The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton | Review

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton

Published: March 27, 2014

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Pages: 301

Received: via NetGalley for honest review (this is a catch-up review post)

Find Online: Goodreads

Magical realism, lyrical prose, and the pain and passion of human love haunt this hypnotic generational saga.

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.

First-time author Leslye Walton has constructed a layered and unforgettable mythology of what it means to be born with hearts that are tragically, exquisitely human.

This is yet another NetGalley catch-up read. I have no idea why it took me so long to get to it, but I finally read it. I gave this a solid three star rating - didn't love it and didn't hate it. I enjoyed the magical realism elements including Ava having wings and some things in her family history. I didn't mind that back story of her family, but it didn't totally need to be that detailed when the main part of the story was about Ava's life - her strained relationship with her mother, her twin brother who speaks in confusing words or sentences, and her need to fit in and have friends. Not to say the background wasn't necessary, but I think it could have been condensed a little.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. I loved seeing the world from Ava's point of view. The story is so beautifully written and there are some amazing quotes to come from it. 

“I found it ironic that I should be blessed with wings and yet feel so constrained, so trapped. It was because of my condition, I believe, that I noticed life's ironies a bit more often than the average person. I collected them: how love arrived when you least expected it, how someone who said he didn't want to hurt you eventually would.” 

The picture of the cover does not do it justice. In person, it's so beautiful and the feather is more gilded gold than yellow. It's what drew my eye in the first place, but when I grabbed a copy from the library to read when I couldn't read the old e-ARC that I had, I saw just how truly beautiful the cover really was.

I would definitely read more by this author as I enjoyed the lyrical style and the magical realism elements.