”The world is a turntable that never stops spinning; as humans we merely choose the tracks we want to sit out and the ones that inspire us to dance.”

This book was absolutely breathtaking. I would gush about it for hours if I could. If it’s possible for you to get the audiobook version pleaseeee get it. Elizabeth Acevedo is a former slam poet and the way she performs her novel and brings her story to life is truly like nothing else I have experienced. I don’t think I would have been impacted nearly as much by this book if it wasn’t for her reading of it.

The food aspect of this book was so fun and the descriptions of Emoni’s recipes were so vivid. And the fact that she was a teen mom was something I haven’t read about yet. It was great to see a young mom with such a strong love for her daughter and a determination to give her daughter a great life despite the judgement of others. Emoni was such a strong character and I rooted for her from the beginning. She struggled a lot throughout the novel and the way that she handled it all and did everything with her daughter in mind was beautiful. 

The writing was so stunning. It was a wonderful experience to read this book. I was moved by so many passages talking about Emoni’s family, her neighborhood, and her struggle with deciding what’s best for her, what’s best for her daughter, and how those two collide. There were a lot of times throughout this novel where I wanted to listen to a particular passage over and over just because of how moved I was by it. 

I could go on and on but overall this book was incredible and one that I will be thinking about for a long time to come.