Family Lore

Magical. An intergenerational story of love, home and family, Elizabeth’s adult fiction debut is vibrant and colourful. I loved the different perspectives of the Marte women and how they wove into the countdown to the wake. Highly recommend!

Thank you to the publisher for this advance copy. I know I'm supposed to write a review but I don't think I possess the right words to do justice to the experience of reading this novel. Ms. Acevedo has RANGE for days! I have read all her books so I didn't even know what to expect, I'm beyond impressed by her narrative style in this book and I can't wait for more readers to experience the magic I also experienced. 10/10

BOOK: Family Lore
GENRE: Literary Fiction
TROPES & THEMES: family ties, magical realism, multi-generational, past and present events, multiple povs, secrets, unique storytelling
RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐🌟
RELEASE DATE: August 1st, 2023

Elizabeth Acevedo is the most talented writer I have ever read. Someone works hard on his or her's craft but she is simply talented.
The compelling storytelling and innovative ways she comes with when she crafts her books are absolute proof of that.

Here we have a deep dive into the intricate family relationships of Marte women as they prepare for the wake of Flor. No, she is not dead but a person who very much has a gift to predict someone's death. So why is she having a living wake?

The story starts six weeks before the living wake and it is told mostly through interviews that Ona, Flor's daughter is doing with the other family members.

"You grounded me here, with both feet, on both knees, stooped on all fours, heaving to bring you forth. I have known death since before I was born, but I had not truly known life until I gave it to you."

There are many topics and characters through which we are introduced to this Dominican American family.

I loved Ona. She is mu favorite character. Fun fact on Croatian Ona means Her/She which is fascinating considering Ona's character description; " possessing a magical alpha vagina."

I would recommend this book to all readers who love to read books with magical realism, close-knit family storylines, and strong female voices in their books.

I've almost finished this book but had to stop reading to review as it's just so beautiful. I was already a fan of the authors previous works and this hasn't disappointed me so far.
A more detailed review will be uploaded on my Instagram: @thebraidedbibliophile. Thank you for allowing me to read a copy, I can't wait for it to be published and I'm excited to get back to reading.

Magical, beautiful, and so very special. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this lovely book in advance!

There's a family of strong women, all of them need to change something or are ready for great changes. There's magic realsm, strong emotions, and well written story that I loved.
Great characters, tighly knitted plot, excellent storytelling.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

"Family Lore" by Elizabeth Acevedo is a captivating and beautifully crafted novel that deserves every bit of its five-star rating. Acevedo, known for her lyrical writing, takes us on an intimate journey into the lives of the Marte women, seamlessly blending past and present, New York City and Santo Domingo.

This book is a mosaic of interconnected stories, focusing on the four sisters and their two daughters, offering a deep exploration of family dynamics and the enduring power of sisterhood. Without a conventional plot, the strength of "Family Lore" lies in its well-developed characters. Each woman is vividly portrayed, with their own unique quirks and struggles. Acevedo's storytelling prowess shines as she delves into their lives, revealing their vulnerabilities and showcasing their resilience.

The infusion of magical realism adds an enchanting layer to the narrative. The women's various gifts and abilities, intertwined with Dominican Republic culture and expressions, create a rich tapestry of traditions and beliefs.

"Family Lore" is an emotionally resonant read, alternating between moments of humor, reflection, and profound insight. Fans of Gabriel García Márquez's "One Hundred Years of Solitude" will find a kindred spirit in Acevedo's storytelling style (though hers is much more intimate story, not spanning years like in Garcia Marquez). I wholeheartedly recommend this novel for its depth, authenticity, and the unforgettable journey it takes readers on through the lives of the Marte women.

When I was a teenager, I read my first Gabriel Garcia Marquez novel and I fell in love with his stories of Latin American culture, magical realism, the influence of family and love on our lives, and humanity at its purest, be that its most beautiful or ugliest, form. I have spent the rest of my life in search of other authors who capture that same spirit and Elizabeth Acevado has done exactly that in Family Lore.

The hook is fantastic. A woman who can foresee death plans her own wake - and oh how the family unravels. Everyone's response to the event is unique, not least of all because of what is unfolding in their own lives at the same time. With each family member's story, and the magical quirks they possess, I fell deeper in love with the Marte women. Their struggles and the secret and shared memories they revisit brought this family of women to life on the page, each of them strong and memorable in her own way,

Family Lore is a book I'll be recommending to absolutely everyone because five stars are simply not enough!

Thanks to an ARC from NetGalley. So this was the first Elizabeth Acevedo book I read, she’s been on my to read list but never got to her. So I can only judge this on its own, and for me this was a a great novel. I loved the sisters each distinct and well developed, the two neices and the rich Dominican history interwoven in. Reminiscent of the historical magical realism of Gabriel Garcia Marquez mixed with a contemporary attitude from Yadi and Ona’s stories.

Flor is having a living wake. The why and when of her death is anyones guess but Flor is known to dream of death, so is there really any point in wondering?

Family Lore follows the Marte Family (sisters and their daughters) from their childhoods in the Dominican Republic (and NYC) to their adult lives in America. With magic in (some) of their blood they try and navigate life and death as best they know how.

This book at its core is a book about mystery and family. Family Lore is wonderfully paced and written with multi-characters POVs (six of them) which i adored ❤️ being in the head of all the characters really added a deeper understanding of the family as a whole and helped to untangle lots of feelings.

This is somehow my third book this year about death (make of that what you will) and I have loved everyone of them

4.5/5 stars

I had high hopes going into this because I’m a sucker for multi-POV family sagas, and Family Lore did not disappoint.

Flor Marte can predict when people will die, so her family members are alarmed when she decides to throw herself a living wake. The story moves backwards and forwards through the family’s lives, exploring their various conflicts and secrets. It’s narrated by one of the second gen characters and she inserts her own reflections as parenthetical asides while recounting her cousin’s and aunts’ stories. This narrative choice felt like a fresh take on a multigenerational family saga and left me wondering what parts of the story were altered or left out in the process of sharing oral histories.

It was so easy to relate to all the characters. One of them reminded me of myself and I was constantly reminded of my loved ones in many of the sisters and side characters. They were all so frustrating and endearing.

Much of this was a solid 4-star read for me, but the ending and Acevedo’s beautiful prose bumped it up to a 4.5.

My thanks to NetGalley and Canongate for an eARC of this book.

Thank you to Elizabeth Acevado, Canongate and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a honest review.
Family Lore is a really beautiful, emotional and cultural read.
I fell in love with the characters that Elizabeth created. Each woman in the Marte family has a ‘magic’ power, from prophesising death to being incredible at sex! I really loved this element, because it really pulled me in and made me listen closely to what each character was saying.
This book was set over 3 days. It is centred around Flor, who can prophesise death, and the days leading up to and the day of her living wake. This book really questions life, what it means to be alive and fulfilment in life – there were definitely points where I was getting emotional.
Interestingly, Elizabeth is really ingenious in using a research project to give the reader a look into the Marte sisters childhoods in the Dominican Republic. (Sidenote: I loved all of the Dominican Republic cultural references from their childhood, which continued throughout the Marte sisters adult lives in NYC.) I hope I’m remembering this correctly: Ona (Flor’s daughter), an anthropologist, is researching her maternal family’s lives in the Dominican Republic and what it meant to grow up there. This was a really interesting way to have an insight into the Marte sisters childhoods, alongside their memories in their POVs. I would have loved to have had more of these transcriptions and for it to be used more towards the end of the book (sort of closing it off); However, on the other hand by not closing it off, it did give the plot a very natural feel – making the story feel like we were actually getting an insight into a family for 3 days, not reading a story which has to have all the sidelines closed off by the end.
We’re given the opportunity to have a deep-dive into the lives of the other Marte sisters and their daughters/nieces through multiple POVs. The multiple POV structure that Elizabeth used really helped me grow a connection with each of the characters, and to see a vulnerability and unique perspective of each character that I wouldn’t have gained if I was seeing each character from one POV. I didn’t find the POVs confusing – each character had a very unique voice and I grew close enough to each that it was easy to move between each POV.
I really liked that there were lots of instances where it was left to the reader to interpret a thought or action of a POV character or someone they were describing – I loved being able to interpret what I wanted myself, instead of being told by a character.
Overall, this story was so elegant and poignant, Elizabeth is such a soulful writer. I really took my time reading this book and I wish I could read it over again. I fell in love with the characters and I’m really sad to see them go. Normally I would beg for a sequel after a book I loved, but I think Elizabeth has left the book perfectly – I love that I can interpret the future for these characters whichever way I want.
Thank you again to Elizabeth Acevado, Canongate and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a honest review.

A wonderful story of Life within one family from the Dominican Republic. The book has a magic all of its own and was a wonderful read. Many thanks to Netgalley for an arc of this book.

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.