swfraser4's review against another edition
5.0
I know I am not the intended audience for this book, but I enjoyed it. It deserves to be read by the people who see themselves in the poems and the people who don't share those experiences (and who, like me, shouldn't say half the words in the book). Britteney Black Rose Kapri knows when to take a moment, thought, or word (especially the three words in the title) and tease out its implications for days, but also how to cut through wordiness to get an the underlying truth in a more direct way (such as in her series of cross-out poems).
Despite or because of its brazenness, it is an inviting and often joyous book. These poems straddle a difficult line between unapologetic and vulnerable; they are unafraid of playfulness or honesty, of confession or performance. This collection should be celebrated at a time during which both vulnerability and brazenness, in poetry and in Black femmes, is scrutinized and dismissed. Though short and full of life, this collection is not trivial. If the title turns you off because you think it's not respectable, then this collection is worth reading to meditate on and to unpack the codes, baggage, and assumptions that inform your perceptions of those words and identities.
Despite or because of its brazenness, it is an inviting and often joyous book. These poems straddle a difficult line between unapologetic and vulnerable; they are unafraid of playfulness or honesty, of confession or performance. This collection should be celebrated at a time during which both vulnerability and brazenness, in poetry and in Black femmes, is scrutinized and dismissed. Though short and full of life, this collection is not trivial. If the title turns you off because you think it's not respectable, then this collection is worth reading to meditate on and to unpack the codes, baggage, and assumptions that inform your perceptions of those words and identities.
tyler_j's review against another edition
emotional
5.0
This poetry hits hard! I know it wasn't made with me in mind, but certain things I did relate to (being queer, afab, deformed and feeling ugly) but even though I didn't personally relate to a lot of it, it still hit hard and made me stop. Stop and think, take the poems in. I also appreciated that it remembers trans women are women! I'm a nonbinary trans guy but of course i'm still going to appreciate anytime trans people are remembered and seen as who they are.
I highly recommend this book, and don't read it too fast.
I highly recommend this book, and don't read it too fast.
sam8834's review against another edition
4.0
One of the many fun things about reading this in public is when an old white dude insists on knowing what you're reading, so you tell him and watch the horror-confusion wash over him, slowly, from his New Balance sneakers all the way to his balding pate.
I would read a granola recipe called Black Queer Hoe, so why wouldn't you want to read a whole book with that title? Do it.
I would read a granola recipe called Black Queer Hoe, so why wouldn't you want to read a whole book with that title? Do it.
intorilex's review against another edition
5.0
Content Warning: Racism, Feminism, Sexually Explicit Language
From the introduction to the last page this collection of poems entertained, enlightened, and challenged me. The topics of the poems ranged from serious explorations on race, body image, hoeness, and queerness. I related to this book in a multitude of ways because of the honesty and humor. I have already reread poems and keep thinking about certain lines. The ability of this author to compelling be herself and own her full identity without compromise, challenged me to take a closer look at myself. It is easy to forget to practice self love and ignore the many ways society wants to limit who women are.
i'm not your black friend. not your hero. this book isn't for you. its a celebration of my Blackness, my Queerness, my Hoeness, none of which exists without the other
The tragic cost of being black, poor and male is deftly explored in the poem for Colored boys who considered gangbanging when being Black was too much. The title alone speaks volumes about the reality's and choices people face because of racism. There are far too many people who treat racism like a series of isolated incidents instead of a systematic problem. This book challenges readers to reexamine how they overlook and confront oppression in all of its forms. It also explores sexuality in a unflinching celebratory way, which I cheered on loudly. I would recommend this book to everyone who enjoys modern poetry.
but we don't talk about it. because its ugly. and we are taught to bury our ugly in lovers who have already seen us
Recommended for Readers who
- readers who want to think more deeply about racism, sexuality and womenhood
- enjoy well crafted poetry from own voice authors
- want to consider changing the way they approach allyship
zellapaige's review against another edition
inspiring
reflective
tense
fast-paced
5.0
Journey into these poems knowing that Kapri might take care of you but she also might cuss you out. Enter knowing damn well you might get told about yourself as the Black Queer Hoe sings her song.
(Danez Smith, Foreward, xii)
i create space for marginalized / youth to counter the narrative being forced upon them. / i also punt toddlers for crying on airplanes.
(tindr, 1)
this one time
a man follows me home from the train. forty feet from my
house i face him and start wiping my knife on my jeans. he
walks away. everytime i tell that story someone asks what
i would have done if he kept coming.
(shawty with the ass, 6)
Stand-out poems of the collection are; "reasons imma Hoe", "Bitch", "to the nigga who tweeted 'we need to stop glorifying fat people' while secretly receiving my nudes behind his girlfriend's back", the pair "hidradenitis suppurativa pt. 1" and "hidradenitis suppurativa pt. 2", the perhaps unintentional pair "an incomplete list: of what to do when you're fucked" and "titling", "micro" which helped me understand the functioning of capitalization throughout the collection, and "othered".
The poems "reasons imma Hoe" and "Bitch" genuinely made me gasp out loud with their brilliance. Specifically, "reasons imma Hoe" struck me because it catalogs a non-comprehensive, but extensive, list of reasons why a woman may be critiqued or labeled Hoe. The poem then takes that language that many women hear and turns it around. The speaker internalizes that misogynistic language through a series of "i" statements as if this language is coming from the woman herself rather than the critique of others. In near direct contrast, the poem "Bitch" turns the way that word is wielded as a weapon against women around and reclaims it. The speaker is still internalizing the language of others, but in "Bitch" the word is becoming a source of strength and pride.
marvel at me. take it all in.
make me famous.
ain't no victim here. no shame.
just good lighting
and a fuckable face.
i'm a big glass of over your shit
and you looking thirsty boy.
(the day my nudes leak, 22)
The sparse use of capitalization throughout the collection was one of the more innovative and fascinating aspects of the poems. I would estimate that about half of poems don't contain even a single capitalized word, titles included. It took me an embarrassingly long time, at least half the collection, to even begin to guess what specifically Kapri does choose to capitalize. The only capitalized words are words that directly link to Blackness, Queerness, and/or Hoeness. Proper nouns are often lowercase through the collection, unless those proper nouns are referring to someone Black or a place like Chicago or South Side that is easily linked to Black communities. I realized this specifically in the poem "micro" in which the names of about twenty white women are left in lowercase and in the poem "othered" in which canada, associated with Kapri's father's white family is also uncapitalized. Obviously the words Black, Queer, and Hoe are capitalized through the collection, same with the word Bitch which Kapri often associates with her Hoeness. The only poem of the entire collection that deviates from this pattern is "Juvenile Detention Center Thursdays 5:30-7:00 p.m." this poem's form as a type of erasure is so unique from the rest of the collection makes it feel to me like the only poem of the collection that doesn't seem to belong.
i've cried in the pampers aisle of target. i used to fuck
unprotected, hoping it would end in a child that i had the
option to keep. i [want to] yell at tired moms. i am so
bitter to be an aunt. i take birth control to convince myself
it's a choice. my body feels like a sanctuary god or science
forgot to finish.
(my ob-gyn tells me i may not be able to have children, 29)
I adore this collection. Every poem in the collection made me feel something; seen, challenged, even ignored. I would give the collection 6-stars if I could. The only thing I didn't enjoy about the collection were the pages of Kapri's tweets between the poems. While they brought the collection a bit of humor and maybe the tweet that inspired the title should have been included, I thought these poems were so strong that including the tweets didn't add to the collection in a meaningful way.
i am all dagger mouth and bloody fist. / and i never ask questions later.
(pink crayon, 46)
Aside from a single poem this felt like the most cohesive collection I've ever read. Every poem was a pleasure and challenge to read. Ultimately this collection is everything that I look for in poetry. I love how Kapri's poetry embraces the hyper specificity of the human condition. Traditional poetry tried to appeal broadly to the human condition and create universal statements, Kapri does not. She writes poems about her experiences and her life and welcomes the niche community that her niche voice will create. As a white woman I'm well aware that this collection was not written for me, but it made my Queerness and my Hoeness sing nonetheless.
i can't trust folks / who can only find empathy when facing a mirror.
(othered, 50)
tempest_1313's review against another edition
5.0
Now, hands-down, one of my favorite poetry collections of all time! I'm so happy to have found this volume through my library. I will be buying a physical copy for my own collection.
vipsahtanut's review
challenging
emotional
funny
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault, Racism, and Infertility