Reviews by Tag: poetry

Teen Review
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

Poet X

By Elizabeth Acevedo
Star Rating
★★★

Rated by
Alex
Mar 17, 2025

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo is a coming-of-age novel about finding your voice. It follows Xiomara, a Dominican teen in Harlem who feels unheard and misunderstood, especially by her strict and religious mother. Xiomara pours her feelings into poetry, expressing her struggles with faith, family and her first love. When she joins a slam poetry club, she starts to embrace her voice and identity, even when it means standing up to those she loves.

Teen Review
Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds

Long Way Down

By Jason Reynolds
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by
Alex
Mar 17, 2025

Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds is a fast-paced novel in verse about grief, revenge and tough choices. It follows Will, a teenager whose brother was killed. Following the neighborhood’s unspoken rules: no crying, no snitching and getting revenge, Will grabs a gun and heads to settle the score. During an intense elevator ride, Will meets the ghosts of people from his past, each sharing their own tragic stories. As he goes down each floor, he’s forced to question whether revenge is the right path.

Teen Review
Poems

Poems

By Elizabeth Bishop
Star Rating
★★★

Rated by
Anonymous
Apr 14, 2024

This anthology is a compilation of the works of poet Elizabeth Bishop. Her creations are clouded metaphorical representations of her life and resolve. The themes the works reach can be as simple as the simple observations of the environment to sobriety and alcoholism. It is clear by her writing that these messages are intended to be buried deep into the works, only discovered by those determined to find them and those who look through each work and her personal life with a magnifying lens. This is the benefit and limitation of her work.

Teen Review
Milk and Honey

Milk and Honey

By Rupi Kaur
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by
Caitlin T.
Feb 23, 2024

Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur is a beautiful collection of poetry that helps people understand the different stages of pain, love, hurt, and healing. The book is separated into four sections, healing a different heartache in itself from the heartache of a parent's love fading to the realization of having to find love in yourself. 

Teen Review
The Aeneid

The Aeneid

By Virgil
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by
M. Aamir
Feb 12, 2024

The Aeneid is an epic poem of Rome’s founding history written during the Roman Empire’s reign. The poem follows Aeneas and his fellow Trojans as they flee Troy following its destruction from the Trojan War. Aeneas searches for a way to fulfill his destiny, to set sail to Italy and found the Roman people, as told by Jupiter, King of the Gods.

Teen Review
Pillow Thoughts

Pillow Thoughts

By Courtney Peppernell
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by
Ken
Jul 3, 2023

Pillow Thoughts is a poetry book written by Courtney Peppernell that shows raw emotions through prose of writing. She writes about heartbreak, love, and raw emotions. 

This is one of my favorite poetry books that I own. The way Peppernell expresses her mindset through writing. I rate this 5 out of 5 because of her artistic writing style and the content she writes about.

Teen Review
In the Wild Light by Jeff Zentner

In the Wild Light

By Jeff Zentner
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by
Grace K.
Dec 7, 2022

A five-star rating doesn't even do this book justice. In the Wild Light by Jeff Zentner is easily one

of my all-time favorite novels because of the way his writing flows perfectly and creates such a

heartfelt story. I fell in love with the characters and I've held onto many quotes from the book as

well. This is such a moving and emotional book and I hope that it touches other peoples' hearts

the same way it did mine.

Teen Review
Poems by Elizabeth Bishop

Poems

By Elizabeth Bishop
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by
Kayla F.
Nov 8, 2022

Poems by Elizabeth Bishop is a culmination of some of her greatest works. The poems in this

book begin as an outward analysis of the world and move more internally, into the self, as the

book continues. Bishop is a poet who can display her meaning directly while also having a

deeper meaning that requires searching. She explores humanity and all of the effects that come

with it. With the themes, she talks about and her vivid descriptions her poems are an experience

Teen Review
For Everyone by Jason Reynolds

For Everyone

By Jason Reynolds
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by
Varun R.
Aug 19, 2022

Jason Reynolds has something to say to all of the dreamers out there. Something that’s

been at the back of his head, holding him back for as long as he can remember. He’s finally ready

to let it go for the world to see. But first, he needs you to know something. He doesn’t know

anything about making dreams come true. He’s been dreaming all his life, and he has yet to see

everything come together. That’s something that all dreamers know about. The feeling of

Teen Review
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

The Poet X

By Elizabeth Acevedo
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by
Grace Textor
Mar 8, 2022

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo (Fiction) is a novel that describes the life of a teenage girl, Xiomara Batista. Xiomara lives in Harlem and can’t seem to be enough for her mother. Her mother is a devout Catholic who wants her children to be as well, which isn’t a problem for her brother Xavier, better known as Twin, or so Xiomara thinks. Twin has always been the better of the two, being confirmed first, and being ridiculously smart. Whereas, Xiomara doesn’t even know if the Catholic faith is right for her.

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