Name: The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender
ISBN: 9781406348088

Leslye Walton

A 2015 William C. Morris YA Debut Award Finalist 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 naive 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. "From the Hardcover edition."

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender

Born with bird wings into a family cursed to be foolish in love, sixteen-year-old Ava delves into her family's past hoping to understand her unusual nature and learn to fit in with her peers, but she is ill-prepared for what she discovers.

Possibly one of the best books I have ever read

Abigail Marie

Annika Arguemore

Strange, beautiful and sorrowful indeed. I read this the whole day and was not disappointed. It was rich and vivid. It had been a very good companion to me the whole day. I would love to read this again.

Izza

5 stars | I'll be back with a review because WOW. 

TW: Sexual assault.

wow this was so beautiful... such a nice story. i loved the flair français to it...

”’Just because love don’t look the way you think it should don’t mean you don’t have it.’”

A 2015 William C. Morris YA Debut Award Finalist 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 naive 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.

Nicole

I wasn't expecting to love this book so much. It completely blindsided me and my emotions.

Livia

I didn't know magical realism was my thing until this book proves me wrong. The way the author writes and describes is so magical, even the violence seems like a distant thing. Is everyone messed up? Totally. Do I question their life choices? Honestly, 90% of the time. But I think that's what makes this book more tragic and beautiful because humans aren't perfect and we often make terrible choices in life.

Alexa Jade

Sophia Owen

this book was so beautiful yet so heartbreaking, and for this reason, hard to read at points. i might change my rating once i sit on it a bit more (?) the writing was so beautiful, and the characters were so amazing. whew it really got my emotions

Becky

4.5 stars

This book in one word: stunning.

Kathleen Boyle

This was truly a beautiful story! I especially adored the writing, it was magical, whimsical and beautiful. The characters were wonderfully fleshed out and felt so real even though there is a hint of magic in each of them. I highly recommend this book. It's not something I would have picked up on my own and I'm so glad that I saw so many good reviews about. There is something missing from it that stops me giving it 5 stars but overall it was amazing and heart warming even though it is quite sad.

Yanelle Ruby

Antonia Sonntag 

okay i had to add the 5th star in retrospect because this book haunts me

Dina

How can I even explain this?

The writing is beautiful and magical, but some of the things happening here gave me the chills. Not in an enjoyable way either.

There are many triggers, so I'd advise you to proceed with caution.

Sarah Jackson

I really liked this book! It was just so whimsical and magical which I adore.

I especially liked that we got to see the stories of Ava's great-grandmother, grandmother, and mother. Although I think I would have liked to see their stories in greater detail (maybe even in a separate book) because I felt that at some points Ava's story wasn't as well developed as it could have been because of the different time periods were competing with each other.

All in all, a pretty tragic story but one I did enjoy.

Victoria ♡

*TRIGGER WARNING* Suicide, rape.

Absolutely true to its title, this book was strange, it was beautiful, and it was sad. Oh my goodness what a beautiful book. It was sad and more sad and even sadder but it didn't feel like it was over-sad... I can't quite put it into words!

I came into to this book not knowing what it was about, just completely drawn in by the gorgeous cover, the title of the book, and little mentions of it here and there and I'm so glad I picked it up at the library.

Truthfully, there wasn't a lot of action. In fact it was almost just like, a story. Their story. There was no bad guy they were trying to defeat or tasks they had to get through, and if I had known this, I wouldn't be so sure I would pick it up or that I would like it, but I did. The whole book was so captivating! And sad. But beautiful. The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender was BEAUTIFUL. I know I keep repeating this word but honestly that is what the book was, beautiful.

I highly recommend it to those looking for something different.

Giulia 

Quando ti appresti a leggere un libro tanto amato come questo, sei consapevole di un paio di cose: che potresti essere d'accordo oppure che sarai la pecora nera della situazione quindi dovrai affrontare la pubblica piazza cercando di portare avanti la tua opinione. Sempre se l'opinione altrui non è talmente importante per te da offuscare completamente il libero arbitro. Beh, sono contenta di dire che rientro nella prima categoria!
Questo libro mi ha stupita dalla prima all'ultima pagina. È poetico, lo stile è semplice, ma allo stesso tempo delicato e unico, un unico buono che sa parlare alle corde più profonde e, ammettiamolo, non è una cosa che si può imparare ad un semplice corso di scrittura creativa. Ci sono persone che nascono per essere scrittori, questo ne è l'esempio. La storia di Ava e della sua famiglia non mi abbandonerà presto, ma sono contenta di questo. È ciò che rende speciale la vita di ogni lettore, trovare quelle storie che sai che rimarranno con te per molto tempo, forse per tutta la vita. Quelle storie che ti aiutano a crescere, ti fanno pensare e scuotono qualcosa dentro di te che non riesci a spiegarti ma c'è :). sono libri come questo che mi convincono sempre di più che la gente che dice di odiare la lettura è perché non ha trovato nessun libro che scuotesse quelle particolari corde della sua anima. 
Eh boh, probabilmente questo discorso non ha senso, ma non so davvero cosa dire. Questo libro ti lascia senza parole e vorrei che chiunque lo leggesse.

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender

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