Tag: Poetry

Books

Review: Clap When You Land

by ZaheerahLeave a Comment on Review: Clap When You Land
Review: Clap When You Land

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Carmino Rios counts down the days until her father visits her in the Dominican Republic. But when she arrived at the airport, she is faced with news of his death. In New York, Yahaira Rios is called out of class, where she is informed of her father, her once hero, has died in a plane crash. Separated by their father’s secret, two girls, miles away from each other, must face a new reality together. 

The life of Camino and Yahaira is torn wide open when their father dies in a flight crash and, in preparation for his funeral, reveals sisters who hadn’t known the other had existed. Their father’s secret dangles over them as they’re left with the aftermath. Both desperate and confused about the man they called Dad, his secret burrows deep under and reveals more about themselves than they could ever imagine. Acevedo breathes life into these sisters so effortlessly. Carmino only ever sees her father for a few months of the year, living her life in the Dominican Republic with her tita, going to school and evading watchful eyes who are eager to get their hands on her now that her father is gone. Yahaira has been distant from her father for the past year. The man who taught her chess was not the man she thought he was. They loved him in their own way and in their grief; could they ever forgive him? 

Real events inspire Acevedo’s story: November 2001, a flight scheduled to leave for Santa Domingo crashed, taking 260 lives, a majority of the death being of Dominican descent. This story is about “forgotten” tragedies, out of sight and mind by the majority public but has a significant effect on communities it did affect. Acevedo brings the community and its culture to life and builds a community that was beautiful to read. I loved the contrast in how each communal side reacted in the wake of their father’s death. Acevedo navigates grief with ease in each girls’ perspective; you’ll feel for the struggle of Carmino and Yahaira. And you’ll root for the sisters as they realise what they’re missing, and while they can’t change their father’s past, they can work on their future together.

Alternating between the girls’ perspectives with such emotion and clarity,  Acevedo returns with a brilliant new story. Clap When You Land is a moving novel in verse that explores grief, family and forgiveness in such a concise way, making it a must-read.

GOODREADS | AMAZON | AUTHOR

Books, Graphic Novels, LGBTQIA, Poetry, Romance

Short Review: Aphrodite Made Me Do It and Mooncakes

by Zaheerah1 Comment on Short Review: Aphrodite Made Me Do It and Mooncakes
Short Review: Aphrodite Made Me Do It and Mooncakes

Rating: ★★★★☆ (4/5)

*I received a copy of both books via the publisher and NetGalley in return for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book.*

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Aphrodite Made Me Do It by Trista Mateer

GOODREADS | AMAZON | BOOK DEPOSITORY | AUTHOR

“Regardless of whether you desire it, love is what sits at the core of the world. It is stronger than greed and hate and jealousy and pain. What brings us together will always be more powerful than what keeps us apart.” 

A poetry and prose collection that uses mythological goddesses to create a story of self-love and healing. I’m a not a massive fan of poetry collections anymore, but something about Aphrodite particularly caught my attention. Maybe, I’m just a sucker for mythological goddesses.

 The poetry collection begins with Aphrodite and the author conversing before weaving into different pieces that discussed topics such as body image, abuse and queerphobia. I think about stood out the most was how Mateer framed this collection and its narrative. The collection flows through Aphrodite’s life, while also mentioning other women such as Medusa and Pandora, intertwining their stories with her own experiences. 

I absolutely loved the illustrations and the designs of the tarot cards. I haven’t read anything previously by Mateer, so I don’t know if it’s a common thing, but I wasn’t expecting it. So it added such a nice touch to the entire collection. I would definitely consider buying a physical copy because of the art. 

“I belong to no one. They never wrote that part down.”

Mooncakes

Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker (Author) Wendy Xu (Artist)

GOODREADS | AMAZON | BOOK DEPOSITORY

Rating: ★★★★☆ (4/5)

Nova Huang either spends her time at her grandmothers’ bookstore or investigating supernatural events that occur in her small town. Nothing new rarely happens, until the appearance of a white wolf changes everything. Her childhood crush returns, fighting a horse demon, asking for Nova’s help.

Damn, this story is sweet as hell. Reading this was quite comforting. The autumn vibes were really up my alley. I love Wendy Xu’s style, and it’s what drew me to Mooncakes in the first place. Nova, a Chinese-American, is struggling to cope with the loss of her parents and her duties of being a witch. Tam Lang, a nonbinary werewolf, returns to their childhood home to bring down the demon the resides in the woods, and returning home can bring up some not so good memories. Despite having not seen each other in ages, they return to each other unconditionally, and their support for each other was so endearing and sweet. 

I’d hate to pit the writing and art style against each other since they’re two different things, but, personally, the art carried most of the book. I felt like the writing was more on the weaker side. I think the character development was great, Tam and Nova are adorable. Nova’s grandmothers were funny and great. However, the plot is a little underwhelming at first. I was very interested in the wolf magic and Tam’s past, and how it all connected together in the end. So it’s a shame that wasn’t fleshed out as much as you’d expect, along with the magic system. It felt a little rushed at the end, in my opinion. However, I wouldn’t hold it against the series though. There’s so much to love and I can’t wait to see what comes next!

Books, Contemporary, LGBTQIA, Poetry, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Short stories

Mini-review: Ripped Pages, sunfish and others

by ZaheerahLeave a Comment on Mini-review: Ripped Pages, sunfish and others
Mini-review: Ripped Pages, sunfish and others

Ripped Pages by M. Hollis

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ (5/5)

Princess Valentina braves the unknown and escapes the tower her father locked her in. A sweet and adorable F/F retelling of Rapunzel. This short story has a lot of potential. I would have definitely loved to have read a full-length version of this where we follow Valentina from being forced into the tower by her abusive father, to her life growing up in solidarity, to then finally breaking free and finding her own space in the world. But M. Hollis does a very good job in condensing everything into such a short number of pages.

A very short but satisfying read.

sunfish by Shelby Eileen

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ (4/5)A short poetry collection exploring relationships, grief, and loss. Deeply moving pieces that were interesting to read.

in the absence of the sun by Emily Curtis

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ (3/5)

I read this and sunfish because I wanted to branch out what kind of books I was reading. I have a love/hate relationship with poetry, I don’t know where it stems from but slowly I’m more open to reading poetry than I had in my younger years. But this was a pretty good collection, very quick, very impactful. There isn’t much to say, for me, but I guess, it was an okay reading experience.

No Man of Woman Born by Ana Mardoll

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ (4/5)

*I received a copy via the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book.*

A really cool collection of fantasy short stories where transgender and non-binary characters take centre stage. No Man subverts gendered prophecies of tales that are old as time. There are pronunciation guides provided for each story. And that’s what I liked a lot since I follow Ana Mardoll on twitter, they’re very informative and a pretty interesting person. I was already aware of some nonbinary pronouns, but this book introduces me to some I wasn’t aware of.

My favourite of all the stories was either Tangled Nets or His Father’s Son. All are amazing but these two caught my eye the most and was most intriguing to read. 

Books, Contemporary, LGBTQIA, Non Fiction, Romance, Social Sciences, Young Adult/ Teen

Mini-review: Soft on Soft and Women of Resistance

by ZaheerahLeave a Comment on Mini-review: Soft on Soft and Women of Resistance
Mini-review: Soft on Soft and Women of Resistance

41212987Soft on Soft by Em Ali

Rating: ★★★☆☆(3/5)

June Bana is a growing make up artist whose looks are gaining traction by the day on social media. But to June, the real her is a quiet homebody and lives a life less eventful than the pictures on her feed. Then she meets Selena Clarke, drop dead gorgeous model, who loves June for who she is.

A soft sweet tale of two women learning each other and falling in love. A rapid contemporary read with little to none conflict. This title is very fitting. Soft on Soft is precisely what you get. This story centres two women of colour falling in love. The writing is simple and easy to follow. Pop culture references abound!

Its uneventful plot makes a bit tricky to read since you can hardly tell what is going on at the moment. I don’t expect something tragic to happen to make it interesting, but something a little more eventful would’ve improved the pacing a lot.

Overall, there’s something to love in this. Em Ali has a bright future in of them. I know I’ll read more.

UPDATE: Purchase links for Soft on Soft are not currently available as the author has taken them offline for further edits. I will upload a longer review once it’s available. 

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Women of Resistance: Poems for a New Feminism – Edited by Danielle Barnhart and Iris Mahan

Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3/5)
when a girl pronounces her own name
there is glorywhen a woman tells her own life story
she lives forever

A feminist poetry collection that discusses race, gender identity and sexuality. I really enjoyed the variety of poetry styles that each contributor used. There’s a variety in content and form. I am not sure each piece is beautiful and exciting. The collection encompasses the works of a diverse range of poets who I’ll definitely want to check out. I don’t read that much poetry, but this collection of works from such inspiring people was indeed a hidden gem. 

I received a review copy from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review. This in no way affected by opinions of the book.

Books, Other, Poetry, Romance

Review: The Poet X

by ZaheerahLeave a Comment on Review: The Poet X
Review: The Poet X

Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5)

Xiomara is the titular The Poet X who learns to find her voice in the pages of her journal, hidden from the world. Her passion and frustration grows in the pages of her notebook, reciting stories that must never leave the pages the ink drys on. But when she’s invited to her school’s slam poetry club, Xiomara decides to speak up in a world that doesn’t want to hear from her.

The Poet X follows Xiomara’s life as she tackles a world that works not in her favour. A world that doesn’t want to hear from her. The story tackles and addresses so many important topics. One of the main issues is sexual harassment and how victims of it are affected, especially from a young age like Xiomara. Another is how Xiomara grapples with living in a conservative household with religious parents. We follow Xiomara as she handles the shame, fear and confusion as she tries to fit in the boxes life had already decided for her.

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