Book Review — With the Fire on High

Title:  With the Fire on High
Author:  Elizabeth Acevedo
Genre:  YA contemporary
Pages:  Hardback 388
ISBN:  978-0-06-266283-5
Opening Lines:  "Babygirl doesn't cry when I suck my teeth and undo her braid for the fourth time."

Rating


"Ever since she got pregnant freshman year, Emoni Santiago's life has been about making the tough decisions, doing what has to be done for her daughter and her abuela. The one place she can let all that go is in the kitchen. There, she lets her hands tell her what to cook, listening to her intuition and adding a little something magical every time, turning her food into straight-up goodness.

"Even though she's always dreamed of working in a kitchen after she graduates, Emoni knows that it's not worth her time to pursue the impossible. Yet despite the rules she's made for her life—and everyone else's rules, which she refuses to play by—once Emoni starts cooking, her only choice is to let her talent break free."

~ Jacket copy




After taking a YA literature course in college, I have fallen in love with the genre.  Sometimes the stories tend to be far richer and deal with complex issues.  It is not uncommon to find me reaching for a YA book over anything else.  Frankly, some of the YA horror out there is far more terrifying than anything leading horror novelists write!  In addition, as a middle/high school English teacher, I am always on the lookout for new books to add to my classroom library or suggest to my more reluctant readers.  While cruising Instragram, this book popped up on one of my fav teacher pages.  The premise seemed interesting and the cover art alone was gorgeous!  I quickly ran to the local library and got a copy.
 

The story is about a young girl growing up in Philly and trying to find her way in the world.  Be struggles with acceptance because of race, being a young mother, and her aspirations to be a chef.   


This book was one of the few DNFs.  I truly wanted to like it and feel something for Emoni.  She has huge dreams and wants to rise above the label of "teen mother".  Unfortunately, the resemblance to my favorite Kerry Russell movie was too much for me to overlook.

The first 100 pages of the book fails to tell a story.  There are hints here and there of the author moving the audience to Emoni eventually taking a trip to Spain; however, nothing happens for a third of the book.  One three page chapter will briefly discuss Emoni's first period class and the next will talk about her absentee father.  The constant shift between random stories to build a backstory and her current life disrupts the narrative flow.  As a reader, it is hard to determine whether I am reading a story about a young teen mom talking about her past or trying to show her struggle in the present. 

Emoni is a flat character.  As a reader, you want to find a way to either connect with the protagonist or feel something for them.  When the book opens, however, it feels as though all of Emoni's growth and development happened between her freshman and senior years in high school.  At this point, she has dealt with all of the adversity of being a pregnant teen/struggles with the social stigma and now, at the start of this book, all of her dreams are coming true.  Because of that, there is no true conflict. 

The prose is extremely choppy and rudimentary at best.  Some word choices add a bit of flare; however, they do not fit with the overall writing style.  I found myself shaking my head and completely baffled by many of the word choices.  This is my first venture into Acevedo, so I am not familiar with her writing style.

Honestly, this book has amazing potential and I am exceedingly pleased that people appear to enjoy it!  From what I did manage to read, it shows teens that it is possible to overcome some pretty crazy hardships; however, they need to be willing to put in the hard work and not give up.  For me, however, this book just fell flat and lacked execution.      



Much love, Sinn

Search

Categories

'70s (1) '80s (1) '90s (1) 1 skull (7) 100 followers giveaway (2) 14 (1) 1980's horror (1) 2 skulls (21) 2011 in review (1) 2012 (1) 3 skulls (29) 3 stars (1) 4 skulls (33) 4 stars (1) 5 skulls (50) 5 stars (1) 50 books in 2011 (1) 5skulls (1) 80s nostalgia (1) a court of mist and fury (1) a court of thorns and roses (1) a local habitation (1) a perfect blood (1) a rush of wings (1) abuse (1) adam nevill (1) adam neville (1) adrian phoenix (2) adults only (3) after the ending (1) alice's adventures in wonderland (1) alien invasion (1) alien invation (1) aliens (3) aliens: earth hive (1) ally condie (2) alma katsu (1) amanda ashby (1) amy lukavics (2) anastasia (1) andrea cremer (1) ania ahlborn (3) annie walls (1) antarctica (1) antebellum (1) anthology (1) apocalypse (2) apocalypse watch 2012 (9) arc (2) ashfall (1) audio book (8) author interview (3) autobiography (1) award (3) bag of bones (1) batman (1) bdsm (5) beast fable (1) beautiful creatures (1) beautiful darkness (1) beauty and the beast (2) becca fitzpatrick (1) bentley little (1) best of 2011 (1) bethany griffin (1) beverly kills (1) biography (1) bird box (1) bisexuality (1) bite club (1) black magic sanction (1) blog award (1) blog layouts (1) blogoversary (2) blood rights (1) blood rights vampires kristen painter (1) blood rites (1) bloodfever (1) bloody mary (1) bob marley (1) Book Beginnings (2) book blogger hop (5) book challenge (7) book club (1) book review (146) book review suzanne collins (5) book review urban fantasy (2) book reviw (1) book tour (6) brenna yovanoff (1) brian asman (1) brian keene (1) brother (1) bullet for my valentine (1) business (1) c.e. murphy (1) caitlin r. kiernan (1) cameron dokey (1) cameron roubique (1) campy horror (2) Candace Welsh (1) cannibalism (1) carrie ryan (3) carrie vaughn (2) catching fire (1) catholic (1) catriona ward (1) cenobites (1) censorship (1) charlaine harris (2) charlene teglia (1) charlie higson (1) cherie feather (1) cherokee nattion (1) Chic and Sassy Designs (1) children of paranoia (1) china (1) chivalry (1) chris wooding (1) christopher moore (1) cinder (1) cinderella (2) civil war (1) claimed by the wolf (1) claire thompson (1) classics (3) clive barker (1) cold (1) comedic horror (3) comfort food (1) comfort foods (1) comic (2) coming of age (1) commenting (1) contagious (1) contemporary (3) conversation (1) cooking (1) courtly lover (1) Courtney Crumin and the Night Things (1) courtney summers (1) coyote (1) coyote blue (1) craig johnson (1) crime fiction (1) crime thriller (1) crossed (1) crossover (1) crow (1) cuckoo song (1) cyborg (1) D/s (1) dan wells (1) dana fredsti (1) Daniel Volpe (1) dante (1) dare (1) dark fantasy (2) darkfever (1) dathan auerbach (1) daughter of smoke and bone (1) daughters unto devils (1) David Clement-Davies (1) david hahn (1) david oliver relin (1) david tischman (1) days of blood & starlight (1) dd barant (1) dead (1) dead beat (1) dead light (1) dead on the delta (1) dead until dark (1) deadly night (1) dean koontz (2) dearly departed (1) death masks (1) deliverance (1) demon hunts (2) demon possession (2) demonic (1) demons (3) devil (1) diana rowland (3) DID (1) dirty little secret (1) disaster (1) disco deathtrap (1) discount armageddon (1) discussion (1) disliking a book (1) disqus (1) DMC: Devil May Cry (1) DNF (1) dnf skull (2) dreamfever (1) dresden files (3) duncan ralston (1) dust and decay (1) dying bites (1) dystopian fiction (7) e-book (1) e.l. james (3) eat slay love (1) edgar allan poe (1) education (1) elissa wall (1) elizabeth reuter (1) ellen potter (1) Emily Lloyd-Jones (1) England (1) erin a craig (1) ernest cline (1) erotica (10) even white trash zombies get the blues (1) exorcism (1) extreme horror (1) f. paul wilson (1) fae (6) faefever (1) faeries (2) fahrenheit 451 (1) fairies (1) fairy tales (3) fantasy (5) feed (1) female protagonist (1) fiction (8) fiction with zombies (5) fifty shades darker (1) fifty shades freed (1) fifty shades of grey (1) fighting to survive (1) film tie-in (1) final girls (1) fire baptized (1) first days (1) first days: as the world dies (1) flds (1) flesh and bone (1) follow friday (36) following (1) fool moon (1) Fragile (1) frances hardinge (1) FrankenDom (1) frostbitten (1) frozen (1) funny (1) furiously happy (1) gabriel's inferno (1) gabriel's rapture (1) game reboot (1) gargoyle (1) garth ennis (1) garth nix (1) geek (1) georgina kincaid (1) gerald's game (1) gfc (1) ghost hunters (1) ghost shadow (1) ghost story (4) ghost trackers (1) ghost walk (1) ghostland (1) ghosts (1) giveaway (7) godsmack (1) google reader (1) gothic (3) government (1) Grady Hendrix (3) grant wilson (1) graphic novel (8) grave peril (1) graveminder (1) greg mortenson (1) grim (1) guest post (3) gypsies tramps and thieves (1) halfway to the grave (1) Halloween (1) hammer of thor (1) haunted asylum (1) haunted house (4) heather blake (1) heather graham (2) Heather Morris (1) heavy metal (1) hellraiser (1) henry james (1) high school (1) hillybilly (1) historical (1) historical fiction (4) history (3) holiday (1) Holocaust (2) home before dark (1) horns (1) horror (37) horror/urban fantasy reading challenge (12) horror/urban fantasy reaing challenge (1) horrorstör (1) howard chaykin (1) humor (1) hush hush (2) IKEA (1) imm (1) in my mailbox (1) in the blood (1) infected (1) internet blackout (1) irresistibly sweet blog award (1) isaac marion (1) islam (1) isolation (1) it takes a witch (1) jane was here (1) jason hawes (1) jaye wells (1) jeaniene frost (6) jeff hirsch (1) jeffery deaver (1) jennifer blood (1) jenny lawson (1) jesse petersen (3) jim butcher (10) jodi lynn anderson (1) joe hill (2) jonathan maberry (3) joseph spencer (2) josh malerman (1) jrr tolkien (1) juneau (1) k (1) kami garcia (2) karen marie moning (5) kate williams (1) Katherine howe (1) katie alender (1) kelley armstrong (1) kenya wright (1) key west (1) kim harrison (3) kindle (1) kitty and the dead man's hand (1) kitty and the silver bullet (1) kitty thomas (1) kresley cole (1) l. frank baum (1) laini taylor (2) Lale Sokolov (1) late night (7) Laura André (1) Lazy Sunday (1) leaving (1) lee hunt (1) lee roland (1) lesbian (2) lia habel (1) liebster blog award (1) liesel hill (2) limerick (1) Lisa Unger (1) lit rpg (1) little red riding hood (1) living dead in dallas (1) lolita (1) longmire (1) lost and forgotten languages of shanghai (1) lovecraftian (1) madeline sheehan (1) mages (1) magic (1) malice (1) man fuck this house (1) margaret stohl (2) marilyn mason (1) marissa meyer (1) mark of the demon (1) married with zombies (1) masque of the red death (1) matched (1) matched series (1) matt baglio (1) matt shaw (1) MC (1) Melissa Marr (1) mental illness (2) meteor (1) Michael Vey the Prisoner of Cell 25 (1) middle east (1) midnight blue-light special (1) mike mullin (1) mike pace (1) mira grant (1) Mockingjay (1) monstrumology (1) monthly wrap-up (2) moon called (1) motorcycle (1) movie casting (1) movie review (1) muisc (1) my book boyfriend (3) my life as a white trash zombie (1) my wishlist saturday (1) mystery (11) mythology (2) naomi novik (1) native americans (1) nazi germany (1) necromancy (1) neil gaiman (3) nerd (1) new adult (2) new blog (1) new orleans (1) new year (1) night huntress series (1) nightlife (1) nightshade (1) non-fiction (4) nos4a2 (1) nyc (1) old kingdom series (1) on my wishlist (1) one grave at a time (1) opinion (1) order of the gash (1) pakistan (1) pale demon (1) parallel dimensions (1) paranormal (2) paranormal romance (11) partials (1) pass slowly (1) patricia briggs (2) paul kane (1) percy jackson (1) persistence of vision (2) peter clines (1) peter straub (3) philippa gregory (1) pinterest (1) plague town (1) podcast (2) podiobook (1) poison princess (1) police (1) political thriller (1) post-apocalyptic (10) post-WWI (1) promo (2) promo blitz (3) proven guilty (1) PSA (1) puppy (1) quote (1) r (1) R.A.K. (1) rachel morgan (1) random acts of kindess (1) ravenhurst (1) ray bradbury (1) ray chen smith (1) re-read (1) reading challenge (2) ready player one (1) red-headed stepchild (1) resident evil 6 (1) retelling (6) retellings (3) review (7) rhiannon frater (3) richard paul evans. 3 skulls (1) richelle mead (3) rick riordan (1) rick yancey (3) riley sager (1) rob thurman (1) robbie dorman (1) Robin L Rotham (1) rockabilly (1) romance (2) rosamund hodge (1) rosemary and rue (1) ruiyan xu (1) rumpelstiltskin (1) rusty fiischer (1) ryan c. thomas (1) s. evan townsend (1) s.g. browne (1) salem witch trials (1) sandman (1) sara gruen (1) sarah j maas (2) sarah kernochan (1) schools (1) sci-fi (7) scott sigler (2) sean mcdonough (1) seanan mcguire (4) seether (1) serial killer (1) sexuality (1) shadowfever (1) shaman (1) Shawn Sarles (1) sherlock holmes (1) sight (1) silk (1) simon holt (1) sinnful 2¢ (3) slasher (4) slasher horror (2) slavery (1) slippage (1) smallpox (1) song (1) SOPA (1) Soulstice (1) soundtrack (1) speculative fiction (1) spinning silver (1) stacey jay (1) stacking the shelves (1) stalker (1) steampunk (2) stephanie meyer (1) stephen ayers (1) stephen king (3) Stephen King project (1) steve perry (1) stolen innocence (1) stop online piracy act (1) storm born (1) stylish blogger award (1) submission (1) succubus blues (1) succubus on top (1) summer knight (1) summer reads (1) supernatural (1) supernatural suspense (1) susan beth pfeffer (3) susanne winnacker (1) suspense (3) sylvian reynard (2) T (1) taking on the dead (1) tami jackson (1) TAPS (1) TBR pile (1) tears don't fall (1) teaser tuesday (39) technical difficulties (3) ted naifeh (1) texas chainsaw massacre (1) the auction (1) the babysitters coven (1) The Bone Collector (1) the car thief (1) the cold dish (1) the dark and hollow places (2) the dead and the gone (1) the dead girls of hysteria hall (1) the dead-tossed waves (2) the demon of renaissance drive (1) the divine comedy (1) the donner party (1) the eleventh plague (1) the enemy (1) the forest of hands and teeth (2) the game (1) the haunted (1) the hobbit (1) The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (1) the house of salt and sorrows (1) the hunger (1) the hunger games (2) the isle of blood (1) the jazz cage (1) the kneebone boy (1) the lady of the rivers (1) the last house on needless street (1) the monstrumologist (1) the other life (1) the physick book of deliverance dane (1) the replacement (1) the rite: the making of a modern exorcist (1) the sandman (1) the sight (1) the summer i died (1) the taba convention (1) the taken (1) the talisman (1) the tomb (1) the vampire of new york (1) the women in the walls (1) the wonderful wizard of oz (1) theme song saturday (65) Theme Thursday (15) theodore weesner (1) theories (1) this is not a test (1) this world we live in (1) three little birds (1) thriller (6) tiger lily (1) toby venables (1) tomb raider 2013 (1) tomes of the dead: viking dead (1) top ten tuesday (1) trevor shane (1) trickster god (1) truth or dare friday (2) twilight (2) undead (1) undeniable (1) underneath (1) unrate (1) update (6) updates (1) urban fantasy (54) vacation (1) valentine's day (1) vampires (10) vanyel ashkevron (1) versatile blogger award (1) vicki pettersson (1) video game review (3) video games (1) vikings (2) viper moon (1) vladimir nabokov (1) volcano (1) voodoo (1) waiting on wednesday (1) war of southern independence (1) war of the roses (1) warm bodies (1) water for elephants (1) werewolf (1) werewolves (4) western (1) what maisie knew (1) whispered truth (1) white night (1) winner (2) winners (1) witch (2) wrong turn (1) wyoming (1) YA (17) YA adventure (3) ya comedic horror (1) YA contemporary fiction (1) ya dark fantasy (1) YA dystopia (1) YA fantasy (6) YA fiction (22) YA historical fiction (1) ya horror (6) ya issues (1) YA mystery (1) YA paranormal romance (2) ya post-apocalyptic (14) ya retelling (1) ya retellings (1) YA romance (4) ya sci-fi (1) YA series (14) YA supernatural (1) YA supernatural romance (2) YA suspense (2) YA urban fantasy (2) ya with zombies (1) yellowstone national parl (1) zombie month (12) zombie music and movies (1) zombie queen of newbury high (1) zombies (24) zombies don't cry (1)

Subscribe via Email

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Grab my Badge

Sinnful Books
 

Follow Me!

Follow on Bloglovin
Follow on Bloglovin

Followers

Linky Followers

Reading Addiction Blog Tours

Contributors

My Photo
"If you’re a freak like me, Wave your flag! If you’re a freak like me, Get off your ass! It’s our time now, To let it all hang out!" I am a recovering English major, closet bibliophile, breve addicted, zombie lover with a rockabilly and heavy metal fetish.
MyFreeCopyright.com Registered & Protected