Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo is a multi-narrative family drama that plays out over two generations of the Marte family told from the perspectives of its women, each with her own distinctive voice.
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Acevedo's young adult fiction is a staple in any school library, and with this being her first foray into adult fiction, I jumped at the chance to read this prior to its publication. It has all the ingredients I look for in a novel; strong women, sisterhood, spiritualism, inclusive sexuality and magical realism. The central plot sees the eldest of the Marte sisters, Flor, preparing for her 'living wake', and as she is the sister with the power to see upcoming deaths through her dreams, the rest of the Marte family start to reflect on the lives they've led together and separately.
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Be prepared to fall deeply in love with these women. Fictional or not, they will become your family for the duration of this 384 page novel. Acevedo has proudly spoken of how close this story is to her own family and the experiences she and her female relatives have had moving from the Dominican Republic to New York, and how the migrant experience filters down to the next generation.
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Acevedo's writing is brimming with wit and is unapologetically sexual. It's a coming-of-age narrative for women who have already come of age but are continually exploring their own desires. I absolutely adored reading this. Thank you to netgalley, Canongate and Acevedo for the advanced reader copy.

We meet Flor and her three sisters and their two daughters between them, all living in New York and all with some kind of small, secret magical power - whether that's predicting death, knowing when someone is telling the truth or concocting herbal remedies. Through the book, structured around Flor's decision to hold a "living wake" for herself after seeing the idea on a TV documentary, along with her relatives' reactions to it, we flit back and forth through their stories, back and forth from the Dominican Republic, as they meet their husbands and/or lovers, have their children, suffer at the hands of their mother and aunts and stand firm for each other ...

There's some history, but woven in carefully without info dumps, and we cycle through the different women's viewpoints - I have to say here that it was a bit hard to keep track at first and I think reading the paper book and being able to flick back to the character list would be easier than reading the ebook. But I got it sorted in the end and loved all the different stories, as well as the Spanish phrases scattered through the narrative which was good practice for me. An excellent and absorbing read and I will be going back to the others of this author's book I have stashed away.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

As the title suggests, Family Lore is an intense family saga, focused around the lives of five Dominican sisters who have since moved to New York. Some of the sisters are known for their other-worldly powers or visions, especially Flor with her premonitions of death about people around her. So when Flor announces a living wake, the family tumbled into stress and confusion, wondering what she has seen, while also dealing with several issues in their own lives.

I really enjoyed this book, and I think its main positive is its characterisation. Each sister, and their daughters, husbands etc. are fleshed out so well and we are given insight into the backgrounds while also developing an understanding of the more current family dynamics leading up to the wake. Some parts I found a bit unnecessary but overall I really enjoyed this. I recommend for anyone interested in reading about family sagas, magical realism, culture and women.

A sisterhood saga that had so much potential to multiply its magic.

Thanks NetGalley & Canongate for the ARC in exchange of an honest review.

Synopsis –

Flor, the eldest sister, is gifted with the art of intuition, foresight and accurate predictions about life and death. So when she decides to host her own living wake to celebrate her long life, her younger sisters - Matilde, Pastora and Camila are concerned about what her futuristic hunch could be. Over the 3 days leading up-to this momentous gathering, we get drawn into the lives of these sisters - as they navigate their life challenges.

Review -

Family Lore is built on the most unique premise. I loved how each of these sisters were so different, each talented in their own ways - fierce, competent and determined. But the major problem in this story, is how disjointed the sisters’ threads were - failing to capture their bonding and emotional connection.

This ultimately prevented me from getting invested in these characters and feeling for them, even as they go through so many hardships like infidelity, infertility, heartbreak and failure. With Flor in particular, there is a bit of magical element, which again, didn’t have the intended impact on me. (I’m not a fan of magical realism, but mind you, I absolutely loved Circe and Magic Lessons).

Furthermore, the timelines were all over the place, with random flashbacks making it hard to figure if it was in the past or the present. Sadly, the most anticipated event of the wake itself also lacked the punching effect I expected it to deliver.

However, the saving grace is Acevedo’s beautiful prose. Her writing is so lyrical and imbibes poignancy. I also loved learning about Latin American culture, tradition, family values and their dishes!

Hopefully this is only a transitional glitch for Acevedo from YA to adult fiction and I look forward to her future works.

After loving this authors YA books, I was excited to give this Adult book a try. Unfortunately, I struggled with it, I'm not massively into magical realism, but went with the unusual story, but the switch in characters after only a chapter left me struggling to keep up.
This is a case of not the book and rather it's me, I shall give the audio a go and hopefully I will enjoy more.

I will not lie I was definitely left confused for the first hundred pages of this book I’m not sure if this was more to do with the author or me but I really couldn’t differentiate between the characters as well as I should have for a good while and it was only at the end where I started getting a good concept of what was going on

What I did like about this book was the way the family magic system like they each had their own very different some much more different than others specifically Ona that was kind of a mad one and I loved it being referenced through out the whole book

The book also has a well written family dynamic like real families some people are closer than others and the drama between them was enticing and I genuinely cared about the lives of most of them but I really wish more details were given in certain sections

I have never read an avecedo book so I think I will need to read more to get an understanding of how she writes but overall first impressions are strong and this is a book that should definitely be considered when your at the book store

Also the cover is fantastic whoever made it should be proud

I love Elizabeth Acevedo's writing. It's always beautiful, emotional and richly woven. However I found that in Family Lore there's just too much happening, too many characters for that writing to shine. This is also hindered by the constant backwards and forwards between family stories and times. I've said before I've very much a linear reader. I like stories told from beginning to end without much diversion in time, and unfortunately Family Lore does exactly this, skipping between time lines and plots. Although Acevedo has the writing ability to carry this off, artfully weaving these plots together as the stories develop, I personally just couldn't engage. I also thought that the sisters all had very similar voices, and at times I struggled to distinguish them from each other. Again, this made it harder for me to connect with the stories.

I think this is firmly a case of trying everything all at once, when a few single strands of story would have thrived. Acevedo is undoubtedly a talented writer, but Family Lore could easily have been broken down into four separate books centering on each sister and the stories would have been a lot more impactful.

There was such a buzz about this book, and I have read Elizabeth's Acevedo's back catalogue of books. I was excited for this one as it's the first 'adult' novel from Acevedo.
However, when I started reading - I was disappointed to find that the book wasn't entirely written in verse/prose like their other books.

There were a lot of characters in the book, and it switches between English and Spanish ( I think it's Spanish - please feel free to correct me if I am wrong.) So, I found this a bit difficult at times. However, it did help to create the mood/atmosphere, and set the scene.
The pacing of this book was very slow (especially compared to Acevedo's other books) and I hate to say, but I lost interest the more I read.

Not my favourite Elizabeth Acevedo book - but it was still an OK read. Hopefully I will enjoy her next book more!

I tried. I really did, but I just couldn't like this. I found it hard to figure out which character was the focus of each section. The bursts of Spanish, even though I could follow the gist of some phrases, just compounded my feelings of being lost. The timeline had me baffled. In all honesty the dramatis personae which highlighted one as possessing an 'alpha vagina' made me wary right from page one. Not for me.

This novel is so full and rich. From class privilege and the vulnerability of women in the face of male violence, to poverty induced gang warfare and the necessity of prison reform, this novel traversed decades, countries and lifetimes of experiences. Exploring what is gained and what is lost across generations and cultures, this story felt like an epic, complete with journeys and trials and emotional arcs.

I loved the way the story explored and celebrated the lives of two generations of women within the same family, both their individual stories and the relationships between the mothers, daughters, sisters and cousins. The narratives spent so much time focusing on traditionally female concerns, from periods, fertility and raising children to cooking and keeping house, and in doing so uncovered the intimate details of the women’s lives and their daily internal monologues. It was exciting too that they were no less interested in their desires and ambitions as they got older. The way that the novel cemented the importance of these ordinary women (with the exception of their magic) and the importance of telling their stories made this a novel I want to pass on to friends and relatives of all ages.

After reading the blurb, I was really interested in reading this book. However, unfortunately it was not for me. The writing was lovely but I found it very slow and the various points of view and switching from one to the other was a little tedious. It would not put me off reading other books by this author though

What a beautiful and magical book! It was so interesting reading from the various POVs of the various family members while they unveil the secrets and the pasts of other relatives.

I have loved everything that this author has written. I was very excited to get this arc. I found that it started extremely slowly and by the end I had to tell myself to stop skim reading and to take it all in. I usually love a multiple POV and family saga but I don't thunk this was for me. Some of the other worldly powers that the women of the family had, namely the two cousins, jist didn't do it for me. Acevedo is one hell of a written and I will continue to read everything she writes.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for sending through an e-book for review!

I’ve actually never read any of Acevedo’s work before, and although this book didn’t hit the spot for me, I’m definitely interested in reading her other books.

In this instance, the large cast of characters, multiple POVs and the flashback-style stories of their pasts made it difficult for me to connect with the characters and the book overall. I found myself frequently getting overwhelmed trying to keep track of who everyone was and which family member the chapter was focusing on. However, by the end of the book I did have a slightly clearer sense of the various women’s traits which made it easier to follow along for the final chapters.

I also found some of the sexual content (specifically the ‘alpha vagina’) to be a little off putting and I’m not really sure why or how it added to the plot as a whole. I will say it was funny and quite entertaining at times but overall it didn’t feel necessary and felt a tad too cringey.

Despite the fact that I struggled to fully connect with this book and found the first two thirds of it a bit too slow, I absolutely have to applaud Acevedo’s writing skills. Her prose is beautifully constructed and incredibly poetic which largely contributed to me sticking through and finishing the book. I really enjoyed exploring the female family dynamics and sharing in their closeness and deep understanding of one another. Although this story wasn’t right for me, I’m definitely interested in exploring more of her work as she has a great talent for writing.

I’m afraid this was a DNF for me. I just didn’t enjoy the style of prose. I’m sure there are others who will love it, I imagine it will be quite divisive! But it was the wrong book for this reader.

Set in the run up to and day of a living wake, Family Lore follows the lives of several women from the same family as they navigate life, secrets and their respective pasts. The collected stories are predominantly third person with the exception of Ona, as if her character has compiled them. It's an interesting switch in writing styles but one that didn't work well for me in comparison to some of Acevedo's other works. Similarly If you are looking for a more adult version of her previous YA works this is not the book for you. Family Lore is a complete departure from Acevedo's other works. Family Lore is an exploration of womanhood and sisterhood with some dark subjects covered so be sure to check content warnings before reading. I personally struggled with so many povs and timelines, the uncomfortable sexual content, and the slow first half, but I can see how it would appeal to those who are particularly drawn to novels that explore the reality of female life, especially those at the intersection of dual citizenship.

This was a DNF for me unfortunately. I was intrigued by the idea of Flor organising a living wake but the constant switches in POV and timeline began to become tiresome. Eventually I decided I had no interest in learning more about Ona's 'alpha vagina', the details of Yadi's excrement and her unusual relationship with limes, or their sexual predelictions. I can see the author is a gifted writer and others have really enjoyed it, so I think this is a case of right book, wrong reader.

Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4 stars
Publication date: 10 August 2023
Thank you to NetGalley and Canongate for providing me with an e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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Flor has a gift: she can predict, to the day, when someone will die. So when she decides she wants a living wake - a party to bring her family and community together to celebrate the long life she's led - her sisters are surprised. Has Flor foreseen her own death, or someone else's?
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I heard a lot of good things about this author and was looking forward to reading her first adult novel.
This has a lot of my favourite narrative devices: generational saga focusing on the women of the family, multiple POVs, multiple timelines - this all really worked for me. The writing was gorgeous and it was very much a character study of these four sisters and their daughters. The stories of these women were seemingly collected for a thesis by Ona, one of the daughters, who interjected here and there in the middle of people's narrations to bring in her anthropological expertise and perspective. But nothing came out of this and it ultimately felt like a pretty useless narrative gimmick.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book; I particularly loved looking back at the history of the four sisters, taking them from the Dominican Republic to New York, more than I enjoyed the present storyline and its focus on Yadi and Ona, the two daughters.
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The women of the Marte family all have a special gift, and they use their gifts in different ways in this magical story about a family from the Dominican Republic who are living their lives in modern-day New York. Sisters, daughters, nieces, and the men in their lives are due to gather for Flor's living wake, and as the party gets nearer you find out more about each of the characters and their lives. Lovely and touching, the ending is very moving and the whole will lift your spirits with the warmth of connection and belonging.

Family Lore is the highly anticipated adult debut from award winning author Elizabeth Acevedo and as a fan of her previous works I was very excited to get my hands on a copy. I am pleased to say that it did not disappoint, and readers who enjoy her strong and beautiful writing style and her ability to populate her books with powerful and independent female characters will find much to enjoy here.
The book is the story of several such women, all part of the Marte family, the sisters Matilde, Flor , Pastora and Camila, as well as Flor's daughter Ona and Pastora's daughter Yadi, all of whom have to a greater or lesser degree some sort of magical ability inherited through the generations. These range from Pastora's abilities to see people's truths and Flor's ability to foresee death to Ona's magical vagina. It is Flor's ability that provides the premise for the book as she decides to throw herself a living wake and bring all the family together, but this is really a book for readers who enjoy character more than plot as it is these women and their relationships that are the real focus of the book, and readers who like a mutigenerational story will find so much to enjoy here. The author makes clever use of the fact that one of the characters is carrying out scholarly research on the family history to incorporate snippets of interviews into the text which act as introductions to the individual character's backstories. As a reader I was fully transported while reading this book, it was a truly special experience.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.