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inkdrinkers's review
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
3.0
"my issue / is i'm always / missing / old versions / of people" (22)
Reyna Biddy's we find our way is a hard collection to describe. It's in part self-reflective, but part reflective of how the world has systematically treated black people, and specifically, black women their entire lives. Biddy's voice is like a drum beat, building with each poem in intensity, reminding the reader that life takes work and life is often not as pretty as some poets describe it.
I think I would have liked this collection more had I known going into it that it was more serious. These topics aren't light-hearted and they don't read in an easy manner. Biddy takes time to discuss not only systematic racism, but miscarriage, death of a parent, police brutality, and the covid-19 pandemic. A lot of these poems had a wonderful cadence to them - but that also meant that I felt like something was missing as I read. It was the equivalent of reading a play instead of being able to see it acted out on a stage, these poem's needed the weight of Biddy's voice reading them.
While I did enjoy a handful of the poems in this collection, it overall felt like it didn't connect with me. I had a hard time relating to the mentions of pregnancy and miscarriage and I feel like that personally impacted my ability to enjoy the overall collection. The tone is somber at times, but the writing is beautiful. I would highly recommend readers seek out Reyna Biddy's spoken word performances online to get the full impact of the author's talent.
Disclaimer, I received a free physical copy of this book via Andrews McMeel's influencer program.
Content warnings: brief mention of miscarriage, death of a parent description, racism, and police brutality.
Reyna Biddy's we find our way is a hard collection to describe. It's in part self-reflective, but part reflective of how the world has systematically treated black people, and specifically, black women their entire lives. Biddy's voice is like a drum beat, building with each poem in intensity, reminding the reader that life takes work and life is often not as pretty as some poets describe it.
I think I would have liked this collection more had I known going into it that it was more serious. These topics aren't light-hearted and they don't read in an easy manner. Biddy takes time to discuss not only systematic racism, but miscarriage, death of a parent, police brutality, and the covid-19 pandemic. A lot of these poems had a wonderful cadence to them - but that also meant that I felt like something was missing as I read. It was the equivalent of reading a play instead of being able to see it acted out on a stage, these poem's needed the weight of Biddy's voice reading them.
While I did enjoy a handful of the poems in this collection, it overall felt like it didn't connect with me. I had a hard time relating to the mentions of pregnancy and miscarriage and I feel like that personally impacted my ability to enjoy the overall collection. The tone is somber at times, but the writing is beautiful. I would highly recommend readers seek out Reyna Biddy's spoken word performances online to get the full impact of the author's talent.
Disclaimer, I received a free physical copy of this book via Andrews McMeel's influencer program.
Content warnings: brief mention of miscarriage, death of a parent description, racism, and police brutality.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Miscarriage, Racism, Police brutality, and Death of parent
gabriellejane's review
fast-paced
3.5
Thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the read-now copy of We Find Our Way.
3.5 Stars
Overall, there were only a few poems that really stood out to me and were bookmarked to go back to at a later date. A middle-of-the-road collection. Like most poetry collections, I believe they are best read multiple times to get the most out of the poems, yet I probably won't revisit this in its entirety. I wish that the little advice asides were edited out as they took away from the flow and were too ordinary to really be saying anything new. I think one more edit would have eliminated some of the filler-like poems and opened the space up for a better narration.
Poems that I will revisit: off course, the fool, something tells me, spirit says, and good woman.
3.5 Stars
Overall, there were only a few poems that really stood out to me and were bookmarked to go back to at a later date. A middle-of-the-road collection. Like most poetry collections, I believe they are best read multiple times to get the most out of the poems, yet I probably won't revisit this in its entirety. I wish that the little advice asides were edited out as they took away from the flow and were too ordinary to really be saying anything new. I think one more edit would have eliminated some of the filler-like poems and opened the space up for a better narration.
Poems that I will revisit: off course, the fool, something tells me, spirit says, and good woman.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Miscarriage
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