Elizabeth Acevedo

SPOILERS!!!!

My audiobook of the year, nothing will come close to this, I'm calling it right now.
Elizabeth Acevedo as the narrator was just perfect. The book itself was incredible.

Not gonna lie it was heavier than I expected. Please check trigger warnings before going into this.
It's just really fucking hard to be a girl in the world. The sexism and the casual assault of boys/men putting their hands were they don't belong.

Dealing with all of this, and also having to handle an uber religious household at home. It was a lot. I think I struggled the most with the whole family dynamic, those were the scenes where I actually had to pause a bit. I couldn't relate at all, since I didn't grow up in a religious household but just the thought of the punishments Xiomara had to deal with, it was a lot. Also the notebook scene. I mean, I'm glad that they seemed to have worked it out in the end, but it's not my mother, so I'm holding a grudge for forever.

I would love a Xavier sequel, cause I need to know how he is dealing with everything. How and if he will come out. I need to know that he will be okay, that he will be loved.

That book really made me an emotional mess.

Please check trigger warning before going into this book. While the story overall is already heavy, due to the themes of losing a parent and the grief. This book is also tackles other topics like men who can't keep their hands to themselves and don't like to hear the word no.

I can't even begin to tell you how much I love both Camino and Yahaira. While they both grew up really different and are as people very different, they also resemble each other a lot, and have quiet a lot in common.

I overall also enjoyed just how female focused this book was, and the relationship they all had with each other. Camino and her Tia. Yahaira and her mom, but also her girlfried and her mother.
And I loved even more how in the end they all came together. I just love women supporting women.

The writing was incredible. While this wasn't my first book by Elizabeth Acevedo, it was my first by her that was written in verse. And I love it. I listened to the audiobook while reading physically and it was so well done. It really left me a blubbering mess at the end.

Das Buch lässt sich wirklich super leicht lesen. Die Kapitel sind alle zwischen 2 und 6 Seiten lang, was einen tollen Sog entwickelt. Als Mensch, der mit längeren Kapiteln manchmal struggelt, fand ich das total angenehm und ich konnte das Buch fast in einem Rutsch lesen.

Die Protagonistin Emoni und alle anderen wichtigen Figuren, wie ihre Großmutter und ihre beste Freundin, sind einfach herzensgute Menschen und die Liebe in ihren Beziehungen zueinander ist greifbar. Ich habe beim Lesen ein gutes Gefühl bekommen für die Herausforderungen einer alleinerziehenden Teenager-Mutter, die in einer rassistischen Welt lebt und von Anfang an Geldsorgen hat. Positiv fand ich auch, dass Themen wie die Hintergründe von Kriminalität in ärmeren Vierteln sowie Kolonialismus nebenbei zumindest kurz aufgegriffen wurden.

Ich persönlich fand es immer schlimm, wenn detailliert beschrieben wurde, wie tote Tiere zubereitet wurden. Damit gerechnet habe ich zwar, aber es hätte ja auch nicht unbedingt sein müssen. Dass grundlegende Gedanken zu Tierrechten/Antispeziesismus in Büchern mit einem gewissen gesellschaftskritischen Anspruch trotzdem oft fehlen, ist für mich einfach ein Wermutstropfen.

Insgesamt ist es aber ein tolles Buch über die Suche nach der eigenen Bestimmung im Leben, junge Elternschaft und gegenseitige Unterstützung. Es kommt ohne großartige Romantik und damit auch ohne Spice aus, was ja völlig okay ist. Ein Buch, dass sicher auch für jüngere Menschen gut geeignet ist.

3,5 Sterne