Even with the scaffolding of a family tree in the book’s preface, the narrative isn’t always easy to follow (which one could argue is perhaps the point). Fortunately, Acevedo adds brief explanatory passages to help anchor the transitions back and forth through time, and hilarious side notes from Ona offer a deeply pleasing way to learn more about the family ... Family Lore is her first adult novel, and the depth, grace and nuance that Acevedo gives her characters is palpable; her love for these women comes through with arresting clarity ... Pearls of magic and wisdom, hard but not hardened, the story of the Marte sisters is a treasure to behold.
Vibrant ... Acevedo wields her own sort of magic in her first novel for adults, deftly blending comedy and sorrow. Family Lore is an absorbing, entertaining portrait of a Dominican American woman whose exceptional relationship with death keeps her family — and readers — guessing ... Acevedo's attention to her character's mannerisms and habits makes them relatable ... Acevedo is a writer with the tools to go the distance.
Enchanting ... The present narrative is frequently interrupted by nostalgia and melancholy tied to the motherland, knots of memories of Santo Domingo ... Strikes a rousing prose blend of bluntness, lyricism, slang, pop culture references, and the interlingual expansiveness fluidly employed by first- and second-generation immigrants. With grace and compassion, Family Lore glides through the sometimes riotous or hard-won love of immigrant families ... This is a proudly women-led lineage where stories are always beginning and rarely ending, transmuted by their progeny despite the intended closure of a living wake, where one life quite literally bleeds into another.
Acevedo’s much anticipated first novel for adults presents a vibrant but dizzying mosaic of two generations of women whose love for and loyalty to each other has proven to be a salve during tough times ... Not every character is given her due ... Some of the other characters’ backstories and their supernatural gifts are at best slightly underdeveloped and, at worst, inexplicably glossed over ... The structure of Family Lore can be a head-scratcher at times, even with the Tolstoy-esque character map at the beginning.
Acevedo’s background in spoken-word poetry shines through in the energy and lyricism of her prose ... But the novel’s greatest triumph is in the warmth of her portrayal of these women, their strength and stubbornness, and the inseparability of love and grief.
Juicy ... Acevedo, via Ona, dramatizes the sisters’ often traumatic history in the Dominican Republic and challenging present in New York City with insightful sympathy and love. Acevedo’s novel starring a spunky narrator will enchant both fans and new readers.
Chronicles the tumultuous days leading up to the celebration, slowly unearthing the secrets and private pains each of these women has held tight over the years. The narrative flits back and forth in time ... Acevedo has laid herself bare in Family Lore as both a creator and as a person, which makes this not just her bravest book to date but perhaps also her best.
Colorful ... Though the various magical elements aren’t very well developed, Acevedo is brilliant at portraying the women’s love and loyalty for one another. The author’s fans will eat this up.
