With the Fire on High Review

Hello, friends! It has been a hot minute since I have done a book review, but I am finally in the mood to write again! It was mostly because of this book that I got out of my blogging slump. I loved With the Fire on High so much that I really wanted to write a review, so I could fangirl over all the things I loved about it!

Here is the basic info:

Title: With the Fire on High

Author: Elizabeth Acevedo

Publisher: HarperAudio

Format: Audiobook

Length: 7 hours 27 minutes

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Synopsis: 

With her daughter to care for and her abuela to help support, high school senior Emoni Santiago has to make the tough decisions, and do what must be done. The one place she can let her responsibilities go is in the kitchen, where she adds a little something magical into everything she cooks, turning her food into straight-up goodness. Still, she knows she doesn't have enough time for her school's new culinary arts class, doesn't have the money for the class's trip to Spain - and shouldn't still be dreaming of someday working in a real kitchen. But even with all the rules she has for her life - and all the rules everyone expects her to play by - once Emoni starts cooking, her only real choice is to let her talent break free.

My Thoughts: 

Wow, wow, wow, I loved every second of this book!! I thought that this story was so unique and unlike anything I had read in YA so far. Also, can we just talk about this cover?? It is STUNNING 😍
I also loved that the author narrated the audiobook, so it felt like I was really getting to hear exactly how Emoni would of thought things or said things.

Emoni is an amazing character, and I absolutely loved getting to know her and follow her senior year. She is such a caring, fierce, thoughtful young woman. I loved that she was so passionate about everything in her life, and she went after the things she was passionate about 110%. I loved her style in cooking, and I loved that she was so passionate about food. Everything she cooked sounded amazing, and I only wish that I could cook well enough to try some of her recipes!
She was such an amazing mother to her daughter, Emma, and I thought it was so refreshing to see that representation in YA. I feel like many times we only see teen moms when they get pregnant as a plot point to a story, but I thought that Elizabeth Acevedo did a really good job in showing Emoni as a compassionate, attentive, strong mother. She may have been very young, but that did not stop Emoni from being the best mother she could be to Emma and fighting for Emma's well-being in every way.

I also loved the relationships in this story. I absolutely loved Abuela and Emoni's relationship. It was so nice to see a healthy parent-child relationship with that strong familial support that Abuela provided for Emoni and Emma. I thought the scenes that showed Emoni and Abuela's relationship were really special, and I loved seeing Abuela push Emoni to follow her dreams no matter what.
Also, Angelica is awesome! I loved their friendship and how they supported each other through anything. I loved getting to watch Angelica and Laura's relationship blossom in the background and see how Emoni supported her 100%. These two were honestly friendship goals.
I also really liked Malachi. I thought he was just such a pure bean, and I loved him. I loved that he was so supportive of Emoni and completely on board for whatever she was comfortable with relationship-wise. I liked that their relationship was based on a friendship and just enjoying being around each other rather than just physical attraction. I thought that Malachi was an awesome foil to Tyrone who was the complete opposite of a respectful boyfriend. Malachi and Emoni's relationship just gave me all the feels, and I loved how great Malachi was with Emma. I could go on and on about how much I loved everyone in this book, but I will stop here with just saying that Elizabeth Acevedo writes such realistic, likable characters that you really want to root for.

The only characters that I didn't like were Tyrone and his mother. I understand their place in the story, but their attitudes just really got on my nerves. Especially Tyrone's mother. She always acted as if she and Tyrone were above Emoni and that Emoni was an irresponsible mother. And that somehow Tyrone was an angel with no fault in this?? That just really bothered me to see Emoni looked down upon, made to feel like a bad mother, and the total disregard by Tyrone's mother of his responsibility in this situation.
I will give Tyrone some credit though - by the end of the book, he did start to come around and seem to want to be a more positive part of Emoni's life. While he was jealous and tried to be controlling of Emoni's personal life, he was a good father to Emma.

Overall, this was an amazing, fun, yummy novel! I loved Emoni, all the cooking, and the relationships in this novel. This is definitely a predominately character driven story, but I absolutely loved every minute. I would highly recommend this to anyone who has considered reading it!

Let's talk! 

Have you read With the Fire on High? If you have, what did you think? I would love to hear all your thoughts in the comments and chat!

Thanks for reading!