I was really curious about Acevedo’s first foray into adult fiction. I think this story had potential, but it just didn’t really land for me. I struggled with the points of view, I feel like they weren’t distinct enough from each other to have as many as there were. The magical realism elements didn’t land well consistently, and I had a hard time with the non-linear structure of the story line. It felt like there were threads that were never fully connected with the rest of the plot. I think this is a novel that’s meant to be read slowly and savored, not one that really has a strong driving force, but I just didn’t love it as much as I had hoped.

Family Lore
Genre: Magical Realism
Rating: 3.5 stars

The publisher and NetGalley provided me with a digital advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Elizabeth Acevedo will ALWAYS be an auto-read author for me. I listened to her three previous books on audio and absolutely adored them (I’ll listen to her read just about anything at this point), but I’d definitely recommend reading this one, rather than listening to the audiobook. Multiple points of view, characters, and timelines make this best to follow in print - I had to flip back and forth a few times to remind myself whose POV I was reading. Yadi & Ant’s section kept me most interested, and broke my heart at times. Flor’s perspective and gift was another favorite - I can’t imagine being burdened with that type of responsibility, and I was curious to see how her wake played out.

What stopped me from loving this one, was that I had a hard time keeping track of all of the female characters and their gifts. Oftentimes, their voices and personalities just didn’t always feel distinct enough, which may very well be a “me” problem. That being said, Acevedo is queen of beautiful prose and unraveling a story piece by piece. Side note of this story, is that I often found myself humming the Encanto soundtrack while reading because the concept felt so similar. Can’t wait to see what’s next from this talented author.

I thought this book was beautifully written. I feel that it should come with a TW for those on the more sensitive side of sexual experiences, but that would truly be my only recommendation. Beautiful book. Highly recommend

Special thanks to Eco and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

I really enjoyed reading this book of six different women from the past and present of the Dominican=American Matte family. It is really a book to put on your TBR list. I think most if not all people will really like it.

Highly recommended!

A sweeping family story of the Marte family, mainly focusing on the sisters & female cousins; taking the reader from the Dominican Republic to NYC. Somewhat magical realism/Encanto adjacent, as almost all family members have a special power. The author had around 6 characters POV & they had distinct enough voices.

I really liked the idea of this book, but it just fell flat for me. It was written in multiple perspective, past and present, and I was often lost. It was not always clear who was speaking and if we were in past or present. I think there may have too many characters and too many stories. I wanted more from each story and therefore did not find myself invested in any of them. They never tied together in a way that made them something I cared about. 
Telling the story of many Dominican-American women who are preparing for the wake (a living wake). It follows their journeys over time, in NYC and Santa Domingo. The struggles and secrets that sisters, cousins, aunts and nieces are dealing with and hiding from one another.  
Thank you Netgalley for my advanced reader copy.

This is a great introduction to the adult sphere for Elizabeth. Having only written YA before, I was nervous about this one but I should have trusted Elizabeth because she always knocks it out of the park!

There is a lot to unpack in this story. If you love a good family saga and you don't mind several POVs and having to stop to look up words and phrases (the author throws quite a bit of random Spanish in her storytelling in a way I do when speaking French to my dad. While I get it, I found it difficult to follow and felt completely pulled out of the story when I had to look so many things up (my kindle was definitely not up to the translation task). The author, however, is definitely talented, and her writing is lyrical and beautiful. I love how each of these women was strong and/or stronger than they gave themselves credit for. 3.5 stars

I am going to start off this review with a disclaimer... this book is very well written, extraordinary, beautiful prose and character development, this will likely be a favorite for Elizabeth Acevedo fans. It just wasn't for me. I loved, loved Clap When You Land ... so I was over the moon excited when I was approved for an advanced copy of Family Lore, Acevedo's adult debut novel. I never felt settled in when reading, and it dragged on and on for me. and if I am completely honest towards the end, I started skimming paragraphs just to get to the end of the book. The Marte women will be gathering for a wake that was requested by Flor for well, herself. The story then unfolds leading up to this wake with multiple point of views, timeline jumps and interjections of thoughts/interview sections. It all felt disjointed to me and there wasn't a smooth flow to the story. I did like the end of the novel and felt like things were tied together and there was a sense of completion/continuation to the characters' stories. Just getting there was a bit rough.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for offering an advanced complementary digital copy for me to review. All opinions are my own.

Let me start by saying I love everything Elizabeth Acevedo has written so far. This story I struggled with perhaps because I read in the kindle. I found the book confusing as it bounced between sisters and time periods. Perhaps in the book format there is a better distinction (font) to help the reader. I will look when it is published and perhaps reread.

I've read all of Acevedo's prior works and enjoyed them immensely. However, I thought Family Lore fell flat. It's perfectly "fine" and that it, it's just "fine.." I don't regret reading it but I don't think I'll find myself recommending it. I think she may have stretched herself too thin with focusing on so many characters and trying to weave ALL of their stories into a perfect braid. Nevertheless, it is her first adult novel I give her grace so, I'm still excited to read future work from her.

I loved this authors YA books so I was so excited to read this one. Unfortunately, I struggled to get through this.
There were so many characters and I didn’t feel like they were given distinct voices or personalities. I found myself constantly confused with who was who and how everyone was connected and which backstory went with each narrator. This confusion was increased when mid chapter the story would shift to the past with our warning. It made it different to keep the timelines and events straight. With all of this confusion over the characters and the timeline I felt I was unconnected from the story.
The plot was also very slow moving with not really anything happening. I felt there was nothing gained in the plot even after the story was finished.
Overall this was a big letdown for me on so many different levels.

I am so excited to share about Family Lore. It came out this past Tuesday and as much as I tried to finish it by pub day, I absolutely did not want to rush this book.

To say that I love everything Elizabeth Acevedo writes is an understatement. As I write this review I’m crying because I just finished Family Lore and I am feeling feelings. It’s beautiful. Stunning. Acevedo’s unique and powerful lyricism shines through and this book is so clearly and completely a work of love.

This is her first novel for adults and I loved it. The novel follows four sisters from the Dominican Republic: Flor, Matilde, Camila, and Pastora, and their daughters/nieces: Ona and Yadi. All of the women now live in New York, and an announcement from Flor is a catalyst for the start of the story. The point of view switches between all of the women and their stories go back and forth from past to present. There is definitely magical realism present, and I absolutely loved how the gifts of the women are woven in. With the large number of characters whose point of view we are blessed with and the histories of each, it would seem easy (or inevitable) that the women would not feel completely fleshed out, or that the story would feel like it was trying to do too much. However, this was thankfully not the case with Family Lore. Every storyline is handled delicately and lovingly and I felt like I knew these women.

There is so much I could say. If you love novels centered on women and their stories, magical realism, multiple POVs, and beautiful prose…read this book. Even if you don’t love those things…read this book anyway? I’m so glad this is a BOTM pick because I needed a physical copy of this one!

I can’t wait to read more from Acevedo. I am a forever fan.

FAMILY LORE by Elizabeth Acevedo, which follows the dynamic women of the Marte family, each of whom has a magical gift. Flor can predict when someone will die, so when she decides to hold a living wake for herself, her sisters are concerned: What has she divined? The novel follows Flor, her three sisters, her daughter Ona, and her niece Yadi as they make preparations for the big celebration – and as they reckon with the fault lines in their own lives.

For Matilde, it’s her unfaithful husband; for Ona, her infertility; for Yadi, it’s confronting her first love who’s just been released from prison. We witness each woman working through the painful vicissitudes of life, as well as the ways they support one another.

I’ll say straight out that this is a messy novel that skips around in time, place (from the Dominican Republic to NYC), and perspective (from omniscient third-person narrator to Ona’s first-person narration to interview transcripts). The constant swerving can make it hard to get into, especially with such a large cast of characters who are given equal playing time. That said, I appreciated Acevedo’s sizzling, vigorous prose, which, along with her energetic narration of the audiobook, really carried the day here.

Ultimately, FAMILY LORE is a novel about family and its permutations: a cold matriarch, mothers and daughters, sisters, aunts and nieces, and cousins. It’s the relationships between these women that give the novel its life and movement, and though not much happens plot-wise, I enjoyed this look into sisterhood, broadly speaking. As an only child, I appreciated the spotlight on the relationship between the two cousins, Yadi and Ona, because my friendships with my cousins mean so much to me and it’s something rarely featured in literature.

I’d recommend this to readers who’d enjoy an unruly family saga as well as to readers of Leone Ross’ POPISHO, who may appreciate FAMILY LORE’s Caribbean touchpoints, magic realism, and novelistic daring in addressing social taboos. Thank you @eccobooks for the ARC, @netgalley for the eARC, and @librofm for the ALC!

What a beautiful story! I love how the story weaves from woman to woman and mother to daughter. The idea of a living wake is so intriguing and sad. Also, I think the cover is amazing!!

I was not super invested in this story, I had a very hard time connecting with it which lead to me putting it down often. I picked this up because I am a fan of Acevedo, I liked the slow pacing with the magic infused within. Trigger warnings for death

This book requires concentration, but it is worth it. This non linear family saga was beautiful and while I thought I would miss Acevedo's signature verse, the beauty of her language comes through in her prose here as well.

Thanks to thepublisher for an ARC inn exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this multi-generational tale and am excited that Acevedo has moved into adult fiction.

Family Lore is easily my favorite read of the year so far. Elizabeth Acevedo’s prose is warm and inviting, even as it navigates the complicated relationships of sisters and extended family. Flor, who has visions of when people will die, organizes a living wake for herself, gathering everyone together for a somewhat mysterious celebration. The majority of the novel takes place in the planning stages of this wake, moving between the voices of her sisters Matilde, Pastora, and Camila, and Flor’s daughter Ona. As prep happens, we learn about the magical gifts of each of the sisters and the pivotal stories in their lives that define the legacy of the Marte sisters. Acevedo unpacks the sense of duty and obligation the sisters have to each other, reveling tender moments of their pasts where they have been each others protection and salvation. As we move back and forth through time, we see how love, marriage, lies, and life weather their relationships to each other, and how their patterns of care (good and bad), affect the next generation.

I was struck by Ona as the main narrator and the structure of Ona’s storytelling, cutting in mid chapter almost like a margin note or annotation. Ona’s voice gives us backstory, clarifies, and questions—bridging the past and future of the Marte magic.

This book was…interesting. I did enjoy it, but there were so many layers it was hard to keep up. First of all, there are numerous characters, and at times I struggled to keep track of them all and they’re own unique storylines. Secondly, there is a ton of Spanish in this story, so there was a lot of highlighting text and translating it, which was distracting. Thirdly, there is a lot of jumping back and forth between the past and future, which was a bit confusing. BUT, all of that aside, this WAS an enjoyable read, and the author has a beautiful voice and a special way with words that kept me turning the pages. I would recommend it to everyone. (Okay, maybe not those under 18 years of age, but I would recommend it to everyone else).