Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

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

27 reviews

serendipitysbooks's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

5.0

 Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head was longlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize. It is the first full length poetry collection by this Somali British poet and reflects the realities of Black Muslim women from immigrant and refugee backgrounds, realities that include both great sorrow and great joy. I found it to a be really accessible collection and was at times blown away by the sheer power of Shire’s words. Home (well-known apparently but new to me) was a standout, succinctly and starkly explaining the reality of the decision to flee home and of being a refugee. Plenty of imagery from other poems grabbed my attention too - “…Amel’s hardened nipples push/through the paisley of her blouse, minarets/
calling men to worship.” Highly recommended, especially if you are looking for an accessible relevant contemporary collection.
 

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Content Warnings

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

jaiari12's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Rape, Misogyny, Violence, Child abuse, Death, Murder, Child death, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, and War

Minor: Blood, Miscarriage, Abortion, Cursing, and Pregnancy

madanxiety's review against another edition

reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

The one that stood out to me the most was I think called backwards? It was about re-writing one's life. Audiobooks don't always have an accurate table of contents, particularly with poems, but I really appreciated the rhythm or sound of that poem. I also didn't realized until I got to it that Shire is the author of the poem Beyoncé referenced in her visual album, Lemonade. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Rape, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Racism, War, and Xenophobia

Minor: Eating disorder

kirstym25's review

dark emotional medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Death, Grief, Cancer, and War

faduma's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Classism, Gun violence, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Torture, Trafficking, Colonisation, Confinement, Cultural appropriation, Racism, Rape, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Violence, War, Body shaming, Child abuse, Gore, Grief, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Medical trauma

rosalind's review against another edition

reflective sad slow-paced

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Cancer, Grief, Violence, Torture, Child death, Mental illness, Murder, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Sexual content

Minor: Incest, Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, and Alcoholism

inamerata's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad

5.0

Absolutely stunning. The imagery, the word choice, the pacing, the emotions, the craft -- I lack the words to describe how good this is. This book deals in quite heavy topics, but if you are able, I definitely recommend it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, and Child abuse

Moderate: Violence, Racism, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Death, Grief, and War

Minor: Cancer, Cannibalism, Eating disorder, and Suicide

venetiana's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Rape, Blood, Racism, Murder, Eating disorder, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Confinement, Cancer, Abortion, War, Child death, Violence, Vomit, Trafficking, Torture, Terminal illness, Suicide, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Body shaming, Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Fire/Fire injury, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Murder, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Medical content, Mental illness, Infidelity, Grief, Domestic abuse, Deportation, Child abuse, and Abandonment

czidya's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-paced

3.5

This collection was a mixed bag, but where it was good it was outstanding. Shire's writing is richly symbolic as it deals with challenging topics like abuse, misogyny, and the experiences of refugees. At times I found the imagery so dense it was impenetrable- unfortunately many of the poems left no impression on me at all because I couldn't really make sense of the verbal collage. However, Shire gets the balance right more often than not, creating lush emotional poems that share a fraught but profound relationship with God and religion, as the collection's title suggests.
My favorites of the collection:

• Filial Cannibalism
• Midnight in the Foreign Food Aisle
• Bless the Camels
• Hooyo Full of Grace
• Joyride
• Backwards

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Murder, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Pedophilia, Death, Abandonment, Death of parent, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Child death and War

annemaries_shelves's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

4.5

As a whole, it’s a 4.5 star collection with some outstanding 5+ star poems. 

I loved how she tackled the themes of girlhood and womanhood, experiences of being a refugee and immigrant, grief, trauma, celebrations of life, death, family, and more. Each of the four sections offered something unique to the stories she was telling. 

There are some really heavy subjects/topics and references in this collection, so be aware. 
CW: FGM and gender violence, child abuse and death, rape, death, eating disorders, famine, war and racism, and others.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Grief, Racism, Rape, Sexism, War, Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Violence, and Child death