The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender

By: Leslye Walton

Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell

Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's Summary

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.

©2014 Leslye Walton, original book published by Candlewick Press. (P)2014 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Critic Reviews

• Morris Award Finalist, 2015 

Boring

It took me a year to finish this story. Ava was barely in it and when she was she wasn't even her own person but a shadow of her pitiful mother and distant grandmother. I would have liked to known more about what was in Henry's head and what his thoughts were. The story spent so much time telling what everyone and the kitchen sink (I almost want to say literally there) thought when they didn't say it. It would have been great to know Henry. Don't even get me started on the uncaring and borderline nonchalant manner in which this family treats tragic events. The way Ava tragedy was handled was so laughable and downright messed up I lost focus for a moment.
I can't recommend this story. However the audible version is more bearable only do to the peaceful voice of the narrator.

Beautiful and Haunting Fairytale

What a lovely book. It reads like a wondrous tale spanning three generations of women from France to New York to Washington State. Each given special attention and detail, the women traverse sad circumstances. The writing is superb and lyrical, akin to the style of Neil Gaiman.

Sorry I haven't given much detail, it deserves to be experienced and not chronicled out ruining the surprises.

Strange yes, Beautiful no

Too weird. I didn't get the ghosts, I didn't get the long family history. I didn't get the ending. I just couldn't put it all together cohesively, I guess. My daughter (high school) also was ambivalent. I did appreciate the theme of learning to love your own differences; and I did appreciate the bakery scenes!

When magic is not magical

This book tried to hard. With absurdly they were cool names of absurd Lee supernatural characters in the book ended up falling flat. And Ila magical realism as much as the next girl but this went both too far and not far enough. In addition, there is unnecessary violence that seems gratuitous to the max. I tried for the entire time I was listening to this book to like it, But it just got worse and worse for me. Oh well!

Watited for the story...then for it to end

I wanted to love this book. I, like some other reviewers, found it on a list of YA novels to watch out for. I was disappointed. It is a fairly grown up story with lots of violence, etc, which doesn't bother me in the least, but the language is immature, almost like a fairytale at some points and so simplistic as to draw attention to itself and this strange contrast of content and style--not incredibly well written (of course, I think listening makes this more noticeable and especially in the absence of a captivating storyline).

It was an interesting premise in which Walton created a lot of interesting exposition and back stories but the story of Ava Lavender itself falls flat. You never really care about her; she is little more than the character who happens to narrate the story, nor are there any other characters you are really rooting for. When bad things happen, as they inevitably do, you are not surprised or upset. It's like a really long, twisted bedtime story. I just wanted it to be over, knowing it was not going to offer me any sort of awesome plot twist or satisfying conclusion, so that I could go download something else! Some people seemed to really like it, but if you care about a strong story and characters, look elsewhere.

Not for me.

Not my kind of story or narrative. While listening I felt like I needed to write a paper for it afterwards.

SIMPLY BEAUTIFUL

The authors writing ✍️ is so beautiful lyrical and whimsical the kind of books that I love and will never forget

My favorite book!

I bought this audio book because, I saw the cover and was drawn in. Pretty wine bottles and book covers always get me. While listening to the first few chapters I know I thought to myself several times “What the hell, this is crazy!” but by the end of the book I was crying and breathless. It spans 4 generations of a family that is familiar with oddities. It’s horror, it’s mystery, it’s violent and then it is beautiful. It’s so beautifully written that I stopped several times and wrote down some of the lines because I wanted to remember them. The narrator did a FANTASTIC job. There are so many different characters and accents in this story and I was never lost. I want to listen to it again. I highly recommend!

Slow To Get Into, But A Strangely Beautiful Finish

It took quite a while for me to gain interest in the storyline, part of which I'm sure had to do with the monotone narration - hence my 3 star review... however the last five chapters saved it for me. Definitely not for everyone, but I'm glad I gave this one a chance nonetheless.

Complex and modern

This is a magic realism novel, and I have to say that I am not a huge fan of the magic realism genre and the sense of disorientation it generates. I confess that I bought this book mostly for the title, and at first, I did not like the book at all. However, somehow it grew on me as it went on. I still don't love it, but I do think it's interesting and very well crafted. It is quite a complex novel, with a lot of symbolism to ponder at. Many themes relevant to modern life are explored, though in a somewhat detached, dreamlike fashion. If I were an English teacher, I would consider teaching this book.