In recent years I have loved the influx of multigenerational, multicultural and often multilingual stories that explore the beautiful complexity of family bonds and the multilayered experience of growing up as a child of immigrants. Carolyn Huynh’s wonderful novel The Fortunes of Jaded Women was one of my favourite reads of 2022 for those very reasons, and that’s also why I couldn’t wait to read Family Lore.

I really, really wanted to love this book. And in a way many aspects of it are great. I loved the premise of sisters from the Dominican Republic who each have a magical gift, and who retain their bond after moving to New York City. In particular I loved the close relationship between Pastora, who can tell when someone is lying, and Flor, who can foresee death and decides to throw herself a living wake. Their story going back to their childhood in DR, which we get to read as one of the many flashbacks throughout the book, was wonderful.

Acevedo writes beautifully; the wake and Flor’s final chapter are joyful and emotional moments that really stood out to me. Her description of the cultural and generational clash between Pastora, the poor immigrant who can’t stand to waste food, and her American-raised daughter who both misunderstands and judges this behaviour, is a heartbreaking one I won’t forget anytime soon.

But despite all that, Family Lore just didn’t grip me and I found the story really lacked any kind of suspense or momentum. Acevedo’s prose, while beautiful, somehow fell flat and very rarely delivered an emotional punch. Flor and Pastora excepted, none of the characters carried a distinct voice or personality. In particular I struggled with the two cousins (especially Ona, the narrator) who come across as entitled brats in the face of their elders’ generational trauma. Growing up between two cultures and traditions is a difficult experience, but I found it hard to feel any sympathy for them.

While Family Lore wasn’t everything I’d hoped for, overall it’s a poignant and heartfelt description of immigrant life. It is bound to captivate other readers, and it made me want to read Acevedo’s earlier books.

See I've read 2 books from Elizabeth Acevedo and I loved them! I had really high hopes for this book and I was so excited to see I was auto approved for it by netgalley. Sadly it just fell flat.
Whilst It was interesting to have so many perspectives, it didn't really help, it was quite confusing and trying to follow any storyline for longer than 2 pages was difficult. For the first half of the chapter I was getting quite edgy with it because once I got involved and interested in a storyline, it would change over and not really mentioned again. I like the family aspect of this book and the mention of love, fertility and friendship. However I think I would need to reread this for a few times to really understand what was even going on and for it to even have the same or similar impact as either clap when you land and with the fire on high.

Family Lore follows the story of a Dominican-American family in the lead-up to a living wake organized by Flor, one of the women in the family. Flor has a magical ability which allows her to see people's deaths. The story is told from the perspective of the women of the family and you learn about their lives (and magical gifts) in the days before the wake, as well as during the event itself.

Unfortunately, this book wasn't for me, despite the fact that I was banking on the family story to keep me interested (I love books dealing with complicated family dynamics and families in general). However, I am grateful I read it because it has confirmed to me what elements I don’t like in novels, all of which were present in Family Lore, namely:

- too many alternating POVs
- magical realism elements that are poorly integrated into the story (except for Flor)
- experimental writing / non-linear structure that hinders the understanding of the text

We have 6 POVs in Family Lore, most of which did not interest me, and because of the short length of the book I didn't feel like I got enough time with them to become immersed into the story and characters. Flor and Matilde were the strongest POVs for me. The skips from POV to POV were also confusing to me as a reader, despite the list of characters provided at the beginning of the book.

The non-linear structure also contributed to the confusion. The story was fragmented, with interruptions of the main narrative via flashbacks, interviews, portions written in brackets, alternating the third and first person. If you like this style of writing, you might enjoy this book. Personally, I didn't vibe with it, and the fragmented structure didn't contribute to the story in any way. I have read stories where this was better executed ("Human Acts" and "The Buddha in the Attic" come to mind as excellent examples of experimenting with form and narration, without sacrificing coherence).

I wish I had liked this book more. I was very intrigued when I heard about it on TikTok, but alas. Still, I am grateful NetGalley gave me an ebook copy to read and review. If you love multiple POVs, magical realism and non-linear stories, I'd say give it a shot.

The character list at the beginning of the book was so helpful. I love a family saga and I feel like this will become a favourite as I read it each year.

Family Lore is Elizabeth Acevedo’s first adult novel and it is told from multiple perspectives. It is a generational family saga that follows three generations of women from a Dominican-American family. There is an element of magical realism to this story as the women of the family have gifts. For example, Flor can predict the day someone will die and Pastora can read people’s truths. Flor decides to host a living wake for herself but won’t tell her sisters if she has predicted her death or someone else’s. All of the women are dealing with their own issues. This starts three days before the wake and the reader really gets to know all of the characters. The writing in this was great, Acevedo really has a talent for writing, the story was enjoyable and I loved the cyclical nature of the ending. It was great to see the culture of a Dominican-American family. My only problem with this was that there was just too many characters, the book does come with a character list at the start but I kept getting mixed up with the women and who was which child and such. This led to a lack of connection with some of the characters. That said, I will be giving this four stars because Acevedo is really talented and I can see people loving this. I would definitely recommend this and I am glad I got the chance to read this.