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imiji's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
a really technically brilliant collection with some absolutely breathtaking moments. it was interesting to me, though, that for a collection so concerned with hybridity, mistranslation, and borders, this book felt so deeply invested in solidifying the nation as a site of imagination and worldbuilding.
partypoet's review
challenging
emotional
funny
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
oh this book is a true gift—the line breaks are sharp and stunning, the language is exacting, the story/lineage built out in this story is striking and reflective. this is a poetry collection written by a poet with an eye of craft and innovation. i hope to return to it many times in the future—to read it is a cleansing. threa almontaser writes about family, yemen, deconstructing of america, with poignancy + reflection + humor + brilliance. o please read this.
dalinora's review
5.0
Spoke so very deep into my soul. Felt and related to it on so many levels. Beautiful poetry to say the least.
lwalla01's review
I feel like I can't actually give this book a rating, because I don't know enough. Collection does a lot of things all at once. There is previously untranslated work from other authors (and a blind author at that!), the mixing of language (Arabic & English), and the description of navigating two worlds. Both similar and dissimilar. I think that if I had a better grasp of Arabic, I would be able to more fully appreciate the poems. The author paints Yemen as a perfectly imperfect place, and does a wonderful job of showing the connection between two cultures. Of course, I liked the poem dealing with hair. I thought it was brilliant.
TW: sexual assault, arranged marriage, war, abuse, substance use
TW: sexual assault, arranged marriage, war, abuse, substance use
kiranx's review against another edition
fast-paced
4.0
i hate when critics call things "unapologetic" but this... was exactly that.
more! like! this! please!
more! like! this! please!
megtristao's review against another edition
challenging
dark
medium-paced
5.0
Wow. These poems could be incredibly difficult to read (trauma, violence) but I often found myself getting to the end of a poem and immediately re-reading it. This may be because I don't read a lot of poetry and sometimes needed two reads to understand the poem, but it was also because I savored the language and devices.