Scan barcode
A review by lauraetlabora
Let Me Tell You This by Nadine Aisha Jassat
5.0
I think this collection was absolutely incredible. I was trying to pace myself through it, but I couldn't help but furiously devour every page, absorb every poem. I'm sure i'll come back to it over and over again.
As a non-native speaker, I find that reading poetry in English can sometimes be hit and miss, but here the carefully selected, delicate language does not impinge at all on the fast-punch delivery of the content; these poems are visceral and immediate, and indeed immediacy of communication is very important considering the topics they touch: race, violence, discrimination, family, heritage, identity, feminism.
I think these issues should have more representation in the media — I found reading these poems was at once eye-opening and comforting. Eye-opening, in the way it showed me struggles and issues that, in my privilege, I have never experienced. Comforting, in the way it will be comforting for any survivor to see someone come out the other end whole, accomplished, and unapologetic.
As a non-native speaker, I find that reading poetry in English can sometimes be hit and miss, but here the carefully selected, delicate language does not impinge at all on the fast-punch delivery of the content; these poems are visceral and immediate, and indeed immediacy of communication is very important considering the topics they touch: race, violence, discrimination, family, heritage, identity, feminism.
I think these issues should have more representation in the media — I found reading these poems was at once eye-opening and comforting. Eye-opening, in the way it showed me struggles and issues that, in my privilege, I have never experienced. Comforting, in the way it will be comforting for any survivor to see someone come out the other end whole, accomplished, and unapologetic.