" Take your time, but do take the first step"
This is the key message of Courtney Peppernell's latest collection which looks at recovering from the breakup of a relationship. As there always is with her books, there is a raw honesty to her words, and so they are easy to relate to. She embraces the dark days and the moments of hope and through her words encourages the reader to strive for more, to take that first step, because what is out there is worth taking that risk for.
"You are in control of your own progress, the only person who can decide how much or how little you tread. No one else gets to decide for you, no one else gets to tell you what defines you "getting better" All the things you struggle with are yours, your battles are yours and your victories are yours."
I also loved that she encourages women to stand up for and stand with one another, to be kind to one another and build each other up instead of tearing each other down, another positive message that needs to be heard.
Deceptively simple but often surprisingly moving, I would definitely recommend this book.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

This poetry book was about love
"She is my soul, my heart, my life. The moment I heard her laugh, I knew I wanted her to be my wife."

Learning to love yourself/self-care
"If they make you feel like your body, your heart, and your soul are not worthy of love, then they are not worthy to be loved by you."

"I am not going to be or act a certain way for anyone.
I am who I am, and I am going to embrace it. not everyone will like me, but the most important thing is that I love me, all my parts, working together, all that makes me whole."

And empowering yourself and let you know that everyone has struggles and that even though it might hurt at the time everything will be fine someday.

I did enjoy it, I left with a few memorable quotes and feeling like it's normal to feel sad or tired but know that everything will pass and better days will come.

I am a fan of poetry, but this book fell short of satisfying. Unfortunately, the entries come off as sappy and trite, like bad Hallmark imitations.

A empowering poetry book filled with different parts of life and what we can do to overcome our fears and rise again stonier and renewed! I loved how it ended on a powerful and positive note that we can rise and change how we see ourselves as a whole!

I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I Hope You Stay is an enjoyable poetry collection that takes us through the pain of heartbreak to the joy of new love. With it's message of hope, I think this collection would be an enjoyment for anyone, no matter what phase of the love cycle they're currently in.

The style is modern poetry and the layout is beautiful. It is divided into 5 sections, each a phase of love and heartbreak. Each section also has an illustration in the beginning that suits the theme well.

While I didn't find myself becoming lost in the poetry, I did enjoy a lot of it. It took me a few days to read which is a bit longer than a normal for me. Overall, it's not bad and is definitely worth reading.

I really enjoyed this poetry collection. My favorite sections were the dream and you will rise. I resonated a lot with the poems in those sections. This is a beautiful poetry collection and has a great message of overcoming heart break and hard times. I highly recommend!

I’ve read most of the Pillow Thoughts series and am quite a fan of Peppernell’s. This is exactly what I’ve come to expect of her poetry. I’ve gotten used to the poems not having titles. Like her other collections, Peppernell explores themes that resonate with almost everyone such as new life, healing and broken relationships but different poems will resonate with different people. The collection is divided into sections. The first section resonated the most with me with poems exploring finding new love and struggling to let go. I also liked the variety in the length of poems. This is a enjoyable, moving collection. I rather enjoyed it.

It started off really good but after the first chapter it feels like it started going downhill. Maybe it's just a preference thing or maybe other people have noticed it too. Feels like a harsh jump from the sad to the happy and would've enjoyed a more gradual change.

I read Pillow Thoughts when it was first released and I really loved it. It was one of my favorite poetry books I'd read in a long time. I was really excited to pick up another book from Courtney Peppernell and while I really enjoyed this book as well, I didn't love it as much as I expected. There's so many beautiful poems in I Hope You Stay and I especially love the overall story it tells, but I felt like there was quite a few poems that didn't match the quality of others, which was a little disappointing. I did really enjoy the otter illustrations throughout the book and I absolutely love the cover. Even though I didn't love this as much as the author's other work, I do plan on purchasing a physical copy for my poetry shelf.

***I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review***

once again ive fallen in love with Peppernell's writing. She is one of my favorite poets but she never ceases to amaze me. although prose is not my favorite she delivers it in such a way that makes me forget I don't love it. this collection will give you hope and remind you that your feelings are valid which we all need sometimes.

I loved this book a lot. It carried so much honest words. The poems really got to my heart. Peppernell keeps on surprising me with every new book she writes. I really recommend this book to anyone who loves poetry and has loved Peppernell’s previous books.

Love this book!! Another great poetry book, it's all about self-love (again) which I found really helpful for my own sake. highly recommended!!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher I was able to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
***
Courtney Peppernell has released another beautiful, introspective collection on love, loss, and overcoming loss. I don’t always quite click with what she writes, romance something that eludes my comprehension, but it feels a lot like sitting across from a confident who whispers encouragement and secrets to you in your darkest moments, letting you know they’ve been there and it’s okay to crash so long as you get back up again and don’t let this hold you back.

Reading "I hope you stay" felt like putting on a warm blanket, or maybe like having a heart to heart with a good friend that helps you through the bad times. For me, it was about feeling lost and slowly finding your way back to yourself, about falling in love with all the little moments and letting the sun back in. Go read it, it's great.

This book of poetry covers the process of healing from a break up. It’s geared more towards teenagers or young adults. Not all that deep.

I gave this collection of poems I Hope You Stay by Courtney Peppernell a three out of five stars. I thought this collection of poems were okay. I enjoyed a couple, I didn't connect or click to any of the poems though.

I Hope You Stay is a tender and hopeful collection. Courtney Peppernell's prose especially is full of heart, and it is always a pleasure to read her works. Just as the back of the book says: "These words are a light in the deepest hours of the night."

This book of poems was a miss for me. While I did find a handful of them inspirational or introspective, I felt like I have been reading the same sentiments over and over again across social media but this time those sentiments were published in a book rather than online. I thought the artwork included was absolutely adorable, but I didn't quite see how it related to the content of the poems. But, I do appreciate how the book was broken up into different sections. Anyone could possibly pick up this book and find a poem or two that relates to their current situation, and then pick it up again at a different point in their life and find solace in a different set of poems in a different section of the book. I think this book of poems would appeal more to a younger audience than myself, high school students filled with angst and longing and struggling with who they are. I could see this book and its poems finding itself in twitter quotes and instagram posts with the likes of Rupi Kaur, but, overall, it was just not for me.

I don’t normally choose contemporary poetry to read so this was a great chance to read and explore my own love for poems and similar writing styles. Thank you @netgalley for the advanced reader copy to review.
The poetic entries in this book were sweet, heart breaking and heart-aching. The prose read more like a diary of a lost soul, or someone pining away for the one that got away, with a chance to return. I found this book to be more a collection of thoughts rather than a collection of poems. I anticipated that in the five sections of this book, the writing would be connected to each theme: aching, dreaming, loving, healing and rising. Unfortunately, all themes reverted primarily back to loss. There didn’t seems to be an exploration of the theses in reference to that loss, just thoughts and meanderings in prose format. Mid way the book has a glimmer of hope in linking back to the themes in the healing chapter where the author poses three statements: “what are you looking for”, “what do you want to be”, and “what do I do when I fail”. I longed for these sub themes to be further explored around the notion of healing during and after heartbreak, however this was followed by responses that reminded me of an inspirational quote book. True romantics of the world may swoon to this book. It was not my cup of tea, but it may be yours.

[3.5 Stars]

"I Hope You Stay" is a new poetry collection from Peppernell that deals with heartbreak, healing, self-care, and love. I've been a fan of Peppernell since I read the Pillow Thoughts series and I was very excited to get my hands on her newest work. I found the collection as a whole hopeful and sweet but some of the poems felt hollow throughout. I found her poems that seemed from personal experience shone the brightest while the others about "self-care" were trivial and the kind of thing you'll see in other poetry collections nowadays.

While this wasn't her strongest book I still enjoyed my read and as always her soft and welcoming writing style.