Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Homie: Poems by Danez Smith

13 reviews

the_readingraven's review

emotional inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

I think many people should read this very touching piece of literature. Danez writes in such an honest, loving, raw type of way. This collection of poetry is for his friends and those he holds dear. If you are queer and Black, I highly recommend it. Even though I am not the target audience for this collection, many of these pieces come from the Black experience, I still love it and care for it all the same. 

Along with the deep meaning, I loved the creativity that came with the formatting of several of these poems. It's not only a literary sense you're gathering but a visual one as well. My favorite line is from 'Acknowledgments':  “& how many times have you loved me without my asking? how often have I loved a thing because you loved it? including me.”

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Content Warnings

Minor: Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, and Racism

savvylit's review

emotional reflective fast-paced

4.0

"& how many times have you loved me without my asking? how often have i loved a thing because you loved it? including me"

Homie is a declaration of enduring and joyous love. Smith's deep compassion for their friends is a uniting theme in this structurally playful collection. Smith weaves their own identity as a Black, poz, queer, and nonbinary person through poems that capture how loving & living can be frustrating and beautiful at the same time.
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This was my second read for #transrightsreadathon 2024.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Racism, Racial slurs, Death, Grief, and Suicide

yinflower's review

dark emotional funny reflective fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Xenophobia, Child death, Suicide, Racism, Death, and Violence

readingtotravel's review

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective

4.5

Beautiful collection. Every poem is warm and inviting and handled with grace -- whether the topic was friendship, loss, Grief, racism, anger, queerness, etc. 

This was my first Danez Smith collection. I'm looking forward to reading more of their work. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Cursing, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Blood

astralfeline's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing and Sexual content

Moderate: Slavery, Transphobia, Racial slurs, Hate crime, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Homophobia, and Death

Minor: Excrement, Outing, and Violence

becksusername's review

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Racism, Violence, and Homophobia

yellow_star's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

3.75

Overall this book is basically Angry Poems, and an aggressive theme. But most of it is fair. Like the line "poeming some men's hands off,  they know what they did" (paraphrase not exact words) is aggressive but fair. There is a poem in the beginning about a whole group beating one kid up though so maybe don't have young kids read this. 

There's also themes of racism, bigotry, etc. There are also the  related slurs. 

The nature poems are so fresh! I love the completely new to me imagery for nature.

The poverty poems are also completely relatable. 

I'm not a huge fan of poems that jump all over the place like a lot of modern literary poetry does, but each poem is usually about some topic and mostly continues the same conversation. There's still a little bit of chaotic unrelated subject changes but very little. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying

Moderate: Physical abuse, Body horror, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Blood, Gore, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Violence, Classism, and Murder

Minor: Child death, Confinement, Death, and Slavery

khakipantsofsex's review

challenging reflective

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Sexual assault, Violence, Racial slurs, Racism, and Homophobia

mxpringle's review

challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, Suicide, and Grief

Moderate: Self harm, Mental illness, Homophobia, Sexual content, and Police brutality

Minor: Slavery, Violence, Drug use, Alcohol, Colonisation, Classism, and Blood

jeremy_bearimy's review

challenging dark emotional funny inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.5

Wow. A collection packed full of love, pain, and the ways those two overlap. I cried, I snort laughed (sometimes in the same poem), and have massive respect for their skill and intense vulnerability.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide