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raisinsreads's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
caenerys's review against another edition
3.0
I did enjoy this collection overall but I felt like a lot of the poems were quite detatched and I just couldn't connect to the emotion of them. This was a shame because I really loved the concept of this collection but I think it just missed the mark a little bit for me.
ericaroseeberhart's review against another edition
4.0
The cover of this publication is absolutely beautiful. Simplistic yet colorful and meaningful. That's a straightforward opinion with very little sway. The content has a bit more variance.
Midway through the publication, it seemed the copyeditor fell asleep or quit. There were many minor errors in that area, words that were spelt correctly but surely were the incorrect words that were meant to be used. It caused me to back out of the poem and reread the sentence a second or third time, at first thinking I had somehow misread.
Beside that, a good bit of Gill's poetry reminds me so much of Amanda Lovelace--or perhaps Amanda Lovelace reminds me of Nikita Gill--I'm not sure who wrote their poetry first. At first this bothered me. I felt like it was plagiarism on each other. It came across like the two poets were given an assignment to write about fairy tale princesses, or witchcraft, or violation and they ended up with similar material. But then I thought twice about it. Maybe the similarities between these poets and so many "instapoets" of this modern day aren't a thing of plagiarism but a thing of the rise in feminism, the rise in strong voices and the #metoo movement.
Women, more than ever, are becoming more certain of their voices and opinions, they are more willing to share their experiences, and if there is anything we've learned over the past few years--at least for those who have been paying attention--is that more often than not, every woman you meet has had similar thoughts, traumas, and experiences. This constant thread that binds us comes out in the arts.
In some ways, it's similar to poetry of the past. When there were movements of romantic poetry, most poets wrote of romance and those romantic poems filled with love can easily be confused for the various authors of that time--but it was what was popular then. In the modern day, we are facing the outing of our darkest secrets and struggles, so that theme is regularly present in our art.
So while at times the similarities of Gill's poetry with other recently-published poets drew me out of the poem, I think it speaks of a greater issue that so many women, so, so many, have such similar experiences of bruises and blood and tears, but also of strength, power, and determination.
Midway through the publication, it seemed the copyeditor fell asleep or quit. There were many minor errors in that area, words that were spelt correctly but surely were the incorrect words that were meant to be used. It caused me to back out of the poem and reread the sentence a second or third time, at first thinking I had somehow misread.
Beside that, a good bit of Gill's poetry reminds me so much of Amanda Lovelace--or perhaps Amanda Lovelace reminds me of Nikita Gill--I'm not sure who wrote their poetry first. At first this bothered me. I felt like it was plagiarism on each other. It came across like the two poets were given an assignment to write about fairy tale princesses, or witchcraft, or violation and they ended up with similar material. But then I thought twice about it. Maybe the similarities between these poets and so many "instapoets" of this modern day aren't a thing of plagiarism but a thing of the rise in feminism, the rise in strong voices and the #metoo movement.
Women, more than ever, are becoming more certain of their voices and opinions, they are more willing to share their experiences, and if there is anything we've learned over the past few years--at least for those who have been paying attention--is that more often than not, every woman you meet has had similar thoughts, traumas, and experiences. This constant thread that binds us comes out in the arts.
In some ways, it's similar to poetry of the past. When there were movements of romantic poetry, most poets wrote of romance and those romantic poems filled with love can easily be confused for the various authors of that time--but it was what was popular then. In the modern day, we are facing the outing of our darkest secrets and struggles, so that theme is regularly present in our art.
So while at times the similarities of Gill's poetry with other recently-published poets drew me out of the poem, I think it speaks of a greater issue that so many women, so, so many, have such similar experiences of bruises and blood and tears, but also of strength, power, and determination.
gaymoonreader's review against another edition
4.0
(4.5)
Nikita Gill is one of my favorite contemporary poets, and I have been following her work for years. This poem collection definitely was not what I was expecting, but I definitely still enjoyed it. This book really is about how important it is to love yourself. It really touches on this really abusive relationship she had been in and how that changed her, and that was something super beautiful but also heart-breaking to read. I personally could identify with so many things that she was speaking about in regards to her abusive relationship because of my sister and what she went through with her ex-husband.
In this collection, she also ends up rewriting fairytales and mythology since we all know it is society's version, which by definition is the man version of how things went down in these fairy tales. For example, she turned Sleeping Beauty's tale into one on consent and how she would teach her own daughter that just because you find something pretty does not give you the right to kiss them without their consent. She rewrote them to show how powerful these women were and how they didn't need men for love or marriage. They were powerful, independent women who were not naive or overcome with love, but strong, willing to do whatever it takes to fight for what they believe in, which I absolutely loved, and it is a message I will be passing down to my nieces and nephews as they grow up.
I also just really enjoyed these really beautiful and lyrical metaphors she was using. It was very heavy in comparing the human body to space and the universe and stars and planets, and it was absolutely beautiful to read. I was struck by the realization whilst reading this that parts of these poems might have been spoken word poetry, and I imagined how absolutely riveting it must have been to see the passion in this woman as she performed these poems so close to her soul.
Overall, I just found this poem collection to be absolutely gorgeous and a must read for everyone, especially young women growing up in our patriarchal society today, and I cannot wait to read even more from Nikita Gill!
Nikita Gill is one of my favorite contemporary poets, and I have been following her work for years. This poem collection definitely was not what I was expecting, but I definitely still enjoyed it. This book really is about how important it is to love yourself. It really touches on this really abusive relationship she had been in and how that changed her, and that was something super beautiful but also heart-breaking to read. I personally could identify with so many things that she was speaking about in regards to her abusive relationship because of my sister and what she went through with her ex-husband.
In this collection, she also ends up rewriting fairytales and mythology since we all know it is society's version, which by definition is the man version of how things went down in these fairy tales. For example, she turned Sleeping Beauty's tale into one on consent and how she would teach her own daughter that just because you find something pretty does not give you the right to kiss them without their consent. She rewrote them to show how powerful these women were and how they didn't need men for love or marriage. They were powerful, independent women who were not naive or overcome with love, but strong, willing to do whatever it takes to fight for what they believe in, which I absolutely loved, and it is a message I will be passing down to my nieces and nephews as they grow up.
I also just really enjoyed these really beautiful and lyrical metaphors she was using. It was very heavy in comparing the human body to space and the universe and stars and planets, and it was absolutely beautiful to read. I was struck by the realization whilst reading this that parts of these poems might have been spoken word poetry, and I imagined how absolutely riveting it must have been to see the passion in this woman as she performed these poems so close to her soul.
Overall, I just found this poem collection to be absolutely gorgeous and a must read for everyone, especially young women growing up in our patriarchal society today, and I cannot wait to read even more from Nikita Gill!
ihateithere_'s review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
I loved the poems about the fairy tale retellings.
joelmk's review against another edition
If this collection was distilled down to a third of its length I would have given it 4 or 5 stars. Two thirds of the collection detracted from the incredibly strong one third of the book.
changleywritesitall's review against another edition
4.0
I stumbled across Wild Embers when specifically looking for a poetry book on Libby and I am grateful to not have had to wait in line for it!
A lot of the poetry books I read speak of dark feelings. While those themes are not missing from Wild Embers, the approach was taken with hope, reframing, and women stealing back their power! I loved all of that!
I loved how Nikita retold princess stories and stories of the goddesses. I left almost every poem with such hope and positive outlook on life. I will be buying myself a physical copy of this one and I have a friend in mind to send a 2nd copy to (after I highlight some lines and leave her some personal messages throughout)!