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lavidaenquotes's review
4.0
The Memory Trees is a haunting, atmospheric, and gripping story. It can be slow at times, but the writing makes even the slow moments quite enjoyable. The story centers on family dynamics and Sorrow’s struggles - with herself, her past, and her families.
Sorrow Lovegood has been living with her dad since the tragic death of her sister, 8 years ago. For all the tragedy and how much Patience’s death marked Sorrow’s life, she doesn’t remember much of it, and it's not a subject neither her dad, nor her mother, talk about. After years of silently trying in vain to cope with it, she decides to go back to the Lovegood farm, where everything happened, to try and collect the pieces missing from the puzzle that is her head and the mystery surrounding her sister’s death.
Wallace gives us tiny details of Sorrow’s past here and there and we, as much as Sorrow, learn to put them together and form a bigger picture. There’s a family feud, that much we know, between the Lovegoods and their neighbors, the Abramses. For generations, the Lovegood women have been at war with the Abramses men. A war rooted so deep and going so far back, that the details don’t matter anymore. Lovegood girls aren’t supposed to befriend the Abramses, no questions asked. But maybe a few questions and answers could have spared them from tragedy generation after generation.
In focusing on Sorrow's attempts to find herself through finding more about her sister and the events surrounding her death, I appreciate the lack of love interest, especially if we take into account this is a YA novel. This is a story about a girl and the women of her family; of generations of strong, independent women, and it is just right that Sorrow is allowed to go through her journey without having to juggle her feelings towards anyone else at the same time. Mental illness also plays an important role and I appreciate how it was dealt with. Sorrow’s mom, Verity, suffers from depression, and Sorrow’s memories of being a little kid tiptoeing around her mom’s unexpected ups and downs made me feel for both. It was interesting to see this side of the story, and I welcomed the personal touch it gave to the story.
I strongly recommend this book for rainy days, and for whenever you feel like losing yourself in a farm in which weather has its own mind, and the trees may say a thing or two if you’re willing to listen.
Sorrow Lovegood has been living with her dad since the tragic death of her sister, 8 years ago. For all the tragedy and how much Patience’s death marked Sorrow’s life, she doesn’t remember much of it, and it's not a subject neither her dad, nor her mother, talk about. After years of silently trying in vain to cope with it, she decides to go back to the Lovegood farm, where everything happened, to try and collect the pieces missing from the puzzle that is her head and the mystery surrounding her sister’s death.
“A memory was a thing with no shape, no mass, but an indescribable weight.”
Wallace gives us tiny details of Sorrow’s past here and there and we, as much as Sorrow, learn to put them together and form a bigger picture. There’s a family feud, that much we know, between the Lovegoods and their neighbors, the Abramses. For generations, the Lovegood women have been at war with the Abramses men. A war rooted so deep and going so far back, that the details don’t matter anymore. Lovegood girls aren’t supposed to befriend the Abramses, no questions asked. But maybe a few questions and answers could have spared them from tragedy generation after generation.
In focusing on Sorrow's attempts to find herself through finding more about her sister and the events surrounding her death, I appreciate the lack of love interest, especially if we take into account this is a YA novel. This is a story about a girl and the women of her family; of generations of strong, independent women, and it is just right that Sorrow is allowed to go through her journey without having to juggle her feelings towards anyone else at the same time. Mental illness also plays an important role and I appreciate how it was dealt with. Sorrow’s mom, Verity, suffers from depression, and Sorrow’s memories of being a little kid tiptoeing around her mom’s unexpected ups and downs made me feel for both. It was interesting to see this side of the story, and I welcomed the personal touch it gave to the story.
I strongly recommend this book for rainy days, and for whenever you feel like losing yourself in a farm in which weather has its own mind, and the trees may say a thing or two if you’re willing to listen.
“She had wept until she was scrapped raw inside, empty but for the leaden weight of every memory of the life she had left, the grasping thorns of every choice that had brought her to this bleak and howling place. When darkness fell she poured rivers of tears into the wood and soul and stone beneath her, a well of loneliness that felt as though it would never run dry.”
dyslexicreader's review
4.0
I received The Memory Tree by Kali Wallace in my Book Box Club November subscription box. I would not of normally picked this book for myself, I would have missed a treat of a book if it wasn’t for Libby and Kate.
This book follows Sorrow Lovegood, 8 years ago her older sister Patience died at the Mother family Orchard. Since than she hasn't been back home to Vermont and has lived with her father in Florida. When Sorrow realises that she can't remember what happened on the day Patience died, she decides to go back to find out. When she gets home She is brought back into the centuries old feud with the neighbouring family, and why did her Mother keep her distance after Patience died. When Sorrow goes back to the Orchard she also remembers the stories about her family that had started the Orchard and the hardships they had to go through.
This book for me was an interesting and emotional read, you no that feeling when you have a good cry. That feeling of being emotional drain but in a good way, this is how I felt at the end of reading this book.
The story of Sorrow draw me in, this book is her self discovery. Sorrow reminded me of myself, pretending to be ok when she’s not, not to worry anyone. Although heart wrenching to read her fall out with her mother I was glad to see Sorrow take more control of her life, and her needs for answers.
I really like learning more about the history of Sorrows family as well as the 'favours' she finds that relate to them I wish that I would be able to know that much about my families history.
I give this book 4 out of 5
This book follows Sorrow Lovegood, 8 years ago her older sister Patience died at the Mother family Orchard. Since than she hasn't been back home to Vermont and has lived with her father in Florida. When Sorrow realises that she can't remember what happened on the day Patience died, she decides to go back to find out. When she gets home She is brought back into the centuries old feud with the neighbouring family, and why did her Mother keep her distance after Patience died. When Sorrow goes back to the Orchard she also remembers the stories about her family that had started the Orchard and the hardships they had to go through.
This book for me was an interesting and emotional read, you no that feeling when you have a good cry. That feeling of being emotional drain but in a good way, this is how I felt at the end of reading this book.
The story of Sorrow draw me in, this book is her self discovery. Sorrow reminded me of myself, pretending to be ok when she’s not, not to worry anyone. Although heart wrenching to read her fall out with her mother I was glad to see Sorrow take more control of her life, and her needs for answers.
I really like learning more about the history of Sorrows family as well as the 'favours' she finds that relate to them I wish that I would be able to know that much about my families history.
I give this book 4 out of 5
olive2read's review
4.0
Wow. So good.
TW: people with parents with depression and other chronic, mood-shifting neurodivergences. I found myself in tears reliving things multiple times.
TW: people with parents with depression and other chronic, mood-shifting neurodivergences. I found myself in tears reliving things multiple times.
paigehettinger's review
5.0
I received this book for free from HarperCollins in exchange for an honest review.
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I had been meaning to read Kali Wallace’s Shallow Graves for years when this ARC happened to fall into my lap. I’ve always been a fan of magical realism, and am on a never-ending hunt for more titles within the genre. This book took me by complete surprise. It was dynamic, complex, deeply engrossing, and one of the most atmospheric novels I’ve had the pleasure of reading.
The Memory Trees focuses on 16 year old Sorrow Lovegood, and her return to the family orchard after the tragic loss of her older sister. She finds herself embroiled in a centuries-old feud, and without proper memory of the life she once lived. She’s determined to discover the truth about her sister’s life and death, and what her piece in it was. The novel’s highly descriptive, achingly beautiful imagery makes for a cathartic, emotional experience. You immediately feel transported to the rich environment described, even when switching between narratives.
In many ways, it reminded me of Mary Oliver’s “The Black Walnut Tree,” with its focus on the tension between environment and family, and how female expectations intertwine. So much of this book is rooted in tension and conflict, internal played out on the environment – tension between who Sorrow once was and what she knew then, and who she is now and what the revelatory experiences she goes through come to mean; between how the Lovegoods appear and how they actually feel. While there was not a lot to move the plot forward, and it could become slow at times, it was ultimately a character-driven novel and required little outside challenges. Sorrow drives this novel, and you find that she is mature beyond her years. She is a girl whose innocence was lost too early, and who wrestles with the consequences of that. Her desires, her questions, her experiences impart themselves upon you without mercy.
The Memory Trees is an emotional testament to the power of family. How one can become entrenched in personal history, and the benefits and detriments of that. It gets under your skin subtly, sinks in and forces you to consider an entire new life. It is, without a doubt, a feat.
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I had been meaning to read Kali Wallace’s Shallow Graves for years when this ARC happened to fall into my lap. I’ve always been a fan of magical realism, and am on a never-ending hunt for more titles within the genre. This book took me by complete surprise. It was dynamic, complex, deeply engrossing, and one of the most atmospheric novels I’ve had the pleasure of reading.
The Memory Trees focuses on 16 year old Sorrow Lovegood, and her return to the family orchard after the tragic loss of her older sister. She finds herself embroiled in a centuries-old feud, and without proper memory of the life she once lived. She’s determined to discover the truth about her sister’s life and death, and what her piece in it was. The novel’s highly descriptive, achingly beautiful imagery makes for a cathartic, emotional experience. You immediately feel transported to the rich environment described, even when switching between narratives.
In many ways, it reminded me of Mary Oliver’s “The Black Walnut Tree,” with its focus on the tension between environment and family, and how female expectations intertwine. So much of this book is rooted in tension and conflict, internal played out on the environment – tension between who Sorrow once was and what she knew then, and who she is now and what the revelatory experiences she goes through come to mean; between how the Lovegoods appear and how they actually feel. While there was not a lot to move the plot forward, and it could become slow at times, it was ultimately a character-driven novel and required little outside challenges. Sorrow drives this novel, and you find that she is mature beyond her years. She is a girl whose innocence was lost too early, and who wrestles with the consequences of that. Her desires, her questions, her experiences impart themselves upon you without mercy.
The Memory Trees is an emotional testament to the power of family. How one can become entrenched in personal history, and the benefits and detriments of that. It gets under your skin subtly, sinks in and forces you to consider an entire new life. It is, without a doubt, a feat.
laurencebc1's review
3.0
Disclaimer: I received a free copy via Edelweiss for review purposes.
Sorrow has heard stories of the Lovegood women her entire life who settled on an apple orchard in Vermont long ago; stories of their bravery and resilience, and of the centuries-long feud with the family next door. One cold winters night, eight years ago, Sorrow's sister Patience was tragically killed, and Sorrow was sent to live with her father in Miami. Now sixteen years old, Patience finds her memory of her childhood hazy, including the night of her sister's death. In order to learn more about her troubled childhood, she returns to her family orchard for the summer and to discover what happened to her sister eight years ago.
This book was quite hit and miss for me. I loved the writing. Kali Wallace has a lovely, lyrical prose, and I adored the first half of the book. It was so atmospheric. I especially loved the generational story and the chapters that focused on the past Lovegood women. It's definitely a female-centric story with a southern gothic feel. It had a subtle magical element, but it was not really that noticeable. But I do think it started to drag after the 50% mark and it was a struggle past that, the pace really did start to lag. But my biggest problem with The Memory Trees was how Sorrow reacted to her mother's depression. She was not at all understanding, was almost angry at her mother and acting like she was a burden, and it really grated on me. There was also a lot of casual use of ableist language, especially cr*zy. It's kind of a shame because I did quite enjoy her previous book, [b:Shallow Graves|22663629|Shallow Graves|Kali Wallace|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1434989166s/22663629.jpg|42162445].
Unfortunately, I probably won't be recommending this book.
Sorrow has heard stories of the Lovegood women her entire life who settled on an apple orchard in Vermont long ago; stories of their bravery and resilience, and of the centuries-long feud with the family next door. One cold winters night, eight years ago, Sorrow's sister Patience was tragically killed, and Sorrow was sent to live with her father in Miami. Now sixteen years old, Patience finds her memory of her childhood hazy, including the night of her sister's death. In order to learn more about her troubled childhood, she returns to her family orchard for the summer and to discover what happened to her sister eight years ago.
This book was quite hit and miss for me. I loved the writing. Kali Wallace has a lovely, lyrical prose, and I adored the first half of the book. It was so atmospheric. I especially loved the generational story and the chapters that focused on the past Lovegood women. It's definitely a female-centric story with a southern gothic feel. It had a subtle magical element, but it was not really that noticeable. But I do think it started to drag after the 50% mark and it was a struggle past that, the pace really did start to lag. But my biggest problem with The Memory Trees was how Sorrow reacted to her mother's depression. She was not at all understanding, was almost angry at her mother and acting like she was a burden, and it really grated on me. There was also a lot of casual use of ableist language, especially cr*zy. It's kind of a shame because I did quite enjoy her previous book, [b:Shallow Graves|22663629|Shallow Graves|Kali Wallace|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1434989166s/22663629.jpg|42162445].
Unfortunately, I probably won't be recommending this book.
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