The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender Audiobook

Quotes

• “Magical realism colors this tale of a girl normal but for the wings with which she was born.”

  — San Francisco Chronicle

• “[This novel] should be remembered for the devastatingly beautiful character of Ava Lavender and how she depicts just what it is to be different.”

  — Guardian (London)

• “The characters are rich and familiar, and Walton does whimsy with a healthy dose of melancholy and tragedy. The storytelling is completely beautiful… A particularly toothsome and pleasurable read.”

  — Globe and Mail (Toronto)

• “[A]n entrancing and sumptuously written multigenerational novel wrapped in the language of fable, magical realism, and local legend…Walton’s novel builds to a brutal but triumphant conclusion. It’s a story that adults and teenagers can appreciate equally.”

  — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

• “In a sweeping intergenerational story infused with magical realism, debut author Leslye Walton tethers grand themes of love and loss to the earthbound sensibility of Ava Lavender as she recollects one life-altering summer as a teenager…Walton presents challenges that most teens will hopefully never face. She writes of love, betrayal, birth, murder, affection, and rape—and wraps them in prose so radiant that readers feel carried by Ava’s narrative. The heroine’s humor and wisdom as she looks back at her life let us know that she is a survivor.”

  — Shelf Awareness (starred review)

• “Using detailed imagery and an almost mythical storytelling style, teenage Ava tells the history of four generations of her family…[Teens] willing to enter Ava’s world on its own terms will find themselves richly rewarded.”

  — BookPage

• “Lyrical magical realism paints four generations of women with tragic lives until a shocking violation fixes everything…The story’s language is gorgeous…Disturbingly, a horrific assault acts as the vehicle of redemption, magically bringing people together for reasons that make sense only in the dreamlike metaphysics of literary device. Gorgeous prose for readers willing to be blindsided.”

  — Kirkus Reviews

• “Narrator Cassandra Campbell’s lovely alto grounds the magical realism that flows through this multigenerational tale…Campbell uses rich Gallic tones when performing the heavy French accents of some family members, and she playfully rolls her Rs when portraying Spanish characters. In the moments when dark, violent things happen to Ava and her family, her strong, warm voice offers a sense of security. Listeners are in for a strange and beautiful audiobook experience. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award.”

  — AudioFile