Reviews with content warning for Sexism - Clap When You Land

Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo

32 reviews

sambashua's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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foreverinastory's review against another edition

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emotional slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was so good.

Rep: Dominican-American lesbian female MC, Dominican female MC, BIPOC sapphic female side character, Dominican and Dominican-American side characters.

CWs: Death of parent, sexual assault, grief, death, stalking, infidelity, sexual violence, sexual harassment, pregnancy & birth on page, sexism, violence, parental abandonment, plane crash (not on page but discussed), misogyny, racism, xenophobia. Moderate: medical content, cancer, cursing, pedophilia, rape, panic attack. Minor: Drug use, trafficking, vomit, police brutality, blood.

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lucystolethesky's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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hanarama's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

CW: death, grief, sexism, assault

The Good:
• Opposing POV
• Built sisterhood
• Free Verse
• Brings attention to a often forgotten tragedy

The Bad:
• POV too similar

You Might Like this if You Like:
• Poetry
• Family secrets
• Explorations of loss and grief.

In the wake of the crash of flight AA587 Yahaira and Camino lose their father. As they seek to make sense of their grief, they discover each other, sisters kept secret from the other.

With this revelation, they are further forced to grapple with their father's imperfections and try to build a relationship with each other. This is complicated by Camino's sense that Yahaira in New York has been given all the privileges that she has lacked, while Yahaira has difficulty in making sense of her father's infidelity.

Acevedo creates a really beautiful story around the often ignored tragedy that rocked New York's Dominican population. The audiobook is an absolute joy, with the readers delivering powerful and emotive performances.

Though the two POV feel too similar at the beginning, they are eventually differentiated. I believe that this may be in part due to the use of free verse. However, the poetry really captures the grief and emotions of the characters, helping the story to feel more alive.

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malloryfitz's review against another edition

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3.75

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jayisreading's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

3.75

This is a beautifully written story presented as poetry, which I found rather refreshing (though that could be because I’ve been reading dense theory for a while). It was a nuanced exploration of cultural differences and the manifestations of grief. Putting Clap When You Land in poetry format gave Acevedo the benefit of taking more liberty in beautiful ways to depict these themes, as well as showcase her skills as a poet.

That said, I wouldn’t say there was a lot left to be desired, but I wish there were a few things more than what was given. I wish Acevedo went a little more into the lives of Camino and Yahaira, giving us more than the couple of months we get to know them on the pages. In other words, Camino and Yahaira have such interesting stories that are begging for more attention. Also, while presenting two perspectives allowed for the incredible dive into cultural differences between the United States and the Dominican Republic, I felt that more could have been done to develop the grief of the two protagonists. After a while, it started reading the same and made the story drag a little.

The ending felt a little too “tidy,” for a lack of a better word (though Dre’s present for Camino was too sweet), but in some ways, it feels like the deserved ending for our two protagonists who had such heavy weight burdening their hearts.

Oh, and a random side note. Like so many other books I’ve read, I love when authors unapologetically use and not italicize non-English words, phrases, and sentences.

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