The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender

By: Leslye Walton

Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell

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

Took my breath away

A gorgeous story of love and so much more. Evocative of early Alice Hoffman or Sarah Addison Allen.

Engaging characters,

My daughter and I listened over a few weeks in the car. We really enjoyed this.

Wonderfully Strange

Wonderful story with nice character build, just like the title, its strange and wonderful, i would recommend this to anyone who wants a background on each character.

a strange tale

it's a difficult book to review. It's dreamy and strange and full of sorrow, it Is worth it ..I think

Inspiring and imaginative writing

If you could sum up The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender in three words, what would they be?

Beautiful, sad, artistic

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender?

Vivianne Lavendar goes into the Summer Solstice Festival describing the beautiful things around her: the musicians playing lovely tunes, the delicious pies made by the schoolgirls' mothers... and as she runs away from the festival in a sad state she describes the same items again through a different emotion: the drunk musicians and the over-baked pies. It was so beautifully written and I found myself inside of the book many times.

Which scene was your favorite?

When Ava is kissed for the first time. Leslie's description is lovely and so heartfelt. It reminded me of my first kiss with my husband.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

You must let them go for them to come back again.

Hauntingly beautiful

A story that has been very well written. A quote comes to mind when I finished this book. ..."It is always darkest just before the day dawneth."

SIMPLY BEAUTIFUL

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

The deep rich emotions

I absolutely love this book it was my first real favorite book. It’s my Roman Empire. I think about it at least once a week. It’s absolutely amazing and stunning. All the characters, the culmination of different stories from different times and perspectives. Still my favorite book.

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.

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.