Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head by Warsan Shire

27 reviews

seventhswan's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

2.25

I loved Teaching My Mother How To Give Birth, so I had such high hopes for this full-length collection - but I was disappointed. If I hadn't read any of Shire's earlier work, I might have liked this better, but many of the poems were reworks of poems I'd already read in TMMHTGB, and for me the earlier versions were better. I was especially heartbroken to see Trying To Swim With God stripped of its rhythm and everything that made me connect with it so strongly when I first read it. 

I don't think this is an outright bad collection - I wouldn't warn people off it, and there was the occasional poem, such as the one for Victoria Climbie, that I found moving. It just felt hollow to me, and overly pared back in comparison to TMMHTGB.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Racism, Sexual violence, War, and Child abuse

Minor: Miscarriage

yinflower's review against another edition

emotional reflective fast-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Sexual assault, Violence, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Child abuse, and War

michaelion's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

2.25

I like poems that rhyme so this one just wasn't for me :/ There's a few good moments but it didn't really feel artistic. That doesn't take away from the art though, it just feels more like she had all these heavy things on her mind weighing her down that she just had to get out there and maybe she'd feel lighter after. FIVE stars for the art FIVE stars for the title.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Abandonment, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Deportation, Racism, Rape, and War

Moderate: Blood, Child death, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, and Sexual assault

Minor: Body horror, Homophobia, Abortion, and Pedophilia

_chaoticbooknook's review

challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense fast-paced

4.25

this is an evocative, emotional, and at times hard to read collection of poems talking about the experiences of young Black women, refugees borne from war, and a blend of both. layered over all of this is Shire’s tie to her homeland of Somalia and the complex feelings surrounded being forced from home and also slight relief of being in a less patriarchal society.

it’s short, it’s beautiful, it’s worth your time - the themes are relatable to all.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Racism, Child death, War, Sexual violence, and Rape

this is an evocative, emotional, and at times hard to read collection of poems talking about the experiences of young, black women; refugees borne from war; and a blend of both. layered over all of this is Shire’s tie to her homeland of Somalia and the complex feelings surrounded being forced from home and also being grateful at the chance for a better, less oppressive life. it’s short, it’s beautiful, it’s worth your time - the themes are relatable to all.

readingwithcoffee's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

3.75

I would read other reviews because I didn’t fully understand or follow some of the poems so I will reread another time at a better head space. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Miscarriage, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, War, and Death of parent

lady_bountiful's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Eating disorder, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, and Child abuse

frankieclc's review against another edition

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence and Sexual assault

Moderate: Child abuse

elyssajoh's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, War, Child abuse, and Physical abuse

dafni's review against another edition

emotional sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, War, Xenophobia, Racism, and Child abuse

krys_kilz's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective fast-paced

4.5

Julia Alvarez's review of this collection sums up my feelings: "This fierce and compelling book of poems should come with a warning label: These poems will break your heart."

My favorite poems in the collection were: Assimilation, Home, Midnight in the Foreign Food Aisle, Backwards, Hooyo Isn’t Home, and Bless the Gun Tossed into a River. 

"Dear Uncle, is everything you love foreign
or are you foreign to everything you love?"

- from Midnight in the Foreign Food Aisle

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, and Child abuse

Moderate: Death, War, and Racism

Minor: Suicide and Eating disorder