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4.16 AVERAGE
4.16 AVERAGE
Really an incredible set of poems by Zamora. Challenging to read, thought provoking about what it is like as a person stuck in between two worlds and cultures, faced with truly hard decisions. Great set of poems.
challenging
reflective
That last poem is impeccable.
This collection was a gift. The author laid out his experiences in a bare and vulnerable way that will really stick with me.
This book was powerful. As another child of El Salvador reading these poems brought up similar emotions, while also showing me a tough journey, and a young man's attempts to write about that experience. I deeply recommend this for anyone who wants to see an introspective and brilliant piece of literature.
Very seldom do I find a collection of poetry where I enjoy absolutely every poem from start to finish, but this is one of those collections. Zamora writes so beautifully, so lyrically of his experiences as a child in El Salvador who eventually escaped to the US without any family to accompany him. He shapes these memories—both his own and those of family members—into a stunning assemblage of vulnerable relationships and violence and beauty, reflecting on the ways he is still that 9 year old boy while trying in other ways to break free from him. There is a sense as well of these poems as attempts to purge and heal, sometimes by addressing those who can not answer and imagining their responses. I recommend this so strongly and will be rereading for years to come.
This is a stunning, sad book, especially paired with the reports of humanitarians on the border being arrested for giving water to migrants. Zamora's book is hard, but so beautifully written. His poems about his grandmother were my favorite.
reflective
sad
slow-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
2 stars mostly because I didn't understand it, not because it wasn't good.