With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo Book Review
“And so I decided to make a remix of flambé ship à la Emoni, because what better way to take a leap of faith than to set something on fire and trust it will not only come out right, but that it will be completely delicious?”
(pg. 388)
About
Author: Elizabeth Acevedo
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
More books by Elizabeth Acevedo: Poetry X
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Synopsis
Ever since she got pregnant freshman year, Emoni Santiago’s life has been about making the tough decisions—doing what has to be done for her daughter and her abuela. The one place she can let all that go is in the kitchen, where she adds a little something magical to everything she cooks, turning her food into straight-up goodness.
Even though she dreams of working as a chef after she graduates, Emoni knows that it’s not worth her time to pursue the impossible. Yet despite the rules she thinks she has to play by, once Emoni starts cooking, her only choice is to let her talent break free.
Review
Spoilers Contained Below
To those with the fire on high,
If I’m being completely honest, what drew me to this book was the cover. I mean, c’mon! You look at the cover and you see a bold, beautiful woman on the front surrounded by vibrant, juicy fruit, and then you take off the cover and BAM! The whole book is this glossy red-orange with more fruit and it’s just overall BEAUTIFUL!!! Words cannot express how beautiful the production of the whole book was ❤️. So whoever designed the entirety of With the Fire on High, applauds to you!
And applauds for Elizabeth Acevedo who wrote one heck of a book!! Because as much as I bought it for the cover, I bought it because the book seemed like it had an interesting storyline. And it involved food and who doesn’t like food?
The main character, Emoni, is someone you completely admire. I loved how brazen she was and how she gave no poops about what people thought of her. I also loved her outlook on things and how she made things work. Sure, there were times where Emoni was stubborn like when she was cooking for her class and she wouldn’t follow the recipe, but Emoni’s stubbornness comes from her passion and independence. I love a strong female lead!
What I also liked about Emoni was the fact that she was a teen mom. There are very few books out there (or that I read) about teen moms. I guess, back then it was seen as such a taboo or an ashamed thing to be a teen mom, but gosh, I have sooooo much respect for teen moms, and Emoni was no different. I loved how selfless she was in caring for Emma, her daughter. Becoming a mom really shifted Emoni’s focus to Emma and not herself and I think that’s one of the greatest beauties that having a baby can teach you: that you have someone else to take care of. And there’s just something so admirable about that. I loved how Emoni put so much care into Baby Girl (Emma) and how she even had a good working relationship with her baby daddy (gross word, I know), Tyrone. It was actually really nice to see her having a good relationship with Tyrone even though they weren’t dating because usually on TV shows or in the movies if there’s a teen mother and a father, the father isn’t really there and they don’t have a good relationship. It always sucks to see that because it puts the kid in the middle, but to see Emoni and Tyrone be mature enough to be like “I don’t want more than a paternal relationship,” and to be friendly about it was nice.
They did have their rough spots with their relationship, but heck, they were trying and I think that mattered more. I thought Tyrone was very jealous when he would have his “boys” spy on Emoni to see that Malachi came over. Like good for you to watch out for your daughter and everything, but Emoni can do whatever she likes and Emma didn’t even meet Malachi. He should have really just asked Emoni rather than spied on her because that ruins that trust. And besides it wasn’t like he should have expected to get back together with her when they obviously DTRed (Defined The Relationship).
Because Emoni had Baby Girl to look after, it becomes this whole theme in the book of how Emoni has not only her whole future to think about, but her daughters. And that has to be hard as a teen because for teens without a kid, it’s hard enough to think about what you want to do with your future or what colleges to go to. But now add in a baby, you have to think about what your options are and if you work straight away or if you go to college and get a degree. But if she goes to college, it might drain the bank and that can take away from the funds of taking care of her child and even the time taken away from spending it on school. If she goes to work straight away, down the line, this might not pay off because she might not be able to get a higher paying job to properly provide for Emma. So it’s a hard-knock life for Emoni. It’s been a hard-knock life for her for her whole high school experience. I have to hand it to her for how well she handled everything.
I also just loved the support she had from her best friend Angelica who would stand up for Emoni when she was pregnant and she got the looks from people. I also loved how her homeroom teacher, Ms. Fuentes, had Emoni’s best interest at heart throughout it all. What a great teacher. I know most teachers would be uncomfortable at the idea of a teen parent, but the teacher really was proactive.
But we can’t forget the best form of support Emoni had: her ‘Buela. Her ‘Buela is honestly a good person and she reminded me a lot like the Abuela on Jane the Virgin in how open, caring, and honest she was. I loved how the ‘Buela took Emoni in and accepted her and Emma after Emoni’s mom passed away and the dad left her to live back on the island. That had to be hard to lose your mom. But to also lose your dad because he couldn’t handle being around you because you resemble/remind you of the wife? Rough is an understatement. So there was this whole strained relationship between Emoni and her father, Julio, for a long time. They had a very platonic and cordial relationship if I were to describe it. He called the ‘Buela and asked about Emoni every once and a while and would sometimes request to speak to Emoni or tell the ‘Bulea to tell something to Emoni; sometimes it felt like the ‘Bulea was the mediator in their relationship. From the dad’s perspective, I could understand how hard it would be to see your daughter and be reminded of the wife he lost, but also I think he should have put his feelings aside after a while to really mend that relationship because his daughter really needed him. It’s fine to be like, “I need some me time to figure things out,” but he should have tried to really fix things with Emoni.
You could really tell that part of Emoni was angry and hurt that her dad left her, but also part of her loved him because he was her father. I think she just really wanted their relationship to be better so she could love him and let go of that hurt. It also kind of sucked that he would come for the summers and then leave all over again. Visiting is nice because at least he was trying to see his daughter, but then leaving without notice is kind of like teasing her all over again with the fact that you left her in the first place. What also made it such a strained relationship was the fact that he never ate what Emoni cooked. And again, from the dad’s side, I could understand how he felt; eating Emoni’s cooking reminded him of his wife. I get how that could hurt, but again, it hurts Emoni more because it makes it seem like you genuinely don’t care about her passion for cooking and that you can’t even be bothered to eat her food. So it’s offensive and rude to her and it makes her feel more unloved. In some ways, it’s this big miscommunication and misunderstanding that they needed to work through.
There was the whole idea of there being a storm where Julio lived and Emoni and the ‘Buela were worried for the dad and their family. But Emoni’s worry stemmed from her love she still had. I liked how at the end of the book, he opened up to her more about his internal conflict and feelings, but I also liked that he finally made the decision to stay and be part of Emoni’s life. It showed that he was willing to move on and try to be there for her after not being there for so many milestones in her life.
But her ‘Buela was there through it all. I liked how the ‘Buela would watch Emma and take care of her whenever Emoni was at school or had work. I also really admired how the ‘Buela gave Emoni the freedom to make her own decisions for her daughter and for herself. A lot of parents I feel would tell their daughter that they should parent this way or do that thing. But the ‘Buela really stood back and let Emoni be her own person and figure out how she wanted to discipline and raise her daughter and how she would control herself because Emoni was a grown woman. When Emoni ditched her cooking class, her ‘Bulea wasn’t mad or hounded Emoni with a speech of “you’re dumb,” but she let Emoni do what she wanted because Emoni was old enough to make her own decisions. I respected that because it gave room for Emoni to learn from her actions. As much as I liked the free reign Emoni had over her life and her daughter, I still felt like she needed her ‘Bulea to give her that helping hand because still, Emoni’s just a teen figuring things out and she needs that guidance.
More towards the middle of the book, I started to feel like the ‘Bulea was really withdrawing from Emoni and hiding things. Emoni was over here worrying her butt off that her ‘Buela was sick again because she was going to the hospital so much, but then there was this part where we met the hospital man, Joe, and I was like 😏. That’s her secret! The ‘Buela had a secret lover!!!! It was made even more clear when Emoni had such a rough day with her phone taken away and then Emma getting sick at the daycare and then the ‘Buela waltzes home late with the groceries Emoni already bought. The ‘Buela went off on Emoni and how she was like “I need to get away sometimes.” We know what that means!!!!!! It was OBVIOUS!! 😆
I was just waiting for Emoni to figure it out, but she didn’t and it created this little silent period between ‘Bulea and her, but eventually the ‘Buela opened up to Emoni about her secret lover and life. And to Emoni it was hard to hear because she loved her ‘Bulea and was thankful for all she had done for her, and to her it felt like she was holding her ‘Bulea back from living a life she wanted. Her ‘Buela wanted to marry Joe and move out, but with Emoni and Emma to think about, she could never do that and to Emoni she felt bad because she didn’t want her ‘Buela putting her life on hold for her. So now on top of college and her work, she had to figure out a way to support Emma and herself and figure things out so ‘Bulea could live her life.
And Emoni did it well.
Which brings me to her cooking class.
Her school got this new Spain Culinary class her senior year, which is highly convenient if you ask me. I mean, what are the chances that for your last year of high school, your school gets not just a culinary class, but a Spain culinary class? 😆 It was made for her.
Emoni was beyond excited to join the culinary class and learn from a real life chef, but she just didn’t expect it to be so menial at first with all the safety tests and learning how to do rudimentary things that she could do in her sleep. Then came the actual cooking and Emoni started to feel in her element again. The thing about Emoni is that cooking comes spontaneously and naturally to her. If she wants to throw in a spice here or there, she does it because she feels it in her bones—-heck with the recipe.
But Chef Ayden didn’t like that. He would call Emoni out for always changing up the recipe, in turn, Emoni would make little comments in anger back to him. There was the salt comment where he was like, “It needs more salt,” and she was like, “Maybe your recipe should call for more salt.” If I talked to my teacher with that mouth, I would have been slapped! Not really, but still. The sass was there.
The thing was Chef Ayden didn’t call Emoni out like that because he didn’t like her—-he loved her cooking—-he just wanted her to learn by the rules. I could understand that because sometimes you should work by the rules because if you add a spice here or there and a person is allergic or reacts badly to it, then it’s your fault, but at the same time, I think cooking should be creative as the cook. I guess, you win some and you lose some.
I liked the whole trip to Spain thing and how Emoni got to make meals with this amazing chef while the other people only did simple things. It really highlighted how everyone looked out for Emoni and had her best interest. The lady there even offered Emoni a job or if she ever came back, a position to work with her again. There was also another chef from Café Sorrel who offered Emoni a job and I loved how at the end, Emoni takes her up on that offer and even goes in with a bag with a chef’s outfit, ready to get to work. If there’s one thing Emoni was, it was a hard-worker.
If there’s another thing she’s in, it’s in love.
So of course, the new class was made just for her, and of course, a new boy just for her: Malachi.
I enjoyed the love story, but I don’t think that it was really the highlight of the book. I liked the family aspect of the story more because I kind of didn’t feel the love. I just feel like it was crafted for them to fall in love because one day after cooking class, he just started talking to her. He wanted to be her friend, but we all know that he was probably talking to her to be more than friends, but respected her enough to not pursue anything more when Emoni made it clear she wasn’t looking for a serious relationship. I respected Malachi a lot though and liked him. He didn’t push Emoni into a relationship or things she wasn’t ready to do or share. He also apologized whenever Leslie would make a dumb comment or overshare something as private as Emoni having a kid—-I really didn’t like Leslie’s character whatsoever. But I liked that Malachi stood up for Emoni and was never put off by the fact that she had a kid.
I loved the moment where Malachi took everyone to see Disney on Ice and it was this whole magical “not date,” but it really was. It was also cute when he was her sous chef and how he walked her home. It was cute how they took their whole relationship nice and slow and on their terms. I also liked how Malachi softened up Emoni in some ways. Emoni’s a really bold person and had a lot of walls up because she learned to put them up since people can be so judgmental about her being a teen mom, but Malachi being nothing but kind and accepting of her, really emphasized to her that she didn’t need to be so reserved with everyone and that not everyone can be judgmental of her. There was this one part in the book that really made me stop and think.
“I’ve met this kind of woman before. The kind with real strict ideas about what makes certain people respectable. The kind that gets sour-faced at learning Babygirl is my daughter, but who have sympathy if I was of a paler complexion. The kind that looks at Angelica’s colorful hair and calls her ghetto under her breath, but thinks a white tween with purple cornrows is charming and creative. She looks like the kind of woman who will break a stereotype up for black ones. And maybe I’m stereotyping her, too.
(pg. 362)
Just reading this hit me with a whole new perspective because I think far too often as a society, if we see a woman of color who is a teen mom, we instantly think less of her because we think, “Oh, she’s just another player,” where else if we see a fair skinned person who’s a teen mom, we think of them with more compassion and understanding and it’s utterly RIDICULOUS that we do that. Just because people have different skin colors, doesn’t make their situation any less or any more different. Have respect for a mother no matter the age, the race, the color. A mom is a mom is a mom is a mom. And I also found it interesting how Emoni said that this woman would think that Angelica was ghetto because of her cornrows because this idea we associate cornrows and African Americans with the “hood” or something like that, but when we see a fair skinned person with cornrows, the perception changes. It’s just crazy how much color has influenced our society and has made us blind sighted by the fact that we are truly the same and we shouldn’t be labeling or making assumptions about anyone.
But at the same time Emoni was here judging this woman and this woman was judging her and this really made me think about how we do judge each other. I feel like if we feel judged or are judged, we tend to judge or find something wrong with the other person to make ourselves feel better. It’s sick, but it’s natural to put up that kind of defense to find something wrong with them as they have done with you. But if you constantly judge people as they judge you, that says a lot about them, but it also says a lot about you. We have to be the bigger person in knowing that, yes they judged me, but no, I will not stoop as low to make assumptions about them when I have no idea what kind of day they had or what they’ve been through. I think if we start to be more understanding of each other and put our assumptions and prejudices aside, I think we can get to a place where we look at an African American with cornrows and think how creative she/he is or a African American teen mom and think how strong she is.
Let’s fix our mindset and change our perspectives, friends!
But sorry with my tangent 😅.
The way the book ends, truly does end on a bittersweet note.
Malachi and Emoni’s relationship is still up in the air as to what the future holds for them. The ‘Bulea is going to move in with Joe I think and Julio’s moving back. Emoni quit her job at the burger joint to work with a real chef and she also was also going to attend classes part time at Drexel, a school nearby so that she could provide and be there for Emma.
“And like a map I’ve been following without knowing the exact destination, I know now I’ve been equipping myself with tools from the journey to help me survive when I arrive. Although I don’t have all the answers for what is coming next, I can finally see a glimpse of where I, Emoni Santiago, am going.
(pg. 382)
I loved that ❤️.
She really did figure it out and she did everything with such maturity and wisdom and honesty, she has my utmost respect.
I also liked how she was going to give Tyrone more time with Babygirl after he told her how he wanted to spend more time with her so he didn’t miss out on the important parts of her life. I really respect Tyrone for that because at least he wants to be a part of his daughter’s life and knows how important it is to be there.
“Some days, when my feelings are like this, like a full pot of water with the fire on high, I don’t know what to cook.”
(pg. 91)
Whenever you see the book title in the book, does it ever make you feel giddy with happiness like when you finally find Waldo in all that mumbo jumbo? I know I do 😄.
To me, with the fire on high represents how when you boil a pot of water with the fire on high, you’re waiting for it to bubble and boil over. Sometimes it might overflow and spill out. And I feel like Emoni’s whole life, she lived with the fire on high—- on full heat of going through one thing after the other and never quite sure where it was going to take her. Some days were overwhelming where she felt like she would bubble over, but I think with the support and the love she had in her life, she didn’t. She was able to hold onto that hope and trust that the fire wouldn’t bubble over or burn her in any way. Because with cooking and with life, you have to have a lot of faith and trust that things will turn out right. Sometimes you just have to go full on heat and just start cooking to see what happens and if things don’t work out, you can throw a little spice here and there to make it all better. That’s the joy with cooking and with life, you make the best of it with what you got.
If you read this book, what was your favorite or least favorite part?
What’s your favorite dish to cook or bake? Or if you don’t cook or bake, what’s something you wish you could? Let me know below in the comments as I love hearing from you all 💕
Here’s to living with the fire on high 🔥.
And as always, with love,
Rating
4.73 Full Bloom Flowers
Characters: You’ll fall in love with Emoni, her friends, and her family in an instant. They are all hard-working, compassionate, and complicated people working on being the best they can be.
Plot: I truly loved the family aspect and the passion of cooking that Emoni has. This book also touched on the uncertainty that comes with growing up and figuring out to do, which I think everyone can relate to
Writing: I genuinely love the way Elizabeth Acevedo takes words and spices it up in the best way. I loved the chapter titles and how short, simple, and sweet they were. The chapters aren’t that long, but they pack so much meaning and so much story in them that you just want more, but at the same time, you’re so full from it. I also liked the little recipes here and there.
Romance: Sweet, but not my favorite part of the book. I liked the family dynamic more.