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bgibs122's review
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
restyourbones's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
5.0
This book of poetry was hard to read, but I'm so glad I did. It was beautifully written.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Death, and Gun violence
readingwithkaitlyn's review
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Police brutality, Infidelity, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Racism, Self harm, Murder, Chronic illness, and Suicide
booktribe's review
reflective
3.0
I’m not a huge poetry reader, but I enjoyed this collection! There were several standout poems for me including The Reclaiming, The OUTside & the INside Joke, and No Tradebacksies x infinity, among other poems. I do think the synopsis may be a little misleading though, because I saw very few retellings of fairy tales and mythological stories. But then again, I’m not the best reader of poetry, so I may have missed something. I did enjoy this book and I feel like it’ll be a great audiobook one day because a lot of these poems would be even more beautiful when read aloud!
Thank you Button Poetry and NetGalley for this arc. All opinions are my own.
TW: parental death and murder
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Murder
alibookedup's review
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
4.0
Sierra Freeman's Urbanshee is full of raw and honest poems revolving mostly around being Black in America. You can tell you she really opened up and made herself vulnerable, especially when writing about the murder of her father, as he is a main centerpiece in a lot of the poems. Even though I cannot personally relate to any of the struggles she writes about, it in no way lessens the artistry of the poems in this collection. If anything, I wasn't smart enough to fully understand some of the pieces she published and that is on me, not the the poet.
I really enjoyed how a lot of it read like slam poetry and how a lot of the poems were set up in interesting visual shapes and sizes. Some of my favorite poems were "Hexes for my Exes", "Grinding", "Urban Girl Finally Responds to the Yo Mama Jokes", and "Urban Girl".
The one thing I will say is that I feel like many of the poems did not have a lot of mythological or fairytale connections. Or at least that I noticed, but again, I don't think I am as smart as the poet and a lot of the connections could've and probably went right over my head. I think I expected it in a more straightforward way so if you don't know a lot of the modern references, you might not get a lot of the poems and their fairytale/mythological parallels.
Otherwise, I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys poetry and especially who enjoys anything written to bring light to Black lives and struggles.
Thank you to NetGalley and Button poetry for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review!
I really enjoyed how a lot of it read like slam poetry and how a lot of the poems were set up in interesting visual shapes and sizes. Some of my favorite poems were "Hexes for my Exes", "Grinding", "Urban Girl Finally Responds to the Yo Mama Jokes", and "Urban Girl".
The one thing I will say is that I feel like many of the poems did not have a lot of mythological or fairytale connections. Or at least that I noticed, but again, I don't think I am as smart as the poet and a lot of the connections could've and probably went right over my head. I think I expected it in a more straightforward way so if you don't know a lot of the modern references, you might not get a lot of the poems and their fairytale/mythological parallels.
Otherwise, I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys poetry and especially who enjoys anything written to bring light to Black lives and struggles.
Thank you to NetGalley and Button poetry for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Gun violence
Moderate: Cursing
thelovelylibrarylady's review
dark
emotional
slow-paced
4.0
Fans of slam poetry will enjoy Freeman's writing in this collection. I say that because I found myself reading most of the poems out loud rather than just in my head. Freeman's poems are explosive and audacious - two adjectives that describe the poetry I enjoy most. My personal favorites from this collection were "Self-Made", "Paranoia", "Urban Girl Exists" and "Another Poem about My Dead Father".
(PUB DATE: 12/06/2022)
(I received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed above are my own.)
(PUB DATE: 12/06/2022)
(I received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed above are my own.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
inkdrinkers's review
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
3.0
"By the time I realize what we are? It is already too late. We are an urban novel you will skim over at Walmart, a four-minute smirk on Fox 8's face, what would occur if Spike Lee and Quentin Tarantino produced a film under Eazy-E's direction." (X Things They Never Tell You About The Drug Dealer's Daughter)
Urbanshee is a raw and honest exploration of Freeman's life as a black woman, daughter, and poet as she navigates the grief of losing her father and her experiences growing up.
This collection covered so many topics! There were so many poems I really enjoyed, but my favorites were: Haint Blue, In Attempts to Bring You Back, Haint Black, Meet You At The Crossroads (Erasure), Paranoia, Urbanshee Predicts the Birth of Toni Morrison & Writes Her a Letter, I Wish I Could Have Kissed Devon Wilson on the Mouth, and The Such Thing as the Stupid Question. Overall, chapter four, a Name She Buried, was my favorite, as it contained a lot of poems and lines that I enjoyed and related to.
I find it difficult to talk about the things I dislike in poetry - because it could very well be the thing that someone else enjoyed most. I enjoyed a lot of Freeman's longer pieces that blurred the line between poetry and prose, but some of them did feel like they drug on or repeated themselves too frequently for my taste. I also wish that the over arching theme had been more present. The mythology aspect is definitely in these poems, but I wouldn't call the entire collection a focus on mythology like the title suggests as many of the poems don't contain references or allusions and are more focused on other literary and media references.
Overall, I did enjoy a lot of these poems, but there were only a handful I feel like I'd read again. Freeman has so much talent and I enjoyed this collection enough that I'm excited to pick up more work in the future!
Thank you to NetGalley and Button Poetry for providing me with a copy for an honest review.
Urbanshee is a raw and honest exploration of Freeman's life as a black woman, daughter, and poet as she navigates the grief of losing her father and her experiences growing up.
This collection covered so many topics! There were so many poems I really enjoyed, but my favorites were: Haint Blue, In Attempts to Bring You Back, Haint Black, Meet You At The Crossroads (Erasure), Paranoia, Urbanshee Predicts the Birth of Toni Morrison & Writes Her a Letter, I Wish I Could Have Kissed Devon Wilson on the Mouth, and The Such Thing as the Stupid Question. Overall, chapter four, a Name She Buried, was my favorite, as it contained a lot of poems and lines that I enjoyed and related to.
I find it difficult to talk about the things I dislike in poetry - because it could very well be the thing that someone else enjoyed most. I enjoyed a lot of Freeman's longer pieces that blurred the line between poetry and prose, but some of them did feel like they drug on or repeated themselves too frequently for my taste. I also wish that the over arching theme had been more present. The mythology aspect is definitely in these poems, but I wouldn't call the entire collection a focus on mythology like the title suggests as many of the poems don't contain references or allusions and are more focused on other literary and media references.
Overall, I did enjoy a lot of these poems, but there were only a handful I feel like I'd read again. Freeman has so much talent and I enjoyed this collection enough that I'm excited to pick up more work in the future!
Thank you to NetGalley and Button Poetry for providing me with a copy for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Alcohol, and Death of parent
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