Reviews tagging 'War'

Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head by Warsan Shire

43 reviews

b3lka_'s review

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

3.75

Deeply emotional and reflective. Illustrates complex themes of girlhood and the struggles of racism and assimilation experienced by immigrants. Quick read approx 40 min. 

“No one puts their children in a boat, unless the water is safer than the land. No one would choose days and nights in the stomach of a truck, unless the miles travelled meant something more than journey.”

“mothers from ordinary homes, much like our own, feed on the viscid shame their daughters are forced to secrete from glands formed in the favour of men.”

“We lie in bed beside each other, holding mirrors to the mouths of our skirts, comparing wounds.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Rape, Death of parent, and War

chloebaboey's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Grief

Moderate: Eating disorder, Violence, and War

crystalisreading's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad

5.0

Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head is beautifully raw and unflinching poetry. Absolutely haunting, and so gorgeous, especially as an audio book read by the author. War. Displacement. Violence. Life as a refugee. Loss after loss, and the resulting pain and addiction and trauma and abuse, the fracturing of family and relationships. The lyrical beauty of the poetry does not diminish its emotional potency.  There were scenes the author described that I couldn't get out of my head, and I had to read something else before I could fall asleep that night. Highly recommended, just take care to check the content warnings, because wow, there's a lot. 

Thank you to Random House and  #NetGalley for a chance to read an advance digital copy of the gorgeous #BlesstheDaughterRaisedbyaVoiceinHerHead 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and War

seventhswan's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

2.25

I loved Teaching My Mother How To Give Birth, so I had such high hopes for this full-length collection - but I was disappointed. If I hadn't read any of Shire's earlier work, I might have liked this better, but many of the poems were reworks of poems I'd already read in TMMHTGB, and for me the earlier versions were better. I was especially heartbroken to see Trying To Swim With God stripped of its rhythm and everything that made me connect with it so strongly when I first read it. 

I don't think this is an outright bad collection - I wouldn't warn people off it, and there was the occasional poem, such as the one for Victoria Climbie, that I found moving. It just felt hollow to me, and overly pared back in comparison to TMMHTGB.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual violence, and War

Minor: Miscarriage

glittery_phoenix's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

I saw a snippet of Warsan's poem "Home" on social media, and was so captivated by her writing that I immediately bought her book - despite not being a fan of poetry. 

Bless The Daughter reeled me in with each line of beautifully (and often painfully) written text. This book has triggered my new love & appreciation of poetry! It provides an incredible insight into her experiences and inner monologue.... so whether you can relate to it or learn from it, I can promise you that this book is powerful and a privilege to read. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual violence, Grief, and War

leantonego's review

challenging emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.5

This poetry-memoir is a heartwrenching examination of what it means to be an immigrant, Muslim, and woman of color in the UK.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: War

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

ukponge's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, and War

yinflower's review

emotional reflective fast-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Abandonment, and War

michaelion's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

2.25

I like poems that rhyme so this one just wasn't for me :/ There's a few good moments but it didn't really feel artistic. That doesn't take away from the art though, it just feels more like she had all these heavy things on her mind weighing her down that she just had to get out there and maybe she'd feel lighter after. FIVE stars for the art FIVE stars for the title.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Racism, Rape, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, War, and Deportation

Moderate: Child death, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Body horror, Homophobia, Pedophilia, and Abortion

theliteraryteapot's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

4.0

Warsan Shire you have such a wonderful way with words.
Very sharp. Some beautiful metaphors (the moon and anything space-related always get me). Tearing the reader's heart apart.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, and War

Moderate: Miscarriage

Minor: Alcohol