The Weight of Feathers

by Anna-Marie McLemore

The Palomas and the Corbeaus have long been rivals and enemies, locked in an escalating feud for over a generation. Both families make their living as traveling performers in competing shows. The Palomas swimming in mermaid exhibitions, the Corbeaus, former tightrope walkers, performing in the tallest trees they can find. Lace Paloma may be new to her family's show, but she knows as well as anyone that the Corbeaus are pure magia negra, black magic from the devil himself. Simply touching one could mean death, and she's been taught from birth to keep away. But when disaster strikes the small town where both families are performing, it's a Corbeau boy, Cluck, who saves Lace's life. And his touch immerses her in the world of the Corbeaus, where falling for him could turn his own family against him, and one misstep can be just as dangerous on the ground as it is in the trees. Beautifully written, and richly imaginative, The Weight of Feathers is an utterly captivating young adult novel by a talented new voice.

• ISBN13: 9781250115997
• Publish Date: 26 September 2017 (first published 15 September 2015)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: St Martin's Press
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 320
• Language: English

Reviews

[Bianca]

2019 Popsugar Reading Challenge
‪09. A book with unusual chapter headi‬ngs

“I’ve got you.” He held her until she was still, and then lightened his touch enough to give her back the feeling of holding herself up. But his hands still stayed.
(...)
But he must not have felt in his palms how anchored and still he made her. He left the smallest space between their lips and whispered again, “I’ve got you,” like he thought she might not know.

— A beautiful and spellbinding love story in the vein of Romeo and Juliet, also exploring themes of being different and fitting in. I LOVE IT 😭❤️

[Jo]

Originally posted on Once Upon a Bookcase.

The Weight of Feathers by Anna-Marie McLemore has been absolutely raved about, and with the quote on the cover from Sabaa Tahir, saying it has "a fantastical world as captivating as that of The Night Circus," I knew I just had to read it. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern is one of my favourite books, so any book that is compared to it is one I have to read. I'm so glad I bought The Weight of Feathers, as it's incredible.

The Palomas are a Latino family with scale birthmarks, who travel around with their mermaid show, putting on fantastical performances in water, with their brightly coloured tail costumes. Similarly, the Corbeaus are a French family of performers, who have feathers growing in their hair; formerly tightrope walkers, now they perform risky and dangerous balancing acts in the high branches of trees, with feathered peacock wings and fairy make-up, astounding the crowds. The two families have been rivals for generations, each believing the other has the magic of the devil flowing in their veins. The rivalry is violent and dangerous; brought up to believe a touch from one can kill the other, the only way to safely touch them is through fighting in order to keep their magic away.
Lace is a Paloma, new to the mermaid show, and has been brought up on the stories of the terrible things the Corbeaus have done, how they killed her great uncle, and she knows only fear and hate. Cluck is a Corbeau, who creates the beautiful wings the performers wear, and likewise has been brought up to believe in the Palomas are a danger to his family, and killed one of his cousins. Every year the two families arrive at the town of Almendro for it's annual festival, and do their best to keep out of each others way, and make sure the others don't come near them. When the town's chemical plant causes the clouds to rain down poison, Cluck comes across Lace as the water is burning through her clothes and skin. Not knowing she's a Paloma, he saves her life - and one of his feathers burns a scar into her arm. Lace has been touched by a Corbeau, a brand burned into her skin, and neither her nor Cluck's lives will remain the same.

Oh my god, this book is incredible! There is something about magic realism that is so beautiful; there's no explanation for the fantastic - the Corbeaus' feathers, the Palomas' scales - they just are, and are accepted by character and by reader, and the magic of the story always weaves itself around my heart. This is the second novel in the magic realism genre I've read, the first being The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton, and although The Weight of Feathers has a more contemporary feel to it, I found the storytelling to be just as wonderful. I completely immersed myself in Lace and Cluck's tale, and I didn't want to come up for air.

At the head of each family is a strong, fierce woman. Each woman is more than the head of the family, they are dictators, in their word in law. For the Palomas, it is Lace's Abuela, her grandmother. Your place in the family is determined by how happy she is with you, and she doesn't bat an eyelid at telling you you're not pretty enough or slim enough, or you're simply not good enough. Every mermaid strives to get her approval. Her tongue is sharp, and she rules with an iron fist. I cannot begin to tell you how dispicable this woman is. Nicole, Cluck's mother, is the head  of the Corbeau family, and she despises Cluck, and puts him down at every opportunity. Her other son, Dax, is the star of the show, and as she makes no bones about how much she is disgusted by Cluck, Dax makes sure Cluck does what's right for the family with his fist. Any slip up will bring a beating from Dax, and Nicole will over look it. No-one stands up for Cluck, or helps him. Many don't seem to care, or fear for their own place in the family. The only people who are kind to him are his cousin Eugenie, and his Pépère, his grandfather, who he is very close to and tries to emulate. Individually, each family is absolutely disgusting, but when their hate for each other is added, they become horrifying.

So it's a wonder that Lace and Cluck ever manage to feel anything for each other. I don't want to give any hints as to what happens after the chemical storm, because this is a story you very much should discover as you read it. But both characters are filled with superstition about and fear of the other's family, it's amazing that anything happens. But it's a wonderful Romeo and Juliet-esque story, where they overcome their differences, and learn that what they've been told doesn't matter when it comes to each other.

I was blown away by this incredible story, but I have to say I was a little underwhelmed by the climax. It was more of an anti-climax for me. With all the hate flying around through this story, I just thought there would have been more of an epic conflict at the end. But there's also so much beauty in the ending, and in the actions taken by Lace and Cluck, I can forgive the slight disappointment.

The Weight of Feathers is an epic love story full of beauty and magic that left me full of wonder. With this fantastic debut novel, McLemore has definitely become one to much. I cannot wait for her second novel, When the Moon Was Ours.

[ellieroth]

Original de: El Extraño Gato del Cuento

Estoy obsesionada con la portada de The Weight of Feathers, es bastante sencilla y no me dice absolutamente nada sobre la historia, lo cual para algunos puede ser algo no bueno, pero en lo personal, me gusta el minimalismo y el misterio. Con solo la portada este libro tenía un lugar en mis lecturas seguras. Además, está escrito por una latina, la verdad es que sentía mucha curiosidad sobre la representación que se le daría en el libro.

The Weight of Feathers trata sobre dos artísticas familias rivales. Estoy en un poco en duda en poner familia cirquera, porque no es propiamente un circo, son dos shows bastante impresionantes, aunque toman algunos rasgos de libros sobre circos que leí con anterioridad.

Estéticamente, y con esto me refiero a vestuario y escenarios, este libro tiene uno bastante impresionante, la familia latina se caracteriza por sus sirenas, mientras la francesa por las hadas. Mis dos seres fantásticos favoritos.

El romance que The Weight of Feathers trae es adorable. Se sale un poco del tópico, en lugar de tener una cenicienta, tenemos un ceniciento, y en lugar de un chico oscuro y confundido, tenemos a una protagonista que se hace querer, no por ser extremadamente dulce, es su persona completa la que la hace un gran personaje. El libro se sale un poquito de las normas de género que generalmente traen los libros.

Y, ¿los dos juntos? Adorables a más no poder.

PERO

Si bien Anna-Marie McLemore trae una historia de romance bastante entrañable y los rastros de magia que se pueden leer al transcurso del libro me dejaron muy intrigada con lo que traerían los siguientes capítulos, la trama del libro se me hizo confusa muchas veces.

Es probable que sea cosa mía, desde que se introdujo el accidente, no lo entendí bien al inicio y, llegado al final no lo entendí al 100%. Y fue duro para mí, porque eso es lo que hace que esta rivalidad entre familias nazca, el problema era que yo no entendía exactamente porqué.

Luego está el tema de las supersticiones. Yo llegué a entender lo de la pluma y cierto color, en este momento no recuerdo bien si solo eran esos dos, porque ya había leído otro libro con esos detalles, Girl On Wire y The Girl Who Walked on Air, en esos libros me explicaron que y porqué eran de mala suerte, si no hubiera tenido la experiencia de los otros libros, creo que al terminar el libro habría quedado confundida.

The Weight of Feathers me ha gustado, fotográficamente sería una película bastante bonita para ver, sobre todo por el final tan wow. No solo por el twist, tengo muy marcada la escena final del libro, a lo photoset de tumblr. Tiene sus cosas que pulir un poquito, pero para ser debut, ha sido bastante interesante.

Además creo que es la primera vez que personas que no tienen ningún conocimiento del español o el francés, se han estado quejando porque no entendían algunas frases. bu bu babies

Me interesa seguir leyendo a Anne-Marie, tendré prioridad con sus próximos libros.

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