Select language, opens an overlay

Comment

Sep 12, 2019STPL_JessH rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Well, I don't mind telling you that I cried at the end of this book. I LOVED IT! There is power in the word: every single word Acevedo writes and even more power in those she speaks. Obviously I LOVED the audiobook. I feel like there is a reckoning in those final lines that contains joy and wonder and strength and pain. There is a depth to Acevedo's work that I cannot believe she is able to sustain over such a period of pages! A novel in poetry is a rare and wondrous feat. Acevedo performs this novel with emotion and heart and pain and love. She uses silence as a tool and so the white space of the poems is communicated to the listener without a need for translation from page to sound. She writes her themes into the plot in a really admirable way. Forgiveness becomes an act, a theme, an abstract ghost hanging over the words, and perhaps a kind of quest narrative that may or may not be realized. Acevedo writes so many different types of misunderstood. No character is definable by a single word. They are complex, multilayered, flawed, beautiful people trying to make sense of the situations they confront. I love how bravely Acevedo writes Xiomara's struggles and feelings around her body. I love the acknowledgement of how difficult it is to be constantly seen as curves instead of creativity. Mostly, I love that Acevedo is careful and consistent in the presentation of Xiomara's struggles with her body as the result of those surrounding her. Nothing about Xiomara or her body is wrong. She is constantly told that she is wrong by strangers and their looks, or the words of family members. She is constantly told how to restrain herself (body, mind, soul) and her breaking free is neither simple nor complete. Not very many YA novels present this difficult trial with nuance or grace and Acevedo manages both. I find this book stunning. Absolutely stunning.