With the Fire on High Book review

 With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo

2019

Contemporary Young adult fiction

With the Fire on High follows high school senior Emoni, a talented cook, as she enters a high school cooking class that allows her to see her love of food as a future career. Emoni must balance caring for her toddler and preparing for life after high school, but her life only becomes more complicated as she begins to raise money for her food class’s trip to Spain and begins to have feelings for one of her classmates.

I loved everything about With the Fire on High! The writing is incredibly vibrant and rich. I could feel, hear, and taste everything that Acevedo wrote about Emoni’s cooking. While I’m a university student, books as beautiful and heartfelt as With the Fire on High make me wish I’d ventured outside of my normal authors in high school. 

Emoni is a well-developed character that I’m sure every reader falls in love with. Which is easy considering this is a book filled with so much love. Emoni’s love for her daughter is so beautiful to read, and definitely a rarity in the YA genre. Furthermore, the struggles Emoni faces always felt grounded in reality, making for an incredibly compelling read. 

Rating 5/5: I have heard a lot of praise for Acevedo's works and I’m so happy I finally read one of her books! I highly recommend With the Fire on High!!