Reviews tagging 'Mass/school shootings'

Black Liturgies: Prayers, Poems, and Meditations for Staying Human by Cole Arthur Riley

1 review

henrygravesprince's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing medium-paced

5.0

In the interest of full disclosure, this review is specifically regarding a DRC copy of the book from Net Galley, so while I imagine this eBook was pretty close to finalized, some details may have been changed between my copy and the official release.

I would recommend this book to anyone with spiritual inclinations and a complex relationship with religion due to religious bigotry and alienation; I think this also would be a very worthwhile read for Christians seeking to be more inclusive and welcoming in their practice. My favorite element of this book is the prayer sections; I don’t think any element at play is particularly weak—it’s a very strong book overall and I found a lot of comfort in it. Because of that, the only thing I really would have wanted from this book is more of it.

This is a well-crafted, layered, easy to follow text. This book feels very meticulously structured, and I think that worked out as the author intended. While it’s not necessarily meant to be read in a linear, straightforward way, it’s put together in a way that allowed doing so to work for me. Every section and chapter feels necessary and intentional—none of them feel like filler, and even chapters that I probably wouldn’t turn to regularly (like some of the ones modeled on Christian holidays) were worthwhile to read in their beauty. 

The labor and love that went into this book sing through every page. The writing style is very accessible and consistent without being boring to read; it’s effective and comforting. The author manages to communicate their messages to the reader in a variety of different ways without being repetitive. The writing is poetic, but it’s also incredibly clear and direct; the intention is never obfuscated, and it’s always wrapped in just the right amount of figurative language. I’m very curious to see where the author’s writing career goes next, and may at some point check out their previous book.
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