This poetry collection is divided into two parts. The first part is about the author's personal life and the people that she cares about, whereas the second part tells the stories of others.
I did appreciate the first part more, maybe because I felt more connected to it and all the aspects of grief Emmy Marucci dealt with. The author faces the grief she feels for her grandpa. All the aspects she touched upon were very raw and real and that's what made me connect so deeply.
Overall it was a nice poetry collection.

This collection explores a variety of topics including loss, youth, love, acceptance, heartbreak, and much more.

Over half a decade ago now, I lost my grandfather to cancer. It was a drawn-out, miserable death where he became a very small shadow of himself before finally leaving us. Like Emmy Marucci's grandfather, he was a musician. He played the mandolin, and that's what I'd wake up to every morning when I slept over and what I'd hear at any family gatherings.

"and if there was any religion
inside those walls at all

it was the music
coming from your horn"

I miss him, and the poems about Marucci's own grandfather really, really got to me. I don't think I've ever cried over poetry before today.

Turns out, I don't like heaven, either.

There are no words to explain how beautiful this book is. I think there's a poem— at least one, but almost certainly more— that each and every one of us can really connect to. Granted there were a few I didn't like— I'm not a fan of hearing about boys crushing fireflies between their fingers or people pinning butterflies and watching them struggle until they die, but I still enjoyed the writing and the meaning behind the words. My heart just can't handle anything suffering.