I will go anywhere Elizabeth Acevedo wants to take me. This book is everything. I could spend endless time with the poetry of these words. The love and humanity in these pages is stunning.

I loved this inter-generational story of a Dominican-American family. Their emotional and literal journeys will stick with you well after you're done reading.

Thanks to Ecco and Netgalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This is a wonderful tale of a family of sisters, secrets, their rich culture and death. Flor has been able to predict a person's death since the age of 5. She decides that rather than predict or wait until her own death, she wants to have a living wake for herself so that she can attend.

Has Flor seen her own death? What secret is she keeping from her sisters?

Told during the 3 days prior to the wake, this is a fun, suspenseful story of a family of women navigating their familial history and helping each other.

Highly recommend!

e-arc provided by Netgalley

I'm going to be honest since this follows so many people in one family I had a hard time keeping track of who was who, the writing is beautiful (duh it's Elizabeth Acevedo) but this just didn't hit me the same as her other books.

Family Lore is a great story about cooky sisters and was a lot of fun to read. I found the writing a bit confusing at times but the story is compelling and the characters believable. The Marte women are a quite a bunch and full of unpredictable antics. We learn about each woman and her special talents and secrets as they all try to figure out what is going on with Flor, the sister who can predict death.
This multigenerational novel is a great read and I highly recommend.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC.

Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo is everything I knew it would be as her first adult novel. This is a family epic about the Marte women and all of the ways they are bonded together. All of the ways they are bound to their spiritual gifts. Not only does Acevedo provide us with stories about their childhoods and how each woman became who they are, she also helps us to understand the nuances of each relationship and the root of what has prevented each sister from fully becoming self-actualized in their own life. In the author's letter at the beginning, Acevedo reminds the reader that there is no single origin story to a novel or really to anything. She was inspired by the women in her life, her mother and aunts, to tell Family Lore and to center the story line on the ways that the women in a family hold one another throughout lives journey.

Family Lore is told using culture, tradition, ritual, ceremony and myth. The epigraph shared before the narrative is a poem from Lucille Clifton, Won't you celebrate with me, where she reminds us that everyday something has tried to kill her and has failed. A red carpet rolled out before the introduction of the Marte women and their spiritual gifts, trials endured, and triumphs. Matilde is the eldest sister and the only one without a clear spiritual gift which she has always struggled with. I think I enjoyed the growth of her character the best as the sister in a loveless marriage who has tolerated infidelity due to her own feelings of low self-worth. In the end, she truly understands her gift may look different but it is very much still a gift. The other sisters: Flor, Pastora, and Camila each have special roles to play in the narrative centered upon their protective nature towards one another. Each sister remembers their mother, Mama Siliva, differently. The reader is left to wrestle with whose version of the long-dead matriarch they will remember the most. When Flor plans a wake for herself the family becomes anxious and wonders if she's going to die and when except Flor never concretely answers anyone's questions. Just like the family, the reader is going to have to wait until the end of the story to find out what the seer of the family knows that she is unwilling to tell.

Bravo a thousand times to this celebration of Dominican culture and folklore, Latinx women, and family! Thank you so much to the author and publisher for the e-arc copy!

"Every end is the stage for a beginning."

In her author's letter, Acevedo says she wrote with an eye on "The way families hold secrets, tell one another's truths, and protect one another." That was the story she wanted to tell and she nailed it!

Family Lore is a multigenerational family saga. The story of the Dominican American Marte family and the women therein. All of the women are special. Each has her own talent, her own special abilities and her own secrets. Their powers represent “past, present and future as well as beauty, poetry, and fear". “Families" says Acevedo, "real or fictitious are always messy”. In the Mare family their special talents help them to live life to the fullest, despite its challenges.

Flor, the sister who can predict within minutes when someone dies, announces that she wants to throw herself a wake while she is still alive to enjoy it. Everyone is immediately suspicious, no family member has done this before. Given Flor’s powers, they wonder if Flor knows something that she’s not telling. All of the family, including her daughter, Ona, are trying to understand why she wants this. Is she ill? Has she kept it a secret until now? The story weaves together the lives of the sisters, aunts, cousins and nieces, past and present. The Marte’s women look at their family history as a way to predict what will come next. With their special gifts they can face challenges that can bond them or harm their relationships.

Emotional. Poignant.Touching. This is a fun story, although a bit hard to follow at times (hence 4 stars). The characters are as imaginative as they are unforgettable and the story is written in a delightful prose. This is Acevedo's first novel for adults. (I've loved her YA's). ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ NOTE: Be sure to read the Epigraph. Publication Date: August 1, 2023. Special thank you to #NetGalley and #ecco for this advanced copy in exchange for a fair review.

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I think this book would hit harder and have broader appeal without the magic.

The writing style took some time to adjust to between points of view and the interviews.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ecco for the ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ecco for the ARC!

I absolutely loved the way that the author depicts intergenerational bonds and the power of womanhood. One of my favorite parts about reading this was how all of the relationships were connected with each other and how each individual relationship was dissected and explored. The magic system was interesting, although it definitely was not the biggest component of the story at all. This book primarily explores intergenerational relationships, death, and the power of community. I really enjoyed this, and I'm excited for this book's release!

Family Lore will be released August 1st, 2023!

I’ve wanted Acevedo to write an adult novel for some time. Her YA books simply fly off the shelves of my library, and are incredibly powerful. This novel doesn’t disappoint. It’s just incredibly beautiful and lush. This
intergenerational family saga reads like the best of Julia Alvarez, which I do not say lightly. I fully engaged with this family, seeing so much of who they are and wanting to know more. I’m impressed with well this author interspersed poetical language while keeping the story moving forward. This is a technique not many have. Acevedo has this talent. So incredibly well written. I loved it. I hope she continues to write for adult audiences. Not that YA can’t be enjoyed by adults, but this book spoke to my spirit so deeply. I hope to read more.

I adore this author’s work, so I was looking forward to this. I was put off by the mysticism aspects of the book. Perhaps that is just my preference as a reader. I love a multigenerational, woman-centered novel, but I could not get into this one.