2014 book 60

Leslye Walton's The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender
Sooooo this is the story of a girl born with wings, who then goes back and narrates her family story, starting with her grandmother. Lots of ill-fated romance, family drama, baking, and a little bit of magic ensue. And ghosts! I will say that it's told with a much lighter touch than I'm making it sound--I liked the narrative voice here a lot. Walton's writing, on the whole, is really clever and graceful. The story reminded me of books by Aimee Bender and Karen Russell--reality, just a little bit off-kilter, which I mean in the best possible way (I love books like that!). I wholeheartedly loved this book until the character Nathaniel Sorrows came into the picture, and from there a sense of dread crept in, leading to events that I found . . . troubling. But things wrap up nice and neatly, and I think this will in general be a crowd-pleaser. A-/B+.


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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on March 25th.