** I got an Ecopy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review **

I liked this one. It contains lots of poetry and prose inside which I think very relatable with my own life. Somehow I could see myself in it. I don't know whether it's such a good sign or not. Hmm.

The book's divided into some parts which each part told another part of life. All I can say is the book seemed so real, you need to check it out though. Everything that's written inside like did happen to us and still does.

Pillow Thoughts is a collection of short poems about love, the beginning of romantic love, the end of one, the ability to sustain it. It's an easy but thoughtful read.

I really enjoyed this collection. I would like to read more from this author. The voice was very clear and easy to follow!

Short, beautiful, emotional, lovely. The book is broken into sections so you're sure to find something when it's needed. Recommend!

This was a decent poetry book. Each chapter/section focused on a specific feeling like sadness, love, heartbreak, etc. There was a point where I felt a bit bored, but I decided to finish the book. Some sections are better than others. Some of the poems were straight forward. As another reviewer stated, some of the poems felt like inspirational quotes that you find online. Overall, I would recommend this book if you like poems.

I am going to admit something that should make me ashamed: I picked this book solely off the cover. I do it so often that my friends are just used to me picking up books as we walk by displays in the library and leaving before we even make it back to the stacks. How could I pass up on this cover? I love it and it looks exactly like something that would drag me in. Why would a jellyfish have pillow thoughts? I was immediately drawn in. Goodreads and Amazon have different covers for the book, but I refuse to acknowledge them or use them.

To follow the jellyfish motif, there are little drawings of a jellyfish between the sections that match the sections. I have no idea why I love it, but I do. I didn't know that jellyfish would be a good way to sell me on something until this book. It might not hurt that I then imagined every poem was written by a jellyfish, which in the end just made me worried about jellyfish culture and very impressed with their emotional depth. 

The poems were very striking. They ranged from one line to paragraphs. I was finding myself relating to most of the poems almost immediately. This book became a very personal and visceral experience for me. It was shocking that a jellyfish could understand me so well. I found so many of the poems allowed for multiple expressions of love. There was an openness that allowed them to apply to my long distance best friend that I love, as well as to partners I have lost. I love how it fit into a more modern view of love. 

I also requested another book by this author. I am excited. NetGalley might be morphing me into someone who looks forward to poetry.

Every-day poetry that everyone can enjoy and devour; sadly, it just wasn't my cup of tea. This collection tried too hard to be uplifting and motivational a lot of times. The use of second person in the poetry did make it feel like the reader was being directly addressed and thus, I could connect to it better but because of it I felt a little uneasy and also had frequent 'can I eye-roll please' moments because of the overly cliché lines used that you hear in almost every motivational lecture whether it be from your guidance counselor or in this case, the author.

Some pieces, specifically in 'the portion "if you are in love" were too trite in my opinion. They did reflect strong emotion but the writing could've been much more better if it was something refreshing rather than something you feel like you read as a quote somewhere or in a valentine's day card. In addition to this, some features of poetry writing just didn't work for this collection in my opinion, especially rhyme, for some reason, every time a piece with rhyming came up, it felt forced and uneven - every time a poem with rhyme came up, I was distracted from all that I enjoyed in this collection.

The one thing I really liked about this collection was the way it was structured; the different parts made you ready for whatever was about to come and as an ocd-ish person I liked reading something clearly very organized. Furthermore, the thought behind the structuring is really nice, as the cover says "It is divided into sections to read when you feel you need them most."

Admittedly, I didn't particularly enjoy the first half, but the second half was much better! There were some well-written poems towards the end. Special mention to "if you need encouragement" portion because all the pieces felt original, heartfelt and resounded with me more than the rest of the collection.

Overall, even though for me this lacked originality, it wasn't something that I regret reading.

Like many of the other modern poetry collections out there, Pillow Thoughts is not so much a collection of poems, but a collection of mini guides to get through specific moments in time. Much of this collection is focused on the reader and less on the experience of the poet, however, it is that initial experience that leads the poet to be able to dole out advice, love, and wise words to the rest of the world.

I will say that you have to be in a certain mood to read this book. I read the first half of the book during a pretty bitter time, and I spent most of the time reading this scoffing and rolling my eyes as I turned the page. The bitterness in myself eased up, and I read the second half of the collection, completely open to what it was trying to tell me. I can't say that it's a cure-all for a bad mood, but if you pick it up at the right time, you can help your soul find some perspective.

This is a poetry book with a lot of praise but lack of impact. It did not felt like poetry. It felt like a conversation.

A conversation in bits and pieces. I did find a poem which came under my rug of likes but otherwise. Meh!

Thank you so much to Andrew McMeel publishing via netgalley for sending me an ARc copy of Pillow thoughts by courtney peppernell. Pillow Thoughts will be released on August 29, 2017.

Pillow thoughts was beautifully written, very descriptive and with any poetry collection hopefully certain poems speak to you.

"I have been a little often on since the day I met you this is because I've never known what it was like it to be perfectly aligned"

Pillow thoughts was something i hadnt heard anything about and was amazed at how complex, deep, and emotional her poems got.
Everyone is going to view poems differently because we have all been through different things in life but i think this book has something for everyone!

"I hate to spoil the ending but you are fine you are still here you are going to make it"

I wish that I could rate this higher, I really do. I know saying that is kind of redundant. Why can’t I rate it higher? What’s stopping me? But I feel the need to be truthful, and although I realise that poetry is generally a masterpiece of emotion for the author, I didn’t feel a single thing. It just fell flat.

Are you familiar with the saying that the first impression is the most important one? There is an intro before the chapters and the table of contents that really doesn’t do this book any favours. It is simplistic to the point where this could be mistaken as a children’s book and coupled with the gorgeous illustrations, you find yourself wondering whether this could actually be the case. It didn’t say that it wasn’t for children. It doesn't help that the first poem is a simplistic listing of things.

You tried very hard
But sometimes it didn’t feel like enough.

While I enjoyed some of her paragraphs, the others didn’t have a point that I could clearly see. Because of this, all of her poems get quite monotonous after a while as they all appear to be about the exact same thing. Love, yes, but the idea that this one person that they love is the only thing in their world that matters. Which is fine, when said in different ways each time. Saying that someone is the only painting in your gallery, the only balloon in the sky and the only diamond in the sand (I made some of these up, but you get the gist) isn’t entertaining when it’s done every single poem. I’m sorry.

To counteract the negativity, here are some quotes that I did kind of like:

I have been a little off balance since the day I met you. That is because I have never known what it is like to be perfectly aligned.

My heart's a little swollen.

I am in awe of the way you walk, and yet you walk right past me.

I loved this book. It was inspiring, simple to read and made me yearn for more

Poetry usually isn't my thing, but after skimming through a collection in a bookstore, I decided to give it another go. I found Pillow Thoughts on NetGalley and decided to request a copy of it.

I'm really so glad that I did. I'm a big fan of those heart-wrenching ballads of the 90s, the kind of songs that make you want to ugly cry because you can relate to longing and the heartbreak. This collection is a lot like that. There were so many of the poems that I felt like I could relate to, which to me makes a reading experience that much more enjoyable.


I also liked that Peppernell wrote with such rawness. Through so much of this collection, there's no second guessing the meaning or need to analyze, which is what I typically struggle with when it comes to poetry. She outlines feelings and thoughts exactly, throwing in some beautiful imagery along the way.


If you're a reader like me who typically goes for the straight-forwardness of fiction, you can give this collection a shot. I think it's worth it!

f rom this first poem, I felt as though my feelings were etched and replicated on every page. Courtney is in touch with all aspects of love, be it happiness., unrequited love., love lost, or the excitement of finding new love

Some of the poems are beautifully written but others sound too obsessive like the first two parts of the book. After the first two parts, I gradually start to like the book and my favorite poem is "I feel as though I am always writing my first draft. As though my life is a series of edits that I never have time to complete.". I would recommend this book for people who are deeply in love, hurt, or lost.

This was such a beautiful book. It was filled with raw emotions and text made into vivid pictures. I fell in love with this book form the first section. It contains smal poems on each page, all of them fit perfectly into its section. This is the type of book I would love to have on my bedside table to read when I cannot sleep. Just to realize that I am not alone with my feelings.

Make yourself a cup of tea and take a big blanket over you, get ready to get your feels on!

It's good but only in parts. Sporadic line breaks and fancy (read - annoying) line alignment issue is (sort of) strong with this one as well.

The content (again, in parts) felt good while reading, soothing even, but it's easily forgettable and I don't think that's how Poetry should be.

While Pillow Thoughts isn't exactly the kind of poetry I like, I still found it to be heartfelt. The fact that the different themes of poems were categorized almost in a self-help style made it interesting to pick up and put down without worrying that I'd missed something thematically if I went out of order. Overall I would absolutely buy Pillow Thoughts for a friend or loved one who was interested in soft and soothing poetry. (I was also a very big fan of the recurrent jellyfish imagery.)

Although I'm not one for poetry usually, I enjoyed this book very much.

I think it was well-written and cohesive, and I liked the fact that the poems were split up into different sections based on theme (or emotion, rather), allowing the reader to pick a section that correlates to how they are feeling at the moment. It made the book more engaging as a result.
I also liked that the illustrations separating each section corresponded to the section's theme, as well as the cover; it was a nice added touch.

Although the majority of the poems in this book had a distinctively melancholy feel to them, at least to me, there were a decent number of uplifting and encouraging poems to choose from as well--so no matter how you're feeling, there's something in this book for you!

As I was reading Pillow Thoughts, I kept thinking what a nice gift it would make for a friend or loved one, especially if that person was going through a rough patch in life. Or, of course, if they are a fan of poetry.
It's basically a little bit of encouragement in the form of a book. :)


*A copy of this book was provided by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*

Thank you Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sadly, I didn't enjoy this poetry collection as much as I wanted to. They're like rundown sentences, often times cheesy and it lacks substance especially on the first half of this collection. I like some pieces on the second half but it's forgettable and it didn't leave a huge impact on me.