My thanks to NetGalley and Ecco for the opportunity to read Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo. A multigenerational women's story that grabbed me quickly. Ms. Acevedo's words are poetic and lyrical.

I loved the complexity of these inter-generational characters and relationships. There were so many gorgeous lines that I highlighted as I read. But I got kind of confused as the story jumps from present to past, and between characters.

Special thanks to eccobooks and NetGalley for an advanced copy to read in exchange for an honest review.

Flor, Pastora, Matilde, Camila, Yadi, and Ona are family. That's what ties them together in the deepest of ways. Yet they all have secrets. As the past catches up to them, each of them has to make a decision about what to do next.

I love the risks Elizabeth Acevedo takes with her books. Each one is so unique in style, and tackles such different topics. Unfortunately I struggled to follow this one. Between the multiple points of view and lots of flashbacks, everything felt very disjointed. And then there was the sex. I am not one to appreciate lots of graphic sex in the books I read, and this one had a lot (added to that, I'm not really sure what the point of it was). However, I still enjoyed getting to know the characters. Each of the six main characters had some aspect I connected with, which made them very relatable. Per usual, the best part was how Acevedo wove her mother tongue into the book. I think it could possibly make a great audiobook as the idea behind the book is to be like stories your grandmother might tell you before she dies.

CW: sex (including masterbation and pornography), drinking, abuse

This was an awesome, multi-generational family novel about the Marte women. Originally from the Domincan Republic, sisters Matilde, Flor, Pastora, and Camila escape the countryside first to the capital and then eventually to New York City, where they all are at the start of this story. All of the Marte women have magic of some kind, and Flor's is that she can sense death - she's been able to predict it and sense it for her whole life. So when she decides to throw a living wake after seeing one in a documentary, her sisters, her daughter Ona, and her niece Yadi are all concerned. Each of these women is dealing with something serious - fertility issues, infidelity, broken hearts, and more, and Acevedo manages to tell their stories richly through alternating chapters about each Marte women. There are also interstitial excerpts of interview transcripts with the women for a project than Ona, an anthropologist, is working on, and I really liked having those first person voices to round out the characterization.

Thanks to NetGalley and Ecco Press for allowing me to read an advanced digital reader's copy of Elizabeth Acevedo's "The Family Lore." I had the privilege of meeting Ms. Acevedo at a lecture, and she autographed a book for my youngest daughter. Afterward, my daughter purchased several of Ms. Acevedo's books for me, and I thoroughly enjoyed them. "Family Lore" is Ms. Acevedo's first foray into adult lit, and she did a great job with the transition. Several scenes and discussions in the book were indeed for adults. "Family Lore" is about the Martes sisters, Matilda, Flor, Pastore, & Camille, and two of the sibling's daughters, Yadi and Ona. Three of the sisters have magical gifts; one doesn't. Flor, who can foretell death, announces that she wants to hold a "living wake," which sends the family members into a tizzy. Throughout the story, family members and the reader try to figure out who will die.

Initially, I had difficulty following the storyline because each chapter presented the alternating perspectives of one of the six characters - Matilda, Flor, Pastore, Camille, Yadi, and Ona. Some chapters were in an interview format because Ona, an anthropologist, interviewed and recorded the history of her mother's and tia's (aunts) childhood in the Dominican Republic (DR), their move to New York, and their relationships with each other, their husbands, and their offspring. Halfway through the book, I got used to the novel's structure. The Martes sisters and nieces were fierce women who experienced the universal trials and heartbreaks of women-infidelity, infertility, betrayal, insecurity, finding self-worth, self-realization, and independence. The Martes sisters love each other dearly, fight like sisters, worry like sisters, and protect like sisters.

The story takes place over a 3-day period, which seems longer. It was nice to see all the family and friends come to Flor's "living wake" to celebrate her life and give her accolades while she was alive. I hate our tradition of sending flowers to the family of the deceased, which the deceased can't smell or touch. Nor can the deceased savor all the acknowledgments from the individuals whose lives they touched and positively impacted. The story was poignant and uplifting, with many important themes, especially that of a mother's love and misperceptions. Daughters sometimes believe their mother doesn't love them because of how she reacted to an event in their life, not realizing that their mother's actions and reactions were to protect, not abandon them.

You cannot go wrong reading "The Family Lore." I plan to buy the book when published and expand my Elizabeth Acevedo collection.

The premise of this one drew me in right away: a large multigenerational family, some of whom have 'supernatural gifts,' are drawn together when one of them decides to throw herself a living wake. Acevedo's past books have shown her to be more than capable at writing unique stories and the female relationships that exist at the center of them. Unfortunately the strong premise wasn't enough in thise one. I found myself often confused in the ever-shifting POVs and didn't really feel that the character's voices felt all that distinct from one another. This made it hard to connect with, and in turn care about, what they were going through. The small asides throughout the book also added to the confusion, as it wasn't clear which character was talking, who was reminiscing, and who was interjecting into the story.

I think that there was a lot to be discovered in this one, but the structure and lack of distinct characters made it hard to get there.

After loving Clap When You Land, I was really looking forward to picking up Elizabeth's Acevedo's debut adult novel. I loved the unique family drama but the elements of masturbation and pornography weren't to my taste. I was hoping to skim through these portions of the novel but they were frequent and didn't further the story in my opinion. I really enjoyed Acevedo's writing style and will consider trying whatever she writes next. I think this story will be popular with readers, but it wasn't my personal favorite.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an electronic ARC in exchange for an honest review.
RATING: 3.5/5 stars (rounded up to 4 stars)

Thank you to Netgalley and Ecco for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of Family Lore in exchange for an honest review.


Lore
noun : a body of traditions and knowledge on a subject or held by a particular group, typically passed from person to person by word of mouth.
I feel like this phenomenon is happening where more and more book titles have almost nothing to do with the overall themes in the actual book itself. Even worse is when the author clumsily writes the title into the story during a moment where it really doesn’t fit, almost as if it were an afterthought or last minute edit.
I cannot say how many times that I’ve trudged through a book hoping that at some point the story would actually tie into the title and give way to the glorious moment where it lives up to its name. That moment of aha or breakthrough when a main character or chain of events finally explains exactly what the “insert title here” means, is about, represents, etc.
When this happens for me, it’s chilling- I sometimes literally get goosebumps depending on how great the story has been spun. Or, in the case of a really good thriller or mystery novel I feel vindicated (because of course I knew whodunit).
But when it doesn’t happen, when I’m on the last sentence of last page, sometimes even at the end of the epilogue and I’m still wondering what the f—k “insert title here” has to do with what I’ve just read, I can get so disappointed and annoyed.
I should also mention that this phenomenon tends to happen A LOT in books where the author has some how started off with a decent premise for the story but ultimately the writing ends up falling flat, the plot becomes lost because of too much going on, or the writing just was not good.
With what seems like millions of books being pumped out these days, I can see how this happens.
Fortunate for me as a reader, Elizabeth Acevedo did not disappoint or annoy me with this beautifully written story. Lore is a story about 4 Afro Latina sisters- Flor, Pastora, Mathilde, and Camilla and Flor’s daughter, Ona and Pastora’s daughter, Yadi.
Acevedo takes us on journey of the Marte women’s lives now and in the past, but not in a drawn out way. Instead she expertly injects snapshots of pivotal moments in their lives to help to tell the why and how. (And the way in which this is done is so seamless, chefs frikkin kiss!) There are magical gifts that come to the women of their family, all of them different and they come to the women seemingly from nowhere. There is no timeline of when the gifts will manifest nor are there any guidebooks or instruction manuals once they come. And just like any one else, the Marte women are trying to navigate their lives and the people in them BUT they have special gifts that can and do complicate things. They also have a special bond that I found to be one of the best parts of the story.

I’ve said this before and it stands to be repeated -modern day poets write some of THE BEST prose whether it be fiction or non. The word choices, phrases, and dialogues can be perfectly crafted to paint very clear and beautiful stories for the reader because poets are wordsmiths.
I know that some poets can get too metaphorical which can make reading feel heavy and boring. (Let’s be honest, Shakespeare is said to be one of the greatest poets to ever have written however, reading one of his plays is not something you go into without having to dissect, research, and study.) But Acevedo is far from boring. Her ability to create a story about lore in a cultural context that is easy to understand, relate to, and invest yourself in is absolutely amazing. Besides the strong themes of family and sisterhood, one of my favorite things about the book was the inclusion of written Spanish language throughout with no footnotes or explanation. It reminds me of Toni Morrison and her philosophy on writing stories for Black girls and women-I imagine Acevedo is doing the same.
This was a beautiful story and like so many others I cannot wait to read what she writes next!

I loved Elizabeth Acevedo's other book so I was looking forward to reading this one. It turned out to be an enjoyable read. I will be reading any books that she writes.

I read my first Elizabeth Acevedo when someone recommended Poet X, and I fell in love! I then read Clap When You Land and With The Fire on High. It became clear that whether written in prose, or in novel form Acevedo would be an auto buy author for me.
Family Lore is Acevedo's first adult novel, and it follows four sisters, based in NYC, hailing from Santo Domingo, as they prepare for the eldest sister, Flor's, living "wake." See, Flor has a gift- she can see, to the date, when someone is going to die. Of course her three sisters, who have gifts and troubles of their own, are now worried, anxious, and a bit perplexed as to why she is planning a wake while she's still alive.
Told in flashbacks of growing up in Santo Domingo, following their journey's to NYC, their relationships to one another, their hardened Mami, and to present day entanglements with the many loves in their lives, including the next generation trying to make their own way.
The story follows the plot of Flor's wake very loosely, focusing more on the build up to it, the messy relationships, family secrets, sister interferences, future plans, past mistakes, the missed opportunties. The focus on family dynamics is what brings this story to life. The theme of women empowerment- in all it's forms- is woven through all the sisters stories.
The ending slowed and didn't result in an outrageous discovery explosive confrontation- just a quiet ending, . Life is not always a bombshell, The message I took away is that a life lived is more monumental than how it ends.
Highly recommend.

Elizabeth Acevedo is a beautiful poet and to see her translate that poetry into fiction is such a pleasure to witness. Fans of Acevedo's earlier works will recognize the heart and style of her works displayed here in alternating family narratives. Beautifully told with all foibles and complexities that make up human families, fans and new readers alike will fall in love with this book.

As someone who used to work in the funeral industry, I knew I just had to read this one and see how it played out. What a wonderful story! Really hope this author has more coming!

I have loved everything I’ve read by Elizabeth Acevedo - they were all YA books - so I was thrilled to receive an advanced copy of her latest book, Family Lore.

Acevedo is a very talented writer. This is her first book written for adults and it pains me to say I don’t think it lives up to her previous works.

Four Dominican sisters are living in New York with their own struggles. Flor is able to predict when people die, so when she plans her own living wake, they all fear the worst. However she refuses to tell them if she’s seen anything about her own death. Each sister has her own issues and secrets.

I love a multigenerational story and I love immigration stories so this book about four sisters from the Dominican Republic intrigued me. However I found the plot disjointed and hard to follow; I never knew who was who and was often confused about the time and place. The last 25% about the wake when they all get together was the best part, and I enjoyed how much the sisters supported and looked out for each other.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Oof. I'm not sure where to start here. I am a huge fan of Elizabeth Acevedo and was squealing happy to get this ARC. Sadly I cannot get into it. I DNF'd at 25% and I PUSHED to even get that far. The characters were not likeable, nothing drew me in, just all around not my cup of tea. I recommend all the other books this author has written but in my humble opinion, avoid this one at all costs.

Family Lore is Elizabeth Acevedo's adult fiction novel and as a fan of her YA work, you know I had to request an ARC. This tells the story of four Dominican hermanas and two of their daughters; Matilde, Flor, Pastora, Camilla y Yadi and Ona. Most of the Marte women have gifts, and when Flor, who foretells deaths in dreams, asks the women of the family to help plan her very own living wake, her daughter Ona begins to interview each woman of the familv to retrace their roots. The format was a bit intricate, alternating between 6 point of views and the past and the present, but in a way it's symbolic of the complexity of the multi-generational relationships between mothers, siblings, daughters, tias and cousins. There were many themes I found interesting like the four sisters each having been brought up differently by the same mother, each having to process their own traumas from the different levels of pain inflicted. My favorite part was la hermandad between these women, it was beautiful and the way they showed up for each other es todo! It also deals with some very candid themes that explore sexuality, infertility, heart-break, infidelity, the rawness of healing, and the truth that loving the sh*t out of family is very messy.

I really wanted to like this novel more because I've heard wonderful things about the author. This book was very disjointed and downright confusing. I couldn't keep track of all the characters and timelines straight. Acedvedo's prose is beautiful, but I needed a structured and easy-flowing story. I will admit, the concept seemed rather impressive, so I was surprised I couldn't connect with the overall story. I think I was just not the right person for this multigenerational story. I like more simple family stories.

‘Family Lore’ by Elizabeth Acevedo was absolutely amazing and gorgeously written. Highly, highly recommend!

This book comes out in August and you should preorder it. Gorgeously written, phenomenal story, characters I feel like I now know in real life (and wish I actually did). Definitely an adult book!

I was shockingly disappointed in “Family Lore”, the first written by Acevedo that I didn’t enjoy. The characters were not easily identifiable and had I not completed, I would not have felt endeared to any of them. The writing wasn’t fluid and it was hard to understand the “why” or the story for the first half. By the second half, I was able to begin connecting the companion life experiences/moments and became interested in how they intertwined. The side thoughts from Ona read as the authors side notes or research and hurt rather than helped the flow of the story. By the end, I could acknowledge the potential in the concept but not well executed. 2 stars…I anxiously awaited the end of this book from start to finish.

I am a big fan of Elizabeth Acevedo's YA fiction and have read everything she has written to date. Family Lore is Acevedo's first fiction novel for adult readers, and I will admit that at first, I did miss the rhythmic tone of her YA novels-in-verse.

This book is a beautiful story of family, love, relationships, and how members of a family each have their own unique individualities, but there's also a common core that keeps families tied together. Different female members of the family tell their stories in alternating chapters, which can be a little difficult to keep track of the various POVs. Also, the story switches back and forth between different timelines, which takes a few chapters to get used to. However, it did not take me long at all to become wrapped up in this magical story and I desperately wanted to see how it ended.

For fans of family drama, female-centered reads, and magical realism, this book is for you.