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A review by emmabeckman
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
I listened to the audiobook of this book! I'm not going to give it a rating because I don't really have anything to compare it to/base my rating scale off of since I'm pretty sure the last time I listened to an audiobook was one of the later Series of Unfortunate Events books when I was in elementary school. So instead, I'll just describe my general feelings.
I picked this book up as an audiobook to fulfill the Book Riot Reader Harder challenge "An audiobook of poetry." Elizabeth Acevedo has a background in slam poetry, and I knew this book was written in verse and narrated by the author herself so I thought it would be an excellent one to use. I really appreciated having the author's own intonation and rhythm since she knew exactly how the words should sound. I also loved that she was able to create an authentic atmosphere with the Dominican Spanish that she uses. I think the writing in this book also lends itself extremely well to being read aloud (at least since that is my only experience with it). So overall, the audiobook itself was an enjoyable experience and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who hasn't read the book or even just hasn't listened to the audiobook before. (And it's short, only 3.5 hours so... another plus in my book.)
Now for the actual story itself. I thought the story was paced well and the characters were all fleshed out. I especially enjoyed literally hearing Xiomara's voice, since even her words were so distinctive. I thought the story line was really excellent for high school kids, in terms of Xiomara's relationships with her family, her friends, and her religion. I think everyone will be able to find something that they can relate to, even if they have a very different overall lived experience than the main character.
But... I didn't believe in the romance. Probably it's because I don't know what it's like in high school or now (hi I'll be single for the rest of my life). But it had really strong insta-love vibes and I wasn't here for it. I know high schoolers feel things more strongly than the average human, but it just felt like there wasn't a lot of development. Maybe I missed something (one of the reasons I don't love audiobooks: I often listen in the car and if I'm distracted by driving, I miss things), but it felt like all of a sudden Aman was there and POOF Xiomara was pressed her arm into his and fantasizing about, idk, kissing his knuckles or some shit. I just can't believe it anymore!! I'm too old for it and I'm over teenagers falling in "love" in two seconds with the first nice person that comes along!! But I get why it was important for the overall character development of Xiomara so I'm not too angry about it as a plot device.
I picked this book up as an audiobook to fulfill the Book Riot Reader Harder challenge "An audiobook of poetry." Elizabeth Acevedo has a background in slam poetry, and I knew this book was written in verse and narrated by the author herself so I thought it would be an excellent one to use. I really appreciated having the author's own intonation and rhythm since she knew exactly how the words should sound. I also loved that she was able to create an authentic atmosphere with the Dominican Spanish that she uses. I think the writing in this book also lends itself extremely well to being read aloud (at least since that is my only experience with it). So overall, the audiobook itself was an enjoyable experience and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who hasn't read the book or even just hasn't listened to the audiobook before. (And it's short, only 3.5 hours so... another plus in my book.)
Now for the actual story itself. I thought the story was paced well and the characters were all fleshed out. I especially enjoyed literally hearing Xiomara's voice, since even her words were so distinctive. I thought the story line was really excellent for high school kids, in terms of Xiomara's relationships with her family, her friends, and her religion. I think everyone will be able to find something that they can relate to, even if they have a very different overall lived experience than the main character.
But... I didn't believe in the romance. Probably it's because I don't know what it's like in high school or now (hi I'll be single for the rest of my life). But it had really strong insta-love vibes and I wasn't here for it. I know high schoolers feel things more strongly than the average human, but it just felt like there wasn't a lot of development. Maybe I missed something (one of the reasons I don't love audiobooks: I often listen in the car and if I'm distracted by driving, I miss things), but it felt like all of a sudden Aman was there and POOF Xiomara was pressed her arm into his and fantasizing about, idk, kissing his knuckles or some shit. I just can't believe it anymore!! I'm too old for it and I'm over teenagers falling in "love" in two seconds with the first nice person that comes along!! But I get why it was important for the overall character development of Xiomara so I'm not too angry about it as a plot device.