I FINALLY READ THE POET X!!!

 

 

Well, as you can see, I actually listened to it on audiobook. 

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo is a novel written in verse. It's about 15 (later 16) year old Dominican-American Xiomara, who lives in the Harlem neighborhood of NYC. She writes poems narrating her life living in the place. From dealing with her overly strict and religious zealot mother to her friends, first boyfriend, and the poetry club at her school to her bond with her twin brother, Xavier. It's very cathartic for her!

I really enjoyed listening to this! I found myself being moved by a lot of the poems, especially the ones about the power of community and generational trauma. It was a nice surprise since I'm a reader who doesn't usually like or read poetry. 

It's a very diverse book, too! Most of the characters are Dominican, Father Sean (a priest of Xiomara's church) is Jamaican, and Xiomara's brother Xavier is gay and in an interracial relationship. 

I gave it 4.5 stars, but that's just because some of the content was kind of heavy, and there are some references to some celebrities that haven't aged too well (mostly references to problematic rappers like Drake and Nicki Minaj).