⭐️Inclusive, Innocent, Imbroglio⭐️

This is my second book by the Author, following With The Fire On High. Clap When You Land is a short and emotionally complex YA story, I definitely recommend.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

SYNOPSIS (from Goodreads)->

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.

REVIEW->

The Plot ->

The plot is inspired by a plane crash from 2001. An American flight bound for Dominican Republic crashed and took the lives of 260 people with it. I am a fan of fictional stories that tie in with a historical event. This in my opinion, is the most memorable way of telling the story while honoring those affected by it. This plot is a reimagination and did very well in terms of capturing the grief of one family in particular.

The Characters->

Though we have two main characters, there are a lot of supporting characters. Given that the story is a short one, I did get a little confused between Camino and Yahaira’s friends. Some characters felt unnecessary and their absence would probably have made no difference to the story itself. I thought the character growth of both the sisters was crafted beautifully. They are very mature for their age and embraced their grief and each other with grace.

The book represented marginalized voices and the excellent representation reminded me why I like to seek out new experiences by reading variety.

The Writing ->

The writing style is heartfelt and glorious. Though the story felt a little rushed, I loved the way her words flowed together. It was poetic. A book about grief, in and out has been told in the most ‘young adulty’ way possible- The emotions being processed by the teenage girls brought out on paper. Grief oozes from the Author’s gentle writing and reaches out to cradle the reader . The chapters are short and written like a poem. Which is genius !

Audiobook Narration->

The audiobook Narrators’ accents and voice modulation brought the characters to life. The two sisters couldn’t have been voiced by better narrators. They brought out strong emotions to keep the reader gripped. If I could rate the narration separately I would give it a 5/5 !

Favorite quotes from the book->

“Papi was a man split in two

Playing a game against himself

But the problem with that

Is that in order to win,you also always lose”

“It is a tiring thing to have to continue forgiving a father

Who is no longer here”