A review by sydneysbooknook
Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing 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

5.0

Family Lore was a beautiful character study, showing the complicated relationships between the Marte sisters (and two of their children). I love how Acevedo wound the past and present together almost seamlessly. The novel takes course over three days in the present, but weaves its way decades back as it recounts the Marte sisters' lives growing up in the Dominican Republic and their futures thereafter. You can tell that Acevedo is a poet because her prose blooms and flowers across the page, creating a web of complicated relationships among the Marte family. Overall, Acevedo manages to elicit nostalgia, sisterhood, and the bonds of family. Family Lore is an incredibly special book that everyone should read.