Reviews with content warning for Racism - Poor

Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Poor by Caleb Femi

10 reviews

achilleanshelves's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

3.75

This is a fantastic collection exploring identity and the experience of growing up Black in South London. It combines Femi's poetry and photography to great effect to convey significant emotion, authenticity and poignant meaning. The photographs are just as stunning as the words themselves, which was a pleasant surprise as someone who went into this looking to discover a new poet - it was like an extra treat.

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infinitedani24's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

Painting harrowing images of concrete estates and the racial violence enacted within and around, Femi realises a neglected world. Beautiful poetry and apt accompanying images make for a fantastic collection deserving of the praise it receives.

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amgarrido's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

4.5

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nilescrane's review against another edition

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5.0

best book I've read so far this year, hands down.

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fionag's review

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

4.0

I’m finding it hard to find words for this collection. This is the first poetry collection I’ve ever read in full, and the first time in a long time I’ve read poetry not to study it. Femi’s Poor really gave me a taste of London and ‘the endz’ and what it means to the people whose lives revolve around it. I loved the addition of photography, which was so beautiful and vulnerable, and the likening to religious imagery too. These poems are about real life and while I’ve lived a very different life from the author, they still hit me hard, and the imagery was visceral. I have so many lines from these poems on my phone now because they’re absolutely gorgeous- I got serious Caleb Azumah Nelson vibes just by how stunning the language and imagery is. Talks of Grenfell and Mark Duggan broke my heart. For me, I definitely felt that the first half of the collection was a bit stronger than the second, but I really enjoyed it nonetheless. I’d love to see what else Femi writes!!

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lydiavsbooks's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

I'm not gonna rate this one, because I'm still too new to poetry to fully appreciate this one so my rating would be lower than it deserves.

There were some that I really enjoyed, and some that went a little over my head. These are a few of the former: thirteen, Schrodingers black, survivors guilt, concrete (3), and excerpts from journal entries 2017

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sachimi's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

4.75

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beca_reads's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

5.0

a powerful collection of poetry, about growing up black and British. It talks about culture and police brutality, racism and death.

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afion's review against another edition

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4.0

Don’t think I know enough about poetry to properly appreciate this book, but some of the poems have really stuck with me

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thevampiremars's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad fast-paced

4.0

Poor is a good collection of poems. Some of my favourites include Barter, Ingredients & Properties of Concrete, Concrete (III), The Moon Gave no Name to Tides, and A Designer Talks of a Home / A Resident Talks of Home (II).

I felt the photos didn’t really add much.

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