Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

89 reviews

catwhisperflubbs's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

compelling and page-turning. read this in under 3 weeks

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_forestofpages's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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.

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zoiejanelle's review against another edition

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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.

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onegalonelife27's review

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emotional inspiring reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 Raised in a super religious household, Xiomara struggles with what her mom and church want for her, what men want from her because of her body, and she wants for herself. The only place that she can truly confide in is her journal, writing down the thoughts and feeling she feels no one else would listen to. However, when she finds herself drawn to a boy in class as well as a poetry club taking place at the same time of her confirmation classes, it may be time for Xiomara to let her thoughts be heard.

The last novel in verse I possibly read-do books read in epic poem style count?-was back in college and I had no idea what was going on like 90 percent of the time. This one is a lot of more novel like with dialogue and plot happening fortunately so a lot easier to follow. 

Xiomara really speaks to any woman who’s found herself harassed by men, of course I never hit any guy but I’ve always had weak noodle arms. Despite her rage, she only gets into fights with guys that start it. Also she resonates with anyone who feels like they aren’t understood by those around them, since she doesn’t really have any friends outside her twin and a childhood friend due to her appearance and the gossips that ensues. She slowly begins to reach out from a boy in class, to the teacher who runs the poetry club, finding more folks to speak to.  

I did have some parts of the plot that was a bit confused about, like everyone assuming that Xiomara hits her twin brother. Yet she never says anything about that. If anything she hits other men for her brother! It comes up often enough that it feels weird Xiomara has to keep defending herself from that accusation. But then again she gets accused of a lot of things by her parents, mainly her mother, so this is may be part of the course. But you would think her parents of all people would know if kids hit one another.

Overall, this book is about finding a way to express yourself and finding the people who will listen to what you have to say. May need some tissues since this does hit on some serious tops and feels! 

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findingt_ri's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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leyendoentremontanias's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I love Elizabeth Acevedo 🤍 Please, read her books, you will be lifted with her words 🤍

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midnightlibrary5's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25


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joynayakate's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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kendal_reads's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75


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lavenderdolmeh's review against another edition

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4.25


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