sanmeow's review
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
magnolia, 木蘭 is a poetry collection about culture, language (mostly mandarin), belonging, communication, identity, and more. i absolutely loved the way nina mingya powles talked about language in this collection, it was definitely my favorite part. i suppose that makes sense since i'm a huge fan of linguistics. i loved her style and thought it was very unique and inspiring. the poems were full of emotion, openness, and honesty, and i really appreciate it when authors open up their hearts to the readers. i didn't dislike anything about this collection and i'd recommend it to anybody who enjoys poetry. i also liked how this book reminded me of another book by the author that i read before - tiny moons. i was specifically reminded of it whenever food was mentioned, of course.
mayas's review
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
4.5
I want to reread this. I want to say more so watch this space
Content Warnings
Minor: Blood, Racism, and Death of parent
readingsofaslinky's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
Dreamy, filled, savory poetry
kociefutro's review
3.0
If I had to use one word to describe this book I’d say it’s *pretty*. But not much beyond it. A lot of it was quite average and just made me feel neutral, but some poems and thoughts were really quite moving despite how simple they might have seemed at first glance (read). I definitely enjoyed the most parts where Nina talks about food, which makes me want to read her other book even though I wouldn’t consider this one a very fulfilling read. I also really liked how she talks about Chinese words/names and explains them, it was really quite sweet.
Ps. I added half a star for the cover because well it’s just beautiful and I’m a sucker for nice covers.
Ps. I added half a star for the cover because well it’s just beautiful and I’m a sucker for nice covers.