
hello everyone! today i am going to be talking about clap when you land by Elizabeth Acevedo. i gave this book 5/5 stars. i am honestly not surprised that i loved this book, since i’ve loved all the books she wrote. so, this was just so amazing to read right now.
if you follow me whatsoever, you know that i do not read poetry whatsoever. i do have to read some for school, so there’s that, but i do read books in verse here and there. but, never like straight up poetry whenever i want to. but, i feel like this book was the perfect amount of poetry, but also a novel. i also heard a ton of people say that this book was pretty much just poetry, but i honestly didn’t find it just be poetry. like there was that whole rhyme effect, but there was also like she just wrote the novel and then put them in the stanza. if that makes any sense.
one thing that i didn’t understand at all though, was how nobody knew that he had another family in the DR. i mean, wouldn’t it be kinda hard for the father to hid it from everyone? i mean, i just don’t understand how you can hid it like that. and there are multiple parts of the book where Camino says something along the line of, “oh he pays 10K for my school, but then he also pays for our house, which is the nicest one on our block.” and i don’t understand how the mom and Yaya just don’t see at least 20K just leaving their bank account in small amounts. like i know if this was my dad doing it, my mom would be all over it and know what he’s doing.
but, on the other hand, i don’t like how they always praise the dad, i mean they might just do that cause he’s dead. but, still, i think he was just such a shitty person, and they always just forgive him. for example, he had a whole second family, gaslit Yaya, and then didn’t provide for Camino like a father should have. and they just completely didn’t talk about it, and just let it slide. and then they would say “oh he was complex.”
on a sadder part of the book, i really enjoyed the fact that this is a real flight. since it did get forgot about since it got didn’t get the coverage of the media since it happened by 9/11 and school shootings. so, i think that’s really sad, but i feel like this book covered so much. and i really think that this was so amazing, and it really shown so much about how hard it is, but also it told us so much.
this book honestly had the best portray of grief. i mean, we got both girls, dealing with their fathers death. it was so amazing to know that they are dealing with it all, since they both have different things they need to worry about. and i honestly think it was just so amazing to see this. this book honestly showed that with someone dying will change your life, for the good or also the bad.
but, the sisters where so amazing and added to the story so much. i mean, we got to see them both deal with their father dying, but also how drastically different their lives are. and since both sisters got told the same amount of the story, it just added so much to the story.
also, i think it was so amazing that the one sister was lesbian. and i feel like it added so much to the story, and that we got so much insight to the story. i mean, it was just so great to read about her being lesbian and deal with the hardness of it all was. and i honestly really liked the whole fact that this wasn’t so much of “oh well we have the most diverse story. we have a Black, Dominican Republic, and also a lesbian character!” it honestly just told the story so much, and i honestly loved that she was lesbian, and it honestly helped the story so much, since it wasn’t just like a plot point.
but, i honestly loved Yaya and Camino together. i think that it was just so amazing to see them together and then working together on grieving the death of their father. and i honestly think that it was just so amazing that they got to be together and i feel like it added so much to the story.
there also is a scene though where Camino almost gets raped. i heard a couple people say that this triggered them, so i’m going to tell you what happens, so it might help to prepare yourself. basically, Camino goes down the the ocean, where this guy is that was getting paid off by her dad, comes up to her and tries to rape her. since, Yaya and her aunt, and Yaya’s mom saves the day.
Camino– i feel like we never really learnt to much about her. i mean, we did get a little bit about her, but nothing to like personal like we did of Yaya. but, i honestly think that this character was so fleshed out, and she literally had so many amazing goals and honestly was so kick ass.
Yaya– she was honestly such an amazing character. i do feel like how kick ass she was, and how much she loved her girlfriend and whatnot. and i feel like she was so amazing and that she really knew what she wanted and whatnot.
trigger warning– rape, grief, plane crash, death, parental abandonment.
anyway, that’s all for today. i honestly really loved this book, even though there was some issues with it. i honestly love the writing of the author, and everything in this book honestly so so amazing, and i loved the authors writing. i also loved this book on how it was in verse, so i might just try to read more.


