Scan barcode
angelsowllibrarian's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
2.5
Thank you Netgalley for approving me to read for a review! I also won an audibook of this on StoryGraph shortly after being approved and listened while I read along. I enjoyed this more having the author reading it as intended than I would have reading it by itself, especially with the awkward digital formatting.
I was hoping that this poetry book with lead more with queerness and healing than ED and SH like the author's previous books. But, as the author wrote in the book, "I still don't know how to write about the things that didn't hurt." I understand that both ED and SH are things that linger, but I have finally gotten myself out of that mental space so reading this felt a bit like backsliding for me. Or like trying to be nostalgic about being sick again, if that makes sense.
I enjoyed the longer poems because they felt more substantial to me than the shorter ones did. I understand why there are more short, bite sized poems than there are long, deeper poems. Poetry like this is very personal and making yourself open and vulnerable for strangers to have pieces of. I just wish there was maybe a few more longer poems to think more deeply about. I enjoy the author's voice so I'm looking forward to the day when they're able to write about more than things that hurt.
I was hoping that this poetry book with lead more with queerness and healing than ED and SH like the author's previous books. But, as the author wrote in the book, "I still don't know how to write about the things that didn't hurt." I understand that both ED and SH are things that linger, but I have finally gotten myself out of that mental space so reading this felt a bit like backsliding for me. Or like trying to be nostalgic about being sick again, if that makes sense.
I enjoyed the longer poems because they felt more substantial to me than the shorter ones did. I understand why there are more short, bite sized poems than there are long, deeper poems. Poetry like this is very personal and making yourself open and vulnerable for strangers to have pieces of. I just wish there was maybe a few more longer poems to think more deeply about. I enjoy the author's voice so I'm looking forward to the day when they're able to write about more than things that hurt.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Eating disorder, and Homophobia
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Animal death, Grief, Vomit, Homophobia, Abortion, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and Drug use
bladelikesbooks's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
3.0
Sweet, Young, & Worried is a poetry collection of the author’s personal life experiences. There are a plethora of poems in this collection that discusses themes of self-forgiveness, acceptance, queerness, internalised Homophobia, mental illness, eating disorders, grief, abortion, and healing.
The pacing/spacing of the writing seemed a bit disorientated and made it difficult to read at times. My favourite lines were: “You do not have to be a catastrophe to prove you are worth paying attention to”. The arrangement of the poems was a bit confusing as the ones talking about self-hate, EDs, Suicide etc we’re mixed with the ones talking about healing.
The more I think about it, this could have been done on purpose as a way to show that healing is not linear, and if it was intentional, I think it’s genius. As someone who has struggled with mental illness and eating disorders, I related a lot to the author’s experiences.
I usually struggle with reading poetry but this was very easy to comprehend and was a quick read. Although it covered many heavy topics, I think this poetry collection would be great for teens as a lot of what the author talked about is exactly what many teens experience everyday.
I didn’t understand the purpose of the birth chart. There was no writings about it or explanations as to why it was there, it was just kinda thrown in at the end for whatever reason I don’t know. And I know nothing about astrology so I have no clue what it means.
Overall, it was a nice, quick read and I would recommend this to teens struggling with EDs and/or mental illness and/or queerness. I feel they could benefit from connecting with this author so they can feel less alone and more confident that they can heal.
Although I appreciate the NetGalley description for providing some trigger warnings, I think it would have been beneficial to include a page at the beginning of the poetry book with a fuller list of trigger/content warnings considering the rawness of the poems and the heavy discussion topics.
Thank you to NetGalley and Button Poetry for allowing me an eARC of this poetry collection and most of all, thank you to the author for sharing your life experiences.
TWs/CWs - Abortion; Alcohol consumption; Animal death; Anorexia; Blood; Bulimia; Cussing; Drug use; EDs; Homophobia; Internalised Homophobia; Medical detail; Murder; Needles; Overdose; Psychiatric ward; Pregnancy; Self harm; Suicide attempt; Suicide ideation; Vomit
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, Homophobia, Medical content, and Eating disorder
Minor: Cursing, Drug use, Vomit, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Murder, and Pregnancy
More...