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kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
5.0
Right on time, as many things in this life are, and perhaps as the author might say, magically thought into the consciousness of my life. This is a touching glimpse into a harrowing time in the author’s life. As Glennon often says — life is brutifal (brutal and beautiful) and this book is a lasting reminder of that fact. It always feels calming to know that others have experienced the world in a way that feels similar to your own experience — it makes you feel less alone to know you’re not the only one who has ever felt this way. And, it gives you hope that if they could get through it, so in fact, can you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Grief, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
knitterscasket's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity and Miscarriage
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Pandemic/Epidemic
ekg's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity
vanesst's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity and Grief
Minor: Miscarriage, Sexism, and Pregnancy
kelly_e's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
Title: You Could Make This Place Beautiful
Author: Maggie Smith
Genre: Memoir
Rating: 3.50
Pub Date: April 11, 2023
T H R E E • W O R D S
Poignant • Intimate • Poetic
📖 S Y N O P S I S
In her memoir, poet Maggie Smith explores the disintegration of her marriage and her renewed commitment to herself in lyrical vignettes that shine, hard and clear as jewels. The book begins with one woman’s personal, particular heartbreak, but its circles widen into a reckoning with contemporary womanhood, traditional gender roles, and the power dynamics that persist even in many progressive homes.
💭 T H O U G H T S
I'd previously read Keep Moving and appreciated Maggie Smith's style of writing and sense of encouragement, so it was easy to add her most recent release to my TBR with the hope of having a similar reading experience.
Written in verse, each vignettes presents a comprehensive picture along with beautiful imagery and metaphor. The writing is superb! There is a lot of strength, inspiration, and relatability in Maggie's words. Her self-awareness shines on the page as she navigates the journey of rediscovering herself. Despite all of this, the content has me puzzled and questioning the reasoning behind publishing this exact work. At times it felt forced and there is a lot of repetition. This doesn't happened often with memoirs, but I did start to lose interest in what she was telling.
There is no denying the quality of penmanship within You Could Make This Place Beautiful however, I never felt fully invested in what Maggie Smith was selling this time around. I certainly hope it was a healing and therapeutic experience for her to put these words out into the world and I do look forward to future writing from her.
📚 R E A D • I F • Y O U • L I K E
• Maggie Smith's writing
• vague truths
⚠️ CW: infidelity, abandonment, toxic relationship, pregnancy, miscarriage, infertility, mental illness, post-partum depression, grief, medical content, blood, divorce, emotional abuse, gaslighting, misogyny, sexism, pandemic/epidemic
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"Where there had been a future, or at least the promise of one, there was now an ellipses."
"Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror. Just keep going. No feeling is final."
"When you lose someone you love, you start to look for new ways to understand the world."
"Life, like a poem, is a series of choices."
Author: Maggie Smith
Genre: Memoir
Rating: 3.50
Pub Date: April 11, 2023
T H R E E • W O R D S
Poignant • Intimate • Poetic
📖 S Y N O P S I S
In her memoir, poet Maggie Smith explores the disintegration of her marriage and her renewed commitment to herself in lyrical vignettes that shine, hard and clear as jewels. The book begins with one woman’s personal, particular heartbreak, but its circles widen into a reckoning with contemporary womanhood, traditional gender roles, and the power dynamics that persist even in many progressive homes.
💭 T H O U G H T S
I'd previously read Keep Moving and appreciated Maggie Smith's style of writing and sense of encouragement, so it was easy to add her most recent release to my TBR with the hope of having a similar reading experience.
Written in verse, each vignettes presents a comprehensive picture along with beautiful imagery and metaphor. The writing is superb! There is a lot of strength, inspiration, and relatability in Maggie's words. Her self-awareness shines on the page as she navigates the journey of rediscovering herself. Despite all of this, the content has me puzzled and questioning the reasoning behind publishing this exact work. At times it felt forced and there is a lot of repetition. This doesn't happened often with memoirs, but I did start to lose interest in what she was telling.
There is no denying the quality of penmanship within You Could Make This Place Beautiful however, I never felt fully invested in what Maggie Smith was selling this time around. I certainly hope it was a healing and therapeutic experience for her to put these words out into the world and I do look forward to future writing from her.
📚 R E A D • I F • Y O U • L I K E
• Maggie Smith's writing
• vague truths
⚠️ CW: infidelity, abandonment, toxic relationship, pregnancy, miscarriage, infertility, mental illness, post-partum depression, grief, medical content, blood, divorce, emotional abuse, gaslighting, misogyny, sexism, pandemic/epidemic
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"Where there had been a future, or at least the promise of one, there was now an ellipses."
"Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror. Just keep going. No feeling is final."
"When you lose someone you love, you start to look for new ways to understand the world."
"Life, like a poem, is a series of choices."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, Medical content, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic
post-partum depression, divorceimmovabletype's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Grief, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Cursing
kelleywithanextrae's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infertility and Miscarriage
Minor: Infidelity, Grief, Pregnancy, and Pandemic/Epidemic
atamano's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Infidelity, Blood, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Pandemic/Epidemic
jackie10024's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
3.0
This book tells an important and relatable story. However, it does so repetitively and in a way that is sort of self-serving. I can understand the author’s personal imperative to say, “I didn’t do anything wrong, or at least if I did, I didn’t do important things wrong,” but the author being “right” or “wrong” really isn’t a useful point for this book, unless it’s to act as a salve for the writer. What the writer went through could have been told from a more complex perspective, but instead winds up being, essentially, “I was a great mom, I was a good enough wife, this would have happened anyway. Love yourself.” I wanted it to be more uniquely insightful.
Also, there are some aspects of Smith’s writing style that I found so repetitive that I looked to see if I had mistaken a novel for a collection of essays.
This book wasn’t bad, but I would not recommend it unless you particularly like this genre.
Also, there are some aspects of Smith’s writing style that I found so repetitive that I looked to see if I had mistaken a novel for a collection of essays.
This book wasn’t bad, but I would not recommend it unless you particularly like this genre.
Content Warnings
Minor: Infidelity
ghost_rider's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
2.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity