scrow1022's review against another edition
4.0
Stories to meditate on, the language both excites and astounds.
laurelinwonder's review against another edition
5.0
I'd like to begin by quoting a review from the Chicago Tribune, because I think it says what I most want to say succinctly: "the beauty of Osman's words from a craft perspective, but also because of the fierceness of her desire to interrogate such issues as racial politics, violence against women and the struggles of being an immigrant. No matter their subject, her poems are amazingly human and frequently funny, even when they seek, as the title suggests, to testify."
This collection is a dream, because the language is lulling, but the content heartbreaking, and thought provoking. I feel that each reading unveils more. There are many reasons that Osman is on many lists of poets to watch, and I know I will be. Also, she is just a delightful person.
This collection is a dream, because the language is lulling, but the content heartbreaking, and thought provoking. I feel that each reading unveils more. There are many reasons that Osman is on many lists of poets to watch, and I know I will be. Also, she is just a delightful person.
repeatbeatpoet's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
3.5
Shouts to @ladanbadan for a remarkable collection here, from the foreword by Kwame Dawes - “Osman’s poetics involve a distinctive willingness to allow leaps and non sequiturs to turn into arresting and engaging music”, and that’s the sense I got reading the combination of poems functioning as prayers, still-life scenes, memories, extensions of moments and revelations, poems as ways to witness life and specifically the lives of women, through a type of poetry that is constantly questioning, asserting, discovering, but completely its own self-contained style. Ngl, didn’t get everything in here, but still v interesting.
abby's review
5.0
despite being published in 2015, this is my 'if you're only gonna read one book of poetry this year, read this one' book
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