Reviews tagging 'Racism'

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

33 reviews

melhara's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

3.5

This was a very well-rounded collection of melancholic poems that deals with themes of immigration, abuse, racism, and numerous other dark and sad themes.

As with most poetry collections, there were some poems that stood out to me more than others, including Assimilation; Drowning in Dawson's Creek; My Father, The Astronaut; and, Bless This House.

Here's a passage from Assimilation:

The refugee's heart often grows
an outer layer. An assimilation.
It cocoons the organ. Those unable to grow the extra skin
die within the first six months in a host country.

As much as I like listening to poetry via audiobook or reading it via ebook, I did have some difficulty navigating between the glossary at the end of the book and the poems (as there are many Somali words included in the poems).

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Physical abuse, and Racism

brianareads's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Sexual violence, and Violence

Minor: Torture and Murder

rheagoveas's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence

Moderate: Racism and Sexism

faduma's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, and Classism

samanthatully's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism and Sexual assault

inamerata's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad

5.0

Absolutely stunning. The imagery, the word choice, the pacing, the emotions, the craft -- I lack the words to describe how good this is. This book deals in quite heavy topics, but if you are able, I definitely recommend it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Misogyny, and Rape

Moderate: Death, Racism, Sexual violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, and War

Minor: Cancer, Eating disorder, Suicide, and Cannibalism

venetiana's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

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

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

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

booksandteatime's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Racism, Sexual assault, Islamophobia, Grief, Colonisation, and War

lindseyhall44's review against another edition

emotional

5.0

Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in her Head is one of my favorite poetry collections of this year ( maybe ever).
“Backwards” and “Bless this House” are two stand out poems for me, but there are plenty of incredible ones which will pull on your heart strings and never cease to amaze you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Abandonment, and War

Moderate: Xenophobia