Reviews

The Crown Ain't Worth Much by Hanif Abdurraqib

mireillerb's review

4.0

Grief lived, grief understood, grief shared. Grief trascended.

neebo's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.5

lea's review

I'm confused tbh I tried read8ng this on e-book and I don't think I was in the right headspace and I'd also love to consume this via audio so if that becomes available I will come back to this. 

bookgoodfeelgood's review

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

cassie_elsberg's review

3.5

This book was good and it was really cool to read right before seeing him speak about it. I liked the way it’s a stream of consciousness and how he focuses on what it’s like to fiercely love a place. Also, bc it’s stream of consciousness adjacent and from the pov of a black man in the projects I felt like I got to understand the thought processes of someone with those identities more. 

rendezvousgirl's review

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Racism, Gun violence, Police brutality, Death, and Grief

beerqueer91's review

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.75

yikesbmg's review

5.0

This is a super short book of poems by an incredible author. It's the first book of poems I've read with a narrative arch and staples (like the barber shop poems) that the author returns to stabilize what's going on. It's also heartbreaking because it's full of traumas and violence and loneliness. The honest with which that stuff is presented somehow isn't overwhelming -- you just sort of take this as this person's truth and wonder how they're managing to get up everyday and keep it moving. Would recommend to everyone

dimanabookmark's review

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

4.5

mfraise05's review

4.0

I will admit I come to this book with a bias, I am the same age as the author and from the same side of town so many of the references hit very close to home for me. I thought this was a very well written book of poetry. I think I'm used to reading poetry written by women so it was noticeable to me how masculine the writing felt, and I don't mean that in a bad way, just an observation of how I experienced the writing. There are definite themes that go through all of the poems, sometimes so much so that it got a little repetitive towards the end. But all in all, well done for a fellow eastside Columbus native.