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dreamlibrarian's review against another edition
3.0
in the kitchen, my mother and her sister
talk in tiny whispers. a cultural revolution.
spirals of teeth. mouths centered into Os
like slow red pearls.
I Wore My Blackest Hair is collection of poems that encompasses a wide of range of topics from family to dealing with change to racism and back. There is such an element of bravery laid out in these poems. Duan speaks without holding back, creating bold, sometimes regularly shunned imagery such as menstrual blood and mosquitoes biting. It's different from most poetry collections I've read this year, definitely unique. There are times with Duan used imagery that I only partially understood in context, but could see that it might hold a special meaning to her. In that sense, this is a glimpse into her life, where we can see the beauty and the big picture, but are just a little too far away to understand the nuances of all her thoughts.
elfstone's review against another edition
4.0
Thank you to netgalley and to publisher Little A for giving me a copy of this poetry collection in exchange for an honest review.
I requested this ARC through netgalley because I'm interested in experiencing more in my reading life than my traditional American life has provided me. Carlina Duan's poems were a peek into what it means to be American with Chinese heritage and expectations and what it takes to establish independence from parents yet still maintain love.
Carlina Duan writes about fighting to be a fighter, and it was exhilarating to read about all the biting in her poetry. I loved her taking on the expectations of being a girl, a woman, and having to be nice when she is perfectly capable of biting her way through this world.
The poem that resonated the most with me was "I Want My Books Back" and I felt the fury of anger in every carefully chosen word. Thank you, Carlina Duan, for opening my eyes to the wonders of yanking, biting, torching, and packing cuss words in my sleeves. Read this poetry collection and let your inner strength come out and rumble!
I requested this ARC through netgalley because I'm interested in experiencing more in my reading life than my traditional American life has provided me. Carlina Duan's poems were a peek into what it means to be American with Chinese heritage and expectations and what it takes to establish independence from parents yet still maintain love.
Carlina Duan writes about fighting to be a fighter, and it was exhilarating to read about all the biting in her poetry. I loved her taking on the expectations of being a girl, a woman, and having to be nice when she is perfectly capable of biting her way through this world.
The poem that resonated the most with me was "I Want My Books Back" and I felt the fury of anger in every carefully chosen word. Thank you, Carlina Duan, for opening my eyes to the wonders of yanking, biting, torching, and packing cuss words in my sleeves. Read this poetry collection and let your inner strength come out and rumble!
thebookdog's review against another edition
3.0
I loved Duan's voice more in her pieces about her mother and her sister. There was a force, which was more than anger, and it didn't demand sympathy nor did it wallow in self-pity. I enjoyed those parts in this spoken-word poetry collection. The other pieces were lukewarm.
twirlsandwhirls's review against another edition
4.0
It took me longer to read this than most poetry collections do. I blame work, school, and my own personal disorganization. That said, I didn't blow through this short collection in a sitting or two. I picked it up and put it down often. Some poems grabbed me and some didn't. Some were incredibly relatable: recalling stories from family, reflecting on being a child of immigrants, or mentioning an ex. She also wrote about Asian-American culture and commented on the fetishization of Asian women, including herself. Some of the poems that I reread and sat with for a while are "When I Boiled the Corn", "Everything's a Fly", "Severed", and "Picking Raspberries with Adam". These poems are all very different, from form to content but they all evoked real moments for me that sparked something. That's what poetry should do.
iamrainbou's review against another edition
3.0
I Wore My Blackest Hair is a wonderful poetry collection. Carlina writes about her identity, racism, childhood, her parents' expectations. The poems are personal, honest, and raw. Pain and heartbreak, anger and disappointment; the tone is for the most part very melancholy.
I definitely loved the book, it is so beautiful.
Copy received through NetGalley in exchange an honest review.
I definitely loved the book, it is so beautiful.
Copy received through NetGalley in exchange an honest review.
beyondrecovery's review against another edition
2.0
I really wanted to like this collection but unfortunately the poems felt as though they were missing that extra something, the knife twist at the end that gives a poem its punch, so to speak. And so the collection was for the most part unmemorable.
worncorners's review against another edition
3.0
I loved Duan's voice more in her pieces about her mother and her sister. There was a force, which was more than anger, and it didn't demand sympathy nor did it wallow in self-pity. I enjoyed those parts in this spoken-word poetry collection. The other pieces were lukewarm.
themaliciousreader's review against another edition
4.0
I was provided an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I don’t have much to say.
Good, pretty short collection of poetry.
I really liked the author’s style and her subjects too. She talks about family, about love, about racism, xenophobia and so much more.
The reason it doesn’t get 5 stars is because I had lots of trouble really getting into it.
I don’t have much to say.
Good, pretty short collection of poetry.
I really liked the author’s style and her subjects too. She talks about family, about love, about racism, xenophobia and so much more.
The reason it doesn’t get 5 stars is because I had lots of trouble really getting into it.