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raccoonbirb_'s review against another edition
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Alcohol and Abandonment
bedtimesandbooks's review against another edition
hopeful
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Abandonment, Pregnancy, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Moderate: Cursing
Minor: Racial slurs, Sexual content, and Infidelity
belle2008's review against another edition
hopeful
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Colonisation, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Racism
Minor: Abortion and Vomit
lectrixnoctis's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Elizabeth Acevedo, the author of "With the Fire on High" and "The Poet X", won the "National Book Award for Young People's Literature" plus many more awards. She is a National Poetry Slam titleholder and carries an MFA in creative writing from Maryland.
In "With the Fire on High", we follow the story of Emoni Santiago, a 17-year old Afor-Latina teen mum whose passion is to cook wonders in the kitchen. Whenever people taste Emoni's food, some deep insides move them deeply. She is an aspiring chef and dreams of attending a culinary school to improve on her already high skills. However, she has to work things out before von thinking about following her passion. Her grades are not bad, but she could improve in school.
Moreover, she works at a fast food place to earn someone to help her grandmother out, who has been raising her after her mum dies in a childbed. Furthermore, she is a teen mum of a two-year-old girl called Emma, as already mentioned. This is not always easy, and Emoni always tries to be her best self and even if she cannot afford to go to culinary school, she is determined to give her Babygirl a better life.
When her school annoyed a new culinary class with a weeklong apprenticeship in Spain, she feels she has at least tried to get in. Emoni has the chance to participate, but she does not understand yet how much responsibility she has taken on; however, she stays hopeful until the end. Additionally, a new student has transferred to Emoni's high school at the beginning of the year. His name is Malachi who is quite a sensitive boy despite his sometimes dirty jokes. After a while, the pair become friends, but it will happen more and what about Tyrone, the dad of little Emma and Emoni's ex?
The story is written in the limited third-person perspective, and almost the whole plot is set in Philadelphia beside the week trip in Spain. Additionally, the novel was written in the present beside the recurring back flashes. The story was also parted into three parts with a recipe at the being of each component.
The central theme is the struggle of ten motherhood and how it can and will affect your everyday life. Emoni got pregnant at age 14 and gave birth to Emma at 15. Her boyfriend at the time, Tyrone, was only 18 years old. This situation is super complicated, and it weighs heavily on one's shoulders. Despite your body still in development, it is cratering another human being right at the same time. The author has writing The storyline of the protagonist motherhood exquisite and realistic. We follow her feelings thought the pregnancy due to flashbacks and her struggles. It is hard to be pregnant, and I cannot imagine how difficult it must be to still be in high school and Ben going to Sumer school to gain the lost credit back. Not even mention how your fellow pupils will react. This storyline was extraordinary and deserved all its praise.
However, the romance between Emoni and Malachi fell a little bit flat. I enjoyed that they were taking things slow and that Tyrone was all up in Emoni's business. Still, for me, the author could have put more emphasises on that, especially since Emoni is a mum. It was lovely to read that Malachi did not have anything against that, but it just felt a bit too quick solved in the end. Furthermore, his tragic backstory was not discussed in this book, and I found it hard to believe it was realistic.
At the end of the book, the drama between Pretty Lesley and Emoni felt a bit childish since Emoni has dealt with a lot worse, and it felt weird to over drag this little fight so much. The book was sometimes a bit dragged out.
I loved the presentation of this book: The main characters being all BIPOC and even Emoni's best friend, Angelica, being a lesbian and deeply in love with her girlfriend Laura, was just too cute. Furthermore, I enjoyed that the book touched on heavy subjects like racism or death very caring and informative.
Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who would like to read a light and humourless story with darker tones. I found that the book was traced to a slightly younger audience and that some plotlines were more vital than others.
In "With the Fire on High", we follow the story of Emoni Santiago, a 17-year old Afor-Latina teen mum whose passion is to cook wonders in the kitchen. Whenever people taste Emoni's food, some deep insides move them deeply. She is an aspiring chef and dreams of attending a culinary school to improve on her already high skills. However, she has to work things out before von thinking about following her passion. Her grades are not bad, but she could improve in school.
Moreover, she works at a fast food place to earn someone to help her grandmother out, who has been raising her after her mum dies in a childbed. Furthermore, she is a teen mum of a two-year-old girl called Emma, as already mentioned. This is not always easy, and Emoni always tries to be her best self and even if she cannot afford to go to culinary school, she is determined to give her Babygirl a better life.
When her school annoyed a new culinary class with a weeklong apprenticeship in Spain, she feels she has at least tried to get in. Emoni has the chance to participate, but she does not understand yet how much responsibility she has taken on; however, she stays hopeful until the end. Additionally, a new student has transferred to Emoni's high school at the beginning of the year. His name is Malachi who is quite a sensitive boy despite his sometimes dirty jokes. After a while, the pair become friends, but it will happen more and what about Tyrone, the dad of little Emma and Emoni's ex?
The story is written in the limited third-person perspective, and almost the whole plot is set in Philadelphia beside the week trip in Spain. Additionally, the novel was written in the present beside the recurring back flashes. The story was also parted into three parts with a recipe at the being of each component.
The central theme is the struggle of ten motherhood and how it can and will affect your everyday life. Emoni got pregnant at age 14 and gave birth to Emma at 15. Her boyfriend at the time, Tyrone, was only 18 years old. This situation is super complicated, and it weighs heavily on one's shoulders. Despite your body still in development, it is cratering another human being right at the same time. The author has writing The storyline of the protagonist motherhood exquisite and realistic. We follow her feelings thought the pregnancy due to flashbacks and her struggles. It is hard to be pregnant, and I cannot imagine how difficult it must be to still be in high school and Ben going to Sumer school to gain the lost credit back. Not even mention how your fellow pupils will react. This storyline was extraordinary and deserved all its praise.
However, the romance between Emoni and Malachi fell a little bit flat. I enjoyed that they were taking things slow and that Tyrone was all up in Emoni's business. Still, for me, the author could have put more emphasises on that, especially since Emoni is a mum. It was lovely to read that Malachi did not have anything against that, but it just felt a bit too quick solved in the end. Furthermore, his tragic backstory was not discussed in this book, and I found it hard to believe it was realistic.
At the end of the book, the drama between Pretty Lesley and Emoni felt a bit childish since Emoni has dealt with a lot worse, and it felt weird to over drag this little fight so much. The book was sometimes a bit dragged out.
I loved the presentation of this book: The main characters being all BIPOC and even Emoni's best friend, Angelica, being a lesbian and deeply in love with her girlfriend Laura, was just too cute. Furthermore, I enjoyed that the book touched on heavy subjects like racism or death very caring and informative.
Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who would like to read a light and humourless story with darker tones. I found that the book was traced to a slightly younger audience and that some plotlines were more vital than others.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, and Abandonment
Moderate: Alcohol, Bullying, and Abortion
therainbowshelf's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
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? It's complicated
5.0
This book is overflowing with strength and warm family feelings. I absolutely loved it. The characters are so loveable (excluding Baby Girl's paternal grandma) and it was so wonderful reading Emoni's passion for cooking. I thought the author did a great job crafting love and self-acceptance into this story and loved that Emani was never ashamed of being a teen mom. The recipes were also super delightful to see and added a lot of character.
📚 The gist 📚: Emani is a high school senior and mother to a charming little girl, and lives with her supportive grandmother. The world keeps trying to bring her down, throwing judgy adults, financial instability, and racism in her way again and again as she strives to become a chef.
📒Representation📒: mixed race black and Latinx mc, bipoc characters, Latinc characters, teen motherhood, nontraditional family, low income, wlw sc
💕 For readers looking for 💕: a beautiful exploration of family and motherhood, passionate and loveable characters, a sweet romance, diverse and representative characters, playful recipes, and a food focus
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Bullying, Alcohol, Racism, and Sexism
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, and Infidelity
Minor: Stalking, Pregnancy, and Homophobia
Slut shaming, shaming a teen mom, threat if taking your child, financial instabilityelenamarmiroli's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
sad
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? No
4.5
Questo libro si è rivelato una piacevolissima sorpresa.
Ho adorato particolarmente l'integrazione organica del background culturale della protagonista e i suoi interessi all'interno dell'arco narrativo, e l'interesse amoroso che si dimostra sempre dolcissimo, diverte da leggere e che non sminuisce mai la protagonista o il fatto che sia una ragazza madre.
Inoltre, questo libro esplora argomenti più delicati, come la relazione problematica di lei con suo padre, le difficoltà economiche, il razzismo o la sua gravidanza in giovane età , riuscendo a mantenere un buon equilibrio tra la trattare bene queste tematiche, senza mai però far diventare questa lettura pesante.
Devo dire che ho molto gradito quest'ultima cosa, perché rende la storia ricca di speranza per un futuro migliore per la protagonista, cosa che secondo me merita.
Ho adorato particolarmente l'integrazione organica del background culturale della protagonista e i suoi interessi all'interno dell'arco narrativo, e l'interesse amoroso che si dimostra sempre dolcissimo, diverte da leggere e che non sminuisce mai la protagonista o il fatto che sia una ragazza madre.
Inoltre, questo libro esplora argomenti più delicati, come la relazione problematica di lei con suo padre, le difficoltà economiche, il razzismo o la sua gravidanza in giovane età , riuscendo a mantenere un buon equilibrio tra la trattare bene queste tematiche, senza mai però far diventare questa lettura pesante.
Devo dire che ho molto gradito quest'ultima cosa, perché rende la storia ricca di speranza per un futuro migliore per la protagonista, cosa che secondo me merita.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment and Pregnancy
Moderate: Racism and Grief
Minor: Lesbophobia
looney_moons's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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
3.5
Acevedo never fails to impress me, and this one is no different. As a person who is wildly uninterested in having children, it was a wonder that she made me feel so much for this young mother and her child. Apart from that, I am a person who loves to cook and who uses food as a love language, so this book was straight up my street. A tiny bit predictable, but overall very enjoyable - which is a lot coming from me when talking about an audiobook.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment
Minor: Homophobia and Death of parent
brendaxxo's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
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
And like a map I've been following without the exact destination, I know now I've been equipping myself with tools from the journey to help me survive when I arrive. Although I don't have all the answers for what is coming next, I can finally see a glimpse of where I, Emoni Santiago, am going.
with the fire on high is the first book i've bought since i began my adult reading journey. wanting to support a fellow dominicana and falling in love with the cover, i picked this up at the nearest barnes and noble and read it in a single sitting. this was one of the best decisions i've made recently.
no, but seriously. i was expecting a gritty tale about a teen mom's heartbreak and suffering (which i was not in the right headspace for) and instead found a fun, heartwarming gem. everything about this book hit the right note for me. i love that despite all of her obstacles, being a teenage mother is not the end of emoni's life and she actively pursues her dreams. a small but powerful support system keeps emoni and babygirl on the right track: angelica is the best friend a girl could ask for and buela carefully straddles the line between being there for emoni and emma and finding her own happiness. emoni's relationship with an absentee father hit closer to home than i'd like to admit.
but above all, I loved how important food and cooking was to emoni and the characters around her. while cooking is her passion, she still has a lot to learn and works her ass off. her food, a fusion or a "remix" of puerto rican and african-american dishes, is so good that it calls forth memories of people, places, and emotions. you can't help but root for someone so talented and earnest. i literally cried because i was so proud of how far emoni came along in the face of adversity. four stars.
*my only critique is acevedo's use of the "i let go of the breath i didn't know i was holding" line three times, but that doesn't take away from the story overall.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Abortion, Gun violence, and Sexual content
teen pregnancylectora21's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Abandonment, Abortion, Alcohol, Bullying, Death of parent, Racism, Sexual content, and Vomit
cthrnmrtn's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
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? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Abandonment, and Death
Minor: Murder, Vomit, and Gun violence