Reviews tagging 'Child death'

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

12 reviews

ukponge's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Domestic abuse, Xenophobia, War, Suicide, Sexual violence, Child death, and Violence

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.

---

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.

---

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. 

---

Content Warnings

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

litletters's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Racism, War, Eating disorder, Violence, Rape, Xenophobia, and Sexual violence

jaiari12's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-paced

5.0

---

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

rosalind's review against another edition

reflective sad slow-paced

2.75

---

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

venetiana's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

3.5

---

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

---

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.

---

Content Warnings

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