ginny_101 's review for:

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

4.5

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 "Xiomara may be remembered as a lot of things: a student, a miracle, a protective sister, a misunderstood daughter, but most importantly, she should be remembered as always working to become the warrior she wanted to be."

I was recommended this book by someone who knew my love for contemporary stories and lyrical writing, and this book of poems was absolutely beautiful, a perfect merging of those two things. I wasn't too sure what to expect before reading this book, I do love poetry, I write my own as a form of journal sometimes too, although nowhere near as often and as well as Xiomara, but I also know that some poetry doesn't read as well as it does heard spoken aloud or even in a song. But this book was just right for me and I ended up enjoying it so much, it really spoke to me in ways I wasn't expecting. We follow Xiomara, a fifteen year old Dominican American girl who is navigating a complex world: her mother is devoutly religious, her father is there but not really there, her twin is at times distant and at times completely understanding, she's gone through puberty and is uncomfortable with how men look at her body, but she also has wants and needs, and so, so many questions. The storyline really swept me away, and I flew through it in just a few days.

The style of poetry in this book was just right for me, it didn't rhyme, although there were some hints at it, and it didn't have a specific metric pattern, but it flowed and it hit beats inside of me that just made so much sense, and the imagery was absolutely wonderful. It is a really unique way to tell a story. I was surprised at how easily the story was told through these poems, they're not very long and they're pretty briefly worded, for the most part, but they held so much substance. The way Acevedo managed to fit so much depth and emotion into these poems is masterfully done, and after a while you don't even really notice that you're not just reading regular prose, you're able to be absorbed in the world around you, and can fill in the gaps, read between the lines, as if it were fully descriptive. My heart sung, ached, broke and was uplifted again by this story. I loved X, she is soft and hard at the same time, she sees the world in ways that others don't and she truly gets people. She's a protector but she also needs someone to be strong for her. She has dark thoughts and is confused about a lot, but she is also finding herself and her calling, and is powerfully demanding respect from those around her. It was beautiful to witness.

The relationships in this book are the true backbone of the plot, X's relationships with her mother, her father, her brother, her friends, her teacher, her priest, her audience, and the boy that she likes and who listens to her. They're all interwoven to form the person X is growing up to be. The story itself is pretty simple but it deals with deep topics such as the immigrant experience, religious trauma, abuse, sexual harrassment, body shaming and a touch of homophobia. It really managed to weave together so many interesecting aspects of life that were also very authentic and realistic. Quite a few of the poems really resonated with me, even if I didn't completely understand the character's experiences, I got how X felt on many levels, especially as a young girl growing into a woman, and the awkwardness and angst of being a teenager. I did bring the rating down by half a star because I simply wanted more. I think despite this book being over 300 pages long, because the poems are mostly short, I think it could've been even longer and really dived into dealing with some of the "problematic" aspects of some of the characters, short little mentions towards therapy sessions and new understandings just didn't quite fill that gap for me. I also wish we got to read X's Slam competition entry, although the more I think about it, I think the whole book was meant to be, what I have now learned is called, a "metapoem" where the poem is about the act of writing poetry. So the entire book of poems, which tells a story and culminates in a final unseen poem, acts as or symbolises that final poem. And there is some beauty in that, but it didn't feel quite as profound as I wished for.

"I only know that learning to believe in the power of my own words has been the most freeing experience of my life. It has brought me the most light. And isn’t that what a poem is? A lantern glowing in the dark."

Overall, this is a fantastic book and absolutely well worth the read, even if the format and style might not be something you've ever read before or even fully enjoy, I think it's a great book that everyone should at least give a try. I loved the main character, and I wanted so much more from her story, I could easily read poetry collections of all the phases of her life and she grows up and learns to deal with this crazy world. I will definitely be giving Acevedo's other books a go too, I looked forward to reading more of her beautiful writing. I'm very glad I picked this book up.

"I think about all the things we could be if we were never told our bodies were not built for them."