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himpersonal's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book was full of pain, love, self-discovery, and sisterhood. All great ingredients for a good story. Rounding up to a four. I was satisfied with the ending, surprised by some of the middle, and enjoyed the novelty of the beginning.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual content, Slavery, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Deportation
atamano's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Misogyny, and Sexism
Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Emotional abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Classism
Minor: Infertility, Forced institutionalization, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
magsapt's review
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Family Lore is the story of how three generations of women survived, adapting to circumstances, to misogyny and, most importantly, to each other. It is a book about trauma, life and, above all, death - how to prepare for it, how to accept it and how to just let go.
Sometimes you do not realise how good a book is until you discuss it with someone and a few days have passed. Family Lore is one of Acevedo's best books, although it was not always my favourite as I read it. And this, I must confess, has nothing to do with the author's inability to tell a story or write beautiful prose (a style we're not used to seeing Acevedo use), but with my own biases. My only problem with this book wasOna's power, and that says more about me than the author. It made me realise how embarrassed I still feel when it comes to talking about female sexuality and how, even though I'm a woman, I still have a lot of work to do to get comfortable with the topic. Do I think Ona's power was best suited to this story? Not really. But should it have made me uncomfortable? I don't think so. And why should it, if it's just a woman talking about her connection to her body? Ona is confident about her sexuality and writes about it openly, without taboos or shame. That's one of the lessons I think we should take from this story, an example to follow rather than perpetuate the shame around it.
What I really liked, though, was the multiple POVs, which worked wonders for me. I think Acevedo knew how to give each character a distinct voice. The author is a master at exploring relationships. This was undoubtedly the best part of the book. We got to know each woman's feelings for the other and how their dynamic changed over time as they married and had children.
However, even though this is a book about women, for women, I would've liked to see moreof brother Samuel, even if only to see how he relates to his wife and daughters. We see that after he got married he stopped being close to his siblings (which is unfortunate), but I don't think his POV would have damaged the story. On the contrary, I think it would have enriched it because his daughters have powers and his wife didn't like that. Samuel's daughters grew up without support, estranged from their father's family, and away from strong and independent women, and I would have loved to see Acevedo's perspective on that.
Something the author excelled at was her description of emotional abuse and how people can actually change.Mamá Sílvia was the most complex character in this story and her arc was brilliant. Nothing in the world is enough to forgive her for the abuse she inflicted on Pastora, but I would like to think that she learned something from it and tried to make amends through Yadi. It was beautiful to see.
Overall, I give this book a perfect 4-star rating. It has some things that could've definitely been better, but the story, the plot and the creativity (characteristic of Acevedo) will warm your heart.
Sometimes you do not realise how good a book is until you discuss it with someone and a few days have passed. Family Lore is one of Acevedo's best books, although it was not always my favourite as I read it. And this, I must confess, has nothing to do with the author's inability to tell a story or write beautiful prose (a style we're not used to seeing Acevedo use), but with my own biases. My only problem with this book was
What I really liked, though, was the multiple POVs, which worked wonders for me. I think Acevedo knew how to give each character a distinct voice. The author is a master at exploring relationships. This was undoubtedly the best part of the book. We got to know each woman's feelings for the other and how their dynamic changed over time as they married and had children.
However, even though this is a book about women, for women, I would've liked to see more
Something the author excelled at was her description of emotional abuse and how people can actually change.
Overall, I give this book a perfect 4-star rating. It has some things that could've definitely been better, but the story, the plot and the creativity (characteristic of Acevedo) will warm your heart.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse
Moderate: Sexual harassment
Minor: Death
celery's review
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
How many different words do you need to describe a vagina?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation
saucy_bookdragon's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
"But nothing has ever felt as warm as being known so well that someone could hand you a monstrosity they made with their own hands after learning you."
Family Lore has a lot of great ingredients for a great book. As usual, Elizabeth Acevedo's prose is absolutely delicious, I want to eat it! There's also a lot of great themes and character moments in this. In particular, this looks at womanhood in a complicated but loving family structure, also this is very unabashed in how it explores sexuality. I also found Ona really interesting (her magical power is, and I shit you not, a magical super-vagina) and I liked the family dynamics.
Despite all the great parts of Family Lore, it's a bit underbaked. There's too many POVs and the plot is meandering across a long timeline in a non-linear way, to the point this feels like an anthology of slice of life stories. At one point I even forgot that this was about a woman who can predict deaths having a living wake. With this many somewhat unrelated plotlines and backstories, I couldn't care for them all.
Family Lore has a lot of great ingredients for a great book. As usual, Elizabeth Acevedo's prose is absolutely delicious, I want to eat it! There's also a lot of great themes and character moments in this. In particular, this looks at womanhood in a complicated but loving family structure, also this is very unabashed in how it explores sexuality. I also found Ona really interesting (her magical power is, and I shit you not, a magical super-vagina) and I liked the family dynamics.
Despite all the great parts of Family Lore, it's a bit underbaked. There's too many POVs and the plot is meandering across a long timeline in a non-linear way, to the point this feels like an anthology of slice of life stories. At one point I even forgot that this was about a woman who can predict deaths having a living wake. With this many somewhat unrelated plotlines and backstories, I couldn't care for them all.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Infertility, Infidelity, and Death of parent
Moderate: Pregnancy
victoriousbookworm's review
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This is such a deep story of family, memory, and magic. Seeing the generations of this family, their interactions, culture, and history was so impactful.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Grief
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Sexual assault
sarafrancesreads's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
🌟 REVIEW 🌟
#FamilyLore by Elizabeth Acevedo
⭐️ Rating: 4/5 ⭐️
Synopsis: The story of one Dominican American family told through the voices of its women as they await a gathering that will forever change their lives. Spanning the three days prior to the wake, Family Lore traces the lives of each of the Marte women, weaving together past and present, Santo Domingo and New York City. Told with Elizabeth Acevedo’s inimitable and incandescent voice, this is an indelible portrait of sisters and cousins, aunts and nieces—one family’s journey through their history, helping them better navigate all that is to come.
My thoughts: As always, I love stories of strong women. This story highlights a family of strong women and includes a sense of magical realism, with each of the women in the Marte family holding a special “gift”. It shifts between the viewpoints of each of these women, the implications of their gifts, and explores the bonds of family, and lessons learned as the family faces the meaning of life and death with a living wake for one of the sisters, a mother and aunt. Although many reviewers dislike the multiple viewpoints, I liked the short chapters and intermixed perspectives. I will say that some of the story lines did feel a bit drawn out, and didn’t really have a clear resolution by the end of the book. Overall, I feel like this book pulled at my heartstrings, and did a good job of making me reflect on the importance of family and what it means to be living.
#FamilyLore by Elizabeth Acevedo
⭐️ Rating: 4/5 ⭐️
Synopsis: The story of one Dominican American family told through the voices of its women as they await a gathering that will forever change their lives. Spanning the three days prior to the wake, Family Lore traces the lives of each of the Marte women, weaving together past and present, Santo Domingo and New York City. Told with Elizabeth Acevedo’s inimitable and incandescent voice, this is an indelible portrait of sisters and cousins, aunts and nieces—one family’s journey through their history, helping them better navigate all that is to come.
My thoughts: As always, I love stories of strong women. This story highlights a family of strong women and includes a sense of magical realism, with each of the women in the Marte family holding a special “gift”. It shifts between the viewpoints of each of these women, the implications of their gifts, and explores the bonds of family, and lessons learned as the family faces the meaning of life and death with a living wake for one of the sisters, a mother and aunt. Although many reviewers dislike the multiple viewpoints, I liked the short chapters and intermixed perspectives. I will say that some of the story lines did feel a bit drawn out, and didn’t really have a clear resolution by the end of the book. Overall, I feel like this book pulled at my heartstrings, and did a good job of making me reflect on the importance of family and what it means to be living.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Sexual content, and Pregnancy
readingpicnic's review
5.0
Wow, this book is incredible! I haven’t been so caught up in a fiction book in so long. I loved how complicated all the characters were, how distinct their voices were, the little powers they had, everything! The alpha vagina power? Incredible. I love the humor in this book so much. The food descriptions were excellent as always, as Elizabeth Acevedo clearly writes with so much passion and love for food and how it's made and enjoyed as a community. All of the different generations of women with points of view in this story did such a good job showing generational trauma within this family and cycles of abuse, as well as just how complicated familial relationships are in general. I love everything Elizabeth Acevedo has written, but this is a new favorite.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, and Infidelity
bedtimesandbooks's review
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Classism
Moderate: Sexual content
brianarinaldo's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Infertility, Infidelity, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, and Colonisation
Minor: Mental illness, Miscarriage, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail