From the author of Poet X comes this intriguing read. This felt like adult Encanto. I did love the warmth and light that this Dominican-American family brought me. At the core of this book is a story of sisterly love and family devotion. This reminded me of Measure, but kinder. And Hello, Beautiful, but warmer. A great read in September to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month and to welcome some magic into the year.

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📖Review
3🌟🌟🌟
📖Book 77/100
📚Family Lore
💫Genre: Woman’s Fiction
✍️Author: Elizabeth Acevedo

📝Synopsis 📝
This is based of the lives and magical gifts of a Dominican American family of sisters and their daughters. The author weaves their stories into one as she transports you back and forth into their trials, triumphs, and gifts.

💭My Thoughts 💭
The writing was my favorite to be honest. She mixes culture and stories so beautifully that it’s poetic, but I feel I lacked more plot towards the beginning. I loved the characters and their stories, but they didn’t tie well together. The flow from one generation or character to the next wasn’t too clear and at times I’d be so confused as to which timeline we were in. I loved the tias and moms so much since it brings back so many memories to my upbringing. Again, the culture and heritage was beautifully woven in. The book got so good 70% in, and I loved Flor and Ona’s story the most. I could totally picture this being a great Telenovela.

Thank you at @netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of “Family Lore” in exchange for an honest review. I really wanted to love this. After all is said and done, there were several pieces that I really did appreciate. I just think this wasn’t the book for me but a lot of people will love this. Acevedo’s writing is beautiful but the cast of characters and different timelines had me charting things to keep up…mainly because there were several characters that I was more invested in than others. I’ll have to think about this one some more, but I totally understand why people would love this.

The premise to this book and the fact that ELIZABETH ACEVEDO wrote it had me very excited to pick it up. Unfortunately I had a really hard time getting into this book and I don't think I ever truly found my footing. While I normally love multigenerational stories and magical realism, this one had a lot going on and too many characters to follow. I just didn't feel the connection like I normally do with Acevedo's work.

Somewhere between 3 and 3.5 stars. I love Elizabeth Acevedo's YA books, so admittedly she sets a high bar for herself! I had a difficult time with the pacing of the story, and with the unconventional timeline, and it was hard to remember which backstory went to which character after awhile.

The last quarter of the book almost made up for the parts I didn't like about the first 3/4. That was when the beauty of her writing that I typically expect really shined in a difficult, complicated, incredibly emotional ending.

First off, let me just gush about Acevedo for a bit. If you haven’t read her backlist, do it. Now. I had a difficult time getting into this book, and I tried to a couple times. I don’t think it’s anything to do with the book or Acevedo herself. I just think that I have her lyrical verse novels in mind, so prose throws me for a loop. I wanted to love this book so badly, but I just think it’s not for me.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Ecco for this e-ARC!

I think this is definitely going to be the type of book that I am going to have to re-read to fully grasp this book. This is Elizabeth Acevedo's adult debut and it was a little weird to read her same writing that I love but with adult content, lol.

The writing is fantastic but I expected nothing less. I did read this along with the audiobook once it came out and so I was able to listen to it as I was following along physically. The way that everything flowed genuinely felt like a story, like I was listening to someone's family lore and so I think the title of this book is perfect and makes total sense. I will say, there are several trigger warnings so I would definitely look those up.

There are a lot of characters and although there is a character list in the front, since it was an e-book it was hard to go back and forth and remember exactly who everyone was and how everyone was related. After a while, of course, I didn't have to keep checking but the beginning was a little jumbled and so I do think I should re-read at some point.

All in all, Elizabeth Acevedo is one of my favorite authors and I will read anything she decides to put out, no matter the age range.

This was a unique plot. I really liked this story. It kept me hooked from the beginning all the way through until the end.

Elizabeth Acevedo never disappoints me with her writing. I love the complexity of her characters and how real they always feel, and this book was no different. Being of Afro-Carribean descent myself, I always feel a connection to books following characters of similar backgrounds, despite the family being from a different island than my family is. I felt connected to the women that we follow in so many ways and it definitely elevated the reading experience for me. Elizabeth's writing is so lyrical and reads like poetry. This book reminded me of how much I love her books, and I'm excited to read anything she writes in the future.

4.5⭐ on 🎧

Elizabeth Acevedo is one of the best modern poets of our time and I love her. This book was such a change from her YA books and it was interesting to read something so different. I loved the sisters and all of their gifts with all the interconnected messiness that comes from having a large family.

Elizabeth truly has the reader live and know these characters in such a unique way, even though sometimes the flashbacks and large variety of points of views was a bit confusing. I loved the culture of this book and how these characters showed their love in the complex way that was so relatable as someone with a large extended family.

If you enjoy complex family stories and poetry, all of Elizabeth Acevedo's books including this one are must reads.

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62949033-family-lore" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="Family Lore" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1690917781l/62949033._SX98_.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62949033-family-lore">Family Lore</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15253645.Elizabeth_Acevedo">Elizabeth Acevedo</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5554207580">4 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
Family Lore is the story of a Dominican-American family of four sisters, their daughters and their lovers. Having no sisters of my own, I especially enjoyed the dynamics between the sisters. My grandmother had five sisters and so often they reminded me of all of my aunts.<br />They looked upon their nieces as extra daughters, which I recognized with my grandmothers sisters.<br /><br />Each sister was born with a special gift. These gifts were acknowledged within the family and treated seriously, even though most people would look upon them as strange coincidences. The lives of the sisters and their daughters went back and forth in time as their stories come together resulting in a big event as the finale.<br /><br />There are so many wonderful topics of discussion in this novel that would be great for book clubs. There are also many topics in the book that are a bit spicy and explicit, so audio users may want to keep their earbuds in while listening in mixed company.<br /><br />One of the things I loved about the book was the inclusion of the Dominican culture and the customs within the family. I felt the book was a bit long and some parts didn’t seem to matter in the big picture, but overall I really liked the story.<br /><br />Many thanks to NetGalley and Ecco for allowing me to read an advance copy. I am happy to recommend this to other readers and give my honest review.
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/2501914-tami">View all my reviews</a>

Such a beautiful family saga by one of my favorite YA author's Elizabeth Acevedo. Her debut adult novel is not to be missed. Six women's stories are interwoven with a hint of magical realism.

I love Acevedo's books (With the Fire on High, Clap When You Land, The Poet X) but I didn't find this one as moving or enjoyable as her others. This is Acevedo's first book for adults rather than young adult. It's about six women in a Dominican-American family in New York. Flor and her three sisters each have unusual gifts.  Flor can see in her dreams when someone she knows is going to die. She decides one day to hold a living wake for herself, and her three sisters, her daughter and her niece are expected to plan the event. Has Flor dreamed her own death this time? Flor isn't telling. 

Acevedo is a beautiful writer and I very much enjoyed her blending of Spanish and English, but this book felt slow. I thought six narrators was too many, as I struggled to remember the history and unique abilities of each character. Having many different points of view seems to be a trend in fiction that I don't love. The characters of Yadi and Matilde stood out the most to me, and I would have loved a whole book about them. But youngest sister Camila seemed like an afterthought, Pastora felt underdeveloped, and most important, I struggled to feel connected the primary narrator, Flor's daughter Ona.

Also, the chronology kept shifting and there were times, perhaps due to the format of the ebook, that I wasn't sure whether we were in the past or present. 

There was so much going on in this book, but with all the different characters and timelines, ultimately it didn't have the emotional impact it was striving for. The relationships between the family members was never well developed and I expected to see more growth in the characters than I did. I think the story lacked focus, which is very unlike Acevedo's previous books, which even though they are for young adults, never felt simple or immature.

This book reminded me a lot of The Fortunes of Jaded Women, a book I had mixed feelings about for similar reasons. If you loved that one, I recommend this (or vice versa).

Note: I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley and publisher Ecco. This book published August 1, 2023.

DNF. I really liked the premise but the writing did not work for me at all. It wouldn't be fair to the book if I finished reading and gave it a low rating.

At some point I gave up on this book, it just felt like she was trying too hard to write for adults. And I'll admit I was also turned off by the long passages about certain body parts and bodily functions. But a part of me wanted to see it through, because while I haven't read too many of Acevedo's other books, I do admire her writing style, so I came back. And still didn't care much for it.
It's almost like she tried mashing up two stories when she could have easily divided them and made a duology. One book about the lives and histories of the four sisters and another about the mother and daughter, because having so many stories (and timelines) thrown at you did not work. Personally, I'd have preferred the story of the sisters because at some point I started skimming through the daughter's and niece's chapters because I really did not care for them.

Family Lore is really enjoyable and I purchased a copy through the Book of the Month Club. The characters were unique and distinct. I loved being in the world that Elizabeth Acevedo created and I loved rading about this family.

The aging sisters from the Marte clan have gifts that are both blessings and curses. Through them, we learn about the family and its history, how they came to the US from the Dominican Republic, how their family has grown, and what each one struggles with and hopes for in the future. The characters and their interactions are charming in a familial sense where there is squabbling, alliances, worries, and support. Elizabeth Acevedo makes them seem real all while maintaining a sense of wonder and magic about them too.

I've seen many reviewers disappointed in the structure I'd this story but I loved it. It didn't take long to acclimate, the magic and the history read so vividly in the Latinx literary magical realism tradition. Acevedo is still, and forever. A fave.

2/5 Stars

This book had me confused. At the beginning of the book there is a prelude that switches POV and I literally thought it was the same person while reading because I forgot they changed and then wasn't sure what exactly was happening. While I will say Elizabeth Acevedo has a way with words and telling a story, this was not it for me. The story itself fell very flat for me, and I felt no emotional connection to the characters. With the timeline shifts and all the jumping around I just couldn't concentrate on the story, so unfortunately this just wasn't the book for me.

I really wanted to love this book. I love Elizabeth Acevedo's other books "The Poet X," "With the fire on high," "Clap when you land." This book just wasn't for me. I tried to start it several times and kept getting lost with the myriad of characters and timelines. I love Acevedo's voice and lyrical writing but the story didn't keep me engaged.

Thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins for the advanced reader copy.