kristy_k's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 Stars
Lovely collection of poetry that focuses on family, race, feminism, and individuality.
A few of my favorite lines:
"My mother is not from your country,
and I am not ashamed."
***
"I am lonely, in my lonely chest."
***
"To replace the languages our mom spoke, we
smoked up our Chinese with blond dolls,
our new knees. American girls."
***
"I was her American
daughter, my tongue
my hardest muscle
forced to swallow
a muddy alphabet."
***
"when a boy plumps his lips on your throat
and asks you to say something dirty
in CHINESE, you flip the sheets
and bite down, tasting trouble
and rage."
***
"there is an entire liquid nation in his face and no-
where to admit what I fear. some day the president
might hurt him, or lie, or
dismiss: my baba who
cleans my passport with alcohol wipes..."
***
"The truth is/ I want to leave but I don't want to leave & I know nothing/ & everything..."
Lovely collection of poetry that focuses on family, race, feminism, and individuality.
A few of my favorite lines:
"My mother is not from your country,
and I am not ashamed."
***
"I am lonely, in my lonely chest."
***
"To replace the languages our mom spoke, we
smoked up our Chinese with blond dolls,
our new knees. American girls."
***
"I was her American
daughter, my tongue
my hardest muscle
forced to swallow
a muddy alphabet."
***
"when a boy plumps his lips on your throat
and asks you to say something dirty
in CHINESE, you flip the sheets
and bite down, tasting trouble
and rage."
***
"there is an entire liquid nation in his face and no-
where to admit what I fear. some day the president
might hurt him, or lie, or
dismiss: my baba who
cleans my passport with alcohol wipes..."
***
"The truth is/ I want to leave but I don't want to leave & I know nothing/ & everything..."
jessica_h's review against another edition
4.0
I only ever rate poetry in terms of my personal enjoyment. I don't read a lot of it, and I wouldn't be able to give recommendations if someone came to me asking for 'good' collections. Whilst I am trying to get more into it, I certainly don't have a burning passion for picking all that much of it up. That being said, I would give this one a 3.5/4 stars for both the beauty in the writing and for the fact that I actually understood a fair amount of the poems. Winner.
I Wore My Blackest Hair is a poetry collection that muses on themes of race, familial obligation, cultural expectation, identity, roots and belonging. Feminine and tender, yet primal at times, and rich with myth.
Thank you to Netgalley and Little A for providing an eBook of this collection for review.
I Wore My Blackest Hair is a poetry collection that muses on themes of race, familial obligation, cultural expectation, identity, roots and belonging. Feminine and tender, yet primal at times, and rich with myth.
Thank you to Netgalley and Little A for providing an eBook of this collection for review.
kklemaster's review against another edition
3.0
I wanted to love this collection, since she’s a Vandy student!! The imagery is just a little too repetitive, to the point of being predictable/overplayed, especially related to descriptions of “knees” - who knew?
justabookholic's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars
Overall, I enjoyed it very much. It was an impulse read where I saw the cover though it was pretty and picked it up knowing absolutely nothing about the book or author than it was a book of. poems. Lo and behold it turned out to be just what I wanted to read; an own voices book on a Chinese American's experience being both a part of both cultures and separate from them at the same time. I related to a great deal to the topics within the poems and thought overall it was a good collection. I did have some issues with certain aspects I personally thought that the use of racial slurs was a bit receptive at times. I did get some flashbacks of similar experiences of racism growing up; which goes to show racists are rarely creative with their slurs. It was a quick read; 20 minutes and I would highly recommend it.
Overall, I enjoyed it very much. It was an impulse read where I saw the cover though it was pretty and picked it up knowing absolutely nothing about the book or author than it was a book of. poems. Lo and behold it turned out to be just what I wanted to read; an own voices book on a Chinese American's experience being both a part of both cultures and separate from them at the same time. I related to a great deal to the topics within the poems and thought overall it was a good collection. I did have some issues with certain aspects I personally thought that the use of racial slurs was a bit receptive at times. I did get some flashbacks of similar experiences of racism growing up; which goes to show racists are rarely creative with their slurs. It was a quick read; 20 minutes and I would highly recommend it.
iamlitandwit's review against another edition
5.0
constant surprises even in a space / I thought I owned.I am absolutely stunned - this is such a lovely collection!!
hspaulds's review against another edition
5.0
(I received a free advance copy from Net Gallery in exchange for an honest review.)
A gorgeous book of deeply personal poems that leave you feeling as though you’ve walked beside the author through various paths of her life
A gorgeous book of deeply personal poems that leave you feeling as though you’ve walked beside the author through various paths of her life
bookish_arcadia's review against another edition
3.0
An interesting collection of poetry focusing on the second-generation immigrant experience and reconciling American and Chinese culture. Duan rakes up powerful emotions of isolation and belonging, both with regards to her race and her sex and brings to light the prejudice caused by both. There are some sucker-punch verses that leap right off the page:
Many were too dilatory for me. While I could feel the emotion I couldn’t really connect to the words. For me, this style of poetry is too loose and unformed, the structure appearing random rather than considered and the metaphors, while striking, are too often over-wrought and hollow at the centre.
My mother
Does not own a
Laundromat or
A take-out restaurant;
She waters orchids
And doesn’t look
Your president
In the eye
Your white classmate sees you. Does not.
White men claim you. Do not.
You are small, fierce and evil: with
Two palms and a chest. There are
boxes made for you to check.
Chinese /
American. Chinese / American.
Your mom calls. She tells you to
Stop
Writing about race. You could get
shot, she says
Many were too dilatory for me. While I could feel the emotion I couldn’t really connect to the words. For me, this style of poetry is too loose and unformed, the structure appearing random rather than considered and the metaphors, while striking, are too often over-wrought and hollow at the centre.
dreamlibrarian's review against another edition
3.0
in the kitchen, my mother and her sister
talk in tiny whispers. a cultural revolution.
spirals of teeth. mouths centered into Os
like slow red pearls.
I Wore My Blackest Hair is collection of poems that encompasses a wide of range of topics from family to dealing with change to racism and back. There is such an element of bravery laid out in these poems. Duan speaks without holding back, creating bold, sometimes regularly shunned imagery such as menstrual blood and mosquitoes biting. It's different from most poetry collections I've read this year, definitely unique. There are times with Duan used imagery that I only partially understood in context, but could see that it might hold a special meaning to her. In that sense, this is a glimpse into her life, where we can see the beauty and the big picture, but are just a little too far away to understand the nuances of all her thoughts.
elfstone's review against another edition
4.0
Thank you to netgalley and to publisher Little A for giving me a copy of this poetry collection in exchange for an honest review.
I requested this ARC through netgalley because I'm interested in experiencing more in my reading life than my traditional American life has provided me. Carlina Duan's poems were a peek into what it means to be American with Chinese heritage and expectations and what it takes to establish independence from parents yet still maintain love.
Carlina Duan writes about fighting to be a fighter, and it was exhilarating to read about all the biting in her poetry. I loved her taking on the expectations of being a girl, a woman, and having to be nice when she is perfectly capable of biting her way through this world.
The poem that resonated the most with me was "I Want My Books Back" and I felt the fury of anger in every carefully chosen word. Thank you, Carlina Duan, for opening my eyes to the wonders of yanking, biting, torching, and packing cuss words in my sleeves. Read this poetry collection and let your inner strength come out and rumble!
I requested this ARC through netgalley because I'm interested in experiencing more in my reading life than my traditional American life has provided me. Carlina Duan's poems were a peek into what it means to be American with Chinese heritage and expectations and what it takes to establish independence from parents yet still maintain love.
Carlina Duan writes about fighting to be a fighter, and it was exhilarating to read about all the biting in her poetry. I loved her taking on the expectations of being a girl, a woman, and having to be nice when she is perfectly capable of biting her way through this world.
The poem that resonated the most with me was "I Want My Books Back" and I felt the fury of anger in every carefully chosen word. Thank you, Carlina Duan, for opening my eyes to the wonders of yanking, biting, torching, and packing cuss words in my sleeves. Read this poetry collection and let your inner strength come out and rumble!