Urbanshee is an absolutely breathtaking work. Siaara Freeman is the poet the world needs right now, whether or not that's something we deserve. I will be thinking about Urbanshee for a long, long time.

The undertones of mythology reminded me of Nikita gill's poetry, which I love. Very quick read and beautiful writing. The author has a way of making the reader feel like the two are in on a secret, having a personal and private conversation. A skilled author.

This is a gorgeous book. Usually, I wouldn't say I like poetry. What I've read in the past often comes across as excessively fancy words to explain very basic concepts. This is not the case with Urbanshee. I barely even noticed the format as poetry because I was so immersed in the story.

Urbanshee was a thoughtful and beautifully written book. I'm at a loss for words; I don't know how to explain how good this book was. Even if you don't typically reach for poetry, I will encourage you to do so.

This was a good poetry collection, but it wasn't my favourite. I'm not a fan of long poems, or poems written in big paragraphs, but if you are a fan of poetry like this then I think you would really enjoy this collection. The metaphors were poignant and impactful, and the themes explored were raw and real.

My favourite poems in this collection:
- World in Which the Word Father is Replaced by Hood
- X Things They Never Tell You About the Drug Dealer's Daughter
- Urban Girl in Four Non-Oscar-Nominated Parts Part 4: The One Who Gets Away // Stony
- On the Day I Learned My Father Was Murdered, I Learned
- The Girl is from the Hood
- The Reclaiming
- Paranoia
- I Wish I Could Have Kissed Devon Wilson on the Mouth
- Urban Girl Delicacies // 99 Cent Lip Gloss
- Hexes for my Exes
- Urban Girl & 100 Red Balloons
- Hand-Me-Downs from the Dead, Or Replace / with Joy
- Another Poem about My Dead Father

While Urbanshee has many good poems, I feel like it got boring after a while and I didn't want to finish it. Less would have been much more in this case.

I received an ARC for this on NetGalley, and it was compelling. The poems in this collection were thought-provoking, empowering, and lyrical in nature when discussing the lived experience as a modern day queer Black woman, occasionally referring to herself and people like her as "Urban Girl." Siaara Freeman is outspoken and self-aware about her place in society, and it shows in her poetry.

I would like to thank the IBPA and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC.

I think this is a pretty good collection of poetry. The poems are taken from Feeman's own life and experiences. It is full of raw emotion through much of the collection. I do agree with some other reviewers that the marketing as mythology based is a bit off, but the work itself is very solid. The mythological inspirations in this collection are more subtle than is implied by marketing. However, I do love the cover of this book. This is a great collection of poetry and I highly recommend it to other readers.

Intricate, elegant and thought-provoking. I wasn't able to finish before the Urbanshee expired, but I was very impressed with the poems I read.

3.5

The thing with poetry books I always mention is that they are extremely hard to review. There is always a lot of emotion in poetry, and I would never want to discredit that, but the truth is that what 'works' for you in poetry is very subjective. Here, I think the way the book was marketed made me expect something a bit different than what the book ended up being. The marketing is pretty heavy on mythology and retellings, and I can definitely tell there is inspiration drawn from it, but I think the strengths of the book are in something else, not in that it's a modern retelling.

The retellings were a bit vague and it's more inspired by those stories, but I still do think this is a pretty strong and raw collection that's worth a read. Siaara Freeman talks about her life experiences, there are topics of race, class, sexuality. This is a collection about her experience as a black queer woman, about losing her father, the grief, the good and the bad. I think her voice is strong and her message resonates. With writing, there are different formats of poems, and I thought that was really interesting. I really enjoyed the longer ones, the ones where it almost seems it could be prose. Those felt the most story-like, with how they were written. I imagine this entire collection would sound even better performed, spoken out loud. The poems have a good rhythm and I think they would shine even more that way.

Overall, this was a strong collection I would recommend to anyone interested in raw, emotional poetry that certainly feels like you get a glimpse right into the poet's soul.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review!

Urbanshee is a powerful collection of poems about loss, grief and resilience. With the author’s father’s death at its core, it speaks the raw truth about being a Black girl growing up in a racist country without a father. It’s as much about death and the memory of those who were killed as it is about life and how to heal with the loved one still alive.

English isn’t my first language and when I read poetry I’m always missing things out, but I was touched by Siaara Freeman’s writing and the emotions that flow through her poems. There often is a rythm in her poems that makes them so good to hear (I've been a huge fan of Button Poetry's videos for years now) and it makes some lines particularly striking.

I enjoyed the way mythical themes are introduced into poems that are sometimes about very real and tangible events. It’s like by re-telling her story she makes a tale of it that is more bearable, but that kind of makes a legend out her, her father, her loved ones, the ones who died. I think she has a beautiful way of looking and make us look at her own story, that is both intimate and universal.

Thank you very much to Button Poetry and NetGalley for allowing me to read Urbanshee before its release. Living in France, I have no idea if it will ever be translated, but that would be awesome and I’d love to buy it for the library I work at.

Freeman’s poetry is lyrical, powerful, conceptual and contemporary. It’s very in-line with Button Poetry’s publication style, which is powerful and new. It was a little but long, it I can’t say that there are poems that I would cut, although I lost focus about 3/4 through

Urbanshee is a compelling compilation from poet Siaara Freeman. It’s a celebration, a funeral, and a reckoning all rolled into one. It’s a love letter and lament of the Midwest, what it means to be queer and Black while in these spaces. Urbanshee is a recounting of painful memories and ghosts that haunt. Freeman conveys both grief and healing in a beautiful and raw style. I couldn’t put it down and look forward to reading more from her! Thank you so much to Siaara Freeman, Button Poetry, and Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars, rounded down
This is a really strong debut poetry collection that fails to deliver on all its promises. I think that the marketing for this book does it a huge disservice. It's been advertised as a poetic retelling of myths and fairy tales from the perspective of a black person. However, it's very much Siaara Freeman's story told through poetry that makes use of some mythological motifs.
Once I put that expectation aside, the poetry really shone. It's incredibly well-written and hard-hitting and is something that I'll be thinking about for a while.
In general, I think that if you don't go into this with the thoughts that this is going to be a mythology retelling you'll really love this.

The synopsis of this book is what really got me. I really enjoy the whole idea of it as I was expecting a lot of mythical depictions of many different legends. So I went into it expecting something different, so perhaps that is why I didn't find it the best read or the best read for me at the moment. I feel as though if I came back to this novel with the right mindset, I would have definitely enjoyed it more.

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

Picking up this book, I was ready to dive into urban poems about fairies, mermaids, and other mythical creatures, stories of the past and most favourite fables. I am not sure the collection met my expectations (a few hints here and there did not work for me, I lost that bit there), but it inevitably gave me the urban punch I expected.

Facing the world after having experienced multiple heavy life-changing situations is one of the most difficult burdens to bear; it can feel "as a desert [is] to a siren." Losing a loved one often leaves us feeling lost, empty, vulnerable, and heartbroken; every poem in this collection, every line brings a heavy blow of precisely these sensations and responses. Being strong enough to infuse all these into words, combine them with (tiny) bits of mythology, then mix them all with the Black experience... now, that is a work of art.

However, specific heavy topics, words, and descriptions felt too personal and familiar only to the author; such an emotional discharge does not seem appropriate to comment on. Is it proper to comment on someone's grief? Is it suitable to remark on somebody's self-struggles and difficulties in finding oneself in space and time?

This poetry collection certainly leaves space for much debate and analysis.

I initially picked up this book because of the graphic art, mermaids have always been one of my favorite mythical creatures and I find the ocean to be one of the most unexplored areas in the world so I decided why not? Upon skimming through the initial content I discovered that this book was about poetry which caught me off guard because I had initially insinuated it was a fictious tale or mermaid tales. I love poetry, so I continued to delve into the content and I loved what I read. Siaara Freeman is from Ohio and like most artists from Ohio, she had a very appealing rhythm and undeniably attractive swagger that draws you in to want to read more even though it may not have been what you were initially expecting. I am spellbound by the overall effect that the book had on me. Would highly recommend. 5/5

Going into this poetry collection, I expected the poems to be urbanized/modernized versions of fairy tales, myths, and fables. It is the first thing mentioned in the description. There were references and allusions to Zeus, Athena, and many other mythological and fantastical beings, but many do not have these aspects. I know I went in expecting more of that because of the description, but Siaara’s poetry is some of the best I have ever read or heard. I highly recommend reading this collection of poetry.

I really enjoyed how Siaara discussed such raw topics for her, such as race, religion, and the loss of her father. The poems that she wrote about him were my favorites. I looked up her slam poetry, and I completely recommend watching her perform these poems. They are incredible. She does an excellent job evoking emotions into her poetry that the reader can feel the entire time reading or watching her perform.

Siaara is an incredible poet, and I look forward to picking up Urbanshee for my poetry collection. Along with the powerful messages Siaara conveys, I thoroughly love how she formatted each of her poems. As a poet and a lover of poetry, I enjoy seeing how others decide to present their poetry to their readers. I highly recommend this to the poetry lovers out there.

I've been trying to read more poetry recently, so when I saw this on Netgalley I immediately requested it.

This collection is a raw, honest look at race, class, loss, and sexuality. The poems ranged in impact from heartbreaking to empowering, and they were beautifully written. Something that particularly stood out to me was the poet's use of formatting and spacing throughout the collection, which leads me to believe that this is definitely more impactful in written format than it would be in an audiobook.

There were references to banshees (as evident by the title), sirens, sphinxes, dragons, and even Cleopatra, Zeus, and Athena, which really made the poems more effective for me as I'm big on Fantasy.

I'm excited for this to be published in a couple days so I can get a physical copy for my shelf!

A vibrant and emotive collection of poems, with so much heart and care behind each one. Reading this was a wonderful experience.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of "Urbanshee" in exchange for an honest review.

"Urbanshee" is a heart-wrenching collection portraying Freeman's pains, thoughts, and lived experiences. As a reader who does not often indulge in poetry, I was utterly blown away by the emotions that bled through the page, and even if I have personally not been a Black woman in America or have my father die in such a gruesome manner, Freeman made me feel so deeply. The poems in "Urbanshee" pierce your heart with the shattered shards of the poet, but we also have the pleasure to watch Freeman knit herself back together.

Thank you Siaara Freeman for sharing such a vulnerable part of yourself. Everyone that will pick this up will keep it safe.