A review by evilskin
Urbanshee by Siaara Freeman

4.0

When it comes to poetry it's always hard to give a rating. The writing is full of someone's emotions that you're just getting a glimpse of through a tiny crack in the door. And this collection in particular included some of the rawest writing I've faced, as personal and bare as it could get, yet so universal in its pain. Siaara shined both in the writing style and the topics she touched with her poetry (grief, healing, death, class, race, sexuality). However, after seeing the Button Poetry videos, I have to admit some of these pieces were clearly made for spoken poetry, to be recited, and nothing compares to the sound of those words coming directly out of her. The writing itself, isolated from the voice, doesn't do it any justice.

Some of my favorite poems in these were The part of the story I failed to mention, Waste(full), It is hard to tell someone on fire that you're drowning and Hexes for my exes

Overall, I would say this is a solid poetry collection, perfect for anyone who isn't uncomfortable to face every emotion it attempts and succeeds at portraying.

Note: thanks both to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review