The Poet X is Elizabeth Acevedo's debut novel, but it is the second of hers that I have read. It is a stunning story told in rhythmic verse about Xiomara, a young Dominican-American teen living in Harlem, who discovers her love for slam poetry as a way to help her cope with and understand her overly religious mother as well as her first young love that is in the making. In the past she has been extremely heavy handed in the sense that she expresses herself physically more than she has verbally/non-verbally on paper. Xiomara also uses poetry and her written word as a way to deal with the world in general: body acceptance, abuse, self-worth, sexism/misogyny, rape and assault culture, and more.

I ravaged this story in one sitting. Everyone told me how great it was, but I did not truly get the hype until I was about 30-50 pages into it. The Poet X explores so many topics from a different lens than my own and it is always interesting to me. Elizabeth Acevedo has a true gift, but you don't need me to confirm that for you. I will be reading everything she puts out and has put out that I can get my hands on!