The Weight of Feathers

Thomas Dunne Books 

The Weight of Feathers
Anna-Marie McLemore
2016

The Summary
"The Palomas and the Corbeaus have long been rivals and enemies, locked in an escalating feud for more than 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 since 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 could be just as dangerous on the ground as it is in the trees.

"Beautifully written and richly imagined, The Weight of Feathers is an utterly captivating young adult novel by a talented new voice."

The Good
Oh, this book.  I think I lost my heart to this book.

To start off, The Weight of Feathers runs almost parallel to William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.  It has feuding families (Corbeaus versus Palomas), star-crossed lovers (Cluck and Lace), and tragic undertones (escalating tensions between the families, violence, lies, sordid secrets, etc.).  However, The Weight of Feathers isn't just another Romeo and Juliet remake; rather, it's a modern love story that incorporates elements of Shakespeare's tragic play and subtle hints of magic.

Personally, I loved reading Anna-Marie McLemore's novel.  It was fascinating and lyrical; it was the kind of book that made my heart swoon, but kept my interest piqued with its humor and heart and magic.  The Weight of Feathers is woven with threads of magic and fantasy, but it remains firmly grounded in reality, dealing head-on with personal tragedy and tough truths that will break your heart.

It's emotionally intense, especially as Cluck and Lace slowly grow closer and realize the truth of why the Palomas and the Corbeaus are mortal enemies.  (It's like a soap opera.  No joke, it has that level of intensity--and you can't help but gasp when you learn the truth behind the Paloma-Corbeau feud.)

But, most of all, I loved the writing.  I read a review that noted that McLemore's YA novel is "beautifully rendered," and I found that rings true throughout the book.  I absolutely loved the way The Weight of Feathers was written.  While it did take some time for me to sink into the story, to understand the cadence and the style, I gradually grew to love the way the author described the setting and verbalized feelings and told stories about the Palomas and the Corbeaus.

I loved the way the words simply flowed.  It was beautiful, like a song, even when describing terrible tragedies; it describes things in a different way, utilizing the English language and turning it in different ways; it creates candid, complex characters.  Honestly, I just loved everything about it, like these lines:

• "The rain burned into her.  She curled up tighter, cheek against her sleeve.  She shut her eyes tight enough to see comet trails of light.  She tried to keep out the feeling that the rain was a million lit matches.  And the strange smell in the air that was a little like apple cider if apple cider was the venom of some night creature, the rain and stars its teeth."

• "Her mouth left a smudge of lipstick on his.  She rubbed it away.  He closed his eyes and held her hand there, kissed her thumb and took it lightly between his teeth, holding onto it.  It trembled the veins that held her heart, that feeling of his teeth on her thumb pad and fingernail."

• "He wore his loneliness like a scar.  Most of the time his sleeves covered it, but when she cuffed them back, he couldn't hide it.  She wanted to tell him she was not afraid of what he was, this red-streaked thing in all the pure, perfect black.  But the words dissolved between their lips like ice crystals."

• "Lace couldn't hear what they were whispering.  But now they were all witnesses to this thing she and Cluck had made them see.  They would have to carry the truth, whether or not they spoke it.  It would cling to them like the burrs off sticker grass.  If they twisted it, it would pinch them back."

Like I said, I lost a piece of my heart to this book and these words.

The Bad
Although I loved this book, I can see how it might be an acquired taste.  I loved the way the story was told, I loved the magic and the drama and the tragedy and the romance, and I especially loved the lyrical cadence of the story.  It was beautiful; however, I can see other readers not liking it for the very same reasons.

Likewise, I think the novel builds slowly.  It takes a long time to set the stage for the inevitable confrontation between the Palomas and the Corbeaus, and it takes a long time for the relationship between Cluck and Lace to build.  I found the conclusion of the story well worth the wait, but it can be a mite frustrating to get there.

The Ugly
Abuse.

I fell a little in love with Cluck.  He's smart, he's creative and inventive, and yet he's constantly spurned and outright abused by his family.  It broke my heart.  And, as time went on, I absolutely hated Dax and his mother.  They were awful, terrible people.  Granted, they were awful, terrible people influenced by their circumstances and their tragic history, but they were still awful, terrible people.