What a mysterious, lyrical, and affecting book. THE STRANGE AND BEAUTIFUL SORROWS OF AVA LAVENDER is classified as magical realism, but is very much a grounded-in-reality family saga with a dash of the surreal. Ava's wings serve more as a narrative vehicle with which to explore the pains of longing to belong and be loved, and the at-times heartbreaking sacrifices of self we undergo in order to fit in.

There's a poetic grittiness and mysticism to the writing that reminds me slightly of the non-faerie sides of Holly Black and V. E. Schwab's stories; the magical, coming-of-age melancholy of Leila Sales or Stephanie Kuehnert; and the sweeping scale of Larry McMurtry and Jeffrey Eugenides.

THE STRANGE AND BEAUTIFUL SORROWS OF AVA LAVENDER is yet another success for Candlewick Press' always-impressive, cross-generational YA titles, and is very worth seeking out.

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.

A strange and beautifully told tale of what it means to be different. Sad, magical and ultimately uplifting.

This was another book that was absolutely stunning but unfortunately not for me. The prose was absolutely gorgeous and the story was heartbreaking but magical realism just isn't for me. Definitely highly recommended, however.