Elizabeth Acevedo is such an amazing storyteller. Each book that she writes immediately pulls me in and makes me feel like I am part of the story.

Flor can predict when someone will die. She has decided that she wants a living wake. Everyone starts worrying that she has seen her own death.

As they are preparing for the wake, we learn the stories of Flora, Pastora, Matilde, and Camilla. We are told about their lives in Santa Domingo and how they came to New York and their lives since then. This story touches on infidelity, fertility issues, love and grief and the lives of this Dominican family

There are parts of this book I enjoyed, but as a whole this book is not a favorite for me. I expected the magical realism to be much more prevalent in the story. This story is a sweeping family saga spanning decades and locales with heavy feminist themes. This sounds perfect in itself. Throw in the women of the family holding magical powers??? Sounds perfect. But something here just didn’t work for me. Part of the problem may have been that there were 6 POVs. I had trouble keeping everyone’s narrative straight. The magical realism element was only prevalent in certain characters and I had trouble keeping everyone’s “powers” straight. I did appreciate the idea that the women’s trauma was manifesting as their power. Something here just missed the mark for me. I started reading this as an eBook and ended up having to swap to the audio version because I was dragging through it so so slowly. That being said, I love Acevedo’s YA novels and I will continue to read her work. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC of this novel.

I love this author and loved all of her previous works. This is really her first book that branched out into something that was not YA and this is also the first book i've read that dealt with the older generation of men and women. The journey this book sent me on can never be forgotten and I honestly love this book but it was not one of the best for me. The changing of POVs every chapter is something that I'm not familiar with but I enjoyed it. It was seamless and I didn't feel like I was thrown off from the changing of POVs. The SECOND HAND EMBARRASSMENT I felt in some of these scenes almost made me run away from the book and I would scream and laugh. Justice for Pastora!

I absolutely loved The Poet X and I had high hopes for Family Lore. Honestly, this book is…fine. It’s written by a fantastic author, is a GMA book club pic and is getting all the press. But, it was a bit odd to me and I didn’t particularly jive with jt. 🤷‍♀️ It’s probably just me and I will definitely read whatever Acevedo writes next, but you won’t see me singing this one’s praises from my rooftop.

I think the story itself depicts the resilience of women, especially within a family - the closeness that can be attained and just threw the knowledge of things left unsaid. It was a very beautiful story. I really liked following the different stories.

***3.5 Stars rounded Up to 4***

Mini Review...

One of my MOST highly anticipated reads of 2023 by one of my all time favorite authors, I could not wait to get my hands on a copy! and since I've always listened to Acevedo's books while reading along, I couldn't break tradition. If you haven't done so already, you should absolutely treat your ears to Acevedo's narrative style and join the many readers who simply adore this author's storytelling/voice. This is Acevedo's first adult fiction debut and we follow the six women of the Marte family in past + present timelines between Santo Domingo and New York City. Sisters Flor, Matilde, Pastora, and Camila have gathered to organize a living wake for Flor. The Oldest of the sisters has always had a close relationship with death, experiencing premonitions at a very young age that predicted which family members were close to passing. After watching a documentary of a man having a living wake with his loved ones present, Flor decided she would have one for herself. This story is slow paced as we get to know the sisters and some of their offspring, cousins Ona and Yadi also have chapters of their own as they navigate their mother/aunts live funeral. 

There's something comforting in reading one of Acevedo's books and I believe it's because family is always at their core. Also, as a Latina woman myself having grown up in a large family there is one universal truth and that is...everyone is deeply invested in everyone elses lives for better or worse. Matilde is dealing with a husband who is always having an affair and this time has taken his extra marital activities much further. Pastora is tired of seeing Matilde put up with her philandering husband and wants her to end her marriage. She's also trying to get to the bottom of the reasoning behind Flor's live wake. Camila is the youngest and most forgotten of the sisters and she's grown tired of that. Flor's daughter Ona is struggling with fertility issues and wanting more than anything to have a child with her husband. Pastora's daughter Yadi has her world rocked when her boyfriend from her teenage years returns after having been in prison for some years. 

I found some of these women's stories to be  more compelling than others but can appreciate what Acevedo set out to achieve. It was during the scenes that took place back in Santo Domingo where you can see where and why these ladies have unhealed generational trauma and wounds to heal. Although they're all deeply woven with one another, six lives to follow can get chaotic and sometimes I found myself getting lost. I felt some women were better developed than others and this led to some blending in of voices and difficulty keeping the story lines straight. Even though we Know Camila is sick of being the forgotten one, I still felt she pretty much was forgotten in this story which seemed like a missed opportunity. If you enjoy reading slower paced stories with a strong focus on family dynamics paired with a unique storytelling voice, you can't go wrong with Elizabeth Acevedo. 

Favorite POV's: Matilde and Yadi

I wanted to love this, after loving Acevedo's other books so much, but this book dragged for me and I had to force myself to finish it. Too many characters, too many side plots, and not enough action to move forward. Also, the ending was not enough closure for me. I think I'll stick to Acevedo's YA from now on, because she does it masterfully.

A slow read with a large cast of characters. Takes a bit to get into it, but I really enjoyed this book! So many great characters, and I generally love each of their storylines and where they go. Love the writing style.Thanks to netgalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review, sorry it took me so long to actually read it!

I love this author so much. But for the life of me I could not get into this book. There were so many characters at times it was hard to keep up. In effort to give the book another shot I even tried listening to the audio but it never connected for me. I am giving this author grace because there were some parts I liked such as the powers that each woman in the family possessed but beyond that the story did not come together for me.

Its always a blessing to be able to know all ones siblings and get through all of them and how their family evolved. Especially when there is such an anchor in the abilities that they shared. It was wonderfully written and there was beautiful prose.
My issue is that although the family has an anchor the book seems to somehow lack some grounding. The characters didn't quite grip me into the fold like I needed them to. And I have found that I am a character person, so although the plot is great, the characters need to move me.

Not saying that this is bad in any way, this is a really well written and will be enjoyed by many, but somehow fell flat for me. And thats ok. Elizabeth Acevedo has many other works that I truly have enjoyed, and I will continue to read her works.

Thank you to Netgalley and Ecco for an e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you @netgalley for the review copy of this book! Family Lore is Elizabeth Acevedo's first novel for adults! It tells the story of a family of women originally from the Dominican Republic- with the plot taking place both there, and in the larger NYC area. Each member of the family is going through their own self-discovery and reckoning, but the plot primarily hinges on one of the Marte sisters, Flor, organizing a living wake for herself. Through the last-minute planning of this living wake, and through to the event itself, we learn more about each of the Marte sisters (Flor, Matilde, Pastora, and Camila), their special "gifts" (aka a little dopple of magical realism), and the modern struggles of the two daughters in the family, cousins Ona and Yadi. As many families are, they are too mixed up in each other's business, especially when it comes to each other's love lives, but their nosiness is out of love and the desire to protect. We loved the weaving of this story together through the perspectives of the various family members, and the slow revelations that emerged from this way of telling the story. The cultural aspects of this book, even despite some of the less-than-savory machismo experienced back in the Dominican, make this a great read for #nationalhispanicheritagemonth!

Such a magnificent work of art! Acevedo just has a way with words and hearing the audiobook in her actual voice just made it even better. At first I did find the multiple POVs a little daunting but once I referred to the family tree a couple of times, I was fully in it! This family’s stories were woven together so beautifully. I wanted to adopt a tía or two as my own but they all had something to teach us. I read this weeks ago and I can’t stop thinking about it!

I was kindly sent the arc before pub date but was not able to read it before then. I then received the audio from Libby and I loved how Elizabeth Acevedo narrated her own book. This is a genre outside of what we know to be of Acevedo’s work. I enjoyed the step outside the genre but at times I felt disconnected from the story. Acevedo always wrote a story that is beautifully told and vivid to imagine. I also suggest reading and listening to the story for a better experience. I did enjoy the story but like I said I felt disconnected at times (I blame my mood reading)

I unfortunately couldn't really get into this book and ended up DNF-ing around halfway through. I thought it was well-written and I liked the concept of tying family members together in these different timelines, but it ultimately unfortunately was not for me.

Giving it 3 stars because I don't want to give a book 1 star that I didn't actually end up finishing.

I love Elizabeth Acevedo's writing and her characters are so deeply memorable. This was an admirable effort for a first step into Adult fiction. I do think that writing for a young adult audience is her strength and this didn't quite live up to her previous novels for me. I look forward to reading anything she writes next.

I ADORE Elizabeth Acevedo but… I have veryyyyy complicated feelings about this one. While I enjoyed the aspects of sisterhood & family, I sometimes found myself not as invested as I wanted to be with these characters. Again, love Acevedo but I’m not sure I loved this one as much as her other novels. It would probably really work for some people but unfortunately I am not one of them

I'm a huge fan of Elizabeth Acevedo's ya stories, but her newest adult novel just did not sit the same with me. There were so many characters, POV, and time changes that I struggled to keep everything together. Additionally, some of the characters seemed to have random, meant to be shocking?, powers or histories that I couldn't line up with the story line; the storyline seemed to be more hearing the backgrounds and troubles of various characters rather than any kind of plot. If you are more of a character-driven fan, I am sure you will enjoy this story more than me.

Fun, heartwarming, unique, and magical. Acevedo creates magical realism that rugs at your heart strings and makes you want to call your family members more. The ending was everything and more, and the characters jumped off the page (every page). Highly recommend!

Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo

A great family saga filled with unique characters and situations, plus a little magical realism thrown in.

I liked the connectivity between different members of the family, how they saw themselves and each other.

Thanks to @netgalley and @eccobooks for this advanced copy!

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Family Lore was such a pleasant surprise for me! I typically really struggle with magical realism, but this was such a fantastic take on the genre. The cast of characters in this generational drama was VAST, but I thought Acevedo did a phenomenal job delving into their respective lives, and I was truly invested in all of their stories. The only thing that didn't quite work for me was the resolution. There was so much build up to those final chapters, and I felt like the end was just a little anticlimactic. It had so much potential to be truly powerful and heartwrenching, and it just didn't quite get there for me. This was my first book by the author, and I'm looking forward to reading Acevedo's other works. Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!