This was a great poetry book. I always absolutely enjoy her work and I can't wait to read more in the near future. I highly recommend it.

Letters to the Person I Was by Sana Abuleil is a heartfelt journey of healing and self-discovery. The book's poetry beautifully expresses raw emotions, making it relatable for those experiencing heartbreak. However, the poetry's depth can be challenging to follow, and the collection reads more like a personal journal than a structured poetry book. While it didn't resonate completely, it offers comfort to readers seeking solace in their healing process.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The cover is simple but unique. It gives us an inside look at to who the author is.

I have a soft spot in my heart for poetry. Not everyone does it right or well, but Sana Abuleil certainly does. I feel like I KNOW her after reading this book.

I'll definitely be looking out for other work by this author.

I'm not sure this poetry collection was really my cup of tea; it's very much in the style of Rupi Kaur, Amanda Lovelace etc, that unstructured, unrhyming free verse which has the potential to be either brilliantly evocative or just vapid. Abuleil's writing definitely isn't the latter, but I'm not sure it was often the former, either. It's a book of poetry that left me feeling slightly empty, but then again, I'm not generally a fan of this style of poetry. I'm very willing to concede that I might, in fact, be the problem here.

Super love this book. I enjoy reading it. Never thought I’m going to love it.

It was moving and heartfelt. A must read.

I really like the art for this story. It's intermixed with the poems which were fine. I don't read a lot of poetry so it's hard to judge it for that one way or another.

I loved the idea of the structure of her poetry collection, and at times Sana is able to capture a beautiful picture within the writing. I found little bit of myself in some of her poems, as well. Unfortunately, it reads too much like a formula that other poets like Rupi Kaur follow, and I think that Sana has the capability to reach higher.

This collection of poetry was absolutely phenomenal from the time I placed this book in my hands and started reading it I fell in love! The writing really spoke to me in many volumes and I felt like I really could connect with the poet. I loved the bits of artwork that were inside of it as you read it. The writing as a whole inspired me during the time in my life that I’m going through right now. I feel like more people should read it!

It was painful to read, but in a good way. Achingly real. I have a friend who is going through these exact troubles it feels and all I could think of was her when I read it. The poetry isn't easy to read, this isn't simple to comprehend, but it's raw. It's powerful. It's worth your attention.

That said, I struggled with the poetic style of "letters to the person i was" and while there are moments that struck me hard such as:

<i>my poems are all
starting to sound the same.
they blur into each other
the way the traffic lights do
when they reflect on the street
after a rainstorm
and the whole city
lights up at night
and it makes sense
because lately it's
been rainstorm after rainstorm
so why wouldn't these words
get washed into each other?</i>

There are many more where I would find myself rereading page after page just because it could be hard to follow when the poems are so long and there's so little punctuation. There's effort involved. I would still recommend it though just for those brief moments that struck hard. Just don't expect this to be a collection that you can read in one sitting.

Read a while back. The poems are very reflective, too dark for me. Very reminiscent of rupi kaur. Good overall, definitely need to be in the right mindset to enjoy. (2.5 star rating)

This overall is a solid poetry collection, a decent read, but it didn’t quite work for me. It had moments that were both relatable and emotional. And although I empathized, I didn’t really connect to it as much as I had hoped. I did however like how it was a series of letters written to her younger self, and I did enjoy the illustrations as well.

I have no particularly strong feelings about letters to the person i was, that is, I neither adored nor hated this poetry collection. Nonetheless, I found this little book to be quite refreshing: a much-appreciated breath of fresh air from all the romance-centered poetry found in most contemporary collections. A nice, warm hug even.

I really think that I read this collection at the perfect time. Some of the pieces really resonated with me, and I was able to connect with them in ways that truly surprised me. Many of them were centered on self-love and self-healing, and these are themes that are so, so important. I loved the ringing sincerity of Sana Abuleil's works, and I loved the hopefulness shining throughout this poetry book.

Although some of the poems in letters to the person i was fell flat, the collection still boasts some pretty thoughtful pieces that are perfect for self-reflection. letters to the person i was is not the best poetry I've come across, but I do think that it makes a great read if you're feeling blue, if you're feeling lonely, or if you generally just need some comfort.

Recommended!

This is a solid poetry collection with reflections on experiences, emotions, relationships, and self. The poems varied in degrees of rawness. I appreciated my time inside the author’s head, heart, and words. I read this via NetGalley, courtesy of the publisher.

Thanks to #NetGalley for the copy of this book. It means so much to me to read a heartfelt poetry collection by a new author and I am so glad I got a chance to get to read this book on time. I am currently going through some similar issues that are mentioned in this collection and I am somehow feeling humane that there are others who feel the same.
Even though I appreciate the themes tacked in this collection is important and need to be discussed and expressed, I felt like most of the lines kept me hanging. Maybe it's just the style of the author or maybe the lines needed to be complete like that.
However, I will be looking forward to more such collections by the author. I could relate so much with her.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was incredible, I loved it. The writing was so raw and incredibly done. It's deeply personal and tough to read at points. I'd add trigger/content warnings but I don't think I could get them all. I'm say, off the top of my head though: depression, anxiety, emotional abuse.

It's written in a string of almost diary entry poetries, and I just have to say for some reason that really worked for me. And I also really liked the split sections. I took it slow, as I do most poetry collections, reading a bit at a time to process it and I'd definitely recommend it for this. Or reading them out loud, they had a good cadence to them that I really enjoyed.

I'll definitely be looking into more by this author.

Thanks to Andrews McMeel Publishing for the ARC!
A great book for fans of modern poetry. It's beautiful to see how we all feel the same, even if we come from different countries, different cultures... I can relate so much to the author.

I was not a fan of this book. The poems appear to have been written in the last decade and you can definitely tell.

At 12 years old your closest friend is cutting themselves. Crying out for and needing help. Instead of telling them they are valued, loved, to help them get help, all the things you are scared to say and finally put all down in eloquently beautiful and heartbreaking poetry. Beautifully written.

I recognized myself in a lot of these poems. This was truly written from the heart and the poems really hit me. I loved reading this book. It was a book with which you just had to take your time to read the poems.

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

letters to the person i was is a new addition to the "Instagram" poetry group, like Milk and Honey or the princess saves herself in this one. These poems are truly letters that Abuleil has written to her past self, reflecting on hard times.

I really like the letters to a former self premise and, for the most part, the execution. She may be writing to her past self, but when a letter relates to your own struggles, you will feel seen.

However, I found it to be repetitive after a while. It made it hard to keep reading honestly because repeating the same thoughts, metaphors, and feelings gets old and loses its power after a while.

Overall, it is a nice read. If you enjoy the style of poetry, you will probably enjoy this collection of letters. But I don't think it is the strongest and most powerful work in this genre.