I've been a big fan of Acevedo's books for young adults and was looking forward to reading her debut novel for adults. As they previously have been, her characters are well developed and easy to connect with, but the overall organization of the novel gave me a bit of a headache. The plot was interesting so I stuck with it, but it was a difficult read for me.

To preface the rest of my review, there are a LOT of key characters. There's a brief list of who's who in the beginning, but something visual would have helped me more. A character map or a family tree (something graphic) would have better explained how all the characters are connected, and would have been easier for me to snap a picture of on my phone to reference while I continued the book.

Ona (one of the granddaughters) is interviewing different family members and that is why the point of view shifts so often. I wish that was explained earlier in the book, instead of 18% into the book in the middle of a Pastora chapter...

"One had been asking the women in the family all these questions... Pastora had agreed to the interviews, convinced she'd lived a long and colorful life and would have a lot to offer her inquisitive niece..."

Sometimes the story is being told from the point of view of that specific character, but sometimes it's Ona narrating - I wish it was more clear which was happening because I'd go a few pages in a new chapter before figuring out who's perspective I was reading from. There are also flashbacks that don't really have a transition to alert you that you've moved backwards in time until you're a few paragraphs in.

The organization made the book difficult to follow, but I liked the characters and the storyline.

This book is just stunning. Acevedo’s writing and storytelling is so gorgeous and this story of family, secrets, and love was wonderful.

Love this author and this book! I will be recommending this to everyone!. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Thanks to Netgalley for a chance for an early read.

This books is stunning. The weaving of the Marte sisters’ stories is beautiful. Acevedo honors her own history of voices while also creating this beautiful, messy, complicated real tale of generations of women.

Her first adult novel is gorgeous and I hope it’s the first of many.

When Flor, one of four Marte sisters who possess special affinities (and who specifically is a seer of deaths), begins planning her living wake, it sends a ripple of concern and gossip through the family. Told through a series of interviews conducted by Flor's daughter, Ona, we learn the history and secrets of the tightly-knit family across generations.

Confronting the moments that don't go the way their hearts may want, making decisions they may regret, watching opportunities come back around, there is so much love and heart in this family. I loved each flaw that made them!

This was my first Elizabeth Acevedo read and I'm eager to read more of her offerings!

Thank you to Netgalley and Ecco for this advanced copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

There's just something so captivating about families, their complexities and the magic that courses through them. Elizabeth Acevedo wrote such a stunning books about generational trauma, healing, the bonds between siblings and the desire to not just be alive, but to actually live.

Flora, Matilde, Pastora and Camilla are incredible characters. Their voices felt distinct and unique, at no point did I feel like the chapters blurred together due to confusing writing. This applies to the rest of the family as well. Honestly, I wished I could hug this book because it's so beautifully crafted and it feels as though the characters are completely real.

Highly recommend this!

I have put off writing a review because it is not enough to say that this book was insanely good, but that's how I feel. I am and English teacher and lover of literature; this is literature. Having read Elizabeth Acevedo's YA works, I was prepared for a powerful novel, but I could not have imagined the ways in which I came to understand that she is one of the voices of our generation. Reading _Family Lore_ I felt as if I could see Acevedo ascending to her seat beside Morrison, Alvarez and Garcia Marquez. Acevedo deftly handles the shifting narrative of a family of women (mothers, aunties, grandmothers, cousins, sisters and daughters) all experiencing the consequences of generational trauma, patriarchal culture (both in the DR and the US) and colonialism, and the ways they step into their power. At times I felt echos of _In the Time of Butterflies_ or _One Hundred Years of Solitude_, at others, _Oscar Wao_; however, _Family Lore_ is a feminine text through and through powered by strong female characters and their distinct experiences as women becoming themselves. One stroke of brilliance (among many in this text) is that Ona, the central narrator, is a sociologist studying the under examined histories of the Dominican Republic and the diaspora. This enables Acevedo to provide historical context at key moments through this character's understanding of the world and the ways that this and other histories cannot be separated from the experiences of the individuals our societies produce. The current nature of the novel with references to 2000s hiphop and social media pull the magical pieces of the family into present day, and the ways this multigenerational family confronts life feel like something altogether new. Facing questions of death, love, marriage, selfhood, boundaries, women's bodies and what it means to live one's life, the complexity of the characters and the various ways they understand their shared stories is stunning. I am not a re-reader of books, but I will be reading this again.

The setting and descriptions of the DR were the strong point of this book for me. Ultimately, I had a hard time keeping all of the characters and nuclear family groupings straight.

I was thrilled to see Elizabeth Acevedo tackle the adult genre with Family Lore. This family drama is told from multiple POV. A captivating and immersive story told in Acevedo's classic prose. Beautiful writing, rich characters, and even pacing. A thought provoking read

Parts of this book I really enjoyed and some not as much. Certainly many interesting characters in this Dominican family. I enjoyed the magical realism and Spanish sprinkled throughout. Some of the references to sex though felt superfluous as if an editor said add some more spice. In my opinion it would have been a stronger book without it. Definitely an entertaining read though. I would like to read some of Acevedo’s poetry next.

Elizabeth Acevedo has the most beautiful poetic way with words and in her first adult novel her language is as poetic, gorgeous and moving as always. Flor decides, after seeing a documentary her daughter recommended, that she wants to have a living wake. She sees it as a chance to have a party and say her goodbyes while she is still alive. The problem is that like all her sisters Flor has a gift, to see death, and he desire for this party worries her sisters, daughter and nieces as her announcing her impending death. As they prepare for the wake the history of their lives unfolds across the pages, lives filled with love, pain, laughter and sometimes pain and abuse. A love letter to families and the bonds they hold and to the power of women this book is also a love letter to the Dominican Republic. A fantastic and gorgeous read.

<i>Family Lore</i> is Elizabeth Acevedo's first novel for an adult audience, and as a big fan of her YA work, I was so excited to see this book on NetGalley. <i>Family Lore</i> is a multigenerational saga that follow the women of one family as they prepare for the living wake of Flor, who has the ability to see people's deaths.

I really loved this book. Big, sweeping family sagas have been very popular on the contemporary market in the past few years, but <i>Family Lore</i> doesn't feel like Acevedo is treading well-worn ground. Her approach and the story she weaves around the sisters and nieces is complex and beautifully told. I really appreciated how much grace she gives each character to make mistakes and then to find their way back.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC of this book.

Elizabeth Acevedo's books are must-reads for me, even before I look at plot summaries and jacket flaps. So I was really eager to read her foray into adult fiction, and I wasn't disappointed. Acevedo has a knack for creating believable, ordinary characters I come to love. In this novel, there were a lot of them, and at first I got lost as the narrator changed from chapter to chapter. I suspect a paper copy of the book would have been helpful with that; I don't love flipping back through e-reader pages quite as much as I do paper pages. Before long, though, the characters' quirky personalities brought them to life in my imagination, and I was so glad to have met them.

I hope EA continues with Young Adult fiction, and I want to read more adult novels from her, as well.

Many thanks to #NetGalley and Ecco for a free copy for review!

Do you ever really want to love a book, but start and then just realize the book isn’t or you? That is exactly what happened with me and this book. It had the making of a beautiful novel, but for me it fell flat. There were so many characters and points of view, that I just couldn’t keep up. Maybe they all come together, but I couldn’t last it out. The characters were lovely, and quirky, but the sheer number of them just got to me.

Since I couldn’t get into this book and ultimately did not finish it, I will not be posting to my social media or retail sites (goodreads & instagram or amazon) as I normally do in fairness to the publisher and author. Thank you for this e-arc in exchange for this review.

Do check this one out if you want a multigenerational novel with plenty of points of views.

I'm a big fan of Laura Esquivel, Isabel Allende, and the master Gabriel Garcia Marquez, whose vivid, abstract, and powerful stories are filled with pure magical realism. Latin American culture, history, and geography serve as inspiration for these brilliant authors, fueling their creation of inspirational, poetic, and colorful works.

As soon as I read the storyline of this book, which reminded me of Marquez's 100 Years of Solitude, a powerful family saga about unique and powerful women's stories, I was so invested in exploring this Dominican-American family saga.

The story focuses on four unique and quirky sisters, Flor, Matilde, Pastora, and Camila. Flor has the unique ability to predict when a person will die since she was five years old. Now, instead of predicting her own death, she decides to have a "living wake" that she can attend. This raises the question of what would happen if she predicted her own death and wanted to say goodbye to her loved ones in her own peculiar way.

The story moves back and forth in time, exploring the entire family saga, including hilarious and heartfelt stories of the gifted Marte women. Each sister's perspective on the events and the other people, including their mother, is different, and their opinions are reflected by their unique characteristics. It was enjoyable to stay in their heads and learn more about their backstories.

Overall, Latin American culture, customs, traditions, myths, and unique perspectives always pique my interest. This book was truly enjoyable and entertaining, and is one of Elizabeth Acevedo's greatest works.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Ecco for sharing this brilliant digital review copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.

If you're someone who enjoys multiple POVS then this is for you. I personally am not a fan of such a rapidly changing narrative and, in the case of Family Lore, I felt as if it had a weird rhythm about the story just due to how many POV's were involved. But overall I found the premise of Family Lore very intriguing and the magic was unique. I just wish I could have connected to the characters more, and I feel like I would have if the amount of POV's were decreased.

"All of us are magic wrapped in skin. And taut with over-wrought wonder, for the fleeting time we are beings..." Reading the Family Lore felt magical. I loved this book. The Marte woman are flawed, human and lovable. The multigenerational storyline is beautifully written capturing the nuances of individuality, relationships and familial roles. I enjoyed the different perspectives and the genuine love the characters had for one another. Acevedo has a way of bringing Hispanic culture to life in her writing in a reflective, respectful and honest way. This book was everything I wanted and more,

I was excited when I saw Elizabeth Acevedo wrote adult fiction as I often recommend her YA books to adults and young adults alike. She did not disappoint. I will be recommending this book when it is released,

Acevedo has given us another beautifully entwined book with characters that keep you coming back for more. At first I found it a little hard to keep up with everyone, but it all worked together and I soon learned how everyone was connected. The way Acevedo writes these characters and keeps you hooked on what is happening to them and where they are going, is really great writing.

A beautiful story of family, that had me thinking about my family and my family history.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC!

I was so excited to see a new book from Elizabeth Acevedo. I have read everything she has written. I had a bit of a hard time getting into this one, but saw others enjoyed it so I stuck it out. As a whole, I loved it. I found the array of characters hard to follow at times, but the book, overall, was wonderful. Her writing is stunning as always and I can't wait for more people to get their hands on this one!

family lore weaves together the very different lives of the women in a Dominican-American family. the story itself is magical, reverent, and pensive as it builds up to an family gathering that the women are spearheading. Flor, Pastora, Matilde, Camila, Yadira, Anacaona, Mama Silvia, and more will live in my mind not only for the coming days as i continue to reflect on this book, but quite possibly for years to come. while the format of the book takes some getting used to - as it is broken up into the lives of the different women then and now - it was intriguing, enticing, and had me wondering what answers I would yield if I sat the women in my family down and questioned them. would i also have a plethora of family lore to report on? i experienced probably every emotion reading this, and even after three hundred pages i still wanted more.

elizabeth acevedo’s adult debut was stunning and reflective, with an ending that had me closing my eyes and letting out a long long breath of release. if you’re into magical realism, stories about large families, and women-centered stories, i definitely wouldn’t skip this when it releases!