Thank you Netgalley for letting me read and review this book. I always love reading poetry books, and reading from different experiences. I enjoyed this book! If you like poetry you should give this a read. It talks about love, friendship, motherhood, work, getting older, and life experiences.

Woman is legion. Or, as Morisette once sang 'I'm a little bit of everything / all rolled into one'. In There Are Girls Like Lions, editor Cole Swensen brings together 30 poems about the female experience from different ages and background, accompanied by stunning illustrations by Karolin Schnoor. Thank you to Chronicle Books and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. My gratitude for the patience wiht this review.

Being a woman, living as a woman, being perceived as a woman, it comes with countless different experiences. This can only get personal, so stay with me. I was born as a woman and identify with a woman. I have felt incredibly happy to be a woman and I have also cursed my fate. As a woman I have felt cherished and wanted, and I have also felt hunted and despised. My body has made me feel powerful and capable of creation, and it has also felt like a limiting cage. Moving back and forth between traditional ideas of womanhood and the freedom feminism and suffrage have given us is a difficult thing. And that is only my experience, and on top of that also a white woman's experience. In There Are Girls Like Lions, Swensen brings together poems from different centuries and eras as well as from different countries and backgrounds. While some of these poems are joyful songs of power, others are shouts of anger. Some are wistful and sad, others are quietly inspirational. While no single collection can capture all of the female experience, this collection gives it a good go.

Some of my favourite poems were 'Here Are Girls Like Lions' by Elisabeth Hewer, which is like a battle cry or a war song. Specifically I loved the lines 'Here are girls who carry kindness / And katanas in their rucksacks / because they never know which they'll need.' Another one I enjoyed was 'Siren Song' by Margaret Atwood because I loved how twisty this poem is, how the siren's most powerful lure is the desire to be rescued by you, yes you, you can be the man of my dreams. As the poem says 'It is a boring song / but it works every time.' The poem that probably got to me the most was 'Demeter's Cutting' by Kimiko Hahn. As the title probably suggests, this is a poem about mothers and daughters. For me this poem felt like it showed that right rope between a mother and daughter made up of their shared experience of womanhood, the way the daughter never wants to be her mother, while the mother sees her daughter have all the same fantasies and make all the same choices. 'Sewing, Knitting, Crocheting...' by Naomi Shihab Nye spoke to me because me and my (all female) housemates have become a coven of knitters and crochet-ers. This one line from Nye's poem really spoke to why I wanted to learn these crafts, 'She looks young to crochet. / I'm glad history isn't totally lost.' My grandmother had these skills, and my mother also has them. Now I know them and it makes me happy to continue that skill and tradition. It may feel "traditional" but it's also culture and legacy which shouldn't be ignored or forgotten.

Most joyful for me was 'Loose Woman' by Sandra Cisneros which is just a riot of self confirmation. It's about taking all the negative things people will say to you and turn them into badges of honour. It's about laughing in the face of those who want to hurt you or diminish you. Break something, if you have to. Let it all out! 'A Plaint of Complexity' by Eunice Tietjens was the poem that felt like it could have been, must have been written for me, or about me. Tietjens writes about the many selves of being a woman, being torn between different versions of yourself which play up to different stereotypes but also to different needs. I find it impossible to really identify my core self, for the exact reasons this poem lays out. For an overview of all the poems, please scroll down.

My only "critique" for this collection is that while its focus is technically clear, it is also a tad vague. The poems aren't categorized into different themes, for example, so while the poems kind of interact with each other, like when Mary Oliver's 'The Son' is followed by Gertrude Stein's 'Daughter', they don't fully link. Sexuality is a topic but not fully or actively explored. Violence against women is mentioned, but is not spotlighted. I guess in the end There Are Girls Like Lions is a collection that sets no restrictions on what being a woman is, but thereby it also pushes no boundaries and does not expand the concept. For me that slightly lessened the pull of the collection, but I nonetheless am happy to have had a chance to read these poems. Karolin Schnoor's illustrations are beautiful and solid, strong in their clear lines. Made up of of four colours, red, gold, black, and white, her illustrations are a great addition to the poems and frequently bring out new aspects or key lines from the poems themselves. For the artwork alone I'd consider buying this book!

The collection itself would have been 3 but the illustrations pushed it up for me, since they really elevate this collection into something beautiful and a piece of art.

All poems:

Here Are Girls Like Lions' -Elisabeth Hewer; 'Deathless Aphordite of the Spangled Mind' - Sappho, trans. Anne Carson; 'Atalanta in Arcadia' - Barbara Guest; 'Siren Song' - Margaret Atwood'; I, Being Born a Woman and Distressed' - Edna St. Vincent Millay*; 'The Annunciation' - Cole Swensen'; Demeter's Cutting' - Kimiko Hahn*; 'Appetite' - Tracy K. Smith; 'The Son' - Mary Oliver; 'Daughter' - Gertrude Stein; 'Obedience, or The Lying Tale' - Jennifer Chang; 'Questions for Miriam' - Warsan Shire; 'To Stacey, As You Were' - Eve Ewing; 'Girl Friend' - C.D. Wright; 'Loose Woman' - Sandra Cisneros*; 'Except for Being, It Was Relatively Painless' - Mary Jo Bang; 'Apocalypse' - Emily Dickinson; 'The Heart of a Woman' - Georgia Douglas Johnson; 'Housekeeping' - Natasha Trethewey; 'Sewing, Knitting, Crocheting...' - Naomi Shihab Nye; 'Autography 8' - Rachel Zucker; 'Great-Grandmother' - Jean Valentine; 'Life's Work' - Rae Armantrout; 'Certainty' - Sandra Lim; 'A Plaint of Complexity' - Eunice Tietjens; '19 (A Girl Sleeps As If)' - Vera Pavlova; 'Body Clock (Excerpt) - Eleni Sikelianos; 'Ego Tripping (There May Be A Reason Why)' - Nikki Giovanni.

I wasn't a fan. I think it just wasn't something that resonated with me, I couldn't get myself into this collection.

I was hoping to enjoy more of these poems. Sadly, I didn't. But I did enjoy the illustrations. I just couldn't connect with many of the poems and a lot of them were very depressing and not as uplifting or empowering as I would have hoped them to be.

I was so excited to receive this book to review. Feminist poetry! Yes, please! Sadly, this was not to be. The poems contained in this collection, were not as empowering as I hoped for. Some were quite depressing. Still there were a handful that I enjoyed. Overall I would say this collection was just ok. 2/5 stars.

I'm SO disappointed right now. This if the first one-star this year. I was really excited to read poems about women but ugh, what were these poems? I tried so hard to get the gist of any one of them but nothing, nothing, impressed me. Not even a single poem. And this rarely happens for poetry collections because I always resonate with something, like anything that even faintly calls to me. But this collection didn't give me anything. Won't recommend it unless you want to take a risk. Oh, and if you love illustrations because those were the only good thing about this.

“There are girls like lions” is the kind of book that when you want to talk about, you don’t know how to start. And this happens not because its reading blows my mind, not even it’s a reading that exceed my expectations. But because it was a reading totally different than I thought it would be. And this is not a bad thing.

“There are girls like lions” is an anthology with 30 poems and texts of the most varied writers. The idea is a book about women and empowerment and their relation with society. In the book, there are texts of Margaret Atwood, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Kimiko Hahn, Tracy K. Smith, Gertrude Stein, Jennifer Chang, Sandra Cisneros, among many others, talking about different topics such as maternity, work, friendship, relationship, love, getting old and out of subjects about being woman.

Reading poetry is a challenge for me. Reading poetry in English the challenge multiplies. Maybe this the why the book wasn’t so interesting and the reading didn’t happen the way I imagined that should be. I think the book had
a much greater concern with the way poems are written than with the theme itself. To have an idea, there wasn’t a poem I said: “Wow! That one I liked!” On the other hand, I thought the anthology very interesting, because the texts are very rich poems in structure and content as well. Maybe, I didn’t understand the poems because of my lack of knowledge about poetry.

I don’t have much to talk about the physical aspect of the book, because I read a e-Arc from NetGalley. I know that it is hardcover, but what refers to layout, material, etc., I can’t talk because I don’t have the book in my hands. but with the images and illustrations spread over the internet, I could see the extraordinary work in the editorial and graphic design.

As access the book through the NetGalley platform, it is not yet available in Brazil and no longer exists. It is a book for those who want to read poetry books with feminine and empowered subjects, but without forget the poetry characteristics. After all, I really recommend the reading of “There are girls like lions”

Empowering, inspiring and enjoyable! I love poetry and I loved these! I wish there were more. I needed more.

Thanks to the publisher for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I have been lax on reading poetry so I jumped at the chance to read a collection of just women poets since the majority of the poetry I've read has been by the "classic" male poets. I really enjoyed this collection and made note of certain poets I want to search out more of. I would recommend this collection to anyone looking to add more poetry to their reading lives or who want to broaden the type of poets they read.

I couldn't finish this book. It was not for me. I liked the illustrations but couldn't connect with the poems.

This is a beautiful collection of poems. As a woman I really related to the poems, I enjoyed the illustrations. I highly recommend this collection.

I received an eARC from Netgalley.

An interesting collection of poetry by women, primarily from the twentieth and twenty first centuries. The introduction was a very informative overview of feminism over the years, which I found very educational. The illustrations were bold, and I appreciated the fact that they weren't flowery and pastel. The poems chosen are a well-rounded bunch. I didn't connect with all of them (that's to be expected in any anthology), but I connected with most. A couple of things that would've added to the book- some information about each poem, a few introductory lines about the poet and poem would be nice, and really, the book could've been longer- it has a good vibe going, why not keep it up? Perhaps there will be a second volume.....

I really enjoyed reading this poetry collection. I thought it was lovely and magical. Poetry is not normally my thing, but I enjoyed every single poem. I especially love that all of the poets are women who are writing about womanhood and girlhood. I already know one friend who would really appreciate this book as a gift. Actually, I would love a copy for myself so I can look back on certain poems whenever I like. The illustrations throughout the book are a huge plus for me. I definitely recommend!

This book made me feel strong and proud and empowered.

As it is always with poetry, there were poems I loved and spoke to my soul, and there were poems I didn't like. I think it depends on where you are currently in your life and what are your experiences. I would love to come back to this book later and read it again, to see how I changed.

I really liked the variety of authors, there were several from my favourite women I admire so much. I loved how this book focused on women and I think it can be perfect gift for yourself, your mum or best friend.

The e-Advanced Readers Copy was provided by Chronicle Books and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Receiving this ARC will not affect my review nor my rating.

Poetry is not usually one of my go-to genres. However, I found the premise for this collection of poems intriguing and jumped at the chance to read it. Overall, I found this collection to be a mixture of compelling works and very mediocre or confusing writing. I do feel that these poems stuck to the theme of the celebration of womanhood and empowering women. However, there were quite a few poems, that for me missed the mark. I would've loved to give a majority of these poems higher ratings. Unfortunately, about three poems received 5 stars and genuinely made an impact on the expression, struggles, plight, and uniqueness of womanhood. I recommend reading: (1) Appetite by Tracy K. Smith (2) Loose Woman by Sandra Cisneros (3)A Plaint of Complexity by Eunice Tietjens & (4) Ego Tripping (There Maybe a Reason Why) by Nikki Giovanni.

This book wasn't entirely what I expected. I anticipated it as a collection of poetry by the author, which was partially my own misunderstanding. It was a compilation of poems from various women throughout the 20th century. I enjoyed some, but others were not enjoyable. Simply put, it was a nice collection of poetry but not what I expected.

'm just going to leave this right here:
...
Here are girls like lions,
here are girls like howling wolves.
Here are girls with such big teeth!
Here are girls who'll play tug o'war
with your heart or your wishbone
Or your throat, oh.
/
Oh, here are girls with cold bright eyes and claws
like dragons. Here are girls who
can't breathe air, only fire.
/
Here are girls who carry kindness
And katanas in their rucksacks
because they never know which
they'll need.
/
How do you tame girls with
wildfire limbs? How do you hold
down girls with hurricane hands?
Oh, you can't. Humble hungerer,
you've just got to help them rise.
💪
This poem is only the first of many in this awesome "celebration of womanhood." With poems by Tracy K. Smith, Sandra Cisernos, Margaret Atwood and many more, There Are Girls Like Lions is a book to keep on the shelf. Or - with that cover - on the coffee table. This gem is out super soon - March 5 - so do yourself a favor and go grab one of these for yourself or for a girl in your life.

I am really excited for There Are Girls Like Lions. But this format did not open on my phone. It kept crashing. And thus I could not read it. Hope to check ot out on release. It really does sound promising.

I blame myself for reading more contemporary poetry than some 'old format' ones. I DNF-ed the book halfway through because I couldn't connect to most of them. Some, I could, but not most. Just not for me.

I don't think I fully understood this anthology. There were a couple of poems that stood out to me, but overall, I think I just don't know enough references for this to make sense to me.