Clap When You Land book review

Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo
on May 5, 2020
Goodreads

In a novel-in-verse that brims with grief and love, National Book Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Acevedo writes about the devastation of loss, the difficulty of forgiveness, and the bittersweet bonds that shape our lives.
Camino Rios lives for the summers when her father visits her in the Dominican Republic. But this time, on the day when his plane is supposed to land, Camino arrives at the airport to see crowds of crying people…
In New York City, Yahaira Rios is called to the principal’s office, where her mother is waiting to tell her that her father, her hero, has died in a plane crash.
Separated by distance—and Papi’s secrets—the two girls are forced to face a new reality in which their father is dead and their lives are forever altered.
And then, when it seems like they’ve lost everything of their father, they learn of each other.

I wanted to really love this one but I’m just not sure Clap When You Land was the right fit for me. There has been so much said about this book and I wanted to be one of the people who jumped in and said it was an amazing read. But it wasn’t for me, I don’t know what it was but it just seemed to fall flat and I felt really disconnected from the story and everything that was happening in it. The emotional parts of this books didn’t hit home and I wasn’t really all that interested in what was going on with both of the girls. I think this one is a write off for me.

Characters in Clap When You Land

This one was tough for me, and maybe it would have been better if I had listened to Clap When You Land on audiobook, but I had real trouble differentiating the two girls and their voices. There were moments where I had to figure out the context to work out what was happening and to who. I think the fact that it was written in verse was the issue with me, I didn’t connect with them as a whole and it really impacted my enjoyment.

What I will say is that I loved learning about the different girl’s cultures and the way they differed from each other. The LGBTQ representation was also well written and made a great addition to the story. I just wish I had cared a little more about the girls and had connected a little more with their story.

Good and bad

I’ve touched on the bad in the character part above but for me I struggled with the fact it was written in verse. There was so much going on that needed to be processed I just felt as though the verse didn’t really add anything to the story or to the experience. There could have been a better impact and connection for me if it had been written as a normal novel. I think there are moments, especially surrounding the grief the girls go through that are lost because of the way the book is written.

The good for me was the two cultures, I think they were well written and there were some really poignant parts to the story that did shine through even with my disconnect with the verse. I do wonder about how the relationship would have formed had things been different which was a great way to end my reading of the story. I just wish I would have fallen in love with the characters even more.

Recommendation

This book is definitely one to check out if you enjoy books written in verse. This one has a good story and I think it would be one to listen to on audiobook. That might help you with the issues I was having, especially with telling which girl was which and what was happening.

Let me know if this one is one that you’ve read and whether or not you enjoyed it? I would love to know if you had the same experience as me or whether it was a win!