This was a very interesting family saga.

Each sister's backstory felt very grounded and personal despite the mystic elements. I actually was a bit disappointed that the mystic "powers" of each Marte sister weren't explored further. But I think that is part of the narrative, because it's meant to be very grounded in reality.

That said, I didn't vibe well with the overall structure. There wasn't much progress made in character growth or overall plot. I couldn't really connect to any of the characters before we were zooming away from them and onto another sister.

The book is super rooted in the experiences of immigrant and first gen women from the Dominican Republic. I loved reading the different perspectives. A lot of conversations switched from Spanish to English, but it didn't feel forced.

Elizabeth Acevedo delves deep into issues like sexuality, faith menopause, fertility, relationships, relationship with one's body, etc... from a female lense. A lot of that felt fresh and uniquely honest.

Thank you to NetGalley, author Elizabeth Acevedo, and Ecco for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

I have long been a fan of Acevedo's YA works, so I was so thrilled to see that she was releasing her first adult novel. It did not disappoint at ALL, and I'm already so sad that I have to wait for more from her!! Acevedo's writing is some of the most gorgeous and prolific that I have ever read. She has such a way of writing beautifully complex characters that jump off the page. Her writing is so natural and authentic and conveys so many emotions ranging from humor to longing to uncertainty to joy to love to many more. What she does well is writing about women and the experience of being a woman, and this family drama is filled to the brim with them. My biggest complaint is that there might have been just a tad too many characters, as I didn't get to see certain women as fully as I would have liked (especially Camila). However, reading the both the present and past history of these sisters was so engaging. I loved the magical realism elements of the different sisters' powers, as it added a unique touch to an otherwise pretty typical family drama format. My favorite to read about was Yadi, as being in my 20s, I was able to relate to Yadi and Ona more. The complex relationships that each woman has with a man in her life was so interesting and added more depth to the novel than I was expecting. The only other thing I didn't love was the addition of Ona's background with porn. I thought that storyline was a bit underdeveloped in the sense that it felt a bit out of sorts with the rest of the story. Overall though, Family Lore was a great adult debut from Acevedo that magnified all of her talents that I loved from reading her YA works. I am anxiously awaiting her next book, whether it be adult or YA!!

*4.5*

I haven’t cried because of a book quite awhile. The last pages of had me in tears at one in the morning.

This is a book about family. Four sisters and two daughters with gifts that shape their lives in many ways. The hardships that come with growing up together or apart. It’s also about how your family and environment can impact life decisions and how they can determine how you live.

Flor has a gift that allows her to see a persons life and death in her dreams. When she unexpectedly announces a living wake for herself, her family begins to worry and the book takes places leading up to the wake. The story is told in six POV’s, the main person telling the stories is the daughter of Flor, Ona. Ona writes this story in interviews but also in prose. Each POV is a woman recounting their life as a child up to where they are now. Their whole lives are told in this book.

Where do I even begin with this review? Firstly, the writing is beautiful. That’s an obvious fact when it comes to Elizabeth Acevedo. The characters are so real and relatable. The way she tells each persons stories makes you think they’re real. The incorporation of Dominican heritage is perfect. She showcases the beauty but also the reality of both DR and NY. The language was very natural, as a Spanish speaker is was easy for me to read but I’m not sure how it would be for non-Spanish speakers.

This book is not for everyone. If you were expecting a fantastical story with a little excitement you will be disappointed. This is truly character based and if you don’t like the characters it would be very hard to read.

I personally related completely with the characters because of the bond I share with my own sisters. Seeing how they grow together and apart was very endearing. Seeing the mother/daughter relationships vary so much from person to person as well shows just how much those bonds truly affect you as a person.

Overall I truly enjoyed this book. There were times where the stories dragged a bit, which is the reason for the half star, but I personally connected with these characters and cared to see it to the end.

Elizabeth Acevedo taught me that I could really enjoy novels in verse, so I was very excited to see what she could do with her first adult novel, and this did not disappoint. Thank you to @netgalley and @eccobooks for the early copy!
*
This is completely character driven, but the general premise of the plot is that 70-year-old Flor, who has had the gift of predicting death, decides to throw herself a living wake, convincing her whole family that she has foreseen her own death.
*
This is approached as a sort of anthropological study, where Flor's daughter Ona is recording not only what is happening leading up to the wake, but also their stories, key pieces from their past. It was a really unique approach, and I very much enjoyed Ona's interjections interspersed throughout. 
*
I was a bit intimidated at first, when the book starts off with a cast of characters, that's always concerning how many people a reader will have to keep track of! But it also described one of the characters as having "a magical alpha vagina", so how can you not be excited to find out how that plays out? The number of characters did confuse me at times, and also keeping track of their various magical affinities, I did have to go back to that list to remind myself several times.
 *
But the writing is absolutely beautiful, as expected, incredibly poetic. I very much enjoyed learning about Flor and her sisters, her daughter and niece, and I loved how everything came together at the end. It didn't necessarily entrance me as much as other books have, but I would definitely still recommend.

I love Elizabeth Acevedo’s writing, so when she announced her adult debut it instantly became one of my most anticipated releases of 2023. And Family Lore certainly delivered! What I have always loved in Elizabeth Acevedo’s books is the nuanced way she explores familial relationships between women and Family Lore did this so well! As we slowly uncover the lives of these women and the different events that have shaped who they are, we also get a glimpse into why certain relationships are stronger than others. But what I loved the most was seeing the ways that these women showed up for each other and this specific familial unit.

If you’re looking for a character-driven, intergenerational family saga with hints of magical realism this is the book for you! It also includes a “Table of Principal Persons” which I found so helpful as I got started reading the book.

Oh, Family Lore. You may have taken me two weeks to read, but that was an I-have-way-too-many-things-going-on-in-my-brain problem and had nothing to do with you.

For the prospective reader: This is Claudia Acevedo’s first adult novel, and, despite how my reading pace may be interpreted, I really enjoyed it. At first, I was a little overwhelmed with the number of characters, but Acevedo anticipated this and left a handy character list that I referred to any time I needed a name refresher. Our story kind of centers around Flor, who, after watching a documentary on the topic, decides to have a living wake. This puts her entire family on edge, because Flor’s gift is foreseeing how people will die. As they prepare for this wake, they worry that they are also saying goodbye. And while this may be the driving force of the novel, it’s not the only focus. Each woman in the family has her own dedicated chapters and her own dilemmas and hardships to work through. Acevedo ties it all together through the point of view of Flor’s daughter Ona, who presents this collection of family stories almost as anthropological research.

I think this was a pitch-perfect foray into the world of writing for adults. The themes are mature, the plot is intricate, and the sentences are lyrical. The more I read, the more invested I was in each woman’s story. This is literary fiction, much more character-driven than Acevedo s previous work, and darn good.

This book will be published August 1.

This ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This novel is a magical saga centered on a family of Dominican American women. It took me a bit of time to understand and adapt to the format through which this story is told. I wasn't sure which women were which at first because there were similarities to each of their stories. Though I soon realized how different they were. Once you get into the beautiful rhythm of the story, you'll be hard-pressed to not know these women intimately. The main plot point is that Flor wants to throw herself a living wake. However, she is gifted with knowing when people will die. She is not sharing any information with her sisters, Matilde, Pastora, and Camila. Nor her daughter, Ona, or her niece, Yadi.
At first it's presented as the story of two generations of women coming together to celebrate the living wake of one of their own. But it follows a non linear timeline that isn't the easiest to keep track of as we read about these women in their rawest form. Overall it's an engaging tale that ends on just the right note.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Ecco for this e-arc.*

I love Elizabeth Acevedo and it was exciting to read her adult debut. I enjoyed the intergenerational family connections

An excellent multi-generational story! I loved this book. It was told in such an interesting and unique format, I really enjoyed that aspect and it made the book very compelling. The characters were a joy to read about. Often times, when books change character perspectives at each chapter, you find yourself preferring a different character and wanting to go back to another chapter. That was not the case here. I loved each perspective and wanted to know about each woman. My favorites, however, were Yadi and Ona. I loved their voices and was rooting for them. Matilde was so frustrating at times and I understood why Pastora wanted her to leave. Looking back, it was also interesting to know how their individual "talents" played into their actions. My only critique is that with so many characters, it was sometimes hard to keep track and with an e-book it is not always easy to go back and flip to that family chart at the beginning. Ultimately, this did not bother me. I would also be interested to see how the inclusions of Ona's perspective are included in the final copy. Sometimes, they were formatted strangely in the galley.

**3.5⭐️ rounded down to 3**

Thank you @netgalley & @eccobooks for early access to this e-book. It publishes on 8/1!

Although I’ve wanted to read Clap When You Land for a while, this is my first book by Elizabeth Acevedo. I know there are some differences between this and her previous work. Firstly, this book targets adults instead of her typical YA genre. Secondly, while CWYL is a novel in verse, this one is written in prose. Despite that, the writing still has a poetic touch - which could be both beautiful and occasionally a tad bit boring.

Overall, I really enjoyed the family dynamics and characters, even though there were quite a lot of of them to keep track of. The alternating POVs in each chapter added an interesting dimension, but some perspectives didn’t really hold my attention. Also, The sisters' and nieces' unique "gifts" ranged from cool to downright strange lol (think… magical girly parts 😂😂)

While I liked the story, I had a hard time getting into it and staying invested. And the ending didn't tie things up as neatly as I had hoped it would. I'm definitely interested in reading more of Acevedo's work, especially Clap When You Land, however, I'm hoping it'll be more fast-paced and attention-grabbing compared to this one.

I am a huge fan of Elizabeth Acevedo’s work, so I was very excited to get a chance to read her first adult novel, Family Lore. It is a bit of magical realism, a bit of historical fiction, and a bit of family drama.

I did really like the characters. It was fun getting to know each of the Marte sisters/daughters more as the novel progressed. Each of them had a very unique voice, which is hard to pull off when there is such a full cast of characters. Acevedo has always had such a lyrical storytelling style, and it lent itself well to this novel.

Now, I have to say that, while I liked the characters, I was confused a lot of the time as to who was who in relation to the other characters. It took me quite a while to figure out which characters were the sisters and which were the daughters, and who was whose daughter. I do wish this had been laid out in a different manner. Potentially it would have been easier in a physical copy of the book, as there was a list of characters at the beginning, but I was reading an e-book copy, so it was hard to go back and forth to check it. This was something that troubled me throughout the novel, so it colored my opinion of it quite a bit.

I liked the jumps into the past that helped to explain what was happening in the present. Getting to learn more about Santo Domingo was cool, as I know very little about it. I love how the Acevedo sprinkles her culture throughout the novel like seasoning.

Overall, it was a good story, but I wish it had been laid out in a slightly less confusing manner. This is also the first of Acevedo’s books I have not read as an audiobook. I would be curious to see if that would make a difference in my experience.

My Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️

I gave Family Lore 3 Stars!

Elizabeth Acevedo is an auto-buy author for me. I am convinced her YA novels are for everyone- I actually shared her last novel with my students and adult friends alike. When I heard she was coming out with another novel and it was for adults, I was so hype! Family Lore is definitely different writing from Acevedo's previous novels, not just because it is not written in verse, but the writing feels more mature. I did struggle with the first third of the novel because there were so many characters and the alternating present/past timelines. (Thankfully there is a list of characters at the beginning for those who are nervous- I read on the Kindle which is not as conducive to flipping forward and back). But I was enthralled with the characters: a very close-knit Dominican aunts and their nieces share in each other's lives and histories in the light of an upcoming living wake for one of the aunts. I will say I was almost crying at the ending but also completely satisfied.

It pains me to write this review.

Family Lore was one of my most anticipated books of the year. Elizabeth Acevedo is one of my favorite authors. She has previously written YA books. This was her first attempt at an adult novel. It just didn’t work for me.

There is a large cast of characters that rotate perspectives throughout the story. I can either love that or feel overwhelmed by the jumping back and forth. In this case, I definitely felt overwhelmed. There wasn’t enough difference between the voices to allow me to distinguish them from one another. I found myself continually confused. The story is also not told in a linear way. That just added to my confusion.

Another plot point that wasn’t fully develop were the family’s “gifts”. I found this aspect intriguing but when it wasn’t explained or showcased well…I lost all interest.

That’s not to say this book was all bad. The writing itself was beautiful as always. Acevedo has a way with words that cannot be denied. I think if this book had been formatted or edited differently then it may have had a much stronger impact than what it did. I will still anticipate anything she writes. The one was just a miss for me.

I was really hoping that this would be a novel in verse, since I am very familiar with Acevedo's work and that was kind of the draw for me. Unfortunately that is not the case with this, so this one wasn't really for me. I think I am in a reading slump so I may come back to this later, but for now I had to put it down.

Acevedo did it again. I loved every page of this book. Its been a while since i picked up a book that made me feel this way,

This is the first adult book from National Book Award Winner Elizabeth Acevedo, whose YA novels we devour.

It’s about the women in a Domenican-American family, their special gifts, and the bonds they share with each other. It starts off with Flor, who has the ability to know the date of people’s death, informing everyone that she wants a living wake.

As her family grapples with what that means, Acevedo explores each woman’s special gift and how it has impacted their lives.

I was fascinated by the magical realism elements of the story, but it was the depth of the characters that drew me in. Rich in culture and exquisitely written, this family drama wove a story I never wanted to end.

It’s a simple straightforward narrative that has a cliche message. While the narrative isn’t quite interesting or intriguing, it’s a beautiful homage to the strengths and sorrows of Dominican women.

I am a big fan of Acevedo’s YA work, she has a warm and loving way of writing family structure even with times are trying. In Family Lore, Acevedo takes this strength and moves into the adult genre, and that is probably the best way to describe the move these books become adult.

This book is less of a novel and more character studies of a group of women. Following the women of a family from the DR to NYC, Acevedo changes the perspective by following a different character in the present day and then leaning back into the past. In many chapters, she chooses to start with one character, but show us a different character through the lens of the first. This is a book that you need to focus on to follow the character changes, there is a lot going on, and a lot just under the surface - not an easy beach read, but still something I enjoyed. I loved the older sisters and their magic powers, we need more self possessed 70+ year old women as the centers of stories.

The move to make the book for an adult audience seems to focus heavily on sex and her character’s sexualities, which is fine, but sometimes feels a little forced. The book is also semi-written as a sociology project, which at times works very well and others feels heavy or unrealistic. It was a nice idea but doesn’t quite work as a structure.

I've been a big fan of Elizabeth Acevedo's young adult books and I couldn't wait to read her first adult fiction novel and it didn't disappoint! It did take me some time to find my footing since there are several point's of views as well as time jumps, but I loved the way it all came together. If you're a fan of multigenerational family stories than this will be a good read!

I want to start by saying that I have read every book that Elizabeth Acevedo has written and enjoyed each one, so I was thrilled to get approved for Family Lore.

I wanted to love this book as much as her others but sadly, I didn't. There were so many characters and I didn't connect with any of them. There was never a need to pick the book up after I set it down and I didn't feel invested in what was happening throughout the story. I will happily continue to read anything and everything Acevedo writes, maybe this story just wasn't for me.

I'm rating this 1 star because I didn't even finish it. Thank you to Ecco for the chance to read this in exchange of an honest review.