Christy's Reviews > The Poet X

5 stars!!

Poet X is lyrical, deep, and meaningful. I loved the way this book was written. It had a fantastic flow, the poetry was poignant, and Xiomara's voice and character really shined through.

This is a story about a teenage girl who lives in Harlem. She lives with her twin brother, her father, and an overly religious mother. Xiomara isn't allowed to have a voice in that house. Her mother wants her to be close to a god she's not sure she believes in and feels that should be the focus of her life. Boys, poetry, anything meaningful to X is forbidden.

Her life is a struggle. Xiomara has a curvy body and at just 15, she is leered at by boys. She only has one boy she likes, but she can't really be with him the way she wants to be (overprotective mother). Xiomara's outlet is writing. Her poetry gets her through everything she goes through. Her words are powerful. And with those words, she not only expresses herself, but just maybe starts to change minds and hearts that she felt were impossible to change.

I listened to the audio version of this book, which was narrated by the author. Elizabeth Acevedo not only wrote a moving story, but gave a moving performance narrating it. If you're going to read this book, I can't recommend listening to it enough. I feel like I got more out of it hearing Xiomara's story and listening to her read her poems.

This is very much a coming of age story about a girl who doesn't feel like she fits. I loved that her entire story was told through slam poetry and it had such a great message. Poet X is a unique story I feel will stay with me. I can't wait to read more from this author.