Reviews

We Were Young by Fortesa Latifi

kaelanaomi's review

dark hopeful fast-paced

3.0

magis1105's review against another edition

2.0

I think is not my thing really for poetry it's either a hit or miss, this time the poems could not connect to me at all. Will give them a chance later on or try another one of the authors books.

gwendolyn_kensinger's review

2.0

Parts were ok but nothing connected. A thousand themes per poem and together they make no sense. This really needed a good editor too.

annikaa's review

4.0

Some poems worked for me more than others but overall I liked it.
Some of my favorite parts:

yesterday, I taught my niece how to say
I love you and she laughed and laughed.
I wonder who taught me.

- the third rejection letter

everyone is terrified of your heart reaching through your ribs.
everyone is terrified of the way you love like an open door.
didn't you ever learn you're supposed to guard yourself?
you're supposed to swallow the key or, at the very least, hide it
behind your tongue.

- everyone is terrified

the saddest thing about growing up
is looking around at my friends and knowing that if I met them
today we wouldn't give a fuck about each other.

- history

my body doesn't know how to be a body
without constant reminders.

- battle

I feel most feminine when there is blood.
I put on mascara three different times before
I leave the house and still check it in the rearview.
I get by on being pretty. it makes people stick around
until they find something else
to like about me.

- reflections on femininity

we want to be ruined.
there is something that
appeals to us about being
the main character in a story
this awful.

- wreckage

I can't remember the last time
I laughed without worrying what I looked like.

- college

you never thought your body could be
anything more except bruised. your locked door.
your haunted house. the unlearning
is taking so long.

- fingertips

mostly, it comes down to this: there are things that grow
with water and there are things that drown. in this story,
he is the water and depending on the day, you can either
breathe or you can't.

- facebook thinks you know this person

Other poems I loved:

sepia
we promised
girl
home

neil0rbleed's review

3.0

I meant to call to tell you that we found your elbow in the bottom of the swimming pool but I wasn't sure if you would want it back.

beamasalunga's review

1.0

I'm frustrated with this one because most of the poems are a miss and I just couldn't connect to it. It's like a rundown of lines and random themes are thrown in. Quite messy in my opinion but I'm willing to give the author's other poetry books a chance.

ltorrice's review

5.0

I discovered Fortesa Latifi's poetry on Instagram, of all places, and immediately fell in love with it. Latifi's writing is relatable, detailed, and profound. These poems are about life as a young adult, learning how to navigate depression and love. I read this book in one sitting and keep going back through and finding new favorites.

magis1105's review

2.0

I think is not my thing really for poetry it's either a hit or miss, this time the poems could not connect to me at all. Will give them a chance later on or try another one of the authors books.