Wild Beauty by Anna-Marie McLemore | Rating: ★★★★☆

...that hearts that loved boys and girls were no more reckless or easily won than any other heart. They loved who they loved. They broke how they broke. And the way it happened depended less on what was under their lovers’ clothes and more on what was wrapped inside their spirits. What secret halls and trapdoors their souls held, and what each one hid and guarded.

This is my first experience with McLemore's writing but it will certainly not be my last. You know when you pick up a book and the writing is just so special, so artful, you want to just live in it? That's the best way to describe the way that Anna-Marie McLemore wields a pen.


Wild Beauty is one of the most wonderfully crafted YA reads in recent memory--it is descriptive, poetic, romantic and utterly whimsical in the way that not many authors are able to accomplish. When I say that there is something special about Anna-Marie McLemore's writing, I have no doubt that words could describe it otherwise but for me the first word that comes to mind about her writing is special.

Because not only is her prose magical and coherent, it is its own life. Wild Beauty is so much more than a story because McLemore breathes everything into it, the pages are practically sizzling with an energy that cannot be ignored. I have never read something quite like Wild Beauty and I find myself unable to forget it. Fans of Maggie Stiefvater will devour her work if they haven't already.

Onto the actual story: Wild Beauty is stunning. It had its patches where it took me a while to get into the story or caught up with but I find that is really common when it comes to this sort of writing. This isn't at all something that effects the way it is told because at the end of the day, the entire story is perfect just the way it is.

I loved learning about the family at the center of everything, the home that they keep and the gardens they grow in La Pradera, and one boy's mysterious and sudden appearance. Beyond the whimsical prose, the Nomeolvides women are impossible to forget and very, very fantastic characters. If there was one novel that had the perfect set of characters this year, Wild Beauty was the one where it is it at. 

Intriguing women? Diversity? Secrets? Love? Loss? A mysterious curse that plagues the lovers of one families women? 

Honestly, how are you not picking this up now? 

What I loved most about Wild Beauty was the exploration of life and love. There's an unexpected quality to McLemore's landscape of characters and the way that their stories unfold, that makes Wild Beauty so brilliant. An instant classic of sorts. Estrella and Fel's journey, in particular, is this magnetic element to it that slowly but surely captivates its audience and keeps them watching. 

Overall, the title says it all! Wild Beauty is one wild beauty that will keep readers flipping the pages and longing to get lost in the words only for a moment longer. Magical, unforgettable and entirely unique.