A review by happi_mess
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

4.0

“Late into the night I write and the pages of my notebook swell from all the words I’ve pressed onto them.
It almost feels like the more I bruise the page the quicker something inside me heals.”

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Rating: ★★★★

Oh my god? I honestly don't know why I have held on for so long without reading this book. I got to remember that some books deserve the hype because this is just amazing!

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

The things that I like

☽ The format. I love how this one was written in pure poems. I almost loved every single one of them. It honestly felt like the story was flying past by me and I keep on stopping because I don't want to reach the end.

☽ Diversity of topics. I was honestly shocked by the words that were coming out of Xiomara. At one point, I don't think that an average teenager would be able to cough up half of the verses that were written here, but I find that I do not really mind as I'm just really drinking everything up like a cup of good hot choco.

I love how this talked about family, sexuality, women struggles, and religion. I don't think that a lot of people would have the courage to write things down as Xiomara did--so raw and relatable. She's asking questions that we are all thinking in the back of our minds and this book is thought-provoking.

☽ I didn't think that I would enjoy. I really did not have that much expectations and was really worried when I found out that the book is written in slam poetry format. But me coming out of my comfort zone was really worth it. Maybe I should start reading more books like this as I find the collection of poems a tad bit boring, while this one has a plot that is actually moving.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

The things that I DID NOT like

☾ The mother. Good heavens did I hate the mother?! This is just a special mention and not in any way is affecting my rating of this book. But I did hate her. For crying out loud. If she had been my mom I would have ran away.

☾ Why didn't this get five stars? I found that while the story is fast-paced, I kind of wished it went on faster. This is not much of a plot-driven book and mainly focused on Xiomara's feelings with everyone and her surroundings. I wish there had been more.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

In sum:
This book is great. I would definitely recommended this to everyone. If you're new and felt daunted with reading poetry, I think this would be a great entry point to it. If the writer is going to write another book in this same format, I would definitely gobble it up.