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lifeinpoetry's review against another edition
5.0
Over a year later I find I can read the poem that caused me pause with more grace. Dealing with the concept of being mixed race myself instead of just Latine (which is an ethnicity, not a race) has been a learning curve these past few years.
sammies_shelf's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Racism, Sexism, and Sexual assault
kasper_au's review against another edition
3.0
3-4 stars. Queer Women Book Club read

Some that stood out to me were:
Nails
Love
Tweet This, Motherfucker
Passing
Letter to the Remaining Aborigines in Australia
Raise the Roof
"I want to know
what the small of my back
would feel like with your hand holding it
In Ireland"
Some that stood out to me were:
Nails
Love
Tweet This, Motherfucker
Passing
Letter to the Remaining Aborigines in Australia
Raise the Roof
"I want to know
what the small of my back
would feel like with your hand holding it
In Ireland"
zuly's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
aishathebibliophile's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
thewordsdevourer's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
3.0
the powerful staceyann chin's book of poems is brutally honest and at times searing, ripping into both white supremacy, the patriarchy, and heteronormativity while also reflecting on the pain and joy of chin's personal trials and triumphs. i personally find the last 1/3 of the book to be less powerful than the preceding section, however, and think that some poems can be a lil rambling.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, and Sexism
Minor: Death and Pregnancy
mossybean's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
This was a beautiful but difficult to read poetry collection. There were a lot of hard themes, but they were so wonderfully put together. Staceyann Chin says in her intro that someone once told her that no one will care about her struggles with being a woman in a few years, so she should stay away from putting that in her poetry. This collection defies that, centralizing her womanhood and the misogeny and violence she faced throughout her life. I think I'd like to read it again, and just sit with the different pieces for longer. I struggled with the decision of whether or not to add content warnings, because this is essentially an autobiography through poetry. You can't argue about "unnecessary violence" in a work of non-fiction...
In terms of form, something I enjoyed exploring in this book was the longer lines and the longer pieces. A lot of the pieces were 3-4 pages long. After reading mostly short poems for my poetry class, I enjoyed exploring poems that lasted longer, reflecting on how that affected my reading of them, and thinking about everything that happens within just one piece. I really enjoyed the casual yet strong voice Chin has, where every poem was just free to go where she wanted it to, she would just say "and now to move on" (more elegantly though) and do as she pleased.
In terms of form, something I enjoyed exploring in this book was the longer lines and the longer pieces. A lot of the pieces were 3-4 pages long. After reading mostly short poems for my poetry class, I enjoyed exploring poems that lasted longer, reflecting on how that affected my reading of them, and thinking about everything that happens within just one piece. I really enjoyed the casual yet strong voice Chin has, where every poem was just free to go where she wanted it to, she would just say "and now to move on" (more elegantly though) and do as she pleased.