Poetry – Bookspoils

Poetry Review: Soft Thorns by Bridgett Devoue

August 14, 2018September 12, 2018 bookspoilsLeave a comment

Soft Thorns is a poetry collection that takes the reader on a journey through a young woman’s life—from reckoning with her looks and sexuality to dealing with the trauma of sexual assault, and finally through the highs and lows of young love found and lost. Bridgett Devoue shares her raw, human story and the lessons learned from living a life fully.

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I’ve so missed breezing through a typical poetry collection, in particular, the feelings evoked after, packing short impactful punches to carry you through, similar to Flux by Orion Carloto and The Princess Saves Herself in This One by Amanda Lovelace.

Time to share the ones that stirred my heart from Soft Thorns:

Starts off promising with this eye-opening poem on how you have to open up, as well, to connect with someone’s vulnerable writing.

This is one made me want to dive head-first into this poetry collection.

If anything, Soft Thorns was a wakeup call for me to make sure to frequent into the poetry section more often. It felt so good to tear through this in one sitting.

Expected publication: October 2nd, 2018

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Heartbreak and Love Poems in The Longest Night by Ranata Suzuki

August 5, 2018September 12, 2018 bookspoilsLeave a comment

I knew this was a keeper the minute I read the following:

Source

And I’m thankful for the author (kind people rock my world) for sending me a review copy, featuring this utterly gorgeous cover giving me subtle Shatter Me cover vibes. I can’t stop staring at the details, like the mesmerizing moon and stars in the eye:

Heartbreak and Love Poems in The Longest Night by Ranata Suzuki | Bookspoils https://t.co/kGD9wsv6b7 pic.twitter.com/rZq5DGmp1V

— Nat 🌻 (@bookspoils) August 5, 2018

I also felt beyond grateful when I realized, as soon as I started reading, that The Longest Night puts on paper exactly what’s been circling my mind for the past year, and only recently begun receding bit by bit. If I ever throw away my journals from that period in my life, I know I’m safe with just turning to this book since it rawly and meticulously captures all the (tiring) stages you go through, from curiosity to obsession to realistically realizing to growing away and moving on. The ‘About the Author’ section voiced it best: “her voice will move you quite simply because it sounds so much like the voice inside your own heart.”

Now, comes my favorite part of sharing some of the brilliant pieces that really settled in my heart:

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This perfectly captures the whirlwind your mind goes through when infatuated with someone. The constant vivid imagery is exhausting… The Longest Night 2- bookspoils

The Longest Night 8- bookspoils

This!! Gets!! It!!

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The Longest Night 5- bookspoils The philosophy of a person holding meaning only in relation to something. Also: names are never just names…

The Longest Night 8- bookspoils Realizing that you’ve matured for the better and “you’re not the same person anymore” is pivotal. The Longest Night 4- bookspoils
Screen Shot 2018-02-28 at 09.46.55 Though some poems came to resemble each other a bit too closely the more I read one because of the set theme of heartbreak (there’s only so many ways to describe missing someone…), I left The Longest Night in solidarity and stronger in spirit. I’d recommend it for fans of This Is Me Letting You Go by Heidi Priebe.

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Review: soft magic. by Upile Chisala

July 15, 2018September 12, 2018 bookspoilsLeave a comment

soft magic. is the debut collection of prose and poetry by Malawian writer, Upile Chisala. This book explores the self, joy, blackness, gender, matters of the heart, the experience of Diaspora, spirituality and most of all, how we survive. soft magic. is a shared healing journey.

I so crave that feeling poetry collections evoke in my reading experience, so stumbling across soft magic. was, well, magic.

I do have to note that the tiny amount of poems that feature aimless, filler poetry lines derailed the epic scope of the ones that shine so brightly. But I want to focus on those adoring pieces, mainly concerning love and knowing your self-worth.

Life and death in the hands of the tongue.

It was well worth reading through this whole collection just to reach this one poem.

As well as this great follow-up:

I never tire of discovering well-written and memorable poetry collections and the featured pieces in soft magic. are one for the books.

Note: I’m an Amazon Affiliate. If you’re interested in buying soft magic., just click on the image below to go through my link. I’ll make a small commission!

Support creators you love. Buy a Coffee for nat (bookspoils) with Ko-fi.com/bookspoils