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sundayfever's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Rape, Child abuse, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Homophobia
levisainz's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
4.0
heartbreaking and beautiful. the poem “self portrait of an abuser” is a masterclass in poetry. two towers of text that mean so much alone, and then when read together create a whole new, even more powerful poem. amazing
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexism, Sexual content, Rape, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, and Sexual harassment
mxpringle's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Sexual assault, Self harm, Child abuse, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Transphobia, and Racism
dar101's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Violence, Physical abuse, and Transphobia
ecster's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
4.0
Emezi's poetry is everything I imagined it would be after reading all their other books. I must re-read this collection, in depth.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Cannibalism, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, and Blood
Moderate: Medical content
aglclark's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
fast-paced
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Child abuse, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Suicide, Homophobia, and Suicidal thoughts
james1star's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
This was my first time reading something by Akwaeke Emezi but am certainly intrigued to read more of their works. This poetry collection is quite varied in both form and topic with grief, rage and religion being key themes. As the title suggests, Emezi does highlight quite a few trigger warning details, specifically sexual assault, but isn’t too explicit. The poems contain a rawness and emotional honesty which I really appreciated and at times I could relate to their feelings too. Some were slightly too abstract for me personally to understand but overall as a collection it was enjoyable and one I’d certainly recommend. My favourite poems were:
‘"BUT WHY DID YOU FEEL YOU HAD TO KILL YOURSELF, BABY LOVE?"
1. i thought it would be a useful sacrifice
2. habit, or morbid tradition
3. god and i were in a feud
4. this world is foul i needed to bathe in my blood
5. spite and vengeance
6. no one else would do it
7. i missed not existing
8. how can you ask me that
9. knowing how lonely
10. i have been’
And:
‘I WAS BORN IN A GREAT LENGTH OF RIVER
if i run the water at full bludgeoning force it takes the bathtub thirteen minutes to fill twenty seconds for the bath bomb to dissolve eleven if i stir, four seconds for epsom salts i sink as deep as i can, involve my lungs it takes nothing if i add nothing
// when i was nine, i could hold my breath for seventy-five seconds, i practiced in class practiced underwater from one end of the pool to the other, the long way, i held the air deep in my stomach, ballooned it into my cheeks let it out in small measured hisses, i rationed it
// in ghana twenty years later, i tripped on a rock while trying to leave the ocean and got seized by the quick tide, it tossed and sucked me, i couldn't stand, so instead i curled against the floor as waves battered over my head, i held my breath and i did not die, do you hear? i did not die what i'm saying is, it doesn't matter which water i will never know what it's like to drown’
And these two quotes from their other poems were great too:
‘…we said in twenty years they'd put us both in each other's documentary, how could they not’
And ‘…what wars have been fought on me what hauntings i carry in the blaze of unspeakable light look at me through tears of blood through the healing flesh fall on your knees beatify me canonize me mark me full of blasphemy give me an army for what the fire has made of me you have been seeking wonders in all the wrong places now here, gaze upon me! i am the fucking miracle!’
‘"BUT WHY DID YOU FEEL YOU HAD TO KILL YOURSELF, BABY LOVE?"
1. i thought it would be a useful sacrifice
2. habit, or morbid tradition
3. god and i were in a feud
4. this world is foul i needed to bathe in my blood
5. spite and vengeance
6. no one else would do it
7. i missed not existing
8. how can you ask me that
9. knowing how lonely
10. i have been’
And:
‘I WAS BORN IN A GREAT LENGTH OF RIVER
if i run the water at full bludgeoning force it takes the bathtub thirteen minutes to fill twenty seconds for the bath bomb to dissolve eleven if i stir, four seconds for epsom salts i sink as deep as i can, involve my lungs it takes nothing if i add nothing
// when i was nine, i could hold my breath for seventy-five seconds, i practiced in class practiced underwater from one end of the pool to the other, the long way, i held the air deep in my stomach, ballooned it into my cheeks let it out in small measured hisses, i rationed it
// in ghana twenty years later, i tripped on a rock while trying to leave the ocean and got seized by the quick tide, it tossed and sucked me, i couldn't stand, so instead i curled against the floor as waves battered over my head, i held my breath and i did not die, do you hear? i did not die what i'm saying is, it doesn't matter which water i will never know what it's like to drown’
And these two quotes from their other poems were great too:
‘…we said in twenty years they'd put us both in each other's documentary, how could they not’
And ‘…what wars have been fought on me what hauntings i carry in the blaze of unspeakable light look at me through tears of blood through the healing flesh fall on your knees beatify me canonize me mark me full of blasphemy give me an army for what the fire has made of me you have been seeking wonders in all the wrong places now here, gaze upon me! i am the fucking miracle!’
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault and Rape
Minor: Grief, Emotional abuse, Biphobia, Cursing, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, and Homophobia
clara_mai's review against another edition
3.0
I love Akwaeke Emezi's novels Freshwater and The Death of Vivek Oji and their memoir Dear Senthuran: A Black Spirit Memoir, not least due to their stunning writing and vivid imagery, so my expectations for their poetry collection were quite high. After reading all the poems in this book I can say that generally, I enjoy the concept of the collection, particularly the series of poems in which the lyrical self is related to the holy family (mary, jesus, joseph, magdalene all appear), more than the actual pieces. Having read their memoir, most of the content of this collection, which is as far as I understand mostly autobiographical, is familiar. I once again felt a deep admiration for Emezi while reading, because they express their identity as well as their traumatic experiences so boldly through art. At the same time, while I found individual lines and images to be striking, many of the poems left me without any particular feeling or a lasting impression. Others that dealt very explicitly with heavy content did certainly leave an impression because of said content but the writing, the poetic technique didn't really. Exceptions for me are self-portrait as an abuser, which is masterfully crafted and extremely effective and the first and last poem of the collection (both part of the "holy family cycle"). All in all this is good, but I would rather recommend Emezi's prose if you've never read anything by them. Lastly, I want to add that I'm really no expert when it comes to poetry, as I don't really write it myself and haven't thoroughly studied it (especially not in English) or even read much of it. This is all just a very subjective take of my experience reading this collection.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Medical content and Injury/Injury detail
bookiecharm's review against another edition
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Cannibalism, Homophobia, Blood, Child abuse, and Death
suzyreadsbooks's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
4.5
ahhhh the combo of reading this whole collection on pub day & then having the chance to immediately listen to Akwaeke Emezi explain some of their intentions & thought processes at a virtual book talk 🥹Such a wonderful, immersive reading experience!!!
After having read so much of their work, there’s a familiarity that travels across genres. This poetry collection is fiery and covers many difficult topics that you might be familiar with if you’ve read any of their other autobiographical work, but it also includes a distinct gentleness and an acknowledgment of the possibility of transformation.
While reading, I was struck by how religious this book was, with biblical references woven throughout. During the talk, Emezi spoke about how so much of who they are is deeply religious, speaking particularly about religion as ritual, religion as being an entity that is in service to a community rather than as a hierarchical relationship.
The “What If” poems, imagining Jesus, Mary, and Joseph as family friends, were some of my favorites, particularly “what if jesus was my big brother” and “what if mary auntie explained mortality”
I also loved the poems that were more dense blocks of text, which Emezi described as “a practice in releasing constraint.” esp the poem “disclosure”!!
other favorites: i was born in a great length of river, sanctuary, “but why did you feel you had to kill yourself, baby love?”
After having read so much of their work, there’s a familiarity that travels across genres. This poetry collection is fiery and covers many difficult topics that you might be familiar with if you’ve read any of their other autobiographical work, but it also includes a distinct gentleness and an acknowledgment of the possibility of transformation.
While reading, I was struck by how religious this book was, with biblical references woven throughout. During the talk, Emezi spoke about how so much of who they are is deeply religious, speaking particularly about religion as ritual, religion as being an entity that is in service to a community rather than as a hierarchical relationship.
The “What If” poems, imagining Jesus, Mary, and Joseph as family friends, were some of my favorites, particularly “what if jesus was my big brother” and “what if mary auntie explained mortality”
I also loved the poems that were more dense blocks of text, which Emezi described as “a practice in releasing constraint.” esp the poem “disclosure”!!
other favorites: i was born in a great length of river, sanctuary, “but why did you feel you had to kill yourself, baby love?”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Self harm, Homophobia, Sexual violence, and Violence
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