The Poet X by: Elizabeth Acevedo
♡ Pages: 368 ♡ Published by: HarperCollins ♡ Categorized as: Poetry, Fiction, Contemporary and Young Adult
Synopsis: Xiomara Batista feels unheard and unable to hide in her Harlem neighborhood. Ever since her body grew into curves, she has learned to let her fists and her fierceness do the talking. But Xiomara has plenty she wants to say, and she pours all her frustration and passion onto the pages of a leather notebook, reciting the words to herself like prayers—especially after she catches feelings for a boy in her bio class named Aman, who her family can never know about. With Mami’s determination to force her daughter to obey the laws of the
church, Xiomara understands that her thoughts are best kept to herself. So when she is invited to join her school’s slam poetry club, she doesn’t know how she could ever attend without her mami finding out. But she still can’t stop thinking about performing her poems. Because in the face of a world that may not want to hear her, Xiomara refuses to be silent.
I never thought that I would pick up a book of entire poetry. Don’t get me wrong I love to read poems and I love how poetry sounds, however I never thought I’d read a story written in verse.
For the first part of the book I wasn’t really hooked. I was trying to figure out characters and mostly get used to fewer and more cryptic words on the page. However as I progressed through the book I really found myself getting into the storyline and structure of the novel.
“The world is almost peaceful when you stop trying to understand it” ~page 223
As far as character development goes for The Poet X I think that the main character Xiomara felt really real. You could see all her imperfections and just relate with her. Especially because the book is all about being unsure of the world and who you are as a person; and just trying to navigate through it all even when you feel trapped. The other characters in the book didn’t pop out to me, therefore making me feel like they were less developed than Xiomara, however none of the other characters were poorly written or transparent.
Overall there were chapters I much preferred over others; and I don’t think that I would ever read another poetry in verse. But that being said I think The Poet X is definitely worth trying, because it truly is an eye opening and beautiful read.
Stay Fantabulous!
xoxo,
♡ Kenzie
WanderlustWishes 