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A review by jurizprudence
Poūkahangatus by Tayi Tibble
emotional
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
3.5
eARC provided by NetGalley in exchange of an honest review.
"Tell me, am I navigating correctly? The sea our ancestors traversed stretches out farther than the stars."
Brutally honest and at times dry-humoured, Poukahangatus (pronounced as Pocahontas) is a collection of varying prose and poetry about femininity, identity, and pop culture references, cleverly spun to project what it means to be a woman of color and of indigenous roots in these times.
I tend to veer off from modern poems, because I find that they're not really up to my alley, but the cover of this book caught my eyes. What's inside, though, proved to have none of the delicacy of the outside, as Tibble wrote such frank and razor-sharp pieces that eventually grew on me as I turned the pages. Although I did not enjoy the writing style so much—I love purple prose and flowery words, and this collection do not have those in abundance—I still appreciated how it entranced me enough to keep me reading. I liked that the author switched between poems and proses, styles and lengths, interlacing her own experiences on the narrative. Some of the pieces were too personal and unique that I struggled to connect and relate with it. This might be the reason why I am partial to the paragraph proses more, for at least they offer a wider sense of scope and did not leave me grappling. Albeit it's too "insta poetry" for my tastes, I enjoyed and liked some pieces. From "Indigenous Hair Dos and Don'ts" to "Nobody in the Water" and "Vampires and Werewolves", I would say that this is an interesting and firm debut.
Easily understandable and a very short read, I would recommend this to anyone who likes the works of Lang Leav and Rupi Kaur.
"Tell me, am I navigating correctly? The sea our ancestors traversed stretches out farther than the stars."
Brutally honest and at times dry-humoured, Poukahangatus (pronounced as Pocahontas) is a collection of varying prose and poetry about femininity, identity, and pop culture references, cleverly spun to project what it means to be a woman of color and of indigenous roots in these times.
I tend to veer off from modern poems, because I find that they're not really up to my alley, but the cover of this book caught my eyes. What's inside, though, proved to have none of the delicacy of the outside, as Tibble wrote such frank and razor-sharp pieces that eventually grew on me as I turned the pages. Although I did not enjoy the writing style so much—I love purple prose and flowery words, and this collection do not have those in abundance—I still appreciated how it entranced me enough to keep me reading. I liked that the author switched between poems and proses, styles and lengths, interlacing her own experiences on the narrative. Some of the pieces were too personal and unique that I struggled to connect and relate with it. This might be the reason why I am partial to the paragraph proses more, for at least they offer a wider sense of scope and did not leave me grappling. Albeit it's too "insta poetry" for my tastes, I enjoyed and liked some pieces. From "Indigenous Hair Dos and Don'ts" to "Nobody in the Water" and "Vampires and Werewolves", I would say that this is an interesting and firm debut.
Easily understandable and a very short read, I would recommend this to anyone who likes the works of Lang Leav and Rupi Kaur.