The Poet X Review

Hello again,
This is my last book review for the month of April. It's for the book The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo. It was the book I received in my March YA PageHabit box. PageHabit is a little unique as you don't necessarily get a signed book but you get an annotated one. Throughout the book are post-it notes with thoughts from the author about the book which makes the reading experience more personal like you know the author yourself. The Poet X also has an interesting format, it's written in free verse. It's about a young woman named Xiomara who is Hispanic and living in Harlem and finds her voice through slam poetry. The author, Elizabeth Acevedo, is well known as a slam poet herself so I was really looking forward to this book and it definitely delivered. As much as I loved A Court of Thorns and Roses and the entire series, this might be my favorite book of the year so far.

Caution: The rest of this post may contain spoilers

So you meet fifteen year old Xiomara who is the daughter of first generation immigrants and her mother is very devoutly Catholic. Xiomara is uncertain about her place and unheard in her general life. She had been given a notebook by her twin brother (referred to by Xiomara as simply Twin) and expresses herself via written poetry. Her brother is a genius who plays the good boy while he is secretly gay and in love with a white boy at his private school. Xiomara is invited to join a slam poetry club after school but unfortunately it interferes with her confirmation classes so she brushes it off. Her father is a reformed party boy who ran around with every girl in the neighborhood prior to the birth of the twins and her mother wanted nothing more than to be a nun before her family had her marry her husband. Xiomara's poetry tells of the way the men in her neighborhood and how they catcall her and have since she grew curves. How her mother doesn't understand her and is trying to force her to live life the way she would have, to be a perfect daughter ladylike and devout. Tensions between mother and daughter reach a boiling point when Xiomara is caught having a date with a boy. After being grounded forever, Xiomara starts ditching confirmation classes in favor of the poetry club, making real friends who understand and encourage her. Then her mother finds her poetry notebook and reads it before burning it. The book ends with their priest talking to her mother to encourage her to find common ground with her daughter. It concludes with her parents, best friend, twin, boyfriend, and priest coming to the poetry slam competition where Xiomara competes for the first time.

This book was simply amazing. I loved it and read it in two sittings over a weekend. Xiomara is a relateable character and you find yourself able to identify with her and her struggles no matter how old you are. I'm almost thirty and found a lot of myself and how I feel, even now, in Xiomara. You relate to her not just in remembering how it felt to be fifteen but how you feel at whatever age and life stage you are at presently. I loved the poetry format and really want to read more things by Elizabeth Acevedo.

I read The Poet X from April 20-21, 2018. I rated it a 5/5 stars on Goodreads.

Happy Reading!
Richelle and Emma