jaiari12's review against another edition

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dark emotional fast-paced

5.0


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melhara's review against another edition

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dark sad slow-paced

3.5

This was a very well-rounded collection of melancholic poems that deals with themes of immigration, abuse, racism, and numerous other dark and sad themes.

As with most poetry collections, there were some poems that stood out to me more than others, including Assimilation; Drowning in Dawson's Creek; My Father, The Astronaut; and, Bless This House.

Here's a passage from Assimilation:

The refugee's heart often grows
an outer layer. An assimilation.
It cocoons the organ. Those unable to grow the extra skin
die within the first six months in a host country.


As much as I like listening to poetry via audiobook or reading it via ebook, I did have some difficulty navigating between the glossary at the end of the book and the poems (as there are many Somali words included in the poems).

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kirstym25's review against another edition

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dark emotional medium-paced

3.5


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stardustdreamer's review against another edition

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emotional reflective fast-paced

3.75


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melio22's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0


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blue_is_at_sea's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

4.5

Adored this collection. My first time dipping my toes into her writing and I really enjoyed it. I shed a few tears. It’s a solid collection in womanhood, loneliness, the impact of immigrating, trauma, and just so much longing. Thats what really stood out to me.

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inamerata's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad

5.0

Absolutely stunning. The imagery, the word choice, the pacing, the emotions, the craft -- I lack the words to describe how good this is. This book deals in quite heavy topics, but if you are able, I definitely recommend it.

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megan_bbender's review against another edition

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challenging dark inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.0

Although I cannot relate first hand to some of the topics spoken about in this book, Warsan Shire has given me a new perspective and new knowledge about many different important issues.

I really enjoyed going through these poems. Every single one of them was thought-provoking. My personal favourite out of the poems in this book is Midnight In The Foreign Food Aisle. It is obvious that Warsan Shire writes from the heart. 

Many of these poems were so deep and held so much meaning that I didn't even have thoughts about them, I just sat with them after reading them.

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venetiana's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

3.5


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sharonus's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0


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