A review by and_thats_the_tay
Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

 
This 👏 is 👏 why 👏 I 👏 read! 
 
Clap When You Land takes the place as my fav book (and cover) of 2021!  Elizabeth Acevedo is an effortless writer and I can’t wait to read ALL of her books. 
 
“Camino waits for the summers when her father will return to the Dominican Republic. Yahaira hates when her father leaves NYC for business each summer. Yet these feelings of yearning will nowhere reach the magnitude of grief they each feel when they learn their father has perished in a plane crash or the shock in realizing that their father led a double life, with two separate wives…and daughters.  Papi’s death uncovers his untruthful life, but it uncovers so much more than that, including the power of sisterhood and the love he had for his two children.” 
 
This book was everything. Even though it was written in verse, I felt like I understood the characters better than I usually do even with books where the authors fills the whole page with words.  Every literary choice Acevedo made was intentional.  No word hit the page unless it was necessary to convey Camino and Yahaira’s feelings, which I found to be a beautiful demonstration of restraint and purpose. 
 
You can tell that every stanza, punctuation mark, and stylistic choice was so well thought out.  For instance, before the girls know of each other, their narrative sections of the book are distinct and end and begin with obvious chapter breaks. But when they learn of each other’s existence and being to communicate + connect, their sections of the book being to blend, until you can’t even tell which sister is narrating.  
 
I don’t want to give too much away, but trust me— put this YA novel on your TBR! CWYL is not only an entrancing read, but also  a testament to the beauty of familial and feminine bonds and the reality that family is messy and imperfect, but it is what makes makes and keeps us whole. 
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