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diwata's review
5.0
It feels like everytime you read a book that is so profound, relatable and just.. amazing, that words escape u. I wish i could mentally pull out a dictionary, pepper this review with pretty words and something beautiful to truly express how much this book meant to me-- but words are failing me.
I loved this book. So much. I wish I had read it when i was a young teenager, and I know i'll come back to it frequently throughout my life. I 100% will read every single piece of work Barbara has. As a filipino whos reconnecting w his roots, this book meant alot to me.
I loved this book. So much. I wish I had read it when i was a young teenager, and I know i'll come back to it frequently throughout my life. I 100% will read every single piece of work Barbara has. As a filipino whos reconnecting w his roots, this book meant alot to me.
ubepandesol's review
With a loud, wondrous voice, this unflinching poetry collection pulsates with anger that mirrors many a young brown girl's, directed towards the whites and privileged folk who contribute to the harmful aggressions that attempt to chip away at a brown girl's worth. Written in multiple languages, this collection speaks truths that are written for the attentive (and possibly also angry) Filipino audience first and foremost.
earldizon's review
4.0
It's a short but powerful collection of contradictions- being seen (for being different) and being invisible (for being different), being included (for being the token other) and being excluded (for being too much of the other)- that's sadly too familiar. It's also being fed up with how the system is rigged and deciding to not play by the unfair rules. It's about finding your voice and learning to love yourself.
danibee33's review
5.0
Barbara Jane Reyes is SUCH A BADASS. This book of poetry has become very dear to my heart throughout the month I took to read and reread her words. She moved me, spoke to me, and broke me with her poems. To all the brown girls out there, especially my Filipinx kin, please read and cherish this.
Where was this poetry when I was young?
This is for sure one of my favorite books of poetry I've ever read... If not my number one favorite. Thank you B.J.R., from my heart.
"There is always a brown girl who knows exactly how and when to open up the walls and disappear. We know this is easy as breathing on a cool day. We know how to pluck music from the air, and how to pluck away grays. We know how to call for ocean to rise, cold salt and tide, how to bury, and how to build fire. We know are that ocean. We know how to strip away sound, pulse, and subside. From barely a sigh, we can hold a pure note high. We know that to be a brown girl is to call the ocean is call to the self is to know you have to find a way."
Where was this poetry when I was young?
This is for sure one of my favorite books of poetry I've ever read... If not my number one favorite. Thank you B.J.R., from my heart.
"There is always a brown girl who knows exactly how and when to open up the walls and disappear. We know this is easy as breathing on a cool day. We know how to pluck music from the air, and how to pluck away grays. We know how to call for ocean to rise, cold salt and tide, how to bury, and how to build fire. We know are that ocean. We know how to strip away sound, pulse, and subside. From barely a sigh, we can hold a pure note high. We know that to be a brown girl is to call the ocean is call to the self is to know you have to find a way."
mezzythedragon's review against another edition
3.0
Some of my favorite lines:
“That fabled Filipina hospitality, so much giving unto others until you are shoeless, penniless, mute, and hollowed out. Hija, you ain’t Jesus, multiplying fishes and loaves.”
“5. Some say it is bourgeois privilege for the battleground to be the page.
6. I think the page could be one weapon in our armories.”
“65. Let there be no shame in being imperfect.”
“That fabled Filipina hospitality, so much giving unto others until you are shoeless, penniless, mute, and hollowed out. Hija, you ain’t Jesus, multiplying fishes and loaves.”
“5. Some say it is bourgeois privilege for the battleground to be the page.
6. I think the page could be one weapon in our armories.”
“65. Let there be no shame in being imperfect.”