Incredibly personal and raw, Baird takes us on a journey of loving herself but most of the time, not. Unflinchingly honest and bare, a poetry collection I’ll be thinking about for a while.

Huge trigger warnings for eating disorders, self harm, abortion, and depression

This collection hit me right in my 15 year old self. I could deal those same emotions but in my current maturity. I definitely can’t wait to read more from this author.

Quality Rating: Five Stars
Enjoyment Rating: Five Stars

I don’t think I’ll ever make it through a Blythe Baird poetry collection without crying. I don’t think I’ll ever make it through a Blythe Baird poetry collection feeling like dome’s ripped open my chest for the world to see. And I don’t think I’ll ever make it through a Blythe Baird poetry collection without coming out the other side feeling powerful.

I received an eARC copy from Button Poetry via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A short diary that quickly spins us through various topics, some of them being too much and too hard to unpack (TWs for mental illness, suicide, sexual assault, etc.) It feels regressive and progressive at the same time, shifting from despair and suicidal thoughts to healing and hope. The cover is deeply aligned with the numerous tumultuous verses, creating a vivid impression of a marionette dancing to society's tune. Note to yourself: dance to your own tune, always.

I loved Blythe’s previous book and was excited to get my hands on this one. That being said, I didn’t love Sweet, Young, & Worried; I liked it but that was it. Feminism, abortion, eating disorders, grief, and healing are all themes in this collection and Blythe handled them well without being gaudy or immature. The poems were well written, had lovely imagery, and were cutting. But they didn’t resonate with me as much as I had hoped they would. Having just finished the book, I can’t even name a poem that I loved, or remember; I was left a little disappointed and underwhelmed. It was a good collection but it didn’t blow me away.

Sadly, this collection was not for me. The poems were raw and written from the heart, but the writing style didn’t capture my attention.
Poetry is very subjective, so while this book wasn’t for me, it is a raw and honest collection about mental health, trauma and healing.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an eARC in exchange for an honest review

I really liked this book, the poetry was well written, and there were plenty of them that I related to. I liked the progression from sadness, grieve, and suicidal thoughts to hope and growth. It felt like I was talking to an old friend that is finally feeling better. Might need to include some trigger warnings when posted though

3.5/5 stars rounded up :)

This book was insanely powerful! It covered some very heavy topics and made me feel a wave of emotions whilst reading. I related to a lot at the beginning with it taking me back to my teenager days and growing with self esteem issues and social media.
With this being written in verse I found it so easy to devour in one sitting and just ultimately enjoy!

Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read and review Sweet, Young & Worried.

When I came across the book I realised that the authors name seemed familiar. I think I heard her slam poem, when the fart girl gets skinny in freshmen year. Aside from that I haven't read or listened to a lot of her work but now I plan on doing so.

Blythe Baird's collection is beautifully mature. Some of the poems make you sad, but there's a sense of a person who has grown up in these pieces which helps a lot; which gives you hope. That our personalities are more than what broke us.

This is another stellar collection of poetry by author Blythe Baird. Everything this woman writes turn to gold in mind as I read it. She is a poet who truly seems to have a sense of who she is and what messages she wants to communicate to their world through her artistic talent. I highly recommend this collection of poetry!

This is a heartfelt collection that covers many heavy and important topics such as abortion, teen depression and homophobia, to name a few. I had previously heard some of the poems live and very much enjoyed them, so I was happy to see that they hold up in print as well. I'll be looking forward to Blythe Baird's next collection.

Thank you NetGalley and button poetry for access to this e-ARC.

This is a stunning book of poetry that hits all the right notes - raw, inspiring and captivating. Blythe has a way of putting very hard emotions and situations into beautiful words.

I can’t wait to read more of her work!

Sweet, Young, & Worried is by far the most relatable collection of poetry. I will admit that all of my life I have struggled with an eating disorder though not the kind that Baird delved into so deeply and hauntingly. The way that Baird talks about her trauma is the same way we all give parts of our whole selves when we say, "our hearts are on our sleeves". I haven't seen it in such a long time that this variety of emotional verses gave me a sucker punch I wasn't expecting.

Baird has a way with words that reminds me of the vivid dreams I wake up remembering every detail of. I see her words as much as I feel and understand them. There's a complexity to her style that other poets will be unable to mimic, even when the subject matters are much more widely spread across our generations beginning to speak louder.

The second part was my favorite simply because of the pieces that revolved around her and her mother's estranged relationship. There's something healing about facing the fact that your abusers are human and even though they hurt you, empathy is so important to the conversation about generational trauma. Not just empathy for yourself, but for your abuser.

This brough me to tears, and I know fully well this will go on my bookshelf. I also know that that as soon as it is, it will be well read.

Thank you to NetGalley for early access to this book in exchange for a honest review.

Blythes first collection If My Body Could Speak is my favourite poetry book of all time. While this collection doesn’t quite capture that, I attribute it only to the fact I can’t fully connect with some of the emotions displayed In this particular work.

This collection focuses on the themes of body image, sexuality, family and loss. Abortion is also the main theme for a few poems that were my favourites of the collection.

This is very powerful and beautifully written. If you liked her previous collection be sure to pick this up.

Thank you to NetGalley for early access to this book in exchange for a honest review!!!

I’ve loved Blythe’s poetry for years, her words are so honest and raw and I can commend her enough for pouring herself and her experiences into her work. I really enjoyed this collection of hers, it takes me back to watching Button Poetry videos of her work and hearing a piece for the first time.

-Disclaimer: I won this book for free through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.-

"I am hypnotized by being young & fiercely inconvenienced by logic".

A lot of the book dealt with eating disorder recovery & mental illness. I picked it up for the pieces on sexuality, which were few. The book felt like it was more about telling what happened with random keywords (rather than an artistic approach). Just wasn't my style. All-in-all, the collection didn't hold much value for me.

Overall rating 4/5 stars
This is one of the only poetry collections that I have read that have been easy to interpret for a novice like myself but also really hard-hitting. I thoroughly enjoyed the openness of the author and how raw their experiences were shown to us as readers. I would recommend this to anyone, but definitely make sure to check the trigger warnings before reading.

An extremely raw and powerful take on the past, present, and future. These poems will tear you apart, but put you back together with the glimpse of hope they display.

The topics discussed are extremely heavy and sensitive, be aware going into this.

I do think a trigger warning should be added to the description of the book to prepare those who choose to read.

Thank you NetGalley and Button Poetry for giving me access to this eARC of Sweet, Young, & Worried by Blythe Baird. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I think the poetry was well done. I liked the use of space and the way a lot of the poems were different shapes. I thought the way the collection was organized into different parts was clever since each of the parts had specific themes. I also thought the use of the quotes at the beginning of the sections was interesting. It added to the overarching topic of each part.

One suggestion that I would like to make is to add trigger warnings to the description both on the book itself and on NetGalley. There are a lot of serious topics discussed in this poetry collection and I probably wouldn’t have picked this if I knew that it was going to have mentions of a couple topics that I find triggering. The difficult topics discussed in the collection are discussed with honesty and dignity and never romanticized in the slightest, but I think readers who are unfamiliar with Baird’s previous works should be given a more accurate description of the poetry collection.

That being said, I cannot stress enough that I thought the poetry collection was very good and I will probably read more poetry from Baird in the future. (I just wish I could have known what I was walking into ahead of time.)

4 out of 5 stars

Thank you Netgalley, Blythe and button poetry for this “read now” arc of sweet, young, & worried!

Blythe does it again. Her poetry is always so beautifully written. It reaches into the depths of my trauma and whispers that I’m not alone. I admire Blythe and her journey.