This book explores the depth of emotions and full of analogies of religion and faith. The style of writing is interesting and I find it new since I haven't read a work like this one. This poetry book can be read in one sitting where you will think as you go along the poems of uncovering the message that is written between the lines. It was overall a good book which makes a good read with so many things that you can get out of it and learn from.

The poems in this book are very well written with strong meaning. Anyone looking to be tensed up on the edge of their seat would love this read. The variation of poems all link in nicely with the theme and portray deep emotion. A more experienced read.

This book of poems had some good content but most of the book was just okay. Some parts were really dry and boring. Was not a fan but loved the writing style of author and would try another book by them

This was a really nice collection that made me Feel Things. It felt more traditional than a lot of the poetry I usually read so it was a nice change of pace.

Musings:

I think one of the main issues with this collection is how much the same it is. The rhythms are all the same and it’s like reading one long redundant poem and no one wants that.

However, the reason why I rated this 3 stars is because there was 2 poems that I really did enjoy, but even those have the same redundant rhythm and I wish it didn’t.

I will share the one I liked the most with all of you:

Grim

The madness creeping deep within,

The lifeless body of a man named grim;

As a heartless beat quakes the thin,

Revenant who died and rose again.

Writhing and crawling with nary a shin,

Carrying a devilish smile,

disguised as a grin,

His twinkling eyes,

protrude through the dim,

Haze of blackness that encompass his skin.

Seeing a doppelganger claiming his twin,

The unrepentant soul of abhorrent sin,

Seeking to devour his spirited kin;

Dragging his corpse into the depths therein.

Screaming his last, from the pit, of the dungeon,

Never a fate so great and grim,

La fin.

I like this one because it was darker and it made me think of Halloween and creepiness. But, even re-reading it I don’t feel like it has a lasting impression.

Mostly, I just wanted there to be variety in the tone. It’s like the words no longer matter because there was no variety in the beat. It’s like the poetry is trying to be grander then it actually is. It’s not even that the poems themselves are bad. I feel like it’s all trying too hard.

All in all:

This collection had a lot of potential it never tapped into. It had some good topics and some good lines, but it fell lacking to redundancy. It’s a run of the mill poetry collection. Not terrible, but not great. Which is why I gave it the rating I did.

This is a hard review to write, as the author seems like a very nice man and poetry is such a vulnerable thing to share. That said, this is clearly self published and the poet really could have used spending some time in writers' workshops where people would give brutally honest feedback. I went to the author's website (it's named Fish Books after his last name) and this is his bio:

"T. A. Fish is a Christian author, who spent over 5 years crafting the deep, provocative, and thought-provoking poetry collection, The Voice of My Mind.

"The Voice of My Mind is a journey of the human spirit; one that dives into the deepest and darkest crevices of the human mind, and then reaches for the height of spiritual enlightenment and redemption. " - T. A. Fish

The best poems ever and the best poetry books"

I'll let all that speak for itself. The poems themselves are mostly in rhyme. They deal with sadness, death, friendship and God for the most part. This is the first time I've ever seen "woe is me" used in a poem, and it is not used ironically. The author occasionally uses words like hath and thou.

Two small excerpts--

From Sweet Friend:

How now
My,
Sweetest friend;

Will you remember
Me,
In the end?

And from Savior:

May my soul rise up
And praise Your name.

May the angels call out
With a shout
"Jesus came!"

Two stars because it takes courage to put your poetry out there, the author seems like a sincere man, and the book has a lovely layout.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for the purpose of review.

Thanks to Netgalley for letting me read an advanced copy of this eARC. I didn’t realise going in that this was a very religious focused set of poetry and had I known that I probably wouldn’t have chosen to read it because it’s not my sort of thing at all. I do think this should be made clearer in the blurb because I imagine there will be others like me that aren’t the true audience for this book.

I also found some of the poetry to be quite dark at times and very focused on death and again that’s not something I’d choose to read about. I didn’t particularly enjoy any of the poems and I think it’s because I was never the right audience for this collection.

I really don’t know how to rate this book.

When I first approached it, I was expecting something that could blow me away, like MILK AND HONEY. I wasn’t really expecting the best from a book of poetry collections, but not the literal worst.

And this book started off well. But I feel like as it progressed, I felt like it was a book more fit for a church. Although I support all religions, I found myself not understanding what the author was trying to say. Because of that, I didn’t really like the book.

a very interesting form of poetry, which strays against the current contemporary forms through use of rhyme and alternate language. its refreshing to see something different, particularly amongst the current form of poetry that is so prevalent today. whilst it may not be for everyone, it will be perfect for those looking for an alternative form of poetry in these days!

I would hesitate to describe the content of this collection of poetry as ‘avant-garde’, as listed in the blurb. Instead I would say that it was heavily reliant on traditional forms, such as prayers, psalms or greeting card verses.

There is a strong Christian theme to many of the poems in the collection, following generic themes of God, Christ and faith, rather than specific exploration of the author’s relationship with his beliefs. In fact, the lack of concrete and specific details is a stylistic omission that runs throughout the collection; leaving the emotions and ideas vague and lacking in depth.

The author’s choice of irregular patterns of rhythm and rhyme for many of the poems – writing in free verse style – could be considered avant-garde, but there is a heavy reliance on clichés, rhetorical questions and non sequiturs that weights the overall impression back towards the old from the new. Those poems that do follow more traditional rhyming schemes seem to sacrifice the meaning of the words in order to force the rhymes.

I feel that the main benefit of this text is that a number of the poems make nice standard prayers that can be used for personal or public worship purposes. However, aside from the religious aspect, I look to poetry to touch my heart and/or move me to strong emotions, which unfortunately this collection fails to do.


Review by Steph Warren of Bookshine and Readbows blog

I debated giving this a real review, but the poetry is so trite, unoriginal, and just not well written, at all. So, I'm going with this one word review: doggerel.

This is definitely a quick read and I am a fan of poetry but I don’t think I’ll be able to rate this well. I want to say this as nicely as possible but this is not good poetry, in my opinion. This feels flat and like regurgitated lines from other poems and scripture. It’s without emotion. I read 27%. I won’t be able to help boost this with a good rating.

I am trying to learn to like poetry and thought I would give this a try. The poems were brief and accessible which was a plus. Many of the poems referenced God so I skipped those, for some that might be a plus. It’s worth a read to see what you think.

**I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and an unbiased review of this book.

The Voice of My Mind is just that, the author's thoughts given a flourish in a poetic format. Unfortunately, this one wasn't for me, while I tried to connect with the poems and their depth I was thrown off by the rhyming pattern which at times seemed quite random and stopped me from fully appreciating what the author was trying to say.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley and author T.A. Fish for an ebook of The Voice of My Mind in exchange for my honest review.
Occasionally, I like to step away from my typical reading choices and dive into some poetry. This is only my second time [I think] reviewing any. I will be completely honest I don't know much about poetry, but I know what I like and when I feel something when reading, something that I can't explain on my own, I know it's a win. With that being said there's a few poems I read here that made me feel that something. I will list them below
Alone
Never Know
A Ponder of Life
Toxic
Twilight
My Pain
The Voice of My Mind
Sleep Walking
Bitter Dreams
Tortured
If Only
Lamentations
Don't Quit
Happiness

I enjoyed reading this. I'm glad I stepped out of my comfort zone with this one.
Rated 3/5 star

Thank you Netgalley and Publishers for granting me early access to "The Voice of My Mind".

I'm currently in the middle of a major move, and will definitely come back at a later time and write out a full review and rating.

Thank you so much!

I didn't realise that this would be so religious, and as an atheist, I just wasn't interested in that. The collection wasn't awful necessarily but they were very dark and depressing and then became very religious which I didn't want. So, it was probably more of a "me" thing.

This collection of poems is so basic and pure I would say.
I enjoyed it so much. It gave me joy and satisfaction to read such short lines impregnated with so much of self realisation and wit.
In general, this collection talks about being a person which represents basically most of us. It also talks about love and false promises, nature and human nature, failures and goodbyes, pain and happiness, friendship and life in general. I would like to say it's a bit personal. I usually do not enjoy reading about prayers and gods but the few collections regarding these themes were written so well in this one.

The only part which seems to be lacking in this collection is a more elaborate or wholesome poem as I feel like some of the poems were left incomplete. As much as I enjoyed all the poems, still there was a nagging feeling of waiting for the end of most of the poems.

I love the cover, I love the contents, I love the writing style and the language.

I enjoyed reading all of the poems and I will be looking forward to read every work by the author.
Thanks #NetGalley for providing me with a copy of #TheVoiceOfMyMind

This was not good. The poems are written at a middle school level and the theme of the book is confusing, is it supposed to be religious or not? This was a 30 minute read for me and I wish I hadn’t spent that much time on it. Definitely would encourage others to skip.

I picked this compilation of poems recently and unfortunately I couldn't make it through the book. Reading poetry is relaxing, intimate and something that I do to feed my agitated soul. This book couldn't really do that for me!
I don't expect poetry to be happy or frolicky but this book was a little too pessimistic as it kept talking about being lonely, sad etc, and not in a way that I could relate.
Thank you, next