Acevedo has always tackled the complexity of families with humility and grace, which makes her foray into adult fiction all the more exhilarating. In keeping with the tradition of narrating her own audiobooks, Acevedo is joined by fellow bilingual and slam poets Sixta More and Danyeli Rodriguez del Orbe to give listeners a bustling family saga filled with history and secrets.

I was so excited to read Family Lore after loving Acevedo’s previous work, but her first foray into adult fiction didn’t hit for me. I think it feels overly serious and complicated for no reason. I’ll keep reading her work, but I hope it’s better than this.

A powerful, feminist family history that empowers matriarchs, daughters, and women of all shapes, sizes, and ages. The emphasis on tradition was fresh and informative, narrative and exciting. A gorgeous evolution from Acevedo’s young adult poetry, the flowery and elaborate storytelling kept me thirsting for more sentences each chapter.

I got this title as both an ARC book and eAudio. Thanks to the publisher for getting these to people for review.

I am an absolute fan of Elizabeth Acevedo and her style of storytelling. It's visceral and intense, poetic and reflective. Her gift is weaving the words to paint imagery and feeling into a bigger deeper tale.

This book is complicated in many ways. The format takes us from a present time main story with flashbacks and literal interview transcripts while, balancing everything beautifully. I listened as well as consulted the book, as I often enjoy doing, and was mesmerized. I think hearing Elizabeth narrate gives all her writing extra powerful impact.

I adored the magical realism aspect of the Lore in addition to the bond of our unique females as well as the connection shared with the Dominican Republic, which is almost a main character herself.

For me, it is a definite read and see. This book would be excellent for a Bookclub discussion!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ALC of "Family Lore" by Elizabeth Acevedo. This is my first read by this author and i understand it is the author's first adult fiction work. I was hyped to read/listen to this. The blurb on NetGalley really intrigued me. I think my anticipation might have overshadowed the listen. It was interesting, but I found I wanted to learn more or dig deeper into some characters stories. I often got lost and had to rewind to catch up (I really don't like doing that). It took me longer to absorb and as a result. I found that I was losing interest toward the end instead of anticipating what was coming next. Maybe it would have been better to read this one.

I was so excited to read Elizabeth Acevedo’s first book for adults and she did not disappoint.
I liked the different viewpoints and the humanity she brings to all of the characters. Highly recommend.

This was a beautiful story but unfortunately I think some of the stories were shortchanged because of the sheer amount of stories that were fighting to be told. Because of the amount of family members to focus on it became a jumble at times but there is no doubt that Elizabeth Acevedo is a talented writer.

When I heard Elizabeth Acevedo was gifting us with her adult debut, I immediately added it to my TBR. I have loved her YA novels and was so excited for something new. Well, when I saw it on NetGalley, I requested it and sadly did not get approved and was in limbo over there. This was a book I NEEDED to read! I planned to go pick it up from a bookstore on publication day but BOTM came to the rescue with having it as an August option. And then, as luck would have it, my approved request for the audio ARC, narrated by the author herself, came through on NetGalley! This was a dream of a tandem read. I loved hearing the story that Acevedo so beautifully wove on the page in her voice through the audiobook. This is one of those books that just feels so real even with the magical realism at play. I feel like I have known the family for my entire life. Read this one. You will not regret it. Thank you to NetGalley for the audio ARC!

Acevedo is an incredible writer with such beautiful language and she’s able to bring the characters off the page so well. This story was unique and I enjoyed the characters greatly. The Marte women have gifts and Flor’s gift is the ability to know when people will die. She’s chosen to have a living wake, which sets off a chain of events that each member of the family must come to terms with. The story takes place over the course of three days leading up to Flor’s wake and the title really says it all: it focuses on family lore, the family’s history and stories.

As I said before, Acevedo is a stunning writer. Her work is incredible and you can feel the characters. I enjoyed seeing the family life and events through various characters perspectives. I was left in some places wanting more from the story, but this is a great piece of work by Acevedo and I do recommend giving it a read or listen.

Specifically for this audiobook, I LOVED the narrators. I’m very picky when it comes to audiobooks but I felt like the narrators matched the characters perfectly. It was a really enjoyable listen and I recommend the audiobook even more than the physical copy because the narration really brings the characters and stories to life!

I'm not 100% sure how to put how I feel about this book into words, but I'll try.

-It didn't remind me of anything else, which for me is a huge win.
-The family dynamics were insanely real.
-I might believe in magic now and I think maybe a lot of our magic is going unnamed, but it's there non the less.
-This book made me think, like pause where you are and reflect on what you just read level think.
-This book allowed me a glimpse at the generational inner -workings of a very complex, guarded, intelligent, and talented family. I perspective I would not have had access to otherwise.
-It's about family, but also very much about the individuals who make it up.
-All women are magic!

TW: mental health, grape, abuse, infidelity, and death.

Fans of Acevedo's YA books will recognize bits of her strong-willed protagonists in the voices of the Marte family women. Each narrator has a distinctive voice and perspective, and the book captures the nuances of how members of a family can both attract and repel each other. Filled with vivid imagery, this story comes to life like a series of memories springing to mind at a family reunion or a wake, living or otherwise.

Given that I have read and loved nearly everything Elizabeth Acevedo has written, it probably comes as no surprise to anyone that I adored this book.

It’s not perfect by any means — the pacing is stilted at times, there are so many characters (more on that in a bit), and it was missing some of the indescribable pull of her YA novels.

But this is also an impressive book in a lot of ways, and the writing is absolutely beautiful.

I was struck by how much this book is able to build on the works of Allende, Alvarez, and others while also feeling modern. It is a multigenerational family story, one that weaves magic intricately into the fabric of that story, and one that is unabashedly Latinx. Including the incredibly big cast of characters. This is something that is always challenging for me to get on board with because it takes so much work for me to keep track of them, no matter how slowly or how quickly I read. But the characters feel real and even though there are shadows of the older generations in the younger ones, they each feel fairly distinctive.

I know this is Acevedo’s adult debut, and I really hope it’s not her last. Family Lore fits perfectly in the Latinx canon, and it’s a book that fills me with pride at being Dominican.

While I enjoyed this book and the dive into the complexities of family dynamics, with so many characters and a mix of narratives from the past and present it was a little challenging to keep everyone and their family connections straight - at least in audiobook format. Still a good book (and love that she narrated it like her others), I just found myself wanting a bit more. I love her other books, especially the prose, and while this was good, it just didn’t quite suck me in like her others that I couldn’t put down. Still well worth a read (or listen).

Not sure how I feel about this one…again. Seems to be a trend this week…and I’m not really liking it! 😮😕
Although I liked the premise of the book (Sisters from the Dominican Republic who seem to each have their own special powers…) it was very hard to keep track of all the characters, and the voices, as well as the many Spanish phrases interspersed throughout the book. [Although I did study Spanish in HS, I did NOT understand many of the phrases…and so they were totally lost on me, as they were NOT translated to English!]
That being said, you are led on a journey that spans many years/decades, and dual countries…going back and forth between when they were growing up in the DR and now in the US.
The characters are definitely built up throughout the book, but again, there are A LOT of them, so for me, it was difficult to keep track!
I love how Flor decided to have a living wake as a ‘celebration’ of her life, her family, and her many friends…but at the same token, it is also a very foreign idea for me! I’m not sure how I’d react if someone in my family chose to do this?!?
In any case, it’s a great story…just wish it could’ve been a little clearer in my mind!
One thing that was very clear were the multiple masturbation scenes… (those I could’ve definitely lived without!) As well as the pornographic video references. Nothing against these, but do I really need to read about them??
OK…I’ll stop there!
Lots going on throughout the book, and a lot of great stories within the story!
3 1/2 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ for me!
Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Audio for the ARC of the audiobook which is already on shelves!
If you’ve already read this I’d love to hear your thoughts!!
Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo.

I love listening to Elizabeth Acevedo books and this one did not disappoint. It was a little hard keeping track of all the characters. I wished I had a list to refer to like the actual book has. In the end I did like the book, especially listening to it.

Elizabeth Acevedo’s first adult novel is just as poignant and beautiful to read as her young adult books. In Family Lore, we follow the women of a Dominican family of multiple generations. In a sort of brown up Encanto story, the women in the family are blessed with gifts, Flor’s gift is foretelling death, and she begins the novel by inviting the family to her own wake.

Elizabeth Acevedo reads the audio book and is an exceptional narrator. I normally don’t like when authors read their own fiction, but Acevedo has a talent for performing as well as writing. Highly recommend this book and the audio versions! Especially for fans of When Women Were Dragons or Olga Dies Dreaming.

Elizabeth Acevedo does it again, there is not one book I have read of hers that disappoints. She knows how to lure her audience in and keep them their for the whole show. Her narration is spot on and you can sense the passion of storytelling from her voice. She brings great justice to all her characters and has a piece of herself in each one.

If you are a fan or Encanto (who am I kidding everyone is), or have watched it a million times because of your kid you are going to LOVE this book. Welcome to generational trauma, family relationship complexities, the bond between sisters, and raising a new generation of women. This book will take you up and down a rollercoaster ride that makes you think you have the inside scoop on this family. There are multiple points of view to the story with one main conclusion in sight and Acevedo executes it beautifully. The reader is captivated and follows right along with no chance of getting lost, except in these beautiful written words.

A sprawling family story of sisters, their gifts and their lives. At the helm is the daughter of the main character, Flor, who is an anthropology professor, and her interviews with family members pepper the events throughout the book. I love Elizabeth Acevedo, and while some of the content, at times, was sexual in nature, it was a welcome addition, as books that focus on male families have similar. I’m glad this author placed this book in adult, and I also feel like it’s a great crossover for people who love her to check out her YA books. Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced listening copy!

I'm not sure what happened to me and my relationship to Family Lore. I love Acevedo's writing - that is not up for debate - but I struggled so hard with this title. I never felt clear distinctions between characters which made it really hard to feel attached to them. The storyline, the various storylines that is, were okay and I truly had some moments of real clarity where I loved a couple of pages but then the perspective would shift again and I was back where I started. This just wasn't for me - I was left bored which I never thought I would say about an Elizabeth Acevedo book...I've really wavered between two and three stars. Since I didn't really enjoy my reading experience I'm afraid I need to bump it down to 2.

𝘔𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘦!

This is really different from what I was expecting and listening to it was an interesting experience. A story about family, sisterhood, love and magic written with Acevedo’s unique writing style.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperAudio for this gifted copy.

𝗙𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗟𝗼𝗿𝗲 by Elizabeth Acevedo released August 1, 2023.

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