Reviews with content warning for Bullying - The Poet X

I absolutely loved this. This was truly a beautifully written peak into the life of a young Biracial woman. Her coming of age and dealing with sexism, religious trauma, her mother's expectations and abusive language. Coming to terms with who she is and not letting anyone silence her even her mother. This was hard to read and so heartbreaking beautiful to experience. I am happy that I got to read this and even more so that I got the audiobook to hear this book directly from the author.

Content Warnings

zoiejanelle's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

this book was a gift from one of my lovely cousins! i started reading it back in september and finally got around to finishing it today. i was a very quick read — only a few hours — and did A LOT of emotional damage in that short time. i 100% understand why this book has so many awards! it was beautiful.

i don’t typically enjoy novels in verse, and there were a few poems that i felt were not entirely necessary or slow, so that automatically knocks this down from a 5 star rating. however, the medium (of poetry) was ESSENTIAL to this book and i cannot imagine Xiomara’s story being told any other way. i connected with her love for the written and spoken word and really appreciated how authentic her feelings and desires were. the author portrayed the 16 year old mind perfectly.

the first half was enjoyable, but a little slow. after the mid-point, the story moved very quickly and hit all of the emotional beats. i was unexpectedly greatly impacted by this story—X’s relationship with her mom, religion, her struggles with puberty and growing up, her loneliness—and i really recommend it for anyone looking for a tear jerker, uplifting YA read from a latina author/perspective.

Content Warnings

espressoreader's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

honeycupreads's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book is incredibly powerful. The struggle Xiomara goes through to figure out who she is along with so many other parts of her life is a very hard thing to witness. The strained relationship she has with her parents and God, the tender relationship that forms between her and Aman, the raw understanding that she shares with her twin brother of being afraid to share who they really are with their parents. Throughout the entirety of this book you go through so many emotions along with Xiomara as she figures out this chapter of her life. I highly recommend listening to this as an audiobook, the way Elizabeth Acevedo narrates this story is absolutely beautiful and really elevates the experience of reading this book.

Content Warnings

pilicreads's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

this book has pierced my heart in unforgettable ways. X, you will stay with me forever.
beautifully, lyrically written. even in the darkest moments, Acevedo never fails to convince you love and the power of the word will prevail.

Content Warnings