The Strange of Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton (2014)

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Ava Lavender is just a girl, for the most part. She lives on Pinnacle Lane, the same house her mother grew up in, and before that, the house her grandparents bought in the early 1900s. While her grandmother is rumored to be the neighborhood witch and her twin brother speaks to spirits, nothing is really peculiar about Ava, except that she was born with a full set of big, feathery wings. Which is why she, and her brother, have never really left the house- until Ava’s 15th birthday. Suddenly, the big bad world doesn’t seem so terrible and Ava might being falling in love. But the world can’t be that nice to such a out of the ordinary girl. In an explosion of events, Ava learns both the cruel and beautiful aspects of the world, and must decide where her place in the universe is.
While it might seem like it is, this book is not fully about Ava Lavender. Rather, it’s really split up into three parts, dedicated to her, her mother, and grandmother. While that may sound boring, it certainly wasn’t. It started all the way back when her grandmother was about eight, and traveled to the time of Ava. Personally, I think my favorite story was of Ava’s mother, though they all had their own specialities. Because this book spanned over three generations, I could see a lot of character growth, especially between the older two women. I could also definitely see how events early on in the character’s lives affected them in their later days. But, because this book covered a grand period of time, there were SO many characters, it was hard to keep track of them sometimes. Also, it seemed like every character had to have a huge background, and sometimes I felt that it was unnecessary to the story to make every little character so complex. Still, there was an overall feel of magical realism throughout. Honestly, Ava’s life could’ve probably been considered as a fairytale. Nonetheless, I still think something was missing from this book. I don’t know what, but I left this book without being satisfied.
A short, sweet read, The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender is a tale that leaves everyone with a hint of wonder.
4 Stars

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