A review by ziggybooks
God Themselves by Jae Nichelle

fast-paced

4.0

"𝘺𝘰𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘭π˜ͺ𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘒𝘺π˜ͺ𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘦𝘴 π˜ͺ𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘰π˜₯ 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘢 π˜₯𝘰𝘯'𝘡 𝘸𝘒𝘯𝘡 𝘡𝘰"

tw: themes of self-harm, death, mental health, suicide, blood, sex, violence.

i must say, this one took me by surprise.

getting into this book i had one thought in mind: how much more can i say about poetry that expresses about something -or someone- i don't necessarily believe in? i've never been a religious person.

jae nichelle's poetry slapped me across the face, but in the best way possible. it stopped me dead in my tracks and forced me to find the meaning behind every verse, and the common things underneath it all.

girlhood, childhood, the female experience, sexuality, family, the human experience. everything from race to religion to queer relationships.

while i am not a religious individual, i do come from a religious extended family. i've seen up close what religion means, how it affects people and those around them. as i read more, i got more into her story.

i loved the use of foot notes! it was creative and i thought that it didn't just add to the writing, it also transformed it into another poem in itself. 'we create our own coming of age' is an example of this. great editing, great versification.Β 

another thing that left me speechless: the water/mother metaphor in 'hands'. just, wow.

the prosody left me wanting more every time and i really liked jae's way of describing thoughts and feelings.

over all, an amazing compilation of poems that follow a pattern and break it at the same time. adored it!

thank you @netgalley @croptopassassin & @andrewsmcmeel for the opportunity!

πŸ’Œ

[ p.s:
shout out to 'lover, we get old' for mentioning argentina, woop!! ]
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