What a fantastic debut collection! Full of verve and truth. In my Poetry Month column for Ms. Magazine, I used three words to describe it: customs, blessings, homecomings.

https://msmagazine.com/2023/04/20/best-poetry-2023-feminist-women-lgbtq-writers/

Raw, authentic and beautiful! I enjoyed reading these poems and learning more about the author’s heritage and identity.

This poetry collection shows the author's Afro-Latina identity, history, and feeling of belonging. The poems celebrate her heritage while tackling not fitting in, immigration, stereotypes, and learning self-love. I really enjoyed learning more about the author's Dominican heritage and what she and her family faced with their African heritage. I also appreciated the author's use of culture, music, and food in the poetry to describe her experiences and the intersection between race and culture. I also find how the author passed across generational trauma and discrimination important and relevant. Some of the poems didn't draw me in, but this was a good collection overall.

Thank you to Penguin Group Dutton and Netgalley for this e-arc for an honest review.

huge thank you to the publisher and author for providing this e-arc via netgalley! (this does not affect my opinion)

such a beautiful collection of poetry, highlighting the author’s afro-latina identity. melania evokes such raw emotions, touching on themes of race and culture, love, family, deracination and so much more. i’m not normally a poetry kind of person, but I’m in awe of the authors ability to draw readers of any kind in.

An absolutely gorgeous collection. Plantains and Our Becoming begins with the poet stating that Afro-Latina is not in the Webster dictionary, that the term “does not exist.” The collection that follows goes on to explore what it means, personally, to be Afro-Latina as the poet delves into her own life, the lives of her family members, and what it’s like to exist as an Afro-Latina in American culture. The use of form throughout the book is beautifully executed, and the mix of Spanish and English is excellent. A must read.

"𝙾𝚍𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚊𝚜𝚔, 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝’𝚜 𝚒𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎: 𝚃𝚘 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚣𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚣𝚎𝚍? 𝚃𝚘 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚠𝚊𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚙𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚕? 𝚃𝚘 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚞𝚖𝚊? 𝚃𝚘 𝚏𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎? 𝚃𝚘 𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚜’ 𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚘𝚖 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚓𝚞𝚖𝚙 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚞𝚗𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚗?"

I was only 30% into this book when I knew I was absolutely going to love it and needed to buy a physical copy when it came out. From the dedication to the very end my attention was hooked on these words. There are just some experiences that immigrants experience over and over to the point that it becomes a shared experience and I related to this book and these poems on a cellular level. It actually took me several days to write this review because I just couldn't come up with the words to accurately describe just how special this was. The author is from the Dominican Republican and with me being from Cuba we're basically cousins. No, but on a series note there are a lot of themes about identity, being an Afro Latina, family history, the history of our ancestors (even the ones we will never know about), struggling, freedom, dreams and incredibly beautiful. Melania put her soul into these poems and it shows, I thoroughly recommend this book.

A compelling, angry, and insistent collection of poems and prose poems that circle around the author's Dominical Republic, Afro-Latina identity, her family and family history, and her desire to have what she wants, from power and presence to material wealth. Celebrating things and people as diverse as the NY Public Library and Cardi B, there's a focus on ownership and the trappings of financial success that I find unusual--many of the poetry of immigrants and those in diasporas more often decry capitalism and its effects on their communities. But Marte is forthright about her wants, and her citing of popular culture's flamboyances situates the collection in a particular point in time and place. There are a number of poems in shapes that didn't really need the non-standard typesetting to be effective, and a few pieces that feel like warm-ups for other poems in the collection.

What a beautiful book of poetry. It celebrates the author's roots and the Black diaspora from Haiti and the DR. It deals with issues of race in America, colonialism, body image, family relationships, and so much more. The language is beautiful, haunting, and so real. You can feel her voice so clearly. Some of my favorite poems were "Ode to the New York Public Library," "dem dog dayz are ova," and "Why We Pray." (also what a gorgeous cover!)

A collection of poems about so many topics: immigrants, racism, Afro-Latines and what does that mean? Everyday life, family, coming of age, feeling different & insecure, bilingual beauty, body acceptance. And so much more.

Beautiful, relevant with pop culture references and raw emotion. Truly a work of art.

✨ Review ✨ Plantains and Our Becoming by Melania Luisa Marte

I was drawn in by this gorgeous cover (isn't it amazing?!) and stayed for the incredible poems. The poems celebrate the experience of Black diaspora from the DR and Haiti, but also are firmly rooted in the histories of these island nations as well. Tackling topics of food and family, colonialism and displacement, race and culture, love and identity, and so much more, she brilliantly paints a picture of Afro-Latino life. Her poems pair joy and trauma, grief and healing, in ways that will draw readers in.

I especially loved the frequent discussion of food from mangoes to plantains, and favorite poems included, "My America, Mi Tierra," "Ode to the New York Public Library," and "The Gospel of Plantains."

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: poetry
Pub Date: August 22, 2023

Thanks to PENGUIN GROUP Dutton, Tiny Reparations Books and #netgalley for an advanced e-copy of this book!

Melania Luisa Marte poured her heart and soul into Plantains and Our Becoming while celebrating all of the
Afro-Latines that embrace our Blackness with pride. This collection of poetry reads like a love letter to the Dominican Republic, to her ancestors and guides, as well as to the Lower East Side of New York City where she is from. I loved the island references and the way Melania is able to transcend geographic barriers through language which she also does by integrating Spanglish into her poetic lyricism.

Plaintains and Our Becoming covers many themes including coming of age, racial identity, cultural pride, colonialism, immigration, and making amends with the things we cannot control but must overcome.

Thank you to the author and publisher for the e-arc copy!

Thank you so much to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this early! I’m not always the best audience for poetry, but that is because I prefer poetry like this: visceral, poignant, devastating, and unconventional. The true aim of poetry is make you *feel* and this collection did not disappoint. This is an important collection about belonging, identity, familial bonds, and resistance through existence, and I loved it. I tried to savor each poem slowly, but I found myself devouring this book in only a few settings. Each poem packs a punch and gave me insight to one woman’s relationship with her identity that is so frequently overlooked.
If you are a fan of Ocean Vuong or Postcolonial Love Poem by Natalie Diaz, you will also be a fan of Melania Luisa Marte.

Thank you net galley for this poem collection. I really liked this one and you learned so much about the author and growing up i felt like at times i was reading a memoir at times. This piece of work also touched down on alot of history and important topics and i really enjoyed that because alot of things try to be hidden from us but we need to know the history in different areas. I loved the poem about breonna and toni, cardi and megan. Also the letter the author wrote to her father and mother. I loved reading about the culture and history in this collection as well. I think alot of people will love this one. The cover of this collection is also beautiful.

Glad i read this one melania be so proud of your work it was a great piece of art!

Plantains and Our Becoming by Melania Luisa Marte interweaves the arc of history writ large with Marte's experience as an Afro Latina. The result is incisive and lyrical and rich, providing perspective on many aspects of one experience that translate to a better understanding of the collective.

I particularly enjoyed Marte's prose poems/essays, which allowed her lines to breathe and expand in very interesting ways, but every poem in this collection is vital and striking.

I will be returning to Plaintains and Our Becoming, and certainly recommending this collection.

Thank you to Tiny Reparations Books and NetGalley for an advance review copy of Plantains and Our Becoming. All opinions are my own.

As soon as I read the dedication, I knew I was in for something worth my time. This book contains a lot of topics we as a society need to acknowledge one day and I’m glad we are getting there. Moreover, I like how the author expressed herself throughout the book as her emotions were raw, something like “this is who I am take it or leave it”, from page 1 till the end. Which is not very common in poetry books. I will definitely recommend reading it.