Thank you so much to net galley for sending me a copy of this book. I was so excited to read it but I ended up not really enjoying it

I received a DRC of Somebody Give This Heart a Pen in exchange for an honest review.

Normally I love poetry books and it feels unfair giving this one such a low rate because it has everything to do with me and nothing to do with the author.

I know some people physically hear things they read? I'm not one of those people. Sophia Thakur is a performance poet and her writing style shows it. Things that felt off to me would probably sound incredibly powerful aloud and I'd love to see her perform the poems in this book.

If you hear things while you read, I'm sure you'll love this. If you don't you might find it a little lackluster. I'd recommend giving it a shot regardless and coming to decision on your own.

Trigger warning: anxiety, self-harm

This is a powerful collection of poems by a biracial author that I think everyone should read!
The poetry is so raw and heartbreaking at times that it made me feel things. In her poems she talks about being biracial, talks about politics and family. She also describes what I think is a toxic relationship and then the heartbreak of dealing with it. Her growth is shown throughout the book and I was floored by her writing.

The following are some of my favorite excerpts from the book.

To describe her anxiety she writes the following lines from her poem titled "Secrets":
'My family have never responded well to imperfection
so the truth of things often comes second.
I swore to my lips
to never send up anything that will compromise
anyone's perception of me.
I have a vision of how I wish to be seen
and I fear that that image will be challenged
if ever they know more of me.'

To describe her on-off relationship she writes the following lines from her poem titled "How we got here part 20":
'But this war we have between us is familiar
and the comfort in familiarity is easier than either of us
deciding to leave.'

About her growth and moving on from all the negativity she describes it in her poem titled "Sprouting":
'Maybe one day, by accident, you'll take a sip or dip in the
river that healed me. And in swallowing, taste all of the
things that could have killed me, but instead, helped me
grow into everything that you swore I could never become
without you.'

This was an amazing collection of poems for a debut author and I look forward to more by her.

This book was stunning. It was full of raw emotion and extremely timely, especially right now. Some of the poems I didn't connect to, but most of them I did. I've only ever experienced this sort of emotion with one other poet's collection, and that was Rupi Kaur. This is a book that needs to be taught in schools, put in the hands of everyone, especially teenagers. I don't have enough good things to say about this poetry collection, and I can't wait to read more of what Sophia Thakur comes out with in the future. I'll have to make sure I pre-order a copy of it and spread the word about this amazing book as much as I can.

This was beautiful. Some poems were delicate, some were brutal, but they were all too real. It was so powerful to have read this while the Black Lives Matter movement is gaining strength and recognition worldwide. I got chills several times. These poems are so raw and I think everyone deserves to read them. I’m so, so thankful I got to read this. Definitely one of my favorite books in 2020! Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for granting me an early copy of this new edition.

Powerful collection of poetry. The poems have raw emotion; full of honesty. Powerful -own voice poems.

There were some beautiful lines in these poems but I couldn't get myself to finish it. Although Thakur's words on race are poignant, particularly at this time, I found that the more religious themes of the poems distracted from the meaning for me. This is an entirely personal preference for me so it's not something that I would knock down the rating for. As I said, there were some beautiful lines but I found that the poems I read washed over me and they didn't leave an impact unfortunately.

I absolutely adored this collection. Like most poetry books, there were poems that highly resonated with me and others that didn’t quite click. While I enjoyed the long ones, I think that the shorter ones were my favorite because it exhibited a real sense of control, power, and passion to convey a message in such a short space. One poem that stuck with me after this collection ended was “Fairground Lenses.” I thoroughly enjoyed all poems about family and culture. I look forward to reading more from Sophia Thakur in the future!

Somebody Give This Heart a Pen by Sophia Thakur is a powerful collection that will speak to anyone who is, or has ever been, young and trying to figure out their own place in a complicated and ever-evolving world. Ms Thakur is raw, honest, and uncensored, and her prolific voice will be lauded by a generation. By tapping into the very pulse of her own experience and environment, the poetic soul of the author demands to be heard, and will certainly resonate, on some level, with any reader. This is a beautiful collection that will linger in both the mind and soul.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Candlewick Press for the opportunity to read this ARC.