex protagonists will stay with you for a long time…
When it comes to structure, pacing, motifs and metaphors, and tone; I genuinely have nothing to add. As a book, it’s “technically perfect”, as far as I can tell.
That brings me to the more important part however: The Mirror Season was clearly more than just a book to AM themselves. They reveal as much in their epilogue, but it’s also evident through every word on these pages. This book is a journey of healing, a triumph of survival and a powerful take back of control that was crudely stripped away. It’s a reminder that love cannot “fix” you, but you do have the power to fix yourself, and loved ones can support you, and make that battle easier to bear.
I won’t pretend to relate or fully comprehend AM’s experiences, but I truly hope this book has brought them healing. What I can say is that it has brought a little bit of healing to me. AM passed that little shard of reflective glass on, and refracted its light out into the world. Regardless of the kind, the age or the depth of the trauma you may have: I hope that light finds you too.
Imbued with elements of magical realism and written in their signature lyrical voice, McLemore tells the story of a boy and a girl who are sexually assaulted at the same party. They develop a cautious friendship and navigate together through the healing-journey that follows their ordeal. Filled with pain as well as love, their journey takes them through her family's magical pastelería, his secret forest of otherworldly trees, anatomically correct hand-puppets and a ceiling filled with condom-balloons…
If I were to critique this book on a technical level it would be a very short review: take any of the positive things I said in my reviews on AM’s previous books and apply them to this one. All are true: stunning lyrical writing, a raw and unflinching portrayal of hard hitting topic combined with magical elements that somehow feel “more real that reality”, and deep and complex protagonists will stay with you for a long time…
When it comes to structure, pacing, motifs and metaphors, and tone; I genuinely have nothing to add. As a book, it’s “technically perfect”, as far as I can tell.
That brings me to the more important part however: The Mirror Season was clearly more than just a book to AM themselves. They reveal as much in their epilogue, but it’s also evident through every word on these pages. This book is a journey of healing, a triumph of survival and a powerful take back of control that was crudely stripped away. It’s a reminder that love cannot “fix” you, but you do have the power to fix yourself, and loved ones can support you, and make that battle easier to bear.
I won’t pretend to relate or fully comprehend AM’s experiences, but I truly hope this book has brought them healing. What I can say is that it has brought a little bit of healing to me. AM passed that little shard of reflective glass on, and refracted its light out into the world. Regardless of the kind, the age or the depth of the trauma you may have: I hope that light finds you too.
October 9, 2022
5⭐
Jaka to była piękna a tymczasem ważna książka! Czytając ją odczuwałem tak wiele emocji 😩
Zdecydowanie należy do najważniejszych książek w tym roku.
To opowieść o traumie, jaką pozostawia po sobie napasc seksualna. Do tego książka po części jest oparta na przeżyciach autorki. Uważam, że jest ona bardzo potrzebna w naszym świecie. Polecam, aczkolwiek przed czytaniem zapoznajcie się z trigger warnings, a także nie sięgajcie po nią, jeżeli nie jesteście na nią gotowi.
Styl pisania autorki jest przecudowny, a hiszpańskie wstawki — uwielbiam!
Jaka to była piękna a tymczasem ważna książka! Czytając ją odczuwałem tak wiele emocji 😩
Zdecydowanie należy do najważniejszych książek w tym roku.
To opowieść o traumie, jaką pozostawia po sobie napasc seksualna. Do tego książka po części jest oparta na przeżyciach autorki. Uważam, że jest ona bardzo potrzebna w naszym świecie. Polecam, aczkolwiek przed czytaniem zapoznajcie się z trigger warnings, a także nie sięgajcie po nią, jeżeli nie jesteście na nią gotowi.
Styl pisania autorki jest przecudowny, a hiszpańskie wstawki — uwielbiam!
January 17, 2021
i am speechless. and crying :')
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the high-pitched noise you hear in the distance is most probably me screaming about how much i need this book <3
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the high-pitched noise you hear in the distance is most probably me screaming about how much i need this book <3
December 27, 2022
(4,5✨)
Ja nawet nie wiem od czego zacząć swoją opinię. To była bardzo bolesna i przykra historia, taka na którą większość czytelników raczej nie jest gotowa. Wszelkie metafory i porównania z motywem lustra, szkła itd były tak pięknie napisane że na pewno zostaną w mojej głowie na dłużej. Tak samo losy głównych bohaterów.
Ja nawet nie wiem od czego zacząć swoją opinię. To była bardzo bolesna i przykra historia, taka na którą większość czytelników raczej nie jest gotowa. Wszelkie metafory i porównania z motywem lustra, szkła itd były tak pięknie napisane że na pewno zostaną w mojej głowie na dłużej. Tak samo losy głównych bohaterów.
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