The Poet X Review

Author: Elizabeth Acevedo
Published On: March 6, 2018
Publisher: HarperTeen
Genre: Fiction, YA, Contemporary, Verse, Religious Themes
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“My little words
feel important, just for a moment.
This is a feeling I could get used to.”

TW: sexism/misogyny, homophobia, strict religious parents

This book is written completely in verse.

Every single page, every single word, is part of a poem. It’s gorgeous and hard-hitting and powerful, and absolutely different from anything I’ve ever read before. I loved it.

This story is about Xiomara, a Dominican girl who lives in Harlem with her parents and her twin brother. Her mother is heavily religious and enacts strict rules to ensure that her children are also raised to value religion, even at the expense of Xiomara and her brother’s mental health. The story follows Xiomara as she navigates a complicated world filled with unwanted attention from males, first love, questioning of her religion, and a difficult family life.

I didn’t realize that this book dealt so heavily with religion, and I honestly might have been more reluctant to pick it up if I would’ve known. However, I’m so glad I didn’t, because I think that the themes explored in this book were really important and something that I could connect to and learn from, even if I didn’t 100% relate to the main characters feelings towards the church. It was nice to see Xiomara question the things she had been taught and be willing to change her relationship with the church and not completely reject it.

However, it was hard to watch her constantly combat a mother who’s only desire was to have children as devoted as she was. This dynamic was almost like a train-wreck, you didn’t want to watch but you just couldn’t look away. In the end, I was left feeling hopeful that Xiomara and her mother could reconcile (maybe only in some small way, but still) and create a relationship that was manageable for them both. (Though this did feel like a too-quick solution, and some characters “miraculously” changed in a short period of time in ways that I don’t feel were fully believable, but whatevs).

My only gripe would be that because this book is written in verse and thus has less words than the normal novel, the side characters don’t feel nearly as fleshed out. While I liked Aman and respected his relationship with Xiomara, I think I could have really fell hard into their love story if only he had a little more background and character development. Same with Xiomara’s brother, whom she refers to as “Twin”. He’s also struggling with some heavy stuff – having feelings for other guys while living in a house that would adamantly reject his identity if found out. We got somewhat of a full character arch from him, but I would’ve loved to learn more about his identity and how that reshaped his relationship with Xiomara.

The prose was beautiful. I think it’s easy for non-poetry readers to feel that books written in verse are too choppy, too fragmented to pull a concrete story from. This was not the case. Acevedo writes beautiful scenes that cut straight to your heart, using lyricism and imagery to pull together gorgeous strings of phrases and sentences.

I couldn’t imagine reading this story any other way, and can’t wait to pick up Acevedo’s next book.

(Sidenote: if you’re hesitant to read this since it’s in verse, I highly recommend the audiobook version!! Acevedo reads it herself, and her intensity mixed with the smoother narrative style make for a clearer (yet still impactful) read!)

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