With The Fire On High ~ Elizabeth Acevedo

With The Fire On High by Elizabeth Acevedo follows seventeen-year-old, teen mum, Emoni heading into her final year of high school in Philadelphia. Emoni’s life has been one hard decision after another since she fell pregnant with her daughter Emma at the tender age of fourteen. With her whole life ahead of her Emoni has no idea what she wants to do, all she does know is that she loves to cook and when she has the fire on high she can conquer anything and achieve her wildest dreams.

As a 23-year-old who can only just about look after herself, I could not fathom the life Emoni has been living for the past three years. The way in which she manages to balance everything from high school, college applications, work, romance to her own child and ongoing family issues is beyond me. Emoni manages to hold a somewhat positive outlook on life and finds pure passion in her cooking. She manages to create the weirdest flavour combinations that work in perfect harmony with her recipes bringing back memories of a Puerto Rican childhood for her grandmother who raised her.

This book is written beautifully from start to finish, I was hooked after the first page and was just could not put it down.  Acevedo’s writing is honestly some of the best prose I have read in a very very long time. The way in which she creates such an authentic seventeen-year-old narration through Emoni is effortless, almost lyrical flowing from page to page. My biggest regret is reading this book is less than a day, looking back now I wished I had read it slower and savoured every page.

With The Fire On High by Elizabeth Acevedo gets the easiest 5⭐️ rating of 2021 so far and I have already started reading her second book called Clap When You Land.

M🌸