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robinks's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
I’ve been following this poet on IG for a while, and her powerful voice comes through in this collection as well. I also really loved the formatting, art, and color scheme of the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, Colonisation, Mental illness, Self harm, Blood, Sexism, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gore, and Islamophobia
Moderate: Deportation, Murder, Racism, Cultural appropriation, Death, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Abandonment, Grief, War, and Sexual assault
Minor: Cursing, Death, Drug use, and Sexual content
parisa0npluto's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
3.25
this book presents this really powerful & poignant perspective of a queer muslim femme, and how she's navigating a world that wasn't built for her. she writes about how it feels to have your existence attacked, undermined, and overlooked by political institutions, the everyday man and the people around you. it discusses intersectionality in a range of different scenarios. it covers colonialism, love, diaspora, gender, displacement, belonging & also privilege. i love any kind of poet that can express themselves in such a broad and personal matter, as roisin did here. the collection comes alive when read aloud. bonus points for how beautifully formatted this book is— the colors, the illustration, and the layout are all absolutely lush— they made reading this collection feel decadent and fun.
some poems i really loved but a few of them read like instagram poetry, a novel of hers might be more my style. the lack of economy of language makes it feel like a work that is better suited for long-form/personal essays. but the writing was just …. not as enjoyable as i wanted it to be. ever so often catchy phrases/cliches would throw me off the tracks of my previously more tranquil headspace. i’d love to read a short story collection by roisin but will be staying away from her poetry.
a lot of the poems and the lines in the poems truly do resonate. it's just that it feels ... not quite there yet? the concept is there but there's something that falls short, something that doesn't feel quite as genuine as the author hopes. there were a lot of lines i highlighted but nothing that truly grabbed my heart and made me feel.
there are a few filler poems in here, which i wish had been edited out because they do kill the momentum at parts. i had huge expectations for this collection, i feel like it would've worked more if some pieces got furnished, or it was a bit shorter. my other critique of this book is that it doesn't flow together. each poem stands on its own; however, it seems a bit clunky when it's put all together. there was zero organization or cohesion among the poems that made this collection feel purposeful.
favorites:
you feel me right, you feel me?
plastic bags inside another plastic bag to carry said plastic bags
je ne suis pas folle
1971
under the golden hour
it's all love
golden lube
mansplain nation
the one's with teeth
what 9/11 did to us
belonging
we go on sisters, we go on
unlearning
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and War
natgoe's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Islamophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, Body shaming, Rape, Cursing, Self harm, and Emotional abuse
littlerah's review
dark
emotional
reflective
I found I was not able to put this book down when I found it in a bookshop earlier this week. Fariha Roisin’s words combined with gorgeous detail by Monica Ramos and design by Diane Shaw is eye-catching and demands to be heard.
Roisin writes about identity, about trauma, and about finding the balance of yourself between the elements of family and culture. I found her writing to be raw, but also soft enough to gently draw out the words into a series of beautiful poems. Watching Roisin try to find substance in her life was relatable and honest.
i am bigger than
this pain, a
vortex of every
narrative I’ve
screamed together
to have purpose
frequency (13).
this pain, a
vortex of every
narrative I’ve
screamed together
to have purpose
frequency (13).
Where Roisin writes of maternal trauma, sex and sexuality I felt the most at home. But she goes beyond this into critiques of society and racism. We read of her experiences of 9/11, her family’s experiences of wars undocumented on white media, of 1971. Roisin is careful and powerful.
remember us, like you’d remember white death. Remember us with no guilt. Just remember that we lost so much more than what you’ve afforded us to lose (112).
For the most part I am struck by the power in Roisin’s writing, each word and comma. In other reviews I have seen curiosity about essays and nonfiction and I would echo these sentiments, hoping to see further exploration of writing styles.
That said I enjoyed this collection.
Favourites included:
you feel me right, you feel me
je ne suis pas folle
loss becomes her
how to become a ghost ii
haruomi hosono
sporting a new look
it’s all love
we go on sisters, we go on
who’s right
this one’s for me.
je ne suis pas folle
loss becomes her
how to become a ghost ii
haruomi hosono
sporting a new look
it’s all love
we go on sisters, we go on
who’s right
this one’s for me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, and Mental illness
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