Beautiful collection of work by fierce women. Applies to the current moment. Some of the poetry here is beautiful. Very contemporary and perfect for anyone interested in the Women's March (or who perhaps SHOULD be interested in the March and what it stands for).
I received a copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I am not convinced. I started reading the book without somehow realizing that it was poetry. I still wanted to read it as I devour everything feminism these days. Unfortunately, the collection is not for me. I went through every single piece in the collection or anthology and while there were a few I liked or enjoyed there are so many more which I do not understand or like. I definitely think it is a case of it's me and not you, because I absolutely love the idea of a feminist poetry collection.

In the introduction, there's this phrase that says "This book is a collection of truths". I think that's beautiful and very accurate.

As I said before, I hate reviewing anthologies. There are always amazing kick-ass poems and others that are just 'meh' to me. That doesn't mean that the book as a whole is bad or not worth reading.

My problem with this book in particular was that it felt too long at times? Maybe it was due to the fact of a lack of concept. I mean, there is a clear concept, that being feminism, but the book is divided into sections and I couldn't find a theme to each one, a reason for each poem to be in their section and not in another one. So I guess my problem was that there is a really general concept and no way to pin it down. It felt kind of messy at times.

But still, there are some really great, worth reading voices in here. I enjoyed it. I think it's an important book and there should be more books of the like!

Since April is National Poetry Month, I decided to read this new collection of feminist poems for the month. A lot of reviews are saying how 'timely' this collection is, and that's absolutely true. But I'd also add that feminist poetry has always been timely and necessary.

What struck me first about this collection is that I'd never heard of or read any of the poets who contributed. I don't try to keep up-to-date with current poets, but I do regularly read current poetry, so I was surprised and pleased I didn't recognize any of the names. The poems range a lot thematically, from sexual abuse to current politics to descriptions of loving female bonds. They also range in style, some leaning toward abstract, others much more concrete, some lyrical, some intentionally jarring and broken.

I never really connected to any of the pieces, and I worry that's because I read it as an egalley, and the formatting wasn't that great. This is a book I recommend reading in print. And I may end up rereading it as such.

Thanks to Netgalley and OR Books for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

The poems were so so beautiful and definitely worth reading. Women of Resistance really does its title justice and proves the value of equality. This collection was raw and emotional and empowering. Definitely a must-read for both men and women (especially for men, time to learn a bit about feminism).

This raw collection of poems depict how everyday situations can quickly escalate into dark experiences. A heavy read but very much needed to understand how frequently and at every corner lies a threat that is not being taken seriously as it should.

I am finding myself reaching for poetry more and more lately! This entire collection was empowering, and enlightening, and honest, and most importantly … it was intersectional! It is beautifully organized with photos that only add to the emotion of the poems. A definite must read for girls AND boys, looking for a little feminism.

I really enjoyed a lot of these poems. They were beautiful and well written and some of them hit me in the gut. That said, the egalley that I was reading didn't have great formatting (and reading verse in ebook formats is tricky enough anyway), so this is one I'd want to revisit in a physical form. I feel like I missed a lot and I definitely had to skim some poems because it was too hard to read.

This was very empowering and important. I liked that there were so many different stories from so many different perspectives and voices. This was very diverse, and is definitely something that I could see being used in a women's studies class!

Women of Resistance is a powerful, necessary collection in the vein of the Rebel Girls anthologies and the recent anthology from Haymarket Books, The Breakbeat Poets Vol. 2: Black Girl Magic. The contributor list is remarkably diverse, situating familiar names like Denice Frohman and Rachel McKibbens alongside a number of poets I had never read. The poems themselves address numerous issues faced by women in America today, offering a fully intersectional perspective on feminism and feminist issues, and ultimately establishing the anthology as a vital resource in conversations ranging from race to misogyny to body shame to gender expression.

*Full review forthcoming, May 2018

This book was an amazing compilation of beautiful poetry written by powerful women. The poems ranged from participating in marches to experiencing racism and sexual assault. A hard hitting book that will leave the reader with a new point of view on the world.

★★★★ - 4/5 stars

Disclaimer: I received a free e-copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

"i heard a woman becomes herself the first time she speaks without permission
then, every word out of her mouth
a riot"

'Women of Resistance: Poems for a New Feminism' is a love letter to all women across the world: queer women, women of colour, women who have been abused, women struggling with their reproductive rights, women who are still learning how to use their voice, and many others. This anthology was penned by 41 poets allowing a hugely diverse range of voices to finally be heard. In the introduction, the editors say 'this book is a collection of truths' which is an apt description. Every woman has their own truth, and differing experiences do not make one woman's experience less or more valid than another. This book is truly a work of intersectional feminism and demonstrates that no matter who we are, what background we come from, we are all striving towards the same goal of equality, and for that, I am hugely thankful that these poems have been written and collected together.

Admittedly I did not enjoy all the writing styles of the poets. Some I really enjoyed (and would love to read more of their work) and others went completely over my head. That being said, as there is such a diverse range of poetry styles in this book, there is easily something for everyone to enjoy. And whilst I might not have enjoyed the style of some of the poets, I was humbled by these poets sharing their stories with us and with a book like this, I almost feel as if the content was more important than the actual style. I found due to this reason, the styles I didn't enjoy as much didn't take away from the overall experience of the book.

I would highly recommend this book. Even if you're not a fan of poetry, just take an hour to read this book and listen to these women's stories. You might have been through something similar to them, or you might not have. But the point of this book is not necessarily that you relate to these poems, but that you listen to what is being said in them.

Although I adored the intent of this collection, and the fact that a portion of the money gained from its sales will be donated to Planned Parenthood, the content of Women of Resistance went completely over my head. This book gives a voice to so many different, powerful, mind-blowingly amazing women but the fact of the matter is that the things that they finally had the chance to say, completely missed me. I think it’s the format, no I know that it is, it just seems as though if things are not spelled out in drawn-out, novel-like detail, then my brain just can’t grasp the themes that the pieces are trying to extoll. Poetry excels because it often focusses on the abstracts and unfortunately, that is something that completely escapes me.

DNF @ 43% (marking it as read tho bc of the time I spent reading it)


My main problem with this was the format. It's a mess. "Copy not for distribution" is plastered all over the book, sometimes cutting poems in half. Sometimes a poem was supposed to have separated lines (you could tell from the capitalized words mid-sentence) but it would just show as a huge wall of text, no punctuation marks. Or it did show them separated, but only until the middle of it. The name of the book also appeared italicized at random, sometimes in between lines of a poem.

The fact that there were so many authors is good, because we get as many points of view as possible. But at the same time, it affected the flow of the book immensely. I didn't feel like the order of the poems made much sense, and ultimately it was annoying. At times, I read a bunch of poems and I couldn't figure out what they were talking about, either bc they were so different from each other or bc the spacing made no sense.

This is all really frustrating because I wanted to like this, and I'm sure it covers important, heavy, current topics! It just didn't click with me.

Before I saw this book on Netgalley, I had never heard of it. Both the cover and the synopsis intrigued me, and after doing some research about it I figured I would love it.
I tried. God, I really tried. But I think that this book is just not for me.
So just because I didn't enjoy it that much, doesn't mean you won't. The different themes mentioned in this anthology of poems are worth reading, and the poems are all really good. It was just not for me.

So please, please, if you want to give this book a try, go for it.

This is a timely, well-curated collection that highlights powerful voices confronting the Trump administration and the legacy of racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and violence it has perpetuated. The variety of perspectives included is crucial to understanding the resistance, and many of the poems are hard-hitting. As is the case with most anthologies, some of the poems are stronger than others. Overall, it's a bolstering and empowering collection that has an urgent message and supports an important cause.

Great collection of information about strong women. I highly recommend it.

Thanks to @netgalley and #orbooks for a free copy of #womenofresistance for my honest review.

This is a collection of feminist poetry by 41 authors and edited by Danielle Barnhart and Iris Mahan. The description said a feminist stance against the new administration so I knew it was something I wanted to read.

These poems span sexuality, race and gender identity. I really liked the idea on this book and thought it was well executed. I don’t read a lot of poetry but because this is a collection you get a variety of different styles some that I enjoyed more than other but the different styles did not distract from the overall stories, experiences and messages each piece told.

I had a hard time getting into it because of the ARC formatting which left a lot to be desired but once I got over the horrible formatting I appreciated for the gem it is.

Check it out!

I absolutely devoured this poetry collection, in the same way that I do the words of Rupi Kaur.

This is a timely and topical collection from a diverse range of contributors, and while some of the form was experimental to the point that it was lost on me (Matriot Acts, for example), others were just incredible and felt like they had captured the current political pulse so well (I loved Ode to the Pantsuit! Evoked all the #ImWithHer feels!)

Thanks to OR Books and Netgalkeybfor my review copy

I enjoyed this poetry book and don't want to give much away about it. But I do want to say that this book is worth the read, it covers different topics (from many different points of views.) that are filled with truths and so many feelings. From empowerment, womanhood, racism, war, to abuse, feminism, violence, rights and everything in between. Like most poetry books, I didn't love every poem but I felt that each poem brought something to this book. This book is written by many different poets, who a few I've heard of and some were new to me. When reading you can tell a different kind of poetry styles in it.

One of my favorite lines is Denice Frohman, “Hunger”.
I want to believe
I'm a better woman now that I', Writing poems.
that when I say, poems I mean another way to say, revenge.