We scooped The Poet X up off the “recommended reads” shelf in our favorite library, and after flying through this book, we are happy to give our book review of The Poet X.
Keep reading to see our full The Poet X Review and why it is a book we can recommend.
This is a book blog post featuring The Poet X Review – poetry novel by Elizabeth Acevedo, with our book review and discussion, plus book recommendations for other books we think you might enjoy.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links which, if used for purchase, will result in a small commission, at no additional cost to the buyer.
Slowprose Review Format
Generally speaking, we don’t think of ourselves as “serious” reviewers, so our format may be a little different. Here is what to expect when you are reading Slowprose book reviews:
- Cover Review – doing the cliche of judging a book by its cover.
- Book Blurb – we share the book jacket or Goodreads blurb about the plot.
- Intrusive Thoughts – these are the general thoughts and feelings we have about the book while reading it.
- Book review – our overall review and star ranking of the book
- Book aesthetics – this is how gorgeous we thought the pages of the book were, or how easy/hard it was to read, or how good the narrator was if it is an audio book.
- Book recommendations – we talk about the author’s other books or other books that remind us of this book in some form or fashion. Basically, this is our catch-all to talk about anything else that we want to.
To see our full review system, including our method of assigning and weighting stars, go here.
COVER REVIEW – The Poet X
The Poet X gets 4 stars for this cover.
This is a really great cover. It is artistic and visually interesting, clear to read and it makes me wants to pick it up to at least read the blurb.
After reading the book, my rating stayed the same. Fantastic cover.
BOOK BLURB – The Poet X
Given our extreme irrational fear of ever being a spoiler of an epic plot twist, we will just share the book insert or book blurb found on Goodreads to provide the information in terms of the plot:
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
Our main character, Xiomara Batista is a young girl who feels unheard and unable to hide in her Harlem neighborhood.
Ever since her body grew into curves, she has learned to let her fists and her fierceness do the talking.
But Xiomara has plenty she wants to say, and she pours all her frustration and passion onto the pages of a leather notebook, reciting the words to herself like prayers—especially after she catches feelings for a boy in her bio class named Aman, who her family can never know about.
Her mother’s religion and force of her convictions have a huge impact on their home, including Xiomara and her twin brother.
With Mami’s determination to force her daughter to obey the laws of the church, Xiomara understands that her thoughts of her own relationship are best kept to herself.
So when she is invited to join her school’s slam poetry club, she doesn’t know how she could ever attend without her mami finding out.
But she still can’t stop thinking about performing her poems on open mics to become the national poetry slam champion.
Because in the face of a world that may not want to hear her, Xiomara’s story refuses to be silent.
The Poet X – Intrusive Thoughts
Ok, at the risk of sounding like a bonehead, we had no idea this book was written entirely in poems.
Hesitation quickly turning to delight – realization as to how easy they were to read, and how well they told the story.
Love the creative writing and the prose style. The story itself is kind of typical for a teenage girl.
Except for the inclusion of religious questioning. Adds depth, maturity, and nuance to the story.
I don’t understand parents sometimes.
Teachers can be such a powerful influence on kids.
Brave to stand up and do that!
Ok, I understand the appeal of this book.
THE POET X REVIEW
Slowprose Star Rating – 3.5 Stars
This is a fairly typical coming-of-age story, including a difficult family life and conflict with parents. What is unique about it is the way it was told.
This entire book is written in poetry, and tells the story in a remarkably beautiful and creative way.
I’ll be the first to admit that, typically, poetry isn’t my thing. I am a very literal thinker, so a lot of times poetry doesn’t really make sense to me. It’s kind of like yogurt – I WANT to like it, but there is just something about it that doesn’t work for me.
I’m happy to report that The Poet X changed that perception! I really enjoyed the way this book was written.
I find it unbelievably creative that the author was able to write an entire story in poetry, and make it both coherent and cohesive. Major kudos to her!
The story itself is geared more towards a younger reader, and I can see why this book is incredibly popular for school aged kids. That is the demographic it will resonate with the most, I believe.
For us, the majority of the story itself was kind of a run of the mill coming of age story.
The most interesting parts of what we read were the parts where she questions the religious teachings, the catholic faith, and, at the end of the day, the impacts it had on her, and particularly, her mother.
Beyond that, the thing that really resonates and stays with us is the brilliant way this story was told, rather than the story itself.
This is a super quick read, so a great one to pick up as a pallet cleanser between thicker books, or to put on your reading list towards the end of the year to meet your reading goal. You will fly though it!
Bonus – you will have a lot of amazing quotes to add to any reading journal or to jot down to use in your life.
Slowprose Star Rating – 3.5 Stars
BOOK AESTHETICS – THE POET X
These pictures give you an idea of how the pages are written.
Each page is so unique and different in how the poems are presented, it is an absolute delight to read this book!
The aesthetics are *immaculate.*
BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS
This book is actually the critically-acclaimed debut novel of renowned slam poet Elizabeth Acevedo, and what a debut it was. The Poet X, which won the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, was a recipient of the Printz Award, the Pura Belpré Award, the cilip Carnegie medal, the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award, and the Walter Award and was listed on the best books list for many a reader that year. We are late to the game!
We were thrilled to realize that this young woman has not rested on her laurels! Rather, this Dominican-American teen has been a prolific writer since then.
The majority of her books have been written in the young adult fiction genre, but her book Family Lore is her first novel where she lends her unique voice to a story for adults.
Her novel With the Fire on High was named a best book of the year by the New York Public Library, NPR, Publishers Weekly, and School Library Journal. Clap When You Land was awarded a Boston Globe–Horn Book Honor book and was a Kirkus finalist.
Acevedo has been a Cave Canem fellow, Cantomundo, and a participant in the Callaloo Writer’s Workshops. In 2022, The Poetry Foundation selected Elizabeth Acevedo as the Young People’s Poet Laureate. It should also be a surprise to no one that she is a National Poetry Slam Champion.
Here are some cover images of some of her well known titles: Family Lore, With the Fire on High, and Clap When You Land.
Other Book Recommendations
When we think of other uniquely written books, we immediately think of the Illuminae files. This book is a wild ride! It is not written in poetry style, but is a sci-fi type of story written in reports, journals, memos. It is an absolute blast to read and the story it tells holds up too!
Not only is it fun physical book to read, it is an incredible audio book with an outstanding cast.
It is actually a trilogy, with all three books written in the same style. We highly recommend them!
You can find these and more in our storefront, Slowestuff Books From The Blog storefront.
The Poet X Review – poetry novel by Elizabeth Acevedo
We hope you enjoyed our Book Review of The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo. If you pick it up, let us know what you thought of it once you read or listened to it!
If you know of other books written in original or unique ways that you think we will love, please let us know what they are. We love to get book recs from fellow readers!
If you want more book posts, check out the Slowprose section of the blog where we have more book reviews, book lists, favorite authors and more. If you are looking for more great reads, check out our list of the best books we have read so far this year.
Hey Book Nerds! Lets be friends on Goodreads and BookTok!
Don’t forget to subscribe to the Slowestuff newsletter for year-round content! We love to talk about seasonal topics, and keep an ongoing discussion about books and scrapbooking all year long!
Happy reading!
Slowprose – Book Division of Slowestuff
Love Reading Book Reviews? PIN THIS POST!
