A complicated family history, magical “gifts” that might be more a curse, explorations of womanhood in its many forms. Here, we have mothers and daughters, sisters and cousins, aunts, nieces, wives, partners, childhood sweethearts, assault victims, academics, healers, nurturers.

Simply, this is the story of aging Dominican woman receiving the premonition of her own death, and deciding to invite all her friends and family to a living wake to celebrate her life. But this story defies simplicity, sometimes to its detriment. It has perspective chapters of the four sisters and two daughters, all but one of whom have some kind of magical ability. Each has dreams, and regrets, and things they cannot say. At its heart is Flor, whose dream of death sets her sisters daughter and niece into a tizzy, and her daughter Ona, an academic who turns her investigative eye on her own family’s lore. The story is told alternatingly in chronological glimpses of the women’s preparation for the living wake, especially as they struggle to come to grips with the potential loss of their sister as well as their own struggles and disappointments, and flashbacks to their childhood in Dominica, their dominating mother, and life-altering moments along the way.

[b:Family Lore|62949033] is extremely ambitious, experimenting with form and tone and even language – there’s quite a lot of Spanish peppered throughout, often without hints of the translation. Unless you’re fluent, I recommend keeping a translation app handy or you will miss meaning. I found it to be slow, sometimes too slow, especially in the beginning, and I’m not convinced the form totally works. I got the sense Acevedo was aiming for the dreamlike quality of the writing of the great Latinx magical realism authors to whom she is paying homage, and unfortunately, sometimes it was more blurred than transcendent. Still, there’s so much to appreciate about the stories told by these women. I am impressed, if not entirely enraptured.

[b:Family Lore|62949033] by [a:Elizabeth Acevedo|1525364]
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
💃 Matilda, the sister without magic and with the terrible husband, was probably the most compelling character
🐜 I wanted more from the story of Yadi and Ant. She doesn’t know what she wants, but neither did the narrative
📹 Ditto Ona’s research into her family
🌱 Youngest sister Camila, too, felt like it didn’t have room to breathe. Maybe we just needed one fewer sister to keep track of, for the story to feel less crowded?

<i>Thanks to NetGalley and Ecco for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.</i>

Elizabeth Acevedo, National Book Award-winning author of The Poet X, has blessed us with her first novel for adults. As she experiments with form and perspective, Acevedo tells the story of one Dominican-American family gathering for the “living wake” of one of their own. This is magical, sumptuous storytelling.

** 2.5 / 5 **

Unfortunately, this book was not for me. It had some moments I really enjoyed but overall it was ill structured. The characters were not all flushed out & some things were never really discussed, but were brought up. I did think a family with abilities & the premise of a living wake were both interesting. It dragged out for too long & made the book feel long when it actually isn't. There was a lot of Spanish for me to keep Google translating so be prepared for that if you don't know Spanish.

** I did receive an uncorrected e-ARC courtesy of NetGalley. If any of this is fixed in the finished version of the book I will come back & edit. *

Family Lore is Acevedo's first adult novel. It's a collection of stories inspired by the author's mother and sisters, although she takes some liberties with the story. In this story we meet four sisters and we learn of each of their gifts and how they relate to and engage with their own family. This story is told over time and through multiple perspectives. We are able to delve into the lives of these women over the years and across the US and Dominican Republic. I enjoyed the anthropological slant to this story.

Acevedo's writing is beautiful and weaves together Spanish and English seamlessly. She is able to create a narrative of this family in an interesting way. However, Acevedo writes with a lot of detail which makes the book read a bit slowly for me.

I'm particularly interested in Latin American identities and cultures and found this to be an interesting take.

If you're new here then it's important that you know that Elizabeth Acevedo is my favorite author. Period. No one writes prose as lyrically and beautiful and heartfelt as her. So when I found out she was writing her first Adult Fiction novel I was beyond excited and couldn't wait to get my hands on it.

Family Lore was magical. It was much slower paced than her YA novels but I appreciated that because each passage was meaningful and contemplative. It tells the story of the Marte women as they gather for a living wake of their sister, Flor. Each sister possesses magical gifts and secrets. I enjoyed learning about the sisters, both in the past and present, and the powerful but often dramatic relationship between them.

The Dominican-American representation was the topping on the cake. Acevedo really immerses the reader into the culture. This is something I have loved about all her books.

If you want a book that digs deep into the souls of multiple strong Latinx women with voices that will linger with you long after you finish, make sure you add Family Lore to your shelf!

Thank you so much for letting me read this in advance. I loved Elizabeth Acevedo's YA books written in prose, but I just could not get into this. This makes me sad.

This is Acevedo's first foray into the world of writing books for adults, and let that only excite you. With the warmth and feeling that she has approached writing books for young-adults, she brings to life the generational story of the Marte women. Acevedo trademarks pervade this story; ferocity with hints of melancholy. Perfect for the Isabel Allende shaped hole in your heart.

I've read everything by Elizabeth Acevedo, and when I read that this book was coming out, I was ecstatic. Acevedo seamlessly transitions from writing YA novels to writing her first novel for adults without missing a beat. Written in the engrossing language and storytelling that could only be that of Acevedo, I was sucked immediately into the book. The telling of the Marte women and each of their stories was magical. I loved the unique storytelling format, which really helped tell not only the overall story but was a great gateway to get to know each of the Marte women. I highly recommend this book!

Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this ARC!

DNF @ 32%

This was one of my most anticipated books of 2023 and I’m so sad to share that I had to DNF. To me, the biggest issue was the writing style. It’s fine to have a book of character vignettes with little plot, but you have to really like the writing. I really hated the writing style. I found it wildly over complicated and really difficult to read. I tried this on audio in addition to physical and couldn’t get into it on either. Even her narration feels so different than her YA books - I usually love her narration! Then to top it off, there are some details in this book I can’t stand, most especially one of the characters’ magic vagina. 🙈 Thank you for the opportunity to read early, but I need to be done.

Elizabeth Acevedo is one of my instant buy authors. The sheer art in every Elizabeth Acevedo book, the emotions, the feelings, the family. There is so much as WOC that I felt and Elizabeth Acevedo has a talent for healing parts of yourself that you didn't know needed healing.

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced
Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0

What can I say?
I sobbed
I laughed
I sobbed again
beautifully written I expected nothing less but was still afraid before I opened it and then was happy when all my fears were put to rest and buried deep under ground by page 3. A beautiful cast of characters that suck you in early on and then hold your hand through the heartbreak. Honestly there's not much to say but go read it.

DNF around 60%. I usually love this author's writing but something about this story wasn't clicking with me.

Portrait of a family, told through the stories of the women in the family, specifically 4 sisters and 2 of their daughters. I enjoyed all of the characters. They've been through hardships, both past and present, but have such a strong family bond. The magical realism element was not over the top, and added to the story.

"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 forseen her own death, or someone else's? Does she have other motives? She refuses to tell her sisters, Matilde, Pastora, and Camila.

But Flor isn't the only person with secrets. Matilde has tried for decades to cover the extent of her husband's infidelity, but she must now confront the true state of her marriage. Pastora is typically the most reserved sister, but Flor's wake motivates this driven woman to solve her sibling's problems. Camila is the youngest sibling, and often the forgotten one, but she's decided she no longer wants to be taken for granted.

And the next generation, cousins Ona and Yadi, face tumult of their own: Yadi is reuniting with her first love, who was imprisoned when they were both still kids; Ona is married for years and attempting to conceive. Ona must decide whether it's worth it to keep trying--to have a child, and the anthropology research that's begun to feel lackluster."

Thanks to NetGalley and Ecco for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed herein are my own.

What a unique book! I loved the female dynamics in this family and the character Flora. What would you do if someone you knew could predict when you would die? Would that change your relationship with them? Would you be hanging on their every word, anxious to know (or not know), when your own expiration date would be? What if that person just so happened to be your sister? Such an interesting story!

Acevedo’s writing is lyrical and beautiful. The words come to life and you feel them in your gut.
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Flor has the gift of knowing the exact day of someone’s death. Or maybe it’s a curse? She has a premonition about her own ending, and plans a living wake for herself. The story follows the journey of Flor and her sisters, past and present, in Santo Domingo and New York.
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This is Acevedo’s first adult novel. I felt a bit lost by how the story jumped around across characters and across different timelines. It was a lot to keep straight. However, Acevedo’s writing is still stunning and captivating. The story is still big, heartfelt, and so very human. And Acevedo is still one of my favorite authors.
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Thank you to @eccobooks for this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This one hurts because I really like Elizabeth Acevedo. If this wasn't an ARC, I would have DNFd. The prose was wayyy too flowery for me and the number of flashbacks got to be tiresome. It just wasn't for me

Family Lore is a multi-generational family drama that follows four Dominican sisters and two of their daughters. All but one of the Marte sisters have a special gift. Matilde is the eldest Marte sister and is known for her genuine kindness but has never shown any affinities. Flor is the second oldest and a seer. Her don is that she is able to see death coming and has always felt closer to the dead than the living. After her daughter Ona, a professor of cultural anthropology, shares a documentary about living wakes, Flor has a dream. She determines that she will invite the entire family to her own living wake - nothing morbid, just a celebration of life.

Pastora is the third Marte sister and she is known to be a reader of people’s truths. Camila is the youngest—and forgotten—Marte sister who demonstrates a gift for herbalism. Ona is Flor’s daughter, and she possesses a magical alpha vagina. (You’ll have to read it to find out!) And finally, Yadi, Pastora’s daughter, is a chef with an inherited taste for limes.

Most Acevedo fans know her for her YA spoken word novels. Family Lore is her first very personal venture into adult fiction. You won’t want to miss the author’s letter. If you love a story about sisters or a messy family with complicated mother daughter relationships with a touch of magical realism, this one may be for you.

Q: If you could have a special gift, what would you want it to be?


Please note - TW: infertility, infidelity, pornography, attempted sexual assault, and explicit sexual content


Many thanks to the author @Acevedowrites, @EccoBooks and @NetGalley for the gift of this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Watch for it! Pub Day - 01 Aug 2023

2.5 stars

I love this author. I've taught her poems and every one of her YA novels in several of my college-level courses. Having taught YA for nearly two decades, I'm pretty well read in the area, and Acevedo holds fast among my all-time favorites. I remain a diehard fan, but this book - to my shock and chagrin - did not work for me at all.

There are many characters here, and the plot and pacing reflect this in a negative way. I expected the characters to come together in a kind of tapestry, featuring the titular family lore. Instead, the more I learned, the more disconnected I felt from them and the more disconnected they seemed from each other and from a unified tale.

I've read this book 2.5 times and am still working through that most recent effort. I also have the audio version on hold through my local library. Clearly, I'm not ready to give up, but I'm starting to feel like I may have to accept the inevitable.

Often, I'll note in my reviews that fans of a particular author will find what they're looking/hoping for, but I'm going to amend that enthusiasm here. Incoming fans of this author *may* find what they're looking for, and I'll be super jealous of them. I was dying for that experience and just didn't have it.

A story of womanhood, sisterhood, motherhood, and daughterhood.

Intergenerational stories between women are my favorite type of novels. And this one captured all of the reasons why. It is a character driven plot which means you get to go deeper with every character, and understand how their stories have made them who they are. The timeline jumps, but not in a way where it loses you. And, my favorite is you are able to explore themes around womanhood through different voices, ages, and experiences. The writing is beautiful.

For me, this story was about finding each other in the gaps of our own experiences and truths; the ways we are intertwined and our stories are woven together. The Marte sisters - Flor, Matilde, Pastora, and Camila - and the Marte cousins Ona and Yadi each hold secrets.

Flor, who is able to see when some will die, has decided to throw herself a living wake. She will not confess why, beyond wanting to celebrate her life. Her daughter, Ona, a student of history, has been interviewing the women in her family to capture their stories, their history, and their lineage. The novel jumps between the women, life in NYC and Santo Domingo, their present, and their memories to reveal their hidden truths and the truths about each other they believe they know.

Each woman gives you a different perspective of love, relationships, mothering, and sexuality. Ona has an alpha vagina that for the first time she does not feel in full control of. Yadi is confronting a past love and the healing it has taken to survive it the first time. The older women have marriages that for one makes her the center of talk, for another has given her safety, and for all is connected to shamed or violent experiences with men and their sexuality.

This is not a neat story. It's like the magic the women hold: centered in the truth of our stories, rooted in desires, and chaotic as when powerful forces hit you.

Family Lore, the first novel for adults by Elizabeth Acevedo, is a multigenerational saga that follows the resilient, gifted women in a Dominican-American family. We get to know four sisters: Matilde, Flor, Pastora and Camila, each blessed and cursed with different gifts. Flor, the second oldest sister and “the seer (mainly of deaths)” decides to summon the family and all distant relatives for “a living wake” where family members can pay their respect. Her sisters and nieces are troubled: what does Flor know? Has she felt someone’s death approaching? And if so, who is dying?

The story is told over a few days before the wake, with chapters alternating between each sister and two of their daughters, Yadi and Ona, and with flashbacks to the sisters’ childhood and youth. While the present timeline is filled with dramatic events, it’s easy to get distracted as you jump around in time and between four siblings and two nieces. I thought the story dragged in the middle, but as the characters became more fleshed out, I was more invested in everyone’s fate. I flew through the last 30% of the book.

Acevedo’s writing feels warm and sensual, especially when capturing how these women support, clash and forgive each other, celebrating their own bodies, minds, femininity, strengths, gifts and abilities. The ending with its high and low notes is satisfying (albeit somewhat predictable) without feeling sentimental or melodramatic.
Family Lore is an ambitious novel, but I think I would have preferred more in depth focus on fewer family members. Six main characters is a lot! However, I was impressed with the vivid characterization, the beautiful textures of Dominican culture, especially food and music, and Acevedo’s lyrical, radiant writing.

Rating: 3.5-4 stars

Many thanks to NetGalley and Ecco Books for allowing me to read an advance copy.