The Bookish Mindset

Overview:

Title: Family Lore
Author: Elizabeth Acevedo
Published: August 2023
Genre: Magical Realism, Literary
Themes: Family, Loss

One sentence summary: A family of women with magical powers, ranging from foreseeing deaths to alpha vaginas, what more could you want in a novel?

One sentence review: Acevedo’s adult novel is absolutely exquisite, I need more.

Review:

A family with magical powers, ranging from foreseeing deaths to alpha vaginas, the Marte women are like no other.

Inspired by a documentary, Flor is planning for her living wake but it sets the family into worry and despair. This event will change them all.

Acevedo is hands down one of my favourite authors and Family Lore has absolutely secured that.

Her writing is second to none. It’s tender and gentle, powerful and just brilliant. I always feel so much reading her books and this one was no different. I full on sobbed in sections and

Her characters are so deep, even when flawed and patched back together, they have so much to give.

This book particularly touched me because of Matilde’s love for salsa (no spoiler!). I’ve always struggled to quite put into words how freeing and joyful it can be for me but Matilde does that through Acevedo’s words and it was just beautiful.

I couldn’t choose a favourite sister or cousin or family member, they all had so much to give.

Acevedo’s first adult novel was absolutely a hit and I can’t wait to read her next.

If reading more is something that you’re looking at doing this year then should check my reading challenge out here! Read nine books from nine prompts over the first six months of the year and be entered into a draw to win a bundle of bookish goodies.

If you’d like to get yourself a copy, you can support local bookshops while doing so on Bookshop.org with this link here.

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And don’t forget to check out my other blogs and reviews – you can find books with similar themes in the same folder link below, or click back onto blogs to see the whole offering.

Last updated 07/04/2025