The Poet X, Elizabeth Acevedo | Book Review

The Poet X is an amazing young adult contemporary novel told through prose by writer Elizabeth Acevedo. It covers multiple important topics such as family, religion and friendships.

The Poet X, Elizabeth Acevedo

Themes: Young adult, contemporary, LGBTQIA+

Reading Format: Paperback

5 STARS // 9 CAWPILE

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Elizabeth Acevedo has written a beautiful own voices novel through Xiomara’s eyes, she talks about so many different part’s of X’s experiences growing up in so few pages and yet it never feels rushed or forced. Our main character is a poet and so this book is told through her words in prose which makes it feel so much more passionate and personal. I really love the feature of books written in this format, I think it creates a totally different reading experience. The fact that the narrative is isolated in these poems really emphasises X’s independence and her own message of “no one will ever take care of me but me”.

Along the journey of this book we see the strains of religion, family, friendships, love and independence talked about. I honestly don’t know how Elizabeth Acevedo managed to fit so much into these pages because I feel like I was post-it noting a favourite part every few pages. I enjoyed reading about the relationship between Xiomara and her twin and how it was distant yet solidified by a bond our protagonist never went into too much detail about. But I also enjoyed seeing the interactions between X and her parents. At one point she talks about how just because her father wasn’t absent, didn’t mean he was present. I think discussing topics like this about home lives that aren’t the typical situation is really important. It was a different take on a family dynamic that I think the author wrote very well.

Xiomara often writes about her feelings about religion, about how men talk to her, about being constrained by her mother when trying to be herself. As a reader we can see her stresses lifting off the page. She has a lot going on and the more I read, the more real X became. I haven’t read many books that talk about religion as The Poet X did. I found it interesting to read about how Xiomara experienced this and the pressures from her mother. I liked that she questioned what she was being told and wanted more reason for things, this always adds more depth to a character and it made me like her even more.

Throughout this book is the message of X wanting to show her voice to the world and being hindered along the way. The Poet X is a novel about being true to yourself and expressing your passions through your art. It’s a story about loving who you are, loving other people and discovering things that feel right to you. X’s parents came to American from the Dominican Republic and there is also a lot of reference to the difference in culture and the pressure Xiomara feels from her mother to get her life ‘right’. I enjoyed reading about a different culture and how X being a young girl growing up in New York death with the mixing of both her Dominican Republic culture and her American one.

Overall this novel wowed me more than I expected, it covered so many important topics and taught me a lot too. Would highly recommend it!

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