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softanimal's review
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Self harm, and Rape
emabelle's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, and Self harm
caidyn's review
emotional
fast-paced
4.5
Poetry isn't a favorite of mine, but the second I heard Emezi wrote one I had to buy it. There were poems in this that gave me such chills. It's a beautiful followup to their memoir. Highly recommend this short collection.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Self harm, and Suicide attempt
bookiecharm's review
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Cannibalism, Homophobia, Blood, Child abuse, and Death
ceallaighsbooks's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
“i remembered how to be a god i give myself what i want no one raises their voice in my house no one lays their fleshy hands on me no one is cruel if they are fool enough to try then they die and what a death what a death to not be loved by me anymore” — from “Disclosure”
TITLE—Content Warning: Everything
AUTHOR—Akwaeke Emezi
PUBLISHED—2022
GENRE—poetry
SETTING—liminal spaces
MAIN THEMES/SUBJECTS—godhood, the [extended] holy family, love, violence, healing, softness
WRITING STYLE—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
CHARACTERS—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
STORIES—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
BONUS ELEMENT/S—The references to the holy family were really impactful.
PHILOSOPHY—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“…i, poltergeist throw myself against a world one of us must break spiritbae says you don’t have a choice but to see true things… i, poltergeist with a life that matters, that matters to me” — from “When the Hurricane Comes the Men Protect Their Brothers”
Wow! Tbh even though I’ve read both Freshwater and Dear Senthuran I still wasn’t ready for the level of intimacy in these poems. It felt like looking directly into the sun. I read the whole thing twice in a row and when I went back to write down my favorite lines and notes I ended up reading it a third time.
I particularly appreciated how violence is conceptualized in these poems as extraphysical acts with extraphysical consequences. How cuts and breaks and slaps and blood all have an inseparable emotional and spiritual element. The grafting together of the body and the spirit is simultaneously holy and an abomination.
Emezi feeds their readers, starving for more of their work, the purest mana, each bite sweeter than the last. I’ll definitely be reading this over and over again. ☺️
“and i will finally look
like the terrible thing
i have always been”
— from “Self-Portrait as an Angel”
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
TW // brief mentions: rape, selfharm, sexual content (Please feel free to DM me for more specifics!)
Further Reading—
- Everything else by Akwaeke Emezi
- Everyone Knows I Am A Haunting, by Shivanee Ramlochan
- Fort Red Border, by Kiki Petrosino
- Lucky Fish, and At the Drive-In Volcano, by Aimee Nezhukumatathil
- Bless the Daughter Raised By A Voice in Her Head, by Warsan Shire
- The Collected Poetry of Audre Lorde
- Woman, Eat Me Whole: Poems, by Ama Asantewa Diaka—TBR
Content Warnings
Minor: Self harm, Suicide, and Rape
suzyreadsbooks's review
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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