I first encountered Sandra Cisnero’s prose in my first year of college, and fell in love with her (if you want to know, it was her short story “Eleven”. It’s gorgeous). She’s honest and passionate and she has an incredible talent for writing.

Her poetry is also really good. It’s not exactly the same as her prose, but I can see what I first loved about her: that there’s a voice. I can listen to her lyrical persona (yes, I get to use fancy literary terms. Deal with it). And that’s brilliant. At least for me, that’s what makes a poet a good one. When you can hear a different voice when you read their poetry.

This book is basically what being a woman is for her. Whether she’s talking about love, sex, or family, she does it sincerely and unapologetically. She sounds really proud to be a woman and it felt empowering to read about her views on womanhood. I especially loved the poems that dealt with sexuality, and it’s amazing to read about it. Sexuality is one of those things you should accept and embrace. Sandra Cisneros allowed me to see myself and my body in a completely different light, and I’ll always be grateful for that.

One of the best things Cisneros has: how she mixes English and Spanish. She’s a Chicana author (Mexican/US people, in short. It’s a really interesting community, and a lot of awesome writers have come out of it), and has lived her entire life bilingually. So in her poems she mixes English and Spanish, because that’s the way she’s always talked. And it helps to make these poems sound very natural and realistic.

She uses her languages to express very intimate feelings. I’ve always heard that your first language is the one you can express your emotions with in a rush. The first one that comes to your mind when you’re feeling angry or very happy. Cisneros’ language is clearly that mix between English and Spanish, and it’s very beautiful to read. Poetry is best when read out loud, and her particular language is very nice to hear and pronounce. I loved feeling these words rolling in my tongue (yes, I’m very weird when it comes to poetry, deal with it). Cisneros’ world is a world of sound, passionate and fierce, just like she is herself.

One of the big themes here is sexuality, as I said before. Cisneros is open about desire and passion. It really seems as if she enjoys her body and sex, which is amazing to read. It’s always good to read a woman writing about sex without shame and in such an open and welcoming voice.

Just in case I didn’t repeat this enough: Cisneros is AWESOME and I love reading her. And you should do so. Seriously, read her. Both her prose and her poetry are brilliant. She’s talented and speaks to you as a woman, so there’s some points there. She deserves more love (not that she’s unknown, but more people should read her).