From the first, ‘Family Lore’ is genuinely gripping. This is the type of absorbing read that I love: when the voice of the p-o-v character is so enthralling that I just want to read and read and never to come to the end. And in ‘Family Lore’, Elizabeth Acevedo crafts six such voices for the women of one Dominican-American family. This is (I’m sorry to say) the first novel that I’ve read set (partly) in the Dominican Republic, but I intend to remedy that now.

There's something so penetrating, so full-bodied, that I could feel the very pulse of each character, every time. The clarity of characterisation is remarkable.

Familiar, as a librarian, with Acevedo’s name from YA and Teen Fiction, I’m overjoyed to have found her first novel for adults as engrossing as I have.

This is a novel that pulls its weight and works hard for you if you work hard for it. Don’t expect any molly-coddling where language, customs, and cultural references are concerned. And I love that; authorial self-possession is what thrills me in a novel, and Acevedo here is assured, inimitable.

My thanks to Canongate and the author.

"Family Lore" by Elizabeth Acevedo is a breathtaking collection of poems that delves into the complexities of family, identity, and cultural heritage. Acevedo's lyrical prowess is on full display, as she weaves words into powerful narratives, connecting generations and memories. The poems are deeply evocative, providing a profound insight into the emotional tapestry of her experiences. Each piece resonates with authenticity, drawing readers into the rich world of Acevedo's family. "Family Lore" is a compelling and emotionally charged journey that speaks to the universal themes of love, loss, and the bonds that define us.

Family Lore- Elizabeth Acevedo

The Marte women are gifted. All have different gifts, but when Flor (who has the gift of predicting death) announces that she would like to hold a living wake the sisters know that she's hiding a big secret. We follow the family in the three days prior to the wake, hearing from the sisters and also their own children. All four sisters, and their childrenare hiding something from one another and from their own children.

The book follows the 3 days following the wake, with all the preparations and family drama it involves. Although I enjoyed the book I found it difficult to remember everyone's story line. There was a lot of sisters, with partners and children who also had partners. This at times made it feel like I didn't know who I was reading the perspective of and therefore what else has happened to them during the book. I'm not sure if it's a book I need to tab and read to keep up with all the changes but then sometimes that's not how you want to sit down and devour a book. Basically I'm unsure on how I feel about this one, I had high hopes but don't feel it quite matched them.

I have thoroughly enjoyed previous YA novels by Acevedo but this novel fell a little short for me. I didn't find the easy slip into Spanish that understandable and I got very confused with all the characters. Beautiful writing, and I have loved Acevedo's use of verse but as more of a prose piece, I found the story was a bit lacking.

I wasn't a huge fan of this book. Firstly I don't feel it is very accessible for someone who doesn't speak Spanish. I actually do speak a bit of basic Spanish but there were FAR too many Spanish sentences / words used that were not translated, or even a clue as to their possible meaning. This was frustrating and made it hard for me to really get a proper feel for the writing. Secondly far too much graphic sex; admittedly this book is predominantly about relationships, both platonic and romantic, however the explicit details were not necessary for the reader to gain a sense of what was going on! Thirdly it jumped around far too much - both in terms of time and protagonist. The ending was far too abrupt to feel like a satisfying conclusion. Such a pity as I suspect this author has a talent for writing, but this book was disappointing.

Bottom line, I liked this! For the full review go to https://www.tumblr.com/joebloggshere/731452753119985664/family-lore-by-elizabeth-acevedo-bottom-line-i?source=share&ref=_tumblr

Absolutely amazing read! This book pulled me in and I loved every part of it. Such a good story, characters and writing. This book is extremely worth it and it makes so happy to see it in every bookshop I go to. I recommend this book so much and I can't wait to read more from this author.

I wanted to like this book so much more than I actually ended up doing. I had heard of the author before and was curious about the content. Magical realism is woven into the narrative, and I would not recommend this to people who do not enjoy some inexplicable things in their story, even if they are fond of family dramas.
Time is a very fluid concept in this book. We have multiple members of the same family - sisters (the brothers are almost redundant to the narrative), who each come with their own baggage and history in life. Their experiences were moulded by their own mother's choices while their own has influenced their children's (if they have any).
One of the sisters has decided to host a remembrance for herself while she is still alive. This stirs up a lot of conversation among the rest of the brood. I do not want to go into the individual details of the family members and their issues, especially because the narrative's foundation is focused on how people and their lives are introduced.
I really liked the writing style and think that if I had liked the people a little more, I would be rating this even higher. I can read about unlikeable characters and enjoy a book if I am meant to dislike them or root for them getting punished, but here, there is a balance between the real possibilities about how people tend to be likeable and not under different circumstances. Wanting the people to find their niche seems to be part of the story, and I did not warm up to them as much as I should have.
Although I am not opposed to a timeline which is non-linear, this goes back and forth a little more than I liked.
Overall, I would highly recommend the author and this book for its style and presentation.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

DNFed @ around 30%

This was my first Elizabeth Acevedo book and I really wanted to love it. I was so excited when I got the arc and now I am so disappointed.

I couldn't tell you what this is about other than everyone preparing to throw Flor a living wake. It was slow, I didn't care for the characters and there was too much random and completely unnecessary Spanish thrown in there (half of which didn't even make sense by the way - that's coming from someone whose first language is Spanish) just to show we're following hispanic characters.

I hope it gets better if you keep reading but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Maybe as an audiobook it would work better for me.

Family Lore is a lovely, well-written novel telling the stories of multiple generations of a family through their highs and their lows. Whilst not my usual cup of tea, I thought the writing was beautiful and the story flows wonderfully, drawing the reader into the lives of the well-formed characters. I'd highly recommend this to fans of the family saga type novel.

I struggled with this and started it about 4 times before making it past 20%. I felt there wasn’t enough difference between some of the characters to make it clear whose story was whose. That said, I liked the magic realism elements and I do love a family saga. Having read one of Acevedo’s YA novels before, I wanted to love this more but I don’t think it will stay with me

An intergenerational family saga with sisterhood at its heart, Acevedo’s latest novel is a delicious treat which reveals more and more with every chapter.
The layers of family members are difficult to keep track of at first, but as a deeper picture is painted of each one you can recognise them all. We see them as children growing up in the Dominican Republic, and as adults in New York.
The four Marte sisters.
Headstrong Pastora, the sister who knows when you’re lying. Dancing Matilde, light on her feet but less so in her heart. Wise Flor who dreams of deaths before they happen. Camila with a herb for every ailment.
The next generation.
Cousins Yadi with a knack for cooking meals that feed your soul as well as your body, and Ona with her magical vagina, capable of bewitching anyone in her orbit.
Yes, the women in the Marte family all have a power.

When Flor, after watching a Netflix documentary recommended by her anthropologist daughter Ona, decides to host a living wake, the family are concerned. Has she finally dreamt of her own demise?
The book spans the three days leading up to the wake, told in turn through the different voices of the Marte women, of their present day lives in New York and their childhoods in the ancestral home of Santo Domingo.
Thank you to the publishers for the arc.

Family Lore tells the story of each of the Marte women, and their lives from past to present, from Santo Domingo to New York City. Flor has a gift, she can predict the day when someone will die, so when she decides to have a living wake, the family is scared that Flor has seen her death. Family Lore tells the story of sisters, cousins aunts and nieces.
I don’t know how I feel about this book. Maybe, because Acevedo is making her adult debut, I have to process my emotions without comparing it to her YA work. I love Elizabeth Acevedo - Poet X is my favourite book by her. However, Family Lore is an OK book. Nothing too special except Flor’s gift. There were so many family members, that I kept confusing them. Also, some of the family members had very good stories fully explored. Some, however, I felt the stories could have been better. Aside from these, would I like to say Acevedo is one hell of a writer. The language and writing is unapologetic, with beautiful, prose infused with poetry. The presentation of the Marte Women is a beautiful representation of a family full of love, forgiveness, kindness and tenderness.

This took me quite awhile (in my standard) to read. And at the end of it I was left feeling some kind of a “huh. okay then.” which is kinda disappointing ngl especially since I really enjoyed getting to know and understand the characters.

I do acknowledge though that this book's primary target audience may not necessarily be me so definitely don't take my review as the end all be all. Try it for yourself and see how you like it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free digital copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

‘We see you, you were here, and when you….we’ll remember’ Elizabeth Acevedo has written a love letter to her ancestors, this story is steeped in respect and love. Parts of it really reminded me of 100 Years of Solitude but Family Lore stands on its own. So excited for Acevedo to be embarking on adult fiction and of this book is anything to go by, I will be eagerly waiting for the next one.

Family Lore is Acevedo’s first ‘adult’ novel, and having thoroughly enjoyed one of her YA books, Clap When You Land, I immediately requested this via NetGalley.

Family lore is a multi-generational tale spanning the lives of four sisters. At the centre is Flor, who is planning her own living wake.

Our story begins with a bit of occult magic: Flor, who for her whole life has been able to predict when and how people will die. When she announces that she will be holding a living wake for herself, and all her siblings are invited, plus their children, they begin to wonder what is foreseen.

Of course, whether or not Flor has predicted her own death, or anyone else’s for that matter, doesn’t become apparent until much later.

What is more important is getting to know the family and their dynamics.

We get introduced to Flor’s sisters, Matilde, Pastora, and Camila; her daughter, Ona; and her niece, Yadi, many of whom have powers of their own.

Chapters alternate among points of view, but unfortunately, Acevedo hasn’t blessed any of these characters—aside from Ona—with a particularly distinctive voice, which left me struggling with the effort of remembering who’s who.

Despite the anticipation of Flor’s upcoming wake, there isn’t much in the way of forward momentum, plus the timelines were rather disjointed, making me wonder if it was past or the present that I was reading about.

In places, Acevedo’s prose, strewn with bursts of Spanish dialect, reminded me of How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water, but it sadly lacked the finesse of Cruz’s work.

There are some fine moments along the way in this sisterhood saga, but Family Lore fails to sing consistently and misses its potential to be a much more potent read. On a positive, I truly love the cover, it's perfectly suited to the storyline. 3⭐

Thank you to Canongate and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this novel.

Flor can predict, to the day when someone will die. So when she decides to host her own living wake – bringing together her family and community to celebrate her long life – her sisters Matilde, Pastora and Camila are concerned. What has she foreseen?
Spanning the three days prior to the wake, Family Lore traces the intertwining stories of these sisters and cousins, mothers and daughters, aunts and nieces, to ask the ultimate question: what does it take to live a good life, for yourself and those you love?
This is a beautifully written book with engaging characters It is a multi - generational story that captivates from beginning to end

A roller-coaster of emotions in this book, really enjoyed it but beware it will haunt your thoughts long after the final page.

I will start by saying I am a huge fan of Acevedo's YA novels, and this one certainly demonstrates her skill with words. A multi-generational tale with flashbacks, covering the lives of four sisters, this was a celebration of those women's lives and different gifts. As such I would have to say it lacked pace, and surprisingly, emotional impact. While I found each sister interesting, I didn't find that I was as gripped or invested in their stories as I had hoped I would be. I did love the cultural insights, and the dialogue was good, I did get a little lost at times in regards to all the characters, but not so much that it really impacted on my reading. It was a good read, but I just didn't find it as enjoyable as I had hoped. That said I am sure other readers will enjoy this, It just wasn't for me.

I was excited to read a new Elizabeth Acevedo book, but this was a letdown for me. I do love her writing, that she narrated the audiobook, and that she works in Spanish and Domenican culture but...

This one was character driven and did not have much of a plot. It had many different povs of all the sisters and cousins (reminded me of How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez, which I wasn't a fan of either). Her other books are YA and this one I felt there was too much trying to be adult lit written for a female audience with talk of vaginas, sex, etc.

I still will read her next book though! (Hope she goes back to writing in verse!)