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happyknitter2020's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.0
A black young woman's lived experience voice of exploitation, abusive & the love within her family.
New poetry, listened to the audio book, which felt more like poetry essays.
New poetry, listened to the audio book, which felt more like poetry essays.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Pregnancy, Rape, and Sexism
decodethebooks's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
4.25
this is a beautifully written poetry collection that weaves through the authors life and experiences.
Rachel Long delves into girlhood, womenhood (the pressure, the want, and the waning), being a person with a womb, being being biracial, being darker skinned, being African, being a daughter, being a brown daughter, being a daughter of a black African mother, being a daughter of a white father, being raised in a white Britian, being a Chrisitan, being someone who believes in ancestral spiritual magic, in being a sister, being a friend, being lover, being a sexual being.
a few quotes from the poems that I like:
from Hotel Art, Barcelona
- “Contorting myself three ways in the toilet mirror,
I decide I won’t look like this forever.
I don’t even look like this now.”
from Psalm 51:7*
-“wash me and i shall be whiter than touched by the hand of his clock i am instantly older”
from The Garden
- “Go, now. Fasten the black veil
though no woman has shown you how.”
- “Beg forgiveness for the thing you haven’t done yet.
Say the prayer to rid you of bloom.
Say it in the tongue your mother might’ve taught you.
Who will you be this time around?”
from The Yearner
- “A part of me is dead. Now
I can shake my own hand,
meet myself again for the first time.”
- “I am another.
Promise? This time will be different.”
from Red Hoover
- “Don’t tell me
you’ve ruined it already”
from Mum’s Snake*
- “Hair is a crowning glory.
A source of not only beauty but power.”
- “Lord deliver me. My enemies wage war against me.”
from And then there was the time I got into a fight
-“his real brown daughter.”
from Wire
- “so manageable, such a quiet curl.”
from Inside
- “A diary
isnt a diary till
you won;t show anyone.”
- “Jehovah, if you save me I will-”
from Divine Healing
-“She’d forgotten the language
of her girlhood, but there, on the floor, remembered
three words and repeated, Amin, Jesu Kristi.”
from Night
-“You knew, somehow,
that to die was to be hungry.”
from Communion
- “Behold the miracle of afro hair
Blackness so complete
you could put your hand in,
never get it back.”
- “Girl, you’re the blackest you will ever be in here,
stop pulling away”
* the poems with asterisks are my favourite ones
other favourites (that were not quoted above):
- Bike
- Orb
- Helena
- Black Princess! Black Princess!
** i have to mention that the audiobook contained two additional poems that were not in the ebook. i don't have an explanation for this. these two poems were The Sharks and Victoria Beckham and The Sunflower**
Would I recommend this book??
Yes, I would recommend this beautiful poetry book.
Will I re-read this book?
If I acquire a physical copy, then I would re-read this, yes.
Rachel Long delves into girlhood, womenhood (the pressure, the want, and the waning), being a person with a womb, being being biracial, being darker skinned, being African, being a daughter, being a brown daughter, being a daughter of a black African mother, being a daughter of a white father, being raised in a white Britian, being a Chrisitan, being someone who believes in ancestral spiritual magic, in being a sister, being a friend, being lover, being a sexual being.
a few quotes from the poems that I like:
from Hotel Art, Barcelona
- “Contorting myself three ways in the toilet mirror,
I decide I won’t look like this forever.
I don’t even look like this now.”
from Psalm 51:7*
-“wash me and i shall be whiter than touched by the hand of his clock i am instantly older”
from The Garden
- “Go, now. Fasten the black veil
though no woman has shown you how.”
- “Beg forgiveness for the thing you haven’t done yet.
Say the prayer to rid you of bloom.
Say it in the tongue your mother might’ve taught you.
Who will you be this time around?”
from The Yearner
- “A part of me is dead. Now
I can shake my own hand,
meet myself again for the first time.”
- “I am another.
Promise? This time will be different.”
from Red Hoover
- “Don’t tell me
you’ve ruined it already”
from Mum’s Snake*
- “Hair is a crowning glory.
A source of not only beauty but power.”
- “Lord deliver me. My enemies wage war against me.”
from And then there was the time I got into a fight
-“his real brown daughter.”
from Wire
- “so manageable, such a quiet curl.”
from Inside
- “A diary
isnt a diary till
you won;t show anyone.”
- “Jehovah, if you save me I will-”
from Divine Healing
-“She’d forgotten the language
of her girlhood, but there, on the floor, remembered
three words and repeated, Amin, Jesu Kristi.”
from Night
-“You knew, somehow,
that to die was to be hungry.”
from Communion
- “Behold the miracle of afro hair
Blackness so complete
you could put your hand in,
never get it back.”
- “Girl, you’re the blackest you will ever be in here,
stop pulling away”
* the poems with asterisks are my favourite ones
other favourites (that were not quoted above):
- Bike
- Orb
- Helena
- Black Princess! Black Princess!
** i have to mention that the audiobook contained two additional poems that were not in the ebook. i don't have an explanation for this. these two poems were The Sharks and Victoria Beckham and The Sunflower**
Would I recommend this book??
Yes, I would recommend this beautiful poetry book.
Will I re-read this book?
If I acquire a physical copy, then I would re-read this, yes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, and Abortion
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Death, Pregnancy, and Medical content
leahfigiel's review
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault and Rape
smittenbystories's review
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
sad
medium-paced
3.0
First of all, thank you to NetGalley for providing a virtual arc in exchange for an honest review.
I liked this collection. Rachel Long has a clear and distinctive voice. That being said, there were three poems that I felt were violent in their content. I enjoyed the form and the language (to a certain extent) but feel as though their inclusion took away from the rest of the book.
These poems were Red Roof, Hotel Art, Barcelona, and Helena. As these poems deal with sexual experimentation(?) between the writer, a child two years older than the other subject of the poem, a discussion of race and a somewhat violent feeling sex scene between the writer and a much older man, and a friend recounting what sounded (at least to me) like sexual assault. The lack of restraint in these three poems only as they drop pretty heavy topics in-between the others felt disjointed. I tried to pay attention to the others following but the darkness of these stuck with me until now, as I write this review.
I loved the short poems with the same title throughout the collection. I would have liked to see them in the last section as well. They were incredibly striking visuals on their own, and more powerful upon a reread. I think this is a strong debut collection. I wish it felt just a tiny bit more cohesive. I will read whatever else Rachel Long writes in the future without hesitation.
I liked this collection. Rachel Long has a clear and distinctive voice. That being said, there were three poems that I felt were violent in their content. I enjoyed the form and the language (to a certain extent) but feel as though their inclusion took away from the rest of the book.
These poems were Red Roof, Hotel Art, Barcelona, and Helena. As these poems deal with sexual experimentation(?) between the writer, a child two years older than the other subject of the poem, a discussion of race and a somewhat violent feeling sex scene between the writer and a much older man, and a friend recounting what sounded (at least to me) like sexual assault. The lack of restraint in these three poems only as they drop pretty heavy topics in-between the others felt disjointed. I tried to pay attention to the others following but the darkness of these stuck with me until now, as I write this review.
I loved the short poems with the same title throughout the collection. I would have liked to see them in the last section as well. They were incredibly striking visuals on their own, and more powerful upon a reread. I think this is a strong debut collection. I wish it felt just a tiny bit more cohesive. I will read whatever else Rachel Long writes in the future without hesitation.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault
definebookish's review
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
As a collection, My Darling From the Lions feels at once deeply personal and firmly rooted in pop culture, exploring themes of sexuality, the body, cultural inheritance, Black identity, family, and religion.
There are 45 or so poems here, grouped into three sections; Open, A Lineage of Wigs, and Dolls. The majority stand alone, but there’s interplay between many, too. Sometimes an image from one poem will be echoed in the next, or several poems later, showing it to the reader again from a different angle. Sometimes an image appears once, but once is enough – the power of that once lingers throughout and beyond the pages of the collection.
Some of the poems here make for difficult reading. My favourite is ‘Bike’, I think, for the lines ‘What doe would’ve worn fishnets / to a house party full of hunters’ and ‘Run! / In these hooves? / Through an estate / built like Tetris?’ Other standouts are Black Princess! Black Princess! – about the scrutiny of Meghan Markle – and The Garden, about an unplanned pregnancy.
Often intimate, sometimes poignant, sometimes witty, sometimes shocking. This is a vulnerable collection, and a bold one.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Cancer, and Racism
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