thewairimu's review

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emotional informative fast-paced

4.0


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mold_munchr's review against another edition

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challenging dark fast-paced

4.0


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savvylit's review against another edition

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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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jaiari12's review against another edition

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dark emotional fast-paced

5.0


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rheagoveas's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

4.0


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sharonus's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0


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annemaries_shelves's review against another edition

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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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