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A review by jampsonn16
With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo
3.0
"I've had a lot of things to feel ashamed about, and I've learned that most of them are other people's problems, not mine."
This was a wonderful slice-of-life type of story and it read easy while still keeping me engaged. This was my first Acevedo book and I have to say that I really enjoy her writing - it's breezy, poetic, and wonderfully descriptive. For being typical YA, this packed quite a punch and I'm impressed at the themes Acevedo chose to highlight and how fleshed out most of the characters were. One of the things that surprised me most is that I didn't feel disappointed by this story's predictability - it's one of those books that just makes you feel good. It gave me everything I was looking for: laughs, lightheartedness, hope, and warm fuzzies. I also enjoyed that in spite of the story being easy to figure out, Acevedo still made Emoni more nuanced and complex than your average teenager, which perfectly fit her character as a young mother.
One of the best parts of this book was the focus on culture, family, and identity. All of these themes were very prevalent throughout the story and I thought Acevedo did a great job of showing the realistic way in which we navigate these things in our everyday lives. The familial relationships, emphasis on knowing where you come from, being tugged between two cultures - I deeply related to all of it and was pleased to see how Emoni dealt with these things while still maintaining her sense of self. I can't wait to read more of Acevedo's work simply for the rich culture/identity talk that I've been missing!
I would love to see this as a movie, something I can rewatch quickly when I need a good pick-me-up. All in all, this is a perfect piece of pie if you're looking for one! Don't expect anything outrageous or controversial - this keeps it pretty clean and sweet.
This was a wonderful slice-of-life type of story and it read easy while still keeping me engaged. This was my first Acevedo book and I have to say that I really enjoy her writing - it's breezy, poetic, and wonderfully descriptive. For being typical YA, this packed quite a punch and I'm impressed at the themes Acevedo chose to highlight and how fleshed out most of the characters were. One of the things that surprised me most is that I didn't feel disappointed by this story's predictability - it's one of those books that just makes you feel good. It gave me everything I was looking for: laughs, lightheartedness, hope, and warm fuzzies. I also enjoyed that in spite of the story being easy to figure out, Acevedo still made Emoni more nuanced and complex than your average teenager, which perfectly fit her character as a young mother.
One of the best parts of this book was the focus on culture, family, and identity. All of these themes were very prevalent throughout the story and I thought Acevedo did a great job of showing the realistic way in which we navigate these things in our everyday lives. The familial relationships, emphasis on knowing where you come from, being tugged between two cultures - I deeply related to all of it and was pleased to see how Emoni dealt with these things while still maintaining her sense of self. I can't wait to read more of Acevedo's work simply for the rich culture/identity talk that I've been missing!
I would love to see this as a movie, something I can rewatch quickly when I need a good pick-me-up. All in all, this is a perfect piece of pie if you're looking for one! Don't expect anything outrageous or controversial - this keeps it pretty clean and sweet.