The Poet X Review (Updated)

Genre: Poetry, Young Adult, Contemporary, Fiction, Romance

Style: physical (paperback)

Page Count: 357

Trigger Warnings: abuse (child and emotional), sexism, sexual harassment, body shaming, homophobia

Summary:

This follows our main character Xiomara who is living with her brother, mother, and father. Xiomara is catcalled by a wide range of people from classmates at school to the drug dealers in her neighborhood. She gets a lot of attention because of how she is built (as tall and curvy) but from her mother’s point of view, it is up to Xiomara to not want unsolicited attention from unwanted men.

She starts taking a confirmation class that her mother wants her to take. But Xiomara isn’t so sure she even wants to worship a God that doesn’t seem to care about her. But her mother is threatening to send her to the Dominican Republic (will be shorting it to DR from here on out).

Xiomara feels like a burden to her family because it seems like her family has given up so much. It seems like Xiomara was fighting so hard when she came into the world and she is extremely overprotective of her twin brother. But it doesn’t stop her from feeling like a burden.

The one thing that Xiomara has going for her is her poetry. That no one has ever read or listened to her recite. That all changes when Ms. Galiano sees something in her that she doesn’t even see in herself. So when she joins the poetry club that all seems to change. She enjoys the rush of feeling like she finally has a voice. Where she feels like she can finally be listened to. Even if they might not understand what is going on at home, it gives Xiomara the sense of community that she never had but always wanted.

Thoughts:

I loved how quick this read was. I might not be the biggest fan of poetry and verse, but I still found the story beautifully written. I enjoyed getting sucked into this world again and enjoyed the journey that I was taken on. The roller coaster of this read. It seems like as soon as Xiomara gets her feet under her and is enjoying her life it gets ripped out from underneath her.

I enjoy Elizabeth Acevedo’s writing and how she brings you into the story. This one has to be my favorite book by her. She finds a way to make her characters seem lifelike in not so many words. How they seem to come alive.