Title: Lakelore
Author: Anna-Marie McLemore
Publisher: Macmillan Children’s Publishing
Publication date: March 8, 2022
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Summary
When they were children, Bastián first showed Lore the world under the lake. As far as they knew, they were the only ones who could access it. When Lore ends up moving to Bastián’s town after an incident at their previous high school, the world under the lake comes to life once again. But this time, it’s starting to spread outside of the lake.
As Bastián and Lore start to get to know one another, they realize they’re both hiding secrets from each other. But their secrets are more similar than they realize. In order to stop the world under the lake, they have to learn how to be vulnerable with each other. And to trust that they’re safe with one another before the world descends into chaos.
Review: Lakelore
Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Children’s for an advanced copy of this to review! McLemore is a newer author for me, but so far, I’ve enjoyed everything they’ve written. This book might be the best book of theirs I’ve read so far! And that’s saying something because I really loved Mirror Season.
First of all, I don’t think I can think of another YA book that has two nonbinary protagonists that fall in love. If you can think of one, let me know! But right from the beginning, Bastián and Lore feel like they have a kinship because of their nonbinary identities. And we get different ends of the spectrum: Bastián is just starting testosterone injections, while Lore is still exploring their identity. I loved that they both got to talk to each other about this, and their gender forecasts? Those were adroable and felt like something so relatable to nonbinary teens.
In addition to their nonbinary identities, Bastián and Lore both struggle with different neurodivergences. Bastián struggles with ADHD and Lore struggles with dyslexia. With Bastián, we get the full spectrum of ADHD. Where people normally think of ADHD as hyperactivity, there’s so much more than that. There’s also a brief discussion about how gender is related to ADHD diagnosis, which I also don’t think is something I’ve seen in a YA book. Lore struggles with figuring out words, and the way they describe it feels realistic and definitely relatable for teens also struggling with these issues.
Like most McLemore’s books, there’s a magical realism element that directly correlates with what the characters are struggling with. I especially like the way that the lake paralleled the way Lore felt like they were spiraling out of control, unsure of how to stop it. It’s a subtle magical realism, but it works so well with the story.
All in all, I absolutely loved this book and think it’s going to continue to get a lot of good buzz when it comes out in March. It’s definitely one that you won’t want to miss!
4.5/5 stars