Video version of this review here: https://youtu.be/7Rgd6BwNp-M 
 There are two qualities I admire in a book that, when I find them perfectly intertwined, make me book-swoon. The first is sumptuous lyrical writing, and the second is a profound sense of personal and emotional truth. When the Moon Was Ours gets both just right and is definitely one of the best books, YA or otherwise, that I've read in a long time. 
 In an unnamed town and an unspecified time we follow a girl and a boy who we are told will come to be known as Honey and Moon in the town's memory. But here and now they are Miel, a Latina girl of magical origin who grows roses from her wrist, and Sam (short for Samir), a trans boy who lives with his Pakistani single mother. The two have been inseparable since Miel's arrival in the town, when she emerged terrified from an old rusty water tower and went to live with another magical mystery woman, Aracely, who has the power to cure lovesickness. Sam paints paper moons and hangs them around town and in the woods. Miel drowns her roses in the river. The two fall in love. 
 But Sam, who long ago imagined he would be happy as a woman when he grew up, must come to terms with the future he wants, and Miel, who never speaks of her family or how she came to be in the water tower, will have to come to terms with her past. 
 And the Bonner girls, four sisters who may or may not be witches but definitely have power, just might tear them apart. Their strength is in their group identity, which, recently threatened, is starting to fade. They set out to exploit Miel for her roses, and set their sights on Sam along the way, but their story is far more complex than that of one villainous entity. 
 McLemore writes in the language of magical realism, a literary tradition with its roots in her own Latinx heritage, and Miel's family story is loosely based on the folk legend of la llorona, which I did not realize until I read the author's note at the end. McLemore also talks about how this book is inspired by her own relationship with her trans husband. But even without knowing these things, I think it is evident that this is a story told from the heart with eloquence and courage. 
 When the Moon Was Ours is a lush, romantic, powerful, diverse book about identity, family, love, fear of pumpkins, and the transformative power of water. I will be recommending it non-stop until everyone I know has read it. Enjoy!