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rosalind's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
1.5
I saw a review on Goodreads where someone called this collection ‘unbearably didactic,’ and that about sums it up for me. I can always respect someone who loves language and likes to play with words, but these linguistic games don’t always bequeath some revelatory truth. Sometimes it’s just a spoonerism, babes.
Also, for the love of Lady Gaga’s dove brooch, Amanda, please put yourself on an alliteration ban. Sometimes stylistic selections succeed, but soon a surplus can sully the savour and royally f*** off your reader. Sorry.
There are some really lovely moments in this collection, but ultimately comes across as a monopolisation on a moment, which is fine, get that dollar. I wish AG so well, and I hope her craft flourishes. But for my taste, a lot of ‘Call Us What We Carry’ should have stayed in drafts. Like, a lot.
Also, for the love of Lady Gaga’s dove brooch, Amanda, please put yourself on an alliteration ban. Sometimes stylistic selections succeed, but soon a surplus can sully the savour and royally f*** off your reader. Sorry.
There are some really lovely moments in this collection, but ultimately comes across as a monopolisation on a moment, which is fine, get that dollar. I wish AG so well, and I hope her craft flourishes. But for my taste, a lot of ‘Call Us What We Carry’ should have stayed in drafts. Like, a lot.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Racism, and Police brutality
Moderate: Slavery
lexa's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
sad
slow-paced
3.75
Beautifully narrated by the author. The parts in the middle (historical) dragged a bit and we’re hard to piece together, but I enjoyed many of the other poems. I went into this book without knowing much about it and wasn’t quite prepared for all the pandemic content. But it was overall good.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Grief, Police brutality, and Racism
COVID-19 pandemicthebakerbookworm's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
I read these poems slowly, just a few every day, and I highly recommend. I feel like usually I’m rushing through books, trying to read as much as possible; it was so nice to just take it slow with this one and really absorb the poems.
Touching on ideas of grief, memory, and identity, these poems also dig in to collective trauma, and what it’s like to experience tragedy together. She uses letters from history to reflect on present-day events, and even the formatting of her words have meaning (for example, the words of one poem form an image of a whale).
Honestly, my words can’t do these poems justice, so I’m just gonna say—even if you don’t usually read poetry, there’s something here for you. I recommend for anyone who needs some reflection on the past two years.
Touching on ideas of grief, memory, and identity, these poems also dig in to collective trauma, and what it’s like to experience tragedy together. She uses letters from history to reflect on present-day events, and even the formatting of her words have meaning (for example, the words of one poem form an image of a whale).
Honestly, my words can’t do these poems justice, so I’m just gonna say—even if you don’t usually read poetry, there’s something here for you. I recommend for anyone who needs some reflection on the past two years.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, Violence, Death, Racism, and War
anniereads221's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Death, Police brutality, Grief, Violence, and Racism
liwolf's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Colonisation, Chronic illness, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Slavery, Violence, and War
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