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diannakdavidson 's review for:
The Poet X
by Elizabeth Acevedo
This book cracked me open, and that hurt. I actually listened to it on Audible, and Ms. Acevedo is the reader for the Audible version, so her voice created a lot more depth to the poetic narrative. This made the story feel authentic and current, like one of my English students could have written it. Authentic and real can be very difficult to swallow though. The raw feelings the main character expresses through the slam poetry kept getting stuck in my throat. It made me remember how it feels to be a young woman with very little control of her life and a domineering mother. The book portrays a very different life than I have lived. The abrasive language and situations were challenging to push through, just like they were for the main character X, but I was determined to understand. I kept listening and daring myself to examine her experience, and the ending was worth the uncomfortable feelings that fell out through the cracks the story created in me.