Reviews with content warning for Emotional abuse - The Poet X

I highly recommend the audiobook, as the narrator (also the author) does an exceptional job at giving voice to Xiomara. It a coming-of-age story that will move you over and over, and for adults, will remind us of what it means to be a teen just figuring things out. It isn't an easy story - Xiomara goes through a lot.

The only reason this isn't 5 stars is the ending is

a bit too neatly wrapped up, with abusers doing about-faces and all wounds healing.

Content warnings:

vivid portrayals of parental abuse; frequent portrayals of sexual harassment of minors (catcalls, groping, etc.); religious trauma with Catholicism as the religion depicted; heavy depictions of misogyny, particularly related to sex, bodies and menstruation.

All of these are interrogated & narratively condemned.

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tlaynejones's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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alexafuson's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

Reading this was an incredible experience. I loved hearing Acevedo perform in the audiobook, and there were so many poems in this book that gave me chills as I listened to her read it. I’ve never read anything that so unabashedly deconstructs religion without shaming those who are religious. This is a lesson to everyone that our voices matter and we should use our voices to make a difference. But it’s also a lesson in knowing when to let others speak and not speaking over those who are consistently overlooked.

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emilyhv's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective tense 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

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kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

Moving, beautiful novel in verse about how sometimes you have to become who you’re meant to be despite whatever obstacles stand in your way, even when those obstacles might be the people who are supposed to love and care about you the most. A quick read, this book moved me through every conceivable emotion and the relationship between the mother and daughter, while not exactly like my own, definitely resonated with me.

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kindredspirit7's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

This book is absolute perfection. The audiobook is impeccable. I don’t live in New York. I’m a white middle class young woman from the Appalachian mountains. But there was something so relatable in the way x related with Christianity and the way she experiences her first love. Her relationship with her mother. It all spoke to the 16 year old girl in me who was grappling with love and sex and who she was all while surrounded by a family that was pious and knowing she was different. The writing is beautiful. The story is heartwarming and heartbreaking. I laughed, I cried, I felt angry for X. If I could make it everyone read this book I would.

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august69's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-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

4.75

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regent_ace's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.0

I loved this book but it was a hard read in some parts for me. The way religion/religious trauma is talked about was really refreshing and painfully realistic. The way the author handled the toxic religious household and the parental relationships Xiomara had was well handled and written. I loved following Xiomara’s journey of finding her voice as not only a poet but as a young woman.

My only wish is that this book was a bit longer so we could really focus more on Xiomara's relationships with family and her boyfriend. I feel like their conclusions were rushed.
Also I wasn't a fan Aman and Xiomara's relationship nothing was inherently wrong with it but I just didn't enjoy it. It felt like to me, she fell for the first guy that was nice to her and it felt like they were a bit rushed. Also that one scene in the hallway made me just not care for Aman (yes im petty for that lol).

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