Scan barcode
A review by whatmeganreads
Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Oh. My. Stars.
As someone who's been through a sudden, wrenching tragedy and done some deep grieving, this is the most clear-eyed, accurate depiction of grief and healing I've ever read. It is viscerally breathtaking.
The prose, drilled down to only the most necessary of words, is stunning. It's hard but also somehow quietly gentle. Almost sparse in style, but with themes and concepts so broadly relatable that I don't think anyone who's ever lost or loved or hurt could not feel seen while reading it.
I highlighted about half the book. And I cried. I hardly ever cry - I'm that jaded of a reader. 😊 This is required reading, friends.
>>>>>>>>
"Playing chess taught me a queen is both: deadly & graceful, poised & ruthless. Quiet and cunning. A queen offers her hand to be kissed, & can form it into a fist while smiling the whole damn time. But what happens when those principles only apply in a game? & in the real world, I am not treated as a lady or a queen, as a defender or opponent but as a girl so many want to strike off the board."
"...people come up to us to pay their respects. Such a funny phrase, pay respects. As if suffering is a debt that can be eased by a hug & a head nod. I have no need for this currency of people's respect...I cannot fold any of their respects into my dress's pockets. I cannot tie these respects together into a bouquet to lay at my father's headstone. Their respects are quick-footed & I am sludging through this hardened mud of loss."
As someone who's been through a sudden, wrenching tragedy and done some deep grieving, this is the most clear-eyed, accurate depiction of grief and healing I've ever read. It is viscerally breathtaking.
The prose, drilled down to only the most necessary of words, is stunning. It's hard but also somehow quietly gentle. Almost sparse in style, but with themes and concepts so broadly relatable that I don't think anyone who's ever lost or loved or hurt could not feel seen while reading it.
I highlighted about half the book. And I cried. I hardly ever cry - I'm that jaded of a reader. 😊 This is required reading, friends.
>>>>>>>>
"Playing chess taught me a queen is both: deadly & graceful, poised & ruthless. Quiet and cunning. A queen offers her hand to be kissed, & can form it into a fist while smiling the whole damn time. But what happens when those principles only apply in a game? & in the real world, I am not treated as a lady or a queen, as a defender or opponent but as a girl so many want to strike off the board."
"...people come up to us to pay their respects. Such a funny phrase, pay respects. As if suffering is a debt that can be eased by a hug & a head nod. I have no need for this currency of people's respect...I cannot fold any of their respects into my dress's pockets. I cannot tie these respects together into a bouquet to lay at my father's headstone. Their respects are quick-footed & I am sludging through this hardened mud of loss."