I received a copy of With The Fire On High from Readers First in exchange for a review (thank you!), and I honestly adored this book! It was such a light and easy read, and I flew through it. It has a unique storyline and I enjoyed it a lot more than I was expecting, so I can definitely give this book 5/5 stars!
With The Fire On High is about a girl in her senior year of high school, juggling her studies with a two year old daughter, bills to pay, college applications and a dream to become a top chef that she's not sure she can ever pursue. Emoni's whole world is her daughter, and she'd always put Emma before anything - including her dream job and the cute boy who just transferred to her school.
What I really liked about this book is that it wasn't your classic teen pregnancy end-of-the-world storyline. It takes place when Emoni's baby is already two years old, so it's not focusing on the drama of her getting pregnant, or her decision to keep the baby, or anything like that. It's what happens after, where Emoni's life carries on and she strives to be as much of a normal high-schooler as she can. It deals with the issues like deciding whether to go to college or get a job while having to take care of her daughter, and honestly I found that a lot more interesting than the standard teen pregnancy storyline.
Also, I really liked Emoni as a character. I think Elizabeth Acevedo got the balance just right between Emoni being a seventeen year old who by far doesn't have all the answers, but also having to be a mature and grown up parent who really takes her responsibilities seriously. Her best friend relationship with Angelica was also so real and genuine. Honestly, all the characters in this were great (even Pretty Leslie)! Malachi and Emoni were super sweet and honestly, Malachi is everything a high school boyfriend should be.
This book was such an easy and light read - it's quick paced with super-short chapters which make it a really fast read! I loved the shortness of the chapters, and I think if anyone's in a reading slump this would be a great book to pull you out! I also loved the recipes which are included throughout the book, which was such a unique twist!
Probably the only thing I didn't like about this book was the fact that Emoni pretty much only refers to her daughter as Babygirl, rather than Emma. It super grated on me at first, but I did get used to it as the book went on. But other than this tiny detail, I loved everything about the book!
With The Fire On High is being released in the UK on 19th September, and you can preorder now!
With The Fire On High is about a girl in her senior year of high school, juggling her studies with a two year old daughter, bills to pay, college applications and a dream to become a top chef that she's not sure she can ever pursue. Emoni's whole world is her daughter, and she'd always put Emma before anything - including her dream job and the cute boy who just transferred to her school.
What I really liked about this book is that it wasn't your classic teen pregnancy end-of-the-world storyline. It takes place when Emoni's baby is already two years old, so it's not focusing on the drama of her getting pregnant, or her decision to keep the baby, or anything like that. It's what happens after, where Emoni's life carries on and she strives to be as much of a normal high-schooler as she can. It deals with the issues like deciding whether to go to college or get a job while having to take care of her daughter, and honestly I found that a lot more interesting than the standard teen pregnancy storyline.
Also, I really liked Emoni as a character. I think Elizabeth Acevedo got the balance just right between Emoni being a seventeen year old who by far doesn't have all the answers, but also having to be a mature and grown up parent who really takes her responsibilities seriously. Her best friend relationship with Angelica was also so real and genuine. Honestly, all the characters in this were great (even Pretty Leslie)! Malachi and Emoni were super sweet and honestly, Malachi is everything a high school boyfriend should be.
This book was such an easy and light read - it's quick paced with super-short chapters which make it a really fast read! I loved the shortness of the chapters, and I think if anyone's in a reading slump this would be a great book to pull you out! I also loved the recipes which are included throughout the book, which was such a unique twist!
Probably the only thing I didn't like about this book was the fact that Emoni pretty much only refers to her daughter as Babygirl, rather than Emma. It super grated on me at first, but I did get used to it as the book went on. But other than this tiny detail, I loved everything about the book!
With The Fire On High is being released in the UK on 19th September, and you can preorder now!