A review by bluenicorn
Gabi, a Girl in Pieces, by Isabel Quintero

5.0

This book made me laugh, made me tear up, and made me wish that I'd had a book like this when I was in high school. I appreciate how real it is; Gabi is not going to fix sexist double-standards, for example, but she writes about them and lets the reader realize that she sees them and hates them, too, and gives words to things that young readers may have felt but don't yet have the language for. I love her poetry teacher, and I love all of the references to amazing and wonderful poems. Just one of those incredibly realistic books, but not in a super depressing way- just in a 'wow, this makes the reader really feel seen' way. There are some terrible things that happen in the book (cw for addiction, death by overdose, rape, domestic abuse, etc) but these terrible things aren't rare events- they happen in real life with unfortunate frequency- and I'm glad that the author is able to write about them in a very relatable, human way. And how good was Gabi's zine- I love that we get to see her development as a poet and a creative, and get to end the book believing she is going to do great things.