REVIEW: Poety Round Up 3

The Agony of Healing by Adeline Whitmore:

As a fan of both modern poetry and Adeline Whitmore, I was dying to read some more poetry in 2020 and so that’s what I did. Whitmore provides us with poetry that details the pains of heartbreak and what you can do to make yourself heal from those pains that are inflicted by others. In this anthology, she talks to the reader as an acquaintance or friend by continuing her stream of thought of what she has been through. My main example of that would be

“The worst part of breakups is wasting your favourite songs on people who don’t deserve them.

Look Out For Yourself. If he doesn’t make you happy just leave him

It’s that simple. Sometimes you just have to Look out for yourself.” She talks to us as if she is having a simple conversation with us and just has a continuous train of thought that you can really sympathise with as she is going through this pain and heartbreak. I truly loved this poetry collection.

3 out of 5 stars.

Burn the Fairy Tales 2 by Adeline Whitmore:

Burn the Fairy Tales 2 isa continuation from the first poetry collet ion, Burn the Fairy Tales by Adeline Whitmore. This collection of poems are very near and dear to Whitmore as they explore rape culture, sexual assault, the metoo movement and topics like that. She does not spare any injury but warns people that if this may be a trigger for you to proceed with care. My favourite verse of this collection would be ‘you are beautiful. Every scar. Every wrinkle. Every bit of cellulite.’ As I like many of the people reading this, do need a bit of encouragement when looking at our bodies as we do tend to discourage and put ourselves down. Adeline Whitmore does an excellent job at looking at herself and realising what other people may need to hear.

4 out of 5 stars.

Pillow Thoughts by Courtney Peppernell:

Pillow Thoughts is a collection of poems from Courtney Peppernell. She wrote this book with the idea that it is divided into sections and that you visit a particular section when you need it the most. These poems are her thoughts and feelings about particular subjects and she has beautifully explored them throughout this book. It’s a short and quick read for when you really just need for something to distract you from real life. My favourite passage from this collection is:

“I wrote this thinking about you

and how if you were a novel,

You’d be an adventure of sadness and happiness

and love lost in between.

You would remind me of the sky and mountains

and constellations and caffeine.

You would be full of pages

that make me laugh and other times fall apart,

You would smell like history with a worn out spine

and ink that could still bleed.

You would always be the novel

I took down from the shelf to read.”

Pillow Thoughts made me truly think about the themes that are dealt with throughout this collection and Peppernell put her thoughts into writing in such an exquisite way.

4 out of 5 stars.

Wild Embers by Nikita Gill:

Wild Embers by Nikita Gill is a collection of modern poetry that is simply stunning, Through exploring modern poetry, I have found that I love the way that Nikita Gill travels through different themes throughout this book. Gill decides that she wants to rewrite fairytales but into a modern prose with a modern ending.

Taken from the poem Journey:

“Compare your journey to no one else.

You are counties and stories already.

You are a million different words, a million different ways.

You are forests and forest fires alike, A ship and the sea together.

The only person you must compare yourself with is yourself.

Your journey is your most powerful story.

This anthology thoroughly explores what life can be if you just put your mind to it. Wild Embers is a great poetry collection for all ages.

4 out of 5 stars.

Break Your Glass Slippers by Amanda Lovelace:

Break Your Glass Slippers is a anthology of poems by Amanda Lovelace. Break Your Glass Slippers, like other Lovelace collections, is apart of a series. Break Your Glass is the first in the You Are Your Own Fairy Tale series and having read Lovelace’s other work, I can’t wait to see what this series will bring us.

This new collection is about knowing your value and knowing when to drop those people who don’t. It’s about overcoming some truly hard struggles both within you and other people. The prince in your life is not worth your time if you don’t know what you are truly worth. You are the most important character in your own story, don’t let him be.

I myself, have been struggling a lot with my own personal image over the past couple of years and in 2020, I decided that it was time for me to lose weight but I found that “my value doesn’t go down when my weight goes up.” And “when they tell me that I’ve changed, like it’s some personal act of betrayal on my part, I tell them, “i know. I’ve never been more proud of myself. I went from a single wildflower to a whole fucking meadow.” I have found confidence within myself just because I read this book as it truly touched my heart.

4 out of 5 stars.