Elizabeth Acevedo never disappoints me with her writing. I love the complexity of her characters and how real they always feel, and this book was no different. Being of Afro-Carribean descent myself, I always feel a connection to books following characters of similar backgrounds, despite the family being from a different island than my family is. I felt connected to the women that we follow in so many ways and it definitely elevated the reading experience for me. Elizabeth's writing is so lyrical and reads like poetry. This book reminded me of how much I love her books, and I'm excited to read anything she writes in the future.

4.5⭐ on 🎧

Elizabeth Acevedo is one of the best modern poets of our time and I love her. This book was such a change from her YA books and it was interesting to read something so different. I loved the sisters and all of their gifts with all the interconnected messiness that comes from having a large family.

Elizabeth truly has the reader live and know these characters in such a unique way, even though sometimes the flashbacks and large variety of points of views was a bit confusing. I loved the culture of this book and how these characters showed their love in the complex way that was so relatable as someone with a large extended family.

If you enjoy complex family stories and poetry, all of Elizabeth Acevedo's books including this one are must reads.

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62949033-family-lore" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="Family Lore" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1690917781l/62949033._SX98_.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62949033-family-lore">Family Lore</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15253645.Elizabeth_Acevedo">Elizabeth Acevedo</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5554207580">4 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
Family Lore is the story of a Dominican-American family of four sisters, their daughters and their lovers. Having no sisters of my own, I especially enjoyed the dynamics between the sisters. My grandmother had five sisters and so often they reminded me of all of my aunts.<br />They looked upon their nieces as extra daughters, which I recognized with my grandmothers sisters.<br /><br />Each sister was born with a special gift. These gifts were acknowledged within the family and treated seriously, even though most people would look upon them as strange coincidences. The lives of the sisters and their daughters went back and forth in time as their stories come together resulting in a big event as the finale.<br /><br />There are so many wonderful topics of discussion in this novel that would be great for book clubs. There are also many topics in the book that are a bit spicy and explicit, so audio users may want to keep their earbuds in while listening in mixed company.<br /><br />One of the things I loved about the book was the inclusion of the Dominican culture and the customs within the family. I felt the book was a bit long and some parts didn’t seem to matter in the big picture, but overall I really liked the story.<br /><br />Many thanks to NetGalley and Ecco for allowing me to read an advance copy. I am happy to recommend this to other readers and give my honest review.
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Such a beautiful family saga by one of my favorite YA author's Elizabeth Acevedo. Her debut adult novel is not to be missed. Six women's stories are interwoven with a hint of magical realism.

I love Acevedo's books (With the Fire on High, Clap When You Land, The Poet X) but I didn't find this one as moving or enjoyable as her others. This is Acevedo's first book for adults rather than young adult. It's about six women in a Dominican-American family in New York. Flor and her three sisters each have unusual gifts.  Flor can see in her dreams when someone she knows is going to die. She decides one day to hold a living wake for herself, and her three sisters, her daughter and her niece are expected to plan the event. Has Flor dreamed her own death this time? Flor isn't telling. 

Acevedo is a beautiful writer and I very much enjoyed her blending of Spanish and English, but this book felt slow. I thought six narrators was too many, as I struggled to remember the history and unique abilities of each character. Having many different points of view seems to be a trend in fiction that I don't love. The characters of Yadi and Matilde stood out the most to me, and I would have loved a whole book about them. But youngest sister Camila seemed like an afterthought, Pastora felt underdeveloped, and most important, I struggled to feel connected the primary narrator, Flor's daughter Ona.

Also, the chronology kept shifting and there were times, perhaps due to the format of the ebook, that I wasn't sure whether we were in the past or present. 

There was so much going on in this book, but with all the different characters and timelines, ultimately it didn't have the emotional impact it was striving for. The relationships between the family members was never well developed and I expected to see more growth in the characters than I did. I think the story lacked focus, which is very unlike Acevedo's previous books, which even though they are for young adults, never felt simple or immature.

This book reminded me a lot of The Fortunes of Jaded Women, a book I had mixed feelings about for similar reasons. If you loved that one, I recommend this (or vice versa).

Note: I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley and publisher Ecco. This book published August 1, 2023.

DNF. I really liked the premise but the writing did not work for me at all. It wouldn't be fair to the book if I finished reading and gave it a low rating.

At some point I gave up on this book, it just felt like she was trying too hard to write for adults. And I'll admit I was also turned off by the long passages about certain body parts and bodily functions. But a part of me wanted to see it through, because while I haven't read too many of Acevedo's other books, I do admire her writing style, so I came back. And still didn't care much for it.
It's almost like she tried mashing up two stories when she could have easily divided them and made a duology. One book about the lives and histories of the four sisters and another about the mother and daughter, because having so many stories (and timelines) thrown at you did not work. Personally, I'd have preferred the story of the sisters because at some point I started skimming through the daughter's and niece's chapters because I really did not care for them.

Family Lore is really enjoyable and I purchased a copy through the Book of the Month Club. The characters were unique and distinct. I loved being in the world that Elizabeth Acevedo created and I loved rading about this family.

The aging sisters from the Marte clan have gifts that are both blessings and curses. Through them, we learn about the family and its history, how they came to the US from the Dominican Republic, how their family has grown, and what each one struggles with and hopes for in the future. The characters and their interactions are charming in a familial sense where there is squabbling, alliances, worries, and support. Elizabeth Acevedo makes them seem real all while maintaining a sense of wonder and magic about them too.

I've seen many reviewers disappointed in the structure I'd this story but I loved it. It didn't take long to acclimate, the magic and the history read so vividly in the Latinx literary magical realism tradition. Acevedo is still, and forever. A fave.

2/5 Stars

This book had me confused. At the beginning of the book there is a prelude that switches POV and I literally thought it was the same person while reading because I forgot they changed and then wasn't sure what exactly was happening. While I will say Elizabeth Acevedo has a way with words and telling a story, this was not it for me. The story itself fell very flat for me, and I felt no emotional connection to the characters. With the timeline shifts and all the jumping around I just couldn't concentrate on the story, so unfortunately this just wasn't the book for me.

I really wanted to love this book. I love Elizabeth Acevedo's other books "The Poet X," "With the fire on high," "Clap when you land." This book just wasn't for me. I tried to start it several times and kept getting lost with the myriad of characters and timelines. I love Acevedo's voice and lyrical writing but the story didn't keep me engaged.

Thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins for the advanced reader copy.

Beautiful portrait of family, tradition, and womanhood with all of the poeticism expected of Acevedo

This book follows the four Marte sisters: Matilde, the oldest, is said to have no magic, but she can dance like no one else, a passion she leans on in the face of her husband's infidelity. Flor has dreams of impending deaths — and now she has decided to throw herself a living wake, much to her family’s concern and confusion. Pastora, whose magic allows her to know the truth in what she hears, wants nothing more than to protect her family; and Camilla, whose proficiency with herbs and tinctures is unrivaled, is tired of being overlooked. Also interwoven are the stories of Flor’s daughter Ona, who is doing some family anthropology while struggling with her own desire to start a family; and Yadi, whose comfortable life is upturned by her childhood love's release from prison. In the complex internal thoughts and memories of these six women, Family Lore tells the story of preparations for Flor’s wake and the challenges, questions, and feelings that come along.

My Thoughts: Family Lore is a work of art. It is lyrical and magical, at times both quiet and exuberant, and full of love, hope, fear, grief, and all sorts of challenging emotions woven into a truly beautiful story. The four Marte sisters and their two daughters have such distinct stories and voices that each chapter feels like a story of its own, yet they are interconnected so beautifully to create a complex and wonderful narrative of mothers and daughters, sisters and aunts and nieces, and the ways women love and care for one another across distance, time, and other, more internal barriers. Their magic, both individual and collective, fills this story in more ways than one, and their memories of growing up in the Dominican Republic give further insight to the bonds these women have forged. I know I’ll be thinking about this one for a long time.

Content Warnings: Grief, death, sexual content, sexual assault

Spanning across 3 days you have various viewpoints from the Marte women, 4 sisters and 2 nieces, almost all have gifts. Flor can predict when someone will die so you can imagine the distress and drama caused when she decides to host her own living wake.

This is a Dominican version of Hello Beautiful with some added magical realism to get you in the mood for spooky season. Only I Loved HB but only liked this.

I almost DNF but powered through and started to enjoy it a bit around halfway. The nonlinear timeline threw me off as well as the interrupting narrator and it took awhile for me to get into it.

I enjoyed the intense culture and family bonds, witty banter and likeable characters. I did not enjoy the abundance of references to bodily fluids, the non-linear timeline and the abrupt ending.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ecco for this ARC in exchange for my honest review .

Family Lore is the story of love, magic, and womanhood. We are told a story of the family through Ona who is cataloging the life her mother and aunts have lived. This book was classic Acevedo! A story that pulls on the strings of the heart. Throughout all of her writing I end up feeling as if the characters become apart of my life and her first adult novel is no exception. Each character was so unique while also masterfully tied to resemble the rest in the family. I look forward to seeing the talent that comes in future books released.

I've loved all of Elizabeth Acevedo's YA books, so I had massively high expectations for her adult debut. This book lived up to those expectations and then some--it was a stunning family saga, with such richly developed characters and emotional depths. Most highly recommended.

An interesting look at a loving immigration family with a dash of magical realism. Family Lore is sprawling compared to Acevedo's YA works and, as such, the pacing is slower.

I wanted to like this book more but it just did not work for me. Not sure if I just wasn’t in the mood for it or if I genuinely did not care for it. I will try to reread it and hopefully my opinion will change on it because I have loved this author’s other books.

Thanks to Netgalley and Ecco for the ARC of this!

This was an interesting, family-centric story about life and death, love and sisterhood, and a little bit of magic. I found myself wishing that more of the family’s gifts would be included, because I found the magic fascinating. The idea of planning a living wake was a new one to me and it made for a very unusual story.