Cover Image: There are Girls like Lions

There are Girls like Lions

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Member Reviews

I really like the concept, and the artwork was really nice, but I only actually liked 5 of the 28 poems (my favourite being "There Are Girls like Lions")
That's not to say the other poems were bad, they just weren't really for me.
One thing to consider is to not put a full-page artwork in the middle of a poem, as this confused me a few times.
All in all, this was okay, but not really great

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Disappointingly not my kind of read~

I’m not sure if I was too shallow to understand the poems or if it was because the poems didn’t really make much sense to me. I did not enjoy it that much although I did find some parts that I could relate to.

It was not a negative experience but I did not truly enjoy it too. Even so, I must give praise to the beautiful illustrations. They definitely captured women uniquely.

I got a copy of this book to review from Chronicle Books through NetGalley.

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As a note, a copy of this novel was sent to me via NetGalley by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not effect my opinions in any way.

While I didn't totally hate There Are Girls like Lions, and found a good few poems to be thought-provoking, new-to-me and powerful, the collection as a whole just didn't work for me. Not completely. I found that the foreward was wonderful, that there were some standouts in prose, but the better portion of this collection felt choppy and incoherent. And I'm so, so, so disappointed in myself for just not connecting with it full-time.

But, it happens. My experience with There Are Girls like Lions wasn't fully negative but it wasn't exactly positive, either. In the better moments, there were various poems that made me nod my head in something like encouragement or agreement. In its lesser moments, I spaced out and had that nagging thought: am I going to finish it? In its in-between moments, I had just enough curiosity to finish the collection and consider what I was feeling.

In half, I did find the collection to have that emotional charge required in poetry. Some of these works, or writers, were familiar to me and there was already that groundwork of kinship between the words and me. I liked the illustrations that I could see (my galley was a bit... off, so I'm not certain that I was able to view everything) and thought they amplified the experience.

Throughout, I couldn't shake the feeling that not everything fit together. Did it excel in vocalizing the experience of being a woman? Yes. I just felt like, in order to be all it could be, there should have been more to it--and a lot more coherency.

Then again, is life ever coherent?

There Are Girls like Lions wasn't my favourite collection but it certainly was an experience in its own right, and I don't regret picking it up.

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"There Are Girls Like Lions", is a beautiful anthology of poetry, not focused on giving all women writers a collective voice, but rather demonstrating the unique perspectives and talents of each poet. Schnoor provides a sampler with a perfect balance of poetry spanning from the twentieth to the twenty-first century and all three waves of feminism. The pieces are powerful, vulnerable and personal. The reader is afforded a glimpse in to each writer's relationship with the world. A world altered by cultural expectations, loss, relationships, and patriarchal oppression. A wonderful collection for use in academic settings, for personal enjoyment and a wonderful catalyst for discussion.

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The illustrations were stunning but for me it did lack depth in the poems. I wanted her to go further, deeper, to really show me what's in her mind. And unfortunately that did not happen for the majority of the book. I did enjoy a few of them and would be open to read more of this author.
Thank you NetGalley for providing this arc.

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I was so happy to have the chance to read a collection of poems about the experience of being a woman. Unfortunately this collection did disappoint me. To me it felt like the poems were just thrown in there without really having a real thread amongst them.
The illustrations were really nice.

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I haven't even finished this yet but I am already writing the review-- I feel so empowered just reading it, which sounds so dumb retrospectively but each story is so inspiring in its own way. The writing is as beautiful as the cover. I love it.

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This is a powerful collection on women.
If all else fails and I'm at a loss in giving the appropriate recommendation, dear reader, please read 'Demeter's Cuttings' by Kimiko Hahn in this collection. I promise you, you will be moved.
Thank you Netgalley for the eARC.

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Not going to finish it. Well-imagined and presented, but overall it was just bland, felt repetitive and too reminiscent of all the similar books I've read over the years - not at all original. Nothing to make this one stand out, sadly. A few good poems, but overall none that leave a lasting impression.

Good-natured, but poorly executed and just not to my liking.

Thanks for a copy.

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