Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

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

10 reviews

readingwithcoffee's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

3.75

I would read other reviews because I didn’t fully understand or follow some of the poems so I will reread another time at a better head space. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Miscarriage, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, War, and Death of parent

savvylit's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

4.0

Warsan Shire has an unparalleled ability to write poems that are beautiful and damning at the same time. Whether she is addressing the ripple effects of intergenerational trauma or celebrating existence, Shire expresses so much in so few words. Her poems about the immigrant experience in this collection ultimately resonate the most. They resonate even moreso than her still-excellent observations on femininity and family dynamics; though the latter topics are those for which Shire is more well known. Anyone who feels that they don't understand why someone would ever leave their country of origin ought to read her poem "Home." I'll leave you with a brief excerpt from that so you can witness Shire's powerful words for yourself:

"I want to go home, but home is the mouth of a shark. Home is the barrel of a gun. No one would leave home unless home chased you to the shore. No one would leave home until home is a voice in your ear saying—leave, run, now. I don’t know what I’ve become."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Racism, Sexual assault, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Sexism and Colonisation

jaiari12's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Rape, Misogyny, Violence, Child abuse, Death, Murder, Child death, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, and War

Minor: Blood, Miscarriage, Abortion, Cursing, and Pregnancy

venetiana's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Rape, Blood, Racism, Murder, Eating disorder, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Confinement, Cancer, Abortion, War, Child death, Violence, Vomit, Trafficking, Torture, Terminal illness, Suicide, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Body shaming, Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Fire/Fire injury, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Murder, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Medical content, Mental illness, Infidelity, Grief, Domestic abuse, Deportation, Child abuse, and Abandonment

sharonus's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Blood, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Grief, Death, Physical abuse, Genocide, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Violence, and War

Minor: Suicide, Abortion, and Suicide attempt

czidya's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-paced

3.5

This collection was a mixed bag, but where it was good it was outstanding. Shire's writing is richly symbolic as it deals with challenging topics like abuse, misogyny, and the experiences of refugees. At times I found the imagery so dense it was impenetrable- unfortunately many of the poems left no impression on me at all because I couldn't really make sense of the verbal collage. However, Shire gets the balance right more often than not, creating lush emotional poems that share a fraught but profound relationship with God and religion, as the collection's title suggests.
My favorites of the collection:

• Filial Cannibalism
• Midnight in the Foreign Food Aisle
• Bless the Camels
• Hooyo Full of Grace
• Joyride
• Backwards

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Murder, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Pedophilia, Death, Abandonment, Death of parent, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Child death and War

annemaries_shelves's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

4.5

As a whole, it’s a 4.5 star collection with some outstanding 5+ star poems. 

I loved how she tackled the themes of girlhood and womanhood, experiences of being a refugee and immigrant, grief, trauma, celebrations of life, death, family, and more. Each of the four sections offered something unique to the stories she was telling. 

There are some really heavy subjects/topics and references in this collection, so be aware. 
CW: FGM and gender violence, child abuse and death, rape, death, eating disorders, famine, war and racism, and others.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Grief, Racism, Rape, Sexism, War, Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Violence, and Child death

lotte111's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Child abuse, Death, Misogyny, Rape, Violence, and War

cantfindmybookmark's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, and Racism

2treads's review against another edition

challenging hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

4.0

Forgive us, we blamed you
for floods, for the flush of blood,
for men who are also wolves, even
though you could pull the tide in
by her hair, we tell everyone
we walked all over you.
            –excerpt from Bless the Moon
 
Bless The Daughter Raised By A Voice In Her Head was my National Poetry month read and it was so much more than I expected. 
🖋🖋🖋🖋🖋
Shire has a talent for reaching towards her readers with words that are raw and that create riveting poems that have the power to move you or wreck you. Poems that invite you to parallel your own experiences, the beautiful and the traumatic.
🖋🖋🖋🖋🖋
But there is also a movement towards healing and recognition in her poetry, an honesty that chills at times and an awareness of the weight of her family and identity. Centred throughout is girlhood, motherhood, and womanhood, propelling these poems through time and space as she chronicles loss, love, and divinity. 

I mean Shire at this point, for me, can do no wrong with her poetry. There are poems that will gather you, tear you, teach you, grieve you, and yet still holds space for healing. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Domestic abuse, Violence, War, and Xenophobia