I enjoyed reading this poetry book. The exploration of depression and anxiety and how the emotions that the person feels going through it were description and very realistic.  My favourite part of the novel would be the poem "seven small ways in which I love myself this week".  

would recommend

I took a chance reading this collection of poetry without knowing much about it and I am honestly floored by the depth of the poet’s thoughts. So many of the poems in here read like it was my own voice speaking out to me from the page. This was a heartbreaking but beautiful collection of poetry. Some of my favorite poems were: the loneliest sweet potato, a plain truth, on releasing light, follow-up a prayer / a spell, and many more.

I couldn’t always relate to all the poems in here however, nor did I honestly love all of them, especially because quite a few dealt with romantic relationships, but most of the poems in here are fantastic and well worth the read. I would highly recommend it for all, especially those who have depression themselves to perhaps find comfort knowing you are not alone in this world.

Thank you to the publisher for letting me read this little treasure.

I could relate on so many poems on this book. Depression is such an interesting topic because it's definitely not talked about often. A book that wants to explore and make the world understand just how much hardship those with depression have, was something I'd always wanted to read.
Kudos to you, Sabrina.
Thank you.

Depression and Other Magic Tricks is a poetry collection about how depression intersects with personal life, especially with love. It is a very personal collection, the poems are an honest recollection of living with mental illness. Sabrina writes about everyday tasks and heartbreak, talking with family and health professionals. Many of her experiences resonate so much with me. 

It's a beautiful and incredible book that you definitely should check out.

Benaim accurately captures the mood and feelings surrounding depression and heartbreak. This collection hit me hard, and it took me several pages to realize that I'd read some of the authors work before! Beautifully haunting collection.

I found this poetry book a bit hard to read. The fragmentation of sentences were problematic. Was just an 'okayish' read for me.

These poems were quite good. I liked the diversity of the collection and I liked its honesty. I would buy Sabrina's next book - just to see how she's evolving.

While Benaim's voice is raw and real, some of her poems fell flat to me. Many broke my heart and made me cry, while I couldn't connect with others at all. It was a mixed bag of some great pieces and some others that simply didn't reach me. 
Her work continues to intrigue me and I will keep an eye out for her future work, but I may not be as invested in it.

I have a weird relationship with poetry. I loved and so strongly related to some of the poems and others went over my head. Worth reading if you have depression, though. And you should absolutely look up her performing poems.

This collection is raw and true and brave. For those that have suffered depression this author gives voice to your feelings. For those lucky enough not to have had that experience it might just give you a glimpse into the lives of those that do suffer.

I was not entirely sure how to describe this book. First of all it took me a lot of time to read it, because I felt very moved by it. I apologize for how late I am to it. 

I can only say that this book was extremely emotive, It moved me so so much and I found it to be beautiful. 

I sometimes can't explain why poetry books speak to me so much, but this one touched me on a very deep level. It's really worth the read.

I don't normally review poetry but I had to make an exception for this book. I first learned of Sabrina Benaim's poetry on Facebook. I watched each of the videos many times and became a huge fan. Receiving an ARC of Depression and Other Magic Tricks was a dream come true. Each poem was moving and I felt like she found just the way to describe some of the things that I was feeling. I read the entire book in one sitting and I was left there at the end waiting for more. I can't wait to see what she does next! 

**ARC received in return for an honest review**

I've been a very big fan of the videos of Sabrina I've witnessed over the years, so I began already knowing how adept she is at describing the topsy-turvey emotional whirlwind that is suffering from depression in a succinct yet cutting way. Reading her work adds a new level of intimacy than there is watching er preform, but I urge everyone who has read or is thinking about reading to look her up!
But as for the poems - there's essentially two themes running underneath this collection, and I think the work is stronger - or at least resonates more deeply with me - when she is talking about her mental illness, rather than her lost love & heartbreak. Still! It's a moving and beautiful series.
Stand-outs include: the loneliest sweet potato, so my friend tells me she identifies as a mermaid..., poems from the beach trip, & the slow now.

It was hard to read this on my Kindle because of the way it was formatted, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I connected with the poems Benaim wrote and she truly captured what it feels like to deal with depression. However, there were some that fell short which made the feeling of the collection fall short. I am excited to read more from her, though.

Review link to be added once review has been edited and published.

Thank you to NetGalley and Button Poetry for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review! 

Depression & Other Magic Tricks is the debut book by Sabrina Benaim, it explores themes of mental health, love, and family .I was really hoping to love this collection but sadly i found it to be a little underwhelming. There were some poems that I really did enjoy. The poems about depression felt very personal and I applaud the author for expressing her feelings, as it must be hard to share something like that with the world. Other poems felt like they were just there to fill up space. If your looking for a short quick poetry collection then pick this one up.

Favorite Poems: 
+explaining my depression to my mother a conversation +so my friend tells me she identifies as a mermaid...

I loved this book!  Struggling with depression and Anxiety myself, her
book was easy to read and something I could relate to.   This book is 
a treasure, one that I would feel good about giving to a friend as a gift!

I truly believe that the poetry Benaim writes is the type that should be read aloud. I couldn't figure out how her premiere poem, "First Date" was supposed to be read, so I found a video of her performing it on YouTube and from there I knew what voice she was trying to use. Now, certainly, I don't use that against her by any means. After all, the ancient Greeks designed poetry to be spoken, not read.

Although I haven't been diagnosed with depression, I've been in those days where you just cannot find the ability to leave your bed and it feels like no one is there to help you. I appreciate the voice that Benaim gives to this illness. Some of the poems are also incredibly personal as she speaks of past loves and her relationships with her parents, and I love the open honesty that she weaves into her poems. I hope she continues to write, perform, and publish more poems because these were enjoyable yet important reads.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book.

I initially requested this ARC because I want to read more poetry. I am sorry to admit that I am a bit of a novice when it comes to reading poetry and my vision of it is fuelled by memories of plodding through A Level poetry which I often found tedious. So far, in my tasting menu of poetry, I am really enjoying modern poetry and I thought the subject matter of Benhaim’s new book of poems would definitely be something I could relate to.

Benhaim, is not a poet I am familiar with so before embarking on her collection I sat down with a cuppa and got onto Google. I was hoping to find a Wikipedia post giving me some background. This was unfortunately not to be. Instead, I became immersed into the world of Slam Poetry. To Slam Poetry virgins like myself, Slam is a competition which originated in 1984 in Chicago. It was intended as a way to move poetry away from stuffy libraries and bring it out to audiences. Poets take to the microphone and compete against other poets. Slam poetry is Benhaim’s background. It is worth watching her perform her poem ‘Explaining my depression to my mother, a conversation.’ This video has been viewed 6 million times on Youtube.

Having watched everything of Benhaim’s I could find, I embarked on her book. I loved these poems. So many of them spoke to me and even though the main subject matter is depression, a had a wry smile on my face as so much of what she said made sense to me:

In some stories,

the protagonist has to kill the bad thing to

release its light.

in my story,

I am the protagonist & the bad thing,

I have to learn how to bend the light out of myself.

I can do that magic.
So many beautiful thoughts and ways of expressing them. I think my favourite poems were ‘How to fold a memory’ – her words created such wonderful and fragile imagery. ‘Another plain truth,”poem for the moment after you left,”so my friend tells me she identifies as a mermaid,”feed a fever, starve a cold,’ ‘what I told the doctor, the second time,’

These poems, short stories really came alive to me after having watched how she performs. I completely have her voice in my head and it really helped my to get used to her conversational style.

A really wonderful book of poetry and I will definitely recommend it to others.

Sabrina Benaim surprised me with her poem "Explaining my depression to my mother" and her Youtube video of it totally showed the emotions and intensity of this poem. Although I loved this poem, I can't say that I liked all the poems in the book. My favorite poems were the ones that talked about depression and mental health because I think is so important to learn about this topics by people who has passed through this problems. I could relate with her easily and find her voice in those. But, I didn't like the ones that talked about romance and breakups because they had a lot of metaphors kind of difficult to understand. So, I spent most of the time trying to understand them "completely" or trying to find why would she write about that or whom it was dedicated to. Overall, it was a good read.