Reviews with content warning for Sexual violence - I Would Leave Me If I Could: A Collection of Poetry

Despite note being an avid reader of poetry I really enjoyed this book. As a Halsey fan it added a lot of insight into her life and music and made me feel like I was getting a special preview. I enjoyed the words and I resonated with some of the poems. Some felt confusing and missed the mark but it was still interesting to read about such experiences. Some of my stand out poems were Wish You The Best, The Tourist, Onanism, Eight, The Painter, Antagonist, Fun Girl (I think my favourite) and A Story Like Mine (search her performing this at the womens march, I cry every time). I think this book would be great to return to as life goes on and see whether I read anything differently. I would recommend this for fans of Halsey and poetry lovers but please consider trigger warnings before reading as there are very dark themes discussed.

Content Warnings

siriuslyjenn_'s review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

Content Warnings

deekeeme's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional reflective relaxing sad fast-paced

4.0

Not sure how I feel about the whole collection but I definitely enjoyed a number of the poems. It is really interesting spotting lyrics from her songs in her poetry. The imagery is a bit gross at times and there are heavy themes of sexual abuse and violence. Overall, it's an interesting read.

Content Warnings

cilly_karma's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional sad slow-paced

2.0

This is an uninteresting poetry collection, where I would save only a handful of poems (especially the ones where there is some form of storytelling). The imagery is common or vulgar and doesn't quite match the songwriting habilities of the author. A shame for a singer, there is no musicality in the poems. A quite dull read.

Content Warnings

nofy's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

i love halsey, i wish she would adopt me :'((

Content Warnings

angel_kiiss's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.25

I actually vibed with a lot of Halsey’s poems, but if anything I think that says more about me and my relationship to my angst-filled years than it does Halsey. However, I strongly respect the criticism that this collection has garnered because it does deserve it. Like many have pointed out before, the poems are strong in foundation but feel as if they are drafts in the making. Some don’t flow well or are a little too clunky or have several out-of-topic lines that don’t read well with the rest of the poem. It’s good but it needed more time in the over, as they say.
She’s a lyricist and it shows, almost every fifth line hitting as if it’s a kick to your soul. She even includes the poem she read at the Women’s March in 2017 which is, honestly, spectacular. Every third or so poem reads like a diary entry and not a poetic stanza but that’s okay only if your a big fan of Halsey, which I am, but doesn’t ring the same if you came here to read her poetry, not a Dear Diary post.
It’s also littered with the poems that either inspired or began a lot of her songs from Manic and some from Hopeless Fountain Kingdom. Many are taken straight from poem to lyric, but there are some which differ ever so slightly and it’s cool to see the different stages of the writing process. My favorite lines from Clementine are seen in the original stanza in Stockholm Syndrome Pt. 1 and as a fan that was enjoyable to see.

Content Warnings

More...