Hersh's Reviews > The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender

To say this book was beautiful would be an understatement.

This book was magical.

This book was atmospheric.

This book was memorable.



It's been awhile since I read a book that has left me thinking long after since I've finished it. This book left me with my emotions warring inside me, happiness triumphing sadness, sadness triumphing happiness and so forth. I cannot even tell you how I feel now, it has been weeks since I have finished this masterpiece and I'm still thinking about it. I cannot stop thinking about it.

This is my first adventure into magical realism and I think I love my extraordinary adventure. Seldom do I ever come across books that make me think for weeks and make my heart ache, wanting for more. Always wanting for more.

“Love makes us such fools.”

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender is not really centered around Ava Lavender but it is centered around her whole family. The story starts with how her grandmother Emilienne was born, how her life turned out and how her mother Viviane came into existence and then finally, Ava, how she came into this world with that beautiful and unnatural wings of hers.

The characters in this book are very visceral. They love, they hurt, they want to love and they're scared because pain, pain is just painful. But life, life is painful. That is the universal truth. And you, dear reader, will feel everything they feel.

The writing just flows without any hiccups. You can sink right into the writing. God, it was so hard not to swoon over Walton's magical, smooth and beautiful writing style. Walton seemed to me like the Queen of Words and I cannot believe that this is her first novel.

“Children betrayed their parents by becoming their own people.”

I didn't think I would like this book when I read the first few pages. I didn't think I would fall for it. And then, out of nowhere, I was sucked right into it. I was mesmerized and fascinated with how Walton weaved the story, how she crafted it and how her final words made my heart ache.

At several stages, I would want to tell the characters in this book that everything will be okay. I wanted to comfort them and promise them of happiness.



When their hearts break, mine breaks too. When they cry, I feel like crying too. That's how beautifully Walton has weaved this story. She makes you feel the characters' pain, loss and happiness. She makes you smell the rain, the grass and the fresh bread baking. She'd make your mouth water with her lovely descriptions of cakes and sweets. And she will definitely make your heart ache.

“It was the song of the birds in spring and the call of the wind through bare branches on a cold winter afternoon. Fate. Both my anguish and my solace. My escort and my cage.”

You will feel like you were in a different place when you read this book. And you probably might hate reality after reading this book.

This book, like its name suggests is very strange and very beautiful. I haven't read such a unique novel. I want to read it again. I want to smell and feel those wonderful and terrible things again. This book is heavily intoxicating and I think this would be my new personal brand of heroin ;)