Disclaimer: I received this book from Netgally for review purposes.

A lot of poetry books lately have really let me down. They can be really difficult to get through and some of them, even, annoying.

This one tho...ohhhhman this one.

This book was so impactful and moving I actually teared up. The authors poems about her eating disorder and body completely killed me. I've also suffered with these problems and to hear someone speak what I feel really brought it home for me.

She touches on a lot of other issues and all of them were so hard to probably write about. I hope this book gets the praise and acknowledgement it deserves. It should surpass so many of today's popular poetry books.

Adored.

Recommend.

Beautiful and poignant. Very thought provoking poetry. The only negative I can see is the length. Its too long and has way too many poems also most of the poems are really lengthy.

I loved this! Poetry is not my thing but I really want to give it a shot and start reading more of it. This collection of peoms were so powerful and hardhitting and although there were some I didn't understand/connect to I had a great time reading them and I'm definitely interested in reading more.
TW: rape, eating disorder.

Blythe Baird's first full-length poetry collection hurts. As the collection develops, we witness Baird grappling with her place in high school, experimenting, finding her identity, struggling with her parents, and, finally, being the victim of sexual violence that changes the collection. The poems develop formally, tonally, and the reader can follow their progression through elementary and high school and the author's changing sexuality. Trauma changes everything. This reviewer liked how the collection was in conversation with itself. As Baird performed these poems, and then her performance of them became part of her identity and healing. The poems in this collection engage themes of adolescence, identity, family, sexuality, violence, trauma, relationships, sex, experimentation, and meaning. The collection isn't "happy" and while the author seems to have reached some sort of healing she doesn't present herself as healed/fixed. How could she? This structure of the collection influenced the tenor of this review, and rightly so. The trauma isn't graphic but obviously it doesn't have to be to be real. The reader should be warned about this but by no means discouraged from reading this tightly crafted, engaging, and lucid collection of poems.


Thank you to Netgalley for the chance to read this book.. I thank Button Poetry for continuing to publish incredible books. I thank Ms. Baird for sharing her strong poems and her story with us.

I absolutely loved this book, I found myself highlighting specific quotes/sections a lot while I was reading it, and sharing these quotes to Goodreads/twitter/facebook. Although Blythe Baird is definitely someone you should spend the time watching/listening to on youtube or spotify, her voice is captured well in the printed version of her poems.

I really enjoyed this collection of poems. They were touching, heartfelt reads that so many can relate to. I highly recommend it for anyone wanting to get in touch with issues of body image and more.

I received a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Blythe Baird shows a talent for verse in If My Body Could Speak. The poems are handled with excellence, and the topics speak. There is life brimming from these creative poetic experiences. Love it.

Wow. If you have been disappointed by some of modern Tumblr poetry in the past, don't worry: this one is nothing like the same reinforced and repeated messages.

Fiercely original, heartbreakingly raw, perfectly well-formed in terms of writing and the poetics, and just delightfully feminist all around. I loved the messages it sent about expectations placed upon young girls, the misogynistic society of high school and the bodily image.

Important, and incredibly well presented. Please treat yourself to this one!

Thanks for an ARC.

This poetry collection tackled a lot of heavy topics like rape, trauma, and how one perceives oneself. I really liked how straight forward the poems were, yet simple and very accessible.

"If your body could speak
would she
forgive you?"

I never heard about Blythe Baird before, this is actually my first book of hers and it did not disappoint me. Books like this are important and needed to be shared with other girls.

This poetry collection is amazing. It is honest, raw, and it really spoke to me as a woman. This book talks about eating disorder, sexuality, harassment or sexual abuse, trauma, and feminism. The writing is good, honest, and meaningful.

Highly recommended!

I received a copy of this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Button Poetry has provided a gateway for very honest, real, raw poetry to gain traction in a world that let's art slip through the cracks. Baird's latest is no exception. Raw, honesty is in these pages, covering her eating disorder, sexual assaults, sexuality, and relationship with her mother. Some lines I felt deeply, and others I didn't, but even in those, you knew it was important to the author. You could feel that this work was for her. Congratulations on finding your voice, Blythe.

Incredibly relatable and really good writing style. Brought up some really important issues but made them feel raw and real which makes the reader feel more connected to the author through the poetry

I think If My Body Could Speak is an awesome book of poetry for people coming of age in 2019. I think it's incredibly timely and wish it would have been around during my late teens and early 20's years. I love the descriptive way Baird writes. Especially when comparing herself and her experiences with those of her friends, watching them change and become aware of their bodies. It may be odd to say but I enjoyed the shift from her isloated feelings of an eating disorder to her isolated feelings of sexual assault. People go through so much in their younger years and no matter who your support system is, it's isolating to feel like you're the only one suffering and struggling. Reading Baird's account of these traumas makes you feel less isolated.

This is another great entry of contemporary poetry from Button Poetry. This is the first collection I’ve read from Baird, but I’ve had a good track record with the books I’ve picked up from Button Poetry, and this one was no different.
The discussion on body issues and eating disorders was so raw and real, and the open “When the Fat Girl Gets Skinny” was absolutely phenomenal and hit really hard. Another poem that hit me especially hard was “Pocket-Sized Feminism” which discusses privilege and feminism: “This house is for wallpaper / women. What good is wallpaper that speaks?”
For such a short book, there were quite a few poems that just faded to the background for me, but overall, Baird’s images were interesting and her viewpoint intriguing and, at some points unfortunately, relatable.

This collection of poetry examines the author's depth of experience as it relates to surviving rape, disordered eating, depression and anxiety, and wrestling with her own sexuality. These poems are raw, honest, and they cut to the core of her own self in a level of vulnerability that is rare in today's world. I loved so many of them for their honesty and imagery, and I was so impressed by the way the author plays with language and expectation in order to create an impact.

A few of these poems in particular will live with me for a very long time. I am grateful for this work, and I will certainly recommend it to others.

This poetry collection probably imeadiately became one of my favorites. Any person that reads this collection should be able to easily tell how much of herself the author put into these poems. They’re very raw and real and emotional and as a person that has also gone through a lot of trauma and dealt with everything that comes after that (now mental illness free for almost a full year) it rings true. Such a beautiful and devastating read.

“There are days I want people to like me
more than I want to change the world.” - Blythe Baird, Pocket-Sized Feminism

I’ve read quite a lot of poetry this last few weeks, IF MY BODY COULD SPEAK by Blythe Baird is by far one of my favorite collections. It deals with the body, trauma, and feminism in a raw way. I’ve connected with the poems, felt their words affect. I could still relate on various levels. This collection brings together so many important themes in a woman’s life. Baird goes straight to the core of the problem. She doesn’t use metaphors and imagery to cover up trauma. She takes it head on. Her words are brutal, but honest.

This is an important poetry collection for our day and age. It’s an honest look at what it’s like to be a woman, to have a period, suffer from an eating disorder, sexual violence, and one’s sexuality. Each poem reads like a look into a subconscious which is trying to make sense of what is going on. Themes were handled with care and honesty. It was clear that the author was expressing herself without holding back.

However, this collection will not be for everyone. Its’s trigger warnings include rape, abuse, mental illness & eating disorders. The poems are vivid and it’s clear that the author is transparent about what she went through. I recommend this poetry collection to anyone who needs some uplifting and want to feel less alone after a traumatic event. And it’s the perfect gift for the feminist in your life! I loved this collection and can see a lot of people relating to the poems.

* Thank you NetGalley for providing me with this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Very powerful! This is what it's like to be a woman! I personally have not be a victim of rape but I can definitely speak to how it feel to be afraid to go places alone. I think every girl/woman should read this book and maybe men if they want to know what it's like to be a girl today!

If My Body Could Speak is a book with collection of various prose.

It speaks about love and lust, about being fat once and then losing it because of health reasons and unhealthy food habits and becoming thin now.

It talks about how a society body shames women because they are not slim and lean, how women are criticized now and then. How they lose body fat not because of excercise but because of unhealthy food habits and mental disorders. How their body is used for love, lust and pleasure. It also talks about stigma behind periods, about molestation and rape, and the life of the person after such incidents.

The author has done a commendable with each of these topic.
The writing is perfect, it makes an impact.

Recommended to everyone, even if you don't like poetry/prose. Its something you should read.

Thanks to Netgallery for the digital copy in exchange of some honest review.

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2693805218

If My Body Could Speak is an absolutely phenomenal collection of poems about eating disorders, mental illness, sexual assault, and being who you truly are regardless of who those around you would rather you be. This is necessary reading for all young women struggling to accept and love themselves and their bodies despite societal pressures. Five stars. I absolutely loved these poems.