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readorrot's review
5.0
Reading this book felt strange, because it was about immigrant and refugee bodies and pandemic, but it *wasn't* about the COVID pandemic. There are a lot of issues that Yasmin touched on relating to Ebola and AIDS in Africa that I think we could also see mirrored in the current pandemic, but more than anything this collection is about how brown bodies are treated in a westernized medical system. It's a really refreshing and much-needed perspective, and I really hope Yasmin writes more poetry books in the future.
solenodon's review
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Terminal illness, and Medical trauma
hannalizzy's review
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.0
This was a great collection. Themes of viral infections, endemics, sickness, colonization, racism, Islamophobia, systemic issues in the medical world. The social commentary is firm, clinical, backed up, and powerful but not so heavy handed, making it still really good poetry. I gasped audibly multiple times, there are some amazing lines in this collection. Editing over the HIPPA oath was such a unique and powerful idea. I loved this line in “Anti Body” (which is written sideways and I love that) : “do not bleed in peace. bleed knowing.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy, Abortion, Medical trauma, Racism, Colonisation, Islamophobia, Medical content, and Religious bigotry
edboies's review
4.0
Ebola Cento
A bird flu over the city by night
And death shall be no more
Docile in his sexless dress
Death thou shalt die
A bird flu over the city by night
And death shall be no more
Docile in his sexless dress
Death thou shalt die
bibliochemist's review
4.0
Love science/medicine? Love poetry? Looking for a gut punch? Look no further than this poetry collection written by Dr. Seema Yasmin as the deadly Ebola outbreak was unfolding in West Africa and in the US.
The way she weaves together talking about science and medicine and personal anecdote and media coverage and so many other topics was just so hard-hitting and refreshing. Can something be a breath of fresh air and yet knock the wind out of you? This would be that.
nosherbetlemons's review
5.0
I felt reinvigorated after this collection, and I suspect it’s because of how the seemingly disparate fields of poetry and medicine are employed to understand the frontlines of a pandemic. If God Is A Virus is sharp, heartbreaking and excellent. Read it!
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