Book Talk: The Strange & Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton

Want an “at a glance” look at what I thought? Check out my Review On A Post-It or my “Final Thought”

Ava, a girl born with wings, was also born to a family line who has experienced pain and loss along the way. Ava brings us her story but first tells the stories of her grandmother and mother who paved the path to where she is. Her grandmother is closed off and distant. Her mother is forever heartbroken. And Ava, the girl born with wings, has been isolated in her house away from people until, at 16, she decides she wants to find out where she could fit in with the world as a girl with wings — unprepared how others will regard her and her wings or the motives of an obsessed man who thinks she is an angel.

ALERT: as I type this the book is $1.99 for Kindle!!

*me falling in love with magical realism all over again*

Back in my senior year of high school and early on in college I looooooved Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I didn’t know the term for what it was that he did when I first started reading him but I loved the beautiful bits of magic in an otherwise realistic story. I learned later that it was called magical realism. I kind of stopped reading for a little bit after discovering his books (a very unfortunate time on the timeline of my reading history ) so I didn’t delve into much more magical realism after but the ones I did never made me feel the way I did when I read his. I wanted the sweeping epic generational stories, the deep in your gut emotions and heartache and the perfect blend of the magic.

I can’t compare The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows Of Ava Lavendar to a Marquez novel (I mean, it would have had to get about 100% more verbose to compete with that haha) but I will say it made me feel similarly to how I felt reading his novels with the generational saga full, the emotions, the magic and beautiful writing. But add more whimsy and maybe even a little more connection to the characters.

I loved that it was this generational family saga of the Roux family told by Ava Lavender — who is a direct descendant and the latest woman in the line. We get the relevant family history and then it brings us to her story as a child/teen. The family history is sad. So sad. Just sorrow that makes your heart want to jump out of your body so it can go pet puppies to relieve it of the embedded sadness. It’s full of pain and loss and we see why her family is the way they are.

I fell in love with Ava as well as her mother, Vivian, and her grandmother, Emilienne. The history of these two really shape Ava and oh man did their stories make me heart ache. You really get a sense for why they are the way they are — why Emilienne is distant and closed off, why Vivian is so physically tormented by a former lover. Everyone has experienced such burning loss that they keep to themselves and are reluctant to let people in.

Ah and Ava — the girl born with wings. Wings that she can’t fly with. Wings that make her have to be isolated from the rest of the world. Wings that make people maybe she is of the supernatural. But really they are just wings and Ava is Ava — who is pretty spectacular. I really wanted even MORE of Ava’s story if I’m honest. I loved her and I felt her longing to be part of the world but not know where she fits at all. What happens to her made me sick to my stomach and my eyes finding themselves with an overload of tears.

It’s the beautiful and peculiar characters of this novel that made me love it. It’s the way the bakery and the town feel like characters in their own. It is the writing and the luscious descriptions. It is brand of a family saga that I love. A style of magical realism that is so flawless and works really well for me. There’s just so much that worked for me yet I have a hard time feeling like I could do it justice because it truly is that kind of book that you just have to try for yourself and feel the magic mesmerize you.

+ prose, the flawless magical realism, the characters, the story
–  maybe more Ava after adolescence in a prologue or something. 

Should you read it? I think so but I know it’s totally not going to be everyone’s thing. If you are okay with something that isn’t like much out there in YA…I say yes! If you love magical realism, absolutely!

Should you buy it or borrow it? I plan to keep my copy on my shelf because I could see myself wanting a reread one day but if you are new to the genre I will say borrow it. If you KNOW you love whimsical and peculiar stories then I say buy it.

fans of magical realism (especially if you like the generational sagas of Gabriel Garcia Marquez), readers who are okay with a meandering plot for the first half, fans of things that are whimsical and strange, people who like gorgeous prose, readers who are looking for something different in their YA diet

I know this won’t be a book for everyone but I truly loved it — the story of 3 generations of women, the magic so perfectly woven throughout, the gamut of emotions it made me experience, the beautiful prose. It certainly made me fall in love with magical realism all over again. If you are new to magical realism and I’ve piqued your interest…I’d definitely start with this one! I read it for my book club and I’m excited to see what everyone thought!

* Have you read this one? What did you think? Similar or different from me? I would LOVE to hear regardless! Who was your favorite character? Did anyone else just want to smoosh Vivienne and a certain someone together and be like OPEN YO EYES?
*If you haven’t read it, does it feel like something you’d be into?
Tell me some of your favorite magical realism books!