I finished this book nearly a month ago and still have no idea how to put my thoughts into words. Ultimately, I read this book physically and that was probably a mistake because although Acevedo's words are stunning on their own, her narration has always brought her books to life for me in a way that my eyeballs and brain are ill-equipped to manage. But for me, the part that I think has left me so uncertain about how to think about this book is that I'm still not really sure I understand what the purpose of this book was. It's told from multiple perspectives, arguably too many, although I followed and mostly kept them all straight and separate from one another, and tells the story of the lives of these three sisters and some of their children in the lead up to (and thinking back on their history) Flo's living wake. There's magic that's interesting and I liked that part a lot. But ultimately, I think this is just one of those literary fiction books that has me going, "Oh, pretty writing! But, what did I just read?"

It's a departure from her YA books where even if they are slice of life, they are also always coming of age novels and are about these young women coming into their own. And perhaps here, in Family Lore if there had been slightly fewer perspectives, we could have had more of that? But honestly, I appreciate this book for what it is, but I'm not sure I get it. That said, I definitely think you should pick it up because Acevedo IS a stunning writer and the worlds she creates, although contemporary in setting, are lush and full of people that feel real.

Thank you Netgalley for this advanced audio edition of Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo.

I actually had to switch between reading this and listening to it in order to get the hang of the story telling style and the actual story. It wasn't necessarily an easy story to get into. It switches narrators a lot, and quickly, and it also goes back and forth on the timeline, which made it hard to keep track of who and when we were talking about. I think overall I still got it.

I really want to say that I loved this story. It had a great start, one of the family matriarch's planning her own living wake, and the response of her surrounding family members. I loved the all female cast, the Latina culture, the magic, all of it. But my aforementioned issues really got in the way of my ability to sink in and immerse in the story. I had to work way too hard to keep track of characters, and plot lines. It's a bummer, because dang it had potential!

I don’t think the writing style was for me. I just couldn’t connect to anyone and there were a lot of anyones lol the story was kinda slow and boring.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC

I loved this family saga about the Marte family. I loved following the six perspectives of the women and following their history and trials. This was touching and impactful.

I wanted to love this book so much but the magical realism didn't work for me. I struggled with connecting to the characters or caring about them. I have loved Acevedo's previous YA titles but this one was a miss for me.

Oh my heart. I feel like I've heard mixed things about this book, and I'm not sure why? My best guess is either the format (the flashbacks and physical format of the book were a bit jarring at first, but nothing I couldn't acclimate to by a quarter of the way in) or the magical realism aspect. As a Korean American who grew up hearing her mother talk about the importance of dreams, it really made me feel close to these women and feel like I understood especially the younger generation more. The book was well written and held my interest the entire time--though I do think the ending felt a little tame compared to the rest of the book. I will be recommending this to my patrons and friends who enjoy magical realism/multigenerational books.

I LOVE Elizabeth Acevedo and have adored every one of her previous works I have read. Sadly, this just wasn’t quite *IT* for me in the way I was expecting it to be. I can’t quite describe why, but the story felt discombobulated and I was struggling to mentally manage the family tree. She is a highly talented writer, no doubt, and I’ll continue to read everything she publishes.

TL;DR REVIEW:

Family Lore was right up my alley: beautiful, heartbreaking, and crackling with life. These characters are so well written, and Acevedo’s talent as a poet shines.

For you if: You like family sagas with many POVs, magical realism, and prose by poets.

FULL REVIEW:

If you can believe it, Family Lore was my first Elizabeth Acevedo. (I’ve always meant to read her books but they’ve just slipped through the cracks of my TBR every time!) And it’s no surprise that I liked it very much: a character-driven story about strong women and their relationships, magical realism, and prose by a poet? Sign me right up.

The book focuses on six women from the Dominican-American Marte family: Flor, Matilde, Pastora, and Camila (all sisters); plus Ona (Flor’s daughter) and Yadi (Pastora’s daughter). Nearly all of them have family “gifts,” and Flor’s is that she can see someone’s death ahead of time. So when she decides to throw herself a living wake but won’t say why, naturally everyone is concerned. At the same time, Matilde is reckoning with a lifelong bad marriage, Flor is struggling to conceive, and Yadi’s teenage love is suddenly back in town. The narrative bounces between them all, and between past and present, as we hurdle toward the wake.

This book isn’t going to be for everyone (especially if you have trouble keeping track of a lot of POV characters, are squeamish about bodily functions, or feel embarrassed by bold references to sex and sexuality), but there’s no denying Acevedo’s mastery here. It took me a bit to really get into the story — and I had to forgive some pretty glaring factual errors about my alma mater, Binghamton University (I’m 99% sure she originally wrote about Cornell but changed it at the last minute) lol — but once I did, I was all in. I found this book beautiful, heartbreaking, and crackling with life. These characters are so well written, and Acevedo’s talent as a poet means there are some really breathtaking sentences in here. Acevedo also reads the audiobook herself, which always leads to such a great listening experience.

I’m glad I read this one, and Acevedo’s backlist is more firmly on my TBR than ever.



CONTENT AND TRIGGER WARNINGS:
Infertility; Child abuse; Death of a parent; Infidelity; Sexual content

I love Elizabeth Acevedo books and was excited to read this one. I wasn't disappointed! I am so glad she has ventured into adult novels. Flor can predict to the day when someone will die and if that's not wild enough she decides to host a wake for herself....while she's still alive. Listen, I am just glad she wasn't some annoying MC with no character development. I think this is an awesome book club read.

The story is also told through a nonlinear format, through the eyes of the six Marte women. Each character has a strong enough voice that I rarely had to check back to the chapter heading to see whose head we were in at the moment. I absolutely love that the reader has each woman’s perspective through the novel, especially when it comes to how they viewed each other. While I wish we’d had a bit more closure on some of the characters, I understand that this was merely a snapshot of their layered and nuanced lives. I like knowing that each of the women had more than what was presented in this particular story, and that for most of them, this three-day-time period was the start of something new and life changing.

The pacing is slow, giving us time to really dive deep and get to know each character in relation to the others. I adore character-driven stories, where we get to know each one well enough to connect and understand their motivations. The women in this book are flawed in what feels like a realistic way, and apart from the “gifts” many of them possess, they seem like women we might know and love in our own lives.

I was so excited for this book and I wanted to love it but ultimately I had a hard time getting into it. There were a lot of characters and so many POVs that I had a hard time keeping track of each perspective. I found myself less invested because by the time I got back into a particular character’s story, the chapter would end and move on to another character. I loved the writing though so I will definitely be looking forward to the author’s next book.

I adore Elizabeth Acevedo. I adore books written by her and books narrated by her. Family Lore is her first adult fiction novel and it took me a long time to get into but ultimately won me over with its powerful storytelling towards the end. The book is filled with self-discovery, redemption, and heartbreak. Even though this one wasn't for me, I can't wait to see what Acevedo comes up with next.

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.

✨✨✨
📖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.