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A review by actuallyjusthanne
Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo
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? Yes
2.5
I've really enjoyed the other books by this author, so I was really excited to pick this up. Ultimately I didn't enjoy this book as much as the other ones she's written--I felt it was a little slow--but I still really enjoyed the overall message and the gorgeous writing that she puts in all her writing.
The book centers around the Marte sisters and their family, their mother and their daughters. The book is narrated by the daughter of the main character, and it chronicles the story of the family's history, from their life back in the Dominican Republic, to present day in New York City. One thing about me is that I am a sucker for stories about women and their legacies, so I did really like the stories that each of the women told about growing up and the struggles that they faced, both moving from their village in the DR to the city, and then from that city to NYC, as well as romantically, navigating relationships with their partners and their parents, raising their children, adjusting to societal expectations, and so forth.
With that being said, I did find the story a little confusing to follow; there were a lot of names and a lot of perspectives to follow that spanned generations with distinct but very similar/parallel lines. Each person had the story of their present day life, as well as their past timeline, which was interjected by the narrator to provide additional context in both written form as well as interview form. I cannot begin to imagine the organizational process that writing this book was--generating a family with backstories of all the characters that interweave inside each other's lives cohesively and presenting their stories--and it was done well; I was just confused. I was able to get enough of the story to follow the main point, and it was still effective, I was just very confused.
Similarly, because there was SO MUCH backstory to follow, I did think that the story was quite slow, and it took me quite a while to get through the story. I kept putting the book down and not wanting to pick it back up because it was so involved, and each of the storylines was relatively distinct. The payoff was really good though: when I reached the end and the whole family got together, it was with the understanding of everyone's stories and how they got to where they are, which was really cool.
Elizabeth Acevedo's writing still shines through like with all her other books: her writing was stunningly poetic, and I loved my experience reading it. There was also an aspect of magic woven in, which was really cool (each of the main characters has a magical aspect that they use). I also liked the discussion on colonialism, abuse, cultural background, religious trauma, sexuality, infertility, and more. There was so much packed into the story and I think it was done really well.
All in all, this was a really lovely book to read, and I would recommend. It's a really good book for reading in the winter I think: slow and cozy but with a lot to think about and unpack.
The book centers around the Marte sisters and their family, their mother and their daughters. The book is narrated by the daughter of the main character, and it chronicles the story of the family's history, from their life back in the Dominican Republic, to present day in New York City. One thing about me is that I am a sucker for stories about women and their legacies, so I did really like the stories that each of the women told about growing up and the struggles that they faced, both moving from their village in the DR to the city, and then from that city to NYC, as well as romantically, navigating relationships with their partners and their parents, raising their children, adjusting to societal expectations, and so forth.
With that being said, I did find the story a little confusing to follow; there were a lot of names and a lot of perspectives to follow that spanned generations with distinct but very similar/parallel lines. Each person had the story of their present day life, as well as their past timeline, which was interjected by the narrator to provide additional context in both written form as well as interview form. I cannot begin to imagine the organizational process that writing this book was--generating a family with backstories of all the characters that interweave inside each other's lives cohesively and presenting their stories--and it was done well; I was just confused. I was able to get enough of the story to follow the main point, and it was still effective, I was just very confused.
Similarly, because there was SO MUCH backstory to follow, I did think that the story was quite slow, and it took me quite a while to get through the story. I kept putting the book down and not wanting to pick it back up because it was so involved, and each of the storylines was relatively distinct. The payoff was really good though: when I reached the end and the whole family got together, it was with the understanding of everyone's stories and how they got to where they are, which was really cool.
Elizabeth Acevedo's writing still shines through like with all her other books: her writing was stunningly poetic, and I loved my experience reading it. There was also an aspect of magic woven in, which was really cool (each of the main characters has a magical aspect that they use). I also liked the discussion on colonialism, abuse, cultural background, religious trauma, sexuality, infertility, and more. There was so much packed into the story and I think it was done really well.
All in all, this was a really lovely book to read, and I would recommend. It's a really good book for reading in the winter I think: slow and cozy but with a lot to think about and unpack.