Reviews tagging 'Racism'

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

29 reviews

savvylit's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

4.0

Warsan Shire has an unparalleled ability to write poems that are beautiful and damning at the same time. Whether she is addressing the ripple effects of intergenerational trauma or celebrating existence, Shire expresses so much in so few words. Her poems about the immigrant experience in this collection ultimately resonate the most. They resonate even moreso than her still-excellent observations on femininity and family dynamics; though the latter topics are those for which Shire is more well known. Anyone who feels that they don't understand why someone would ever leave their country of origin ought to read her poem "Home." I'll leave you with a brief excerpt from that so you can witness Shire's powerful words for yourself:

"I want to go home, but home is the mouth of a shark. Home is the barrel of a gun. No one would leave home unless home chased you to the shore. No one would leave home until home is a voice in your ear saying—leave, run, now. I don’t know what I’ve become."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Racism, Sexual assault, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Sexism and Colonisation

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

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

melhara's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

3.5

This was a very well-rounded collection of melancholic poems that deals with themes of immigration, abuse, racism, and numerous other dark and sad themes.

As with most poetry collections, there were some poems that stood out to me more than others, including Assimilation; Drowning in Dawson's Creek; My Father, The Astronaut; and, Bless This House.

Here's a passage from Assimilation:

The refugee's heart often grows
an outer layer. An assimilation.
It cocoons the organ. Those unable to grow the extra skin
die within the first six months in a host country.

As much as I like listening to poetry via audiobook or reading it via ebook, I did have some difficulty navigating between the glossary at the end of the book and the poems (as there are many Somali words included in the poems).

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Racism, and Death

brianareads's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Racism, and Sexual violence

Minor: Murder and Torture

rheagoveas's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence

Moderate: Racism and Sexism

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