Published: March 25, 2014
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Author: Leslye Walton
Pages: 301
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Magical Realism
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Magical Realism
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Foolish love appears to be the Roux family birthright, an ominous forecast for its most recent progeny, Ava Lavender. Ava—in all other ways a normal girl—is born with the wings of a bird.
In a quest to understand her peculiar disposition and a growing desire to fit in with her peers, sixteen-year old Ava ventures into the wider world, ill-prepared for what she might discover and naïve to the twisted motives of others. Others like the pious Nathaniel Sorrows, who mistakes Ava for an angel and whose obsession with her grows until the night of the Summer Solstice celebration.
That night, the skies open up, rain and feathers fill the air, and Ava’s quest and her family’s saga build to a devastating crescendo.
One of my favourite books this year, possible one of my favourite books of all time.
(I'm having a difficult time expressing how good this book was.)
Before I started reading this, previously I had not heard anything about it. The fact that this is the authours' debut novel is mind-blowing because she did such a fantastic job, I'm so exited to see more of her work.
Despite this book being called "The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender", it's not about Ava herself, but it is told from her point of view. It is a beautiful generational saga filled with amazing, unique and well-developed characters. And the whole thing just keeps building, you never know where the story is going to go.
Leslye Walton has an amazing command over words. It is a magical realism book and it's done so subtly but at the same time the writing is lyrical and very easy to read. It is a very character-driven book, which could be quite tricky but the author goes into enough detail for you to be captivated by these characters and to keep wanting to know more.
“Children betrayed their parents by becoming their own people”
The plot is very different structure-wise as we go quite a lot through history, it's twisty and turn-y. It starts in the 1900s, in France, talking about Ava's grandparents and them migrating to Seattle. You learn about them and where they came from, personalities, their jobs, the people they interact with, things they went through. Everything is so real and heartfelt and there is a perfect balance wincey/tragedy. Later you learn about the friendships and relationships that Ava builds, you are shown the difference between true love and infatuation.
I highly recommend it, it doesn't matter what genres you like! It's one of those books that completely captures your imagination. It will make you laugh, it will make you cry and it will make you cringe. And you are definitely not gonna know what to do with yourself after you are done reading it because I still don't know what to do with myself and I finished this book 3 days ago. Oh my gosh, the ending and the freaking plot twist.
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