The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender
Ratings46
Average rating4
Summary: This book traces the tale of the Roux family through four generations, detailing the devastating effects that romantic love (or something akin to it) has had on their lives. The youngest generation of Rouxs includes Ava, born inexplicably with a set of wings, and her twin brother Henry, who speaks rarely and without being often understood by those around him. This work of magical realism, despite detailing numerous tragedies that have befallen the Rouxs, beautifully portrays the sustaining effect that the love of a family—even a seemingly broken one—can have on its members.
I had no idea what to expect out of this book – starting it with very little glance at the back cover copy – but I was surprised by how beautiful and somber it was.
This book is one of the most beautiful stories I have ever read. It is perhaps one of the most unusual but wonderfully crafted tales that will remain with me for some time to come. It is perhaps one of the easiest 5-star ratings I have given in some time and will absolutely be one of the books I recommend to people moving forward.
This book reminded me of watching movies like Big Fish and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, tales that may contain strange and fascinating characters who live outwith the norms of society but who at heart are just normal people with wonderful stories to share. This book is the story of young Ava Lavender, a girl who was born with wings. Through her life, people are scared, awed and fascinated by her. Is she girl, bird or angel? Either way, this is Ava's story and not just her story but the story of all the women in her family from her great-grandmother who leaves France in 1914 to live in Manhattan with her husband through to her grandmother and her strange collection of siblings to Viviane the mother of Ava and her love affair with the boy in her town that will give her the strange children who will change her life.
This book just sucked me in whole. The writing is so beautiful, it is clear that the world is not quite as we know it. There are strands of reality mixed with the magical and fantastical. The way that all of the characters from the Roux family continue to pop in and out of the narrative until we fall in love with them all so much it feels a real wrench when you finish this book.
I could see this book so clearly in my mind. The writing just evoked the whole town where Ava and her family live so well. The strange and unusual people who live in the small town are all so unique and as the story moves along they become so intrinsically a part of this story that the community forms such a heartwarming place for our story to unfold. The way they all pull together when Ava and her family need them and help them heal is just wonderful.
This book has to be made into a movie, that this story should not be made available to the wider world would be a crime. I can see this clearly on the big screen and it is a story that needs to be told. Absolutely this is the one book I badly want to see adapted.
Definitely one of my top reads of this year and a new favourite book for me.
Actual rating: 4.5 stars, rounded up
The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender is absolutely flippin' fantastic. Basically, all you need to know is this book is a magnificent piece of genius. It's amazing and gorgeously written and just so, so good.- A few things you have to understand: this book operates on the notion that the only way the reader will be able to understand Ava's sorrows, is by living vicariously through her family history. Yes, the plot is slow-moving, but it's also richly-layered. I was really be able to see the connection between Ava, her mother and her grandmother's stories — especially the common themes reflected in their lives, and how the past actions of one eventually shaped the course of the present. - I loved how the author used contrasting third-person and first-person point-of-views by placing an “older Ava” as the narrator of the story. Unfortunately, I think this also played into the reason why Ava's part of the story (told in 1st person) was the part I disliked the most. I'm not sure of it's just me, but I always find that pieces wrirten in 3rd-person manage to capture a more ... effective sense of surrealism? - The author writes so beautifully — there was a very elegant touch to her prose and it often felt like I was reading something straight out of a fairy tale. Her descriptions of food are very vivid and manages to both ground and uplift the story and its magical realism aspects. She also talks about grief and loss in a very painful, real way, and tackles themes like familial, romantic and platonic love and how they eventually shape the general course of our lives. - Plus, the book is highly saturated with magical realism, which is usually something that deters me from enjoying a book but, in this case, it worked very well. It never felt contrived or unnecessary, instead the whole book seemed to flow together seamlessly, every little piece contributing to the general overarching reach of the plot.I can't wait to revisit this once I get my hands on the actual physical copy! 5/5 would recommend to anyone :D
4.5 stars.
I was unsure of this story at first. The lives of Ava's grandmother and mother were unimportant, and all I wanted was to hurry along to Ava's tale. Once I finally arrived to that part of the story, I was hooked into a book that became heartbreaking and beautiful.
This book was worth 5-stars for the first half. Seriously, the first several chapters are not even about the title character but they are the most compelling part of the story. The tale of Ava, the girl born with wings, is also good and certainly worth reading but just didn't hold my attention as well. The author sinisterly built to the strange (but hardly beautiful) climax expertly but I could have spent a whole book with the Roux family. It is definitely recommended if you enjoy magical realism.
To say I was enthralled is an understatement. I couldn't stop reading if I wanted to. The writing was as magical as the story.
mmmm.... I liked this well enough. It's a lot of the kind of thing I don't necessarily enjoy...? Sweeping family saga, confusing magical realism and all that. I think I also had a bit of an attitude problem about this because I had to read it in a rush for tonight's book club. I think it is a book that would probably be better savored in small bits, rather than crammed in over a weekend. Also I think it took a hit for me since I read it right after [b:Blue Lily, Lily Blue 17378508 Blue Lily, Lily Blue (The Raven Cycle, #3) Maggie Stiefvater https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1398366292s/17378508.jpg 24170141], which I LOVED SO MUCH.
The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton was a different read then what I am used to. It is written in third person with a handful of different stories and/or characters to keep track of. The general story is different. It isn't about hope and it barely has a happy ending. It was more of a story about self discovery, the hardships in life, and has a little of a different background for Ava.
I felt like this story was good going into not knowing what was going on or what it was about. That is how I enjoyed it anyway. I am not sure I would of picked it up if I knew the brief explanation on what it was about but I am very happy I did.
[ WARNING MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS ]
The story itself has many different points of views or character stories to read. It doesn't have a particular order but it starts out in the early 1900s. The entire story is about the background on Ava's family and how she was born. The readers learn about her great great grandparents (The Roux's) and how they came to the land that she lives at currently. We as readers got to go down the family tree with Ava and learn about each person and their love story.
We start out with her grandmother then make way to her mother's story. Leslye focuses mainly on her mothers love background. We learn about how her mother was dating a local boy named Jack Griffith who has a father that does not approve of their love. Jack has been trying to get his fathers approval all his life and decides to go off to college. Her mother does not like this plan because she thinks he may forget her. Spoiler alert, he finds someone else. Shocker! He decides to marry this boring girl he found at college to make his father approve of him instead of the love of his life. They have one last night though and Ava's mother ends up pregnant with is child.
When her mother finally gives birth, Ava comes out with wings that can wrap around her. The doctor is shocked by how she was created to be but there is another shock. She has a twin brother! Her brother is a little odd though and doesn't make a sound. It isn't until they are around the age of 14 or 15 that he finally talks and it is just phases.
As Ava grows, she is trying to fit into a world where she is not welcome. People are still confused by her and why she has wings. Ava herself doesn't even know and tries to hide who she is because she wants to be normal. Just like anyone else in a book that has something different about themselves. She has a best friend though and eventually has a boyfriend.
She meets this man named Nathaniel Sorrows who is obsessed with her as an angel. He watches her and researches about angels daily. Right off the start he seems odd and creepy but Ava seemed to like how he acted around her at first. His touch was interesting and the way he spoke gave her chills. His point of view is written in letter from from his personal journal which was interesting to read about because it was his thoughts. As time went on, the reader saw how he became obsessed with Ava. Even to the point where he ended up hurting her.
She was out in the rain after being with her best friend and boyfriend walking home when she ran into Nathaniel Sorrows.This part of the book was odd and creepy as he asked her to come inside. He becomes over obsessed with her wings and ends up cutting them off. She is rushed to the hospital where she is taken care of. Now she is who she wants to be. Normal.
This book was very interesting to read and written differently. I really enjoyed the different point of views and how we got to know the entire background of the family. I personally enjoyed reading about Ava's mother and he rite of passage in the book with Jack and then Gabe. This book was an easy read and was quickly demolished while I was at work. I would pass this book onto someone else who wants to read something different and a tad dark for a change. This wasn't a love story but a way of telling a story of someones past, present, and future.