Welcome to Litsy!

The library‘s display for National Poetry Month is so cute!

Thanks for the tag @dabbe
1. The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
2. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
2. The Neapolitan Novels by Elena Ferrante (My Brilliant Friend, The Story of a New Name, Those who Leave and Those who Stay, and The Story of the Lost Child)

#12Booksof2023 #February

I read and listened to this one at the same time. Such a good book!

Full points for garnering an emotional reaction! So many things covered that make me angry and feel hard to forgive: misogyny, abuse, religious indoctrination. Xiomara handles it with more grace than I think I could muster. I appreciate the harmony evoked by the chosen ending, that it is probably a healthier way to resolve the issues covered, but Acevedo was so skilled in getting me steamed up I'm finding it hard to cool down.

😔

'Twould be nigh impossible to be as eloquent as this character, so I think I'll settle for being angry on her behalf. 😤

Wanted to have read at least one book by the author before I see her on 8th October in Cheltenham with Samantha Shannon. It won't be my last, as I was getting emotional at the end, even though the mother infuriated me.

#booked2023 #quietya @Cinfhen @alisiakae @BarbaraTheBibliophage

I really struggle to rate this one. I think it was written beautifully and the author has a magnificent talent to weave together a story through poems. Listening to the audiobook really brought the story to life, but I feel like it was trying to deal with too many topics at once. Some of them didn't quite get the resolution I felt they needed.

This is so different than any book I‘ve ever read before. The entire book is written in poems, but still had a plot to follow. The writing is beautiful and meaningful and I loved every bit of it. It‘s a super quick read because of the format. I really loved how the author captured the story by using poetry as the unifying theme.

I picked up this beautiful edition from Commonplace Reader yesterday and flew through it. I‘ve read Acevedo‘s more recent books but somehow had never read this one. It was powerful and lyrical as expected!

When I was a kid, I wanted to be a fiction writer when I grew up. When that dream died, I wrote poetry as a way of clinging on. I don't write fiction now. I don't write poems anymore either. Maybe the teen anguish I so desperately needed to release through written word has passed, but this book had me yearning to express myself through writing again, even if I am the only one that reads it. Haiku reviews may become a thing once more. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I loved this uplifting story of a young woman from the Dominican Republic who finds herself through her love of poetry. It‘s YA, but this mature reader felt all the feels for X and her struggles.The themes of questioning religion(Catholicism) and mother/ daughter conflict spoke to me.Thank you Litsy for bringing this to my attention! Thank you #booked2023 for including the prompt #quietyabook.
I listened to the audio which was wonderful!

My new audio read.

I rarely read YA but this was so beautiful and unexpected. A coming of age story without the tired tropes. Agree with others that this is one to listen to or in conjunction with print. The author is a poetry slam national winner and this is definitely a spoken word novel! My late read for #FoodAndLit, Dominican Republic.

Thank you so much @CaliforniaCay I love everything ❣️ @Chelleo thanks for another year of #blitsyswap #blitsy

@shortsarahrose Thank you so much for picking this book for the #12challenge as it has languished on my TBR for too long. This was fantastic. I listened to the author narrated audio and read along with the book and highly recommend hearing Acevedo read her words. I loved it. #Booked2023 #QuietYA

Listened to this in the audio, *amazing*! The author/narrator is a spoken-word poet, and the book is a novel in verse. The two combine in amazing ways.

This coming of age story felt so real I kept thinking it was an autobiography. The language put me in the POV character's mind, body, and emotions. It was a powerful story of becoming, and all the jagged, painful ways the world tries to contain and control girls becoming women. (cont..)

What can I say about this author? I love all her books. Another powerful story about family, religion, beliefs, cultural traditions, identity, personal growing, forgiveness, love, friendship, brother-sister relation, second opportunities in a concise way, in few pages. I really enjoyed also the audiobook because she is the narrator. My edition has a letter from the author and the book has some annotations also by the author.
❤️4.5⭐️

This was an excellent audiobook read by the author. In just a few hours she covers religion, immigration, first generation Americans, romance, parent child relationships, and so much more. #FoodAndLit

I really enjoyed this one :) loved it being read by the author and just all that raw emotion of it :) thank you
#FoodAndLit for the recommendations of this :) Picture of the children being lazy.

@CatsAndBooks
@Texreader

Started to listen to this one for #FoodAndLit 💥 it‘s pretty powerful so far. I‘m really enjoying the audio of this :)

@CatsAndBooks
@Texreader

Uuuh, I loved it, very powerful and brilliantly performed by the author! I liked the mix between Spanish and English, underlining differences between the generations and emphasising emotion.

First dive into the Dominican Republic for #foodandlit 🇩🇴

@Texreader @Catsandbooks

I‘ve always heard such brilliant things about this book, and it did not disappoint. I‘ve previously read Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo, and loved it, so I can‘t believe it took me this long to get to it. I finally picked it up for this months #FoodandLit, and plan to also read With the Fire On High by the same author.

Wonderful audiobook read by the author.

This book was packed full with so many emotions. I don't often read poetry or books in verse but this one just captured my attention from the start. I listened to the audio, which is read by the author and really makes the poetry come to life. This book really helps you understand the power of poetry & expressing love and despair and confusion. You can't help but empathize with Xiomara and her struggles with expectations, from her family & society

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I listened to this audiobook on my drive back to Texas today, and WOW! It was powerful. I highly recommend the audiobook because it is read by the author herself. There were times I was in tears. Growing up is hard, and this novel captures it so beautifully.

I could relate to being brought up in the Catholic church and feeling at odds with its teachings, as well as to having a strict mother and a brother whom you want to protect.

I loved this quick read, written in verse and narrated by the author. The main character is a Dominican teen who is used to getting looks from guys for her curves but not used to interacting with them in any physical way that doesn't involve fighting. Xiomara struggles with her faith, her relationship with her mom, her first romance, and finding her voice. I would recommend the audio over print to hear the rhythm and emotion in the author's voice.

#manicMonday #letterP @CBee @Librariana

📚 Poet X; Piranesi, Persuasion
✍️ Ann Patchett
🍿 Pride and Prejudice (2005)
🎤 Danielle Ponder 😍
🎶 Praying (Ke$ha)

#manicmonday

📖 The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
✍️ Patricia Polacco
🎬 Poltergeist, The Princess Bride, Pride & Prejudice, Pan's Labyrinth, Pirates of the Caribbean, Practical Magic
🎤 Panic at the Disco, Pentatonix, Phil Collins, Pink Floyd, Proyecto Uno, Prince Royce, Prince, Pink
🎶 Phantom of the Opera, Perdoname by La Factoria, Purple Rain by Prince, Propuesta Indecente by Romeo Santos, Please Forgive Me by Bryan Adams

#LetterP
@CBee

Second reading, same rating. Tomorrow, my bookclub is meeting to discuss this book. Unfortunately, I won't be able to attend because I'm sick :(
I'm quite impressed by how well the author managed to build a narrative from poems. Realistic coming-of-age story with some strong emotions.

Elizabeth Acevedo utilizes the interesting and scarcely used literary devices anaphora and enjambment to successfully carry the introspective plot. The Oxford Dictionary says that anaphora is the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses, and that Enjambment is the continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of the line. Both of these techniques give this novel a powerful emotional punch.

This book was just great and had me getting teared up towards the end, I know it‘s fictional but this poor girl and her twin go through so much - no spoilers 🙊

4.5/5

Read for:

#TheDisneyReadingChallenge2022
#PopSugarReadingChallenge2020

Kinda cheating, but ... #LetterX is a prominent part of the title, so I'm going with it.

I've never read a modern novel in verse before, and it is definitely a genre I want to explore more.

This one had a way of drawing you in even if you couldn't exactly relate personally to the protagonist's situation.

#Alphabetgame

I cheated a little on this one. #LetterX #AlphabetGame @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Like everyone else, the only book I can think of for #LetterX is this one. Luckily, it's fantastic and deserving of all the love it will get today. #Alphabetgame @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

If you haven‘t listened to Elizabeth Acevedo read her own books, you haven‘t fully experienced this #letterX and also her second work With the Fire on High!

#AlphabetGame
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

I love this one!! :)

#LetterX #AlphabetGame

Five stars!! Highly recommended!! ✨

#LetterP #AlphabetGame

Everyone should experience this book. It is not an idle read. No. These words stomp across the page. They carry whispers of buried hopes. These words are alive with passion and full of dreams. Poet X breathes every word into life as she discovers how to fight for her own.

#BookMoods @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @eggs
#ToldInVerse

I lost this book midway 6 months back. Found it in the storeroom today randomly, and finished it in one sitting. So happy about it!!

The power of words. Being quiet outside doesn‘t mean you‘re quiet inside. Words bounce around a lot in Xiomara. While I don‘t understand her life, I can feel her desire to let loose. To find her freedoms. Through her journals; her lifeline. That‘s the power of words. Xiomara gets better in standing up from her fists to her words. This growth is amazingly written. She questions it all
Book being written this way helps tell story. Used book

Absolutely loved this.

The Poet X vs. The Founding was so, so hard to choose. I chose the Poet because it came as a surprise to me, while I knew I was going to love The Founding.

So here we are.

Starting this next

This was good, but for some reason, I didn't connect with the story as much as with her other two books. #BookSpinBingo #DoubleSpin @TheAromaofBooks

"my body was a problem"
I'm walking and listening with some tears in my eyes because I don't know any woman who hasn't felt this way. Maybe not specifically in the context of X, i.e. being sexualised by men at a young age when it is unwanted, but just in general. How young we get taught that our bodies are problems to always be fixed, tweaked, solved, worked on, etc. That's just fuckin' sad.