Dear Girl is as the book itself says "a journey from girlhood to womanhood through poetry".

It is written in extremely simple language and is a really short book. you can easily finish it within an hour. If you are someone who is searching for deep meanings and imagery than this is not for you.

But, the book has covered almost every problem that women as a whole have suffered or may suffer from. It talks about rape and how the survivor only meets with "intimidation, investigation and disbelief". It talks about how we must extend our support to "women of color" , "trans women" and "lgbtq+ women". It says sorry to women who were taught to be "white and thin". And deals with many other topics like that. As I said it almost checks off every problem in the entire list. There is great deal of repetitive symbolism of phoenix (flame, rising and burning), swords and shields and etc.

What I liked the most in this book, though, was how the poet appealed to parents to raise their sons and daughters properly. How if you father has taught you to fight, you "soar". How a women becomes the "warrior" her mother wanted her to be.

Overall, it's an uplifting and empowering book. It will be picked by those who love themselves. But I will recommend you to gift this to that friend or sister of yours who doesn't love herself enough. It will do her good.
Lastly, thanks to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the eARC.

Received an Audio book and a Digital arc from publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Dear Girl is a set of poems dealing with the subject matter of Feminism and everything that goes with it. It almost remain of " the Witch doesn't burn in this one by Amanda Lovelace which was also about the subject matter of Feminism . This was a very quick listened and read since I read it along with listening to it. The narrator was really good since it was author of the book who was reading it.

Rating: 3/5
Reading the description of this poetry book it was described as a journey of girlhood to womanhood, which is generally my type of reading. This book does have a transition of poems that range from poems that are targeted at girlhood to womanhood and some in-between. The theme of the poems was highlighted at starting with ‘Dear Girl’ and then giving advice or outlining an experience. Maybe I would have liked the poetry better if I was not 22 and did not experience the bulk of the transition of girlhood to womanhood (as this work is referencing this too). I thought the writing style was good and that there were not any issues that I had with the way the writing was done. I did wish that the poems had titles though, so I could reference some of them. I wish this poetry collection was longer because I feel like this collection was covering a topic that they needed to say more on and they basically said the bare minimum. Part of me is concerned with the understanding of gender in this work and that it is focused more on cisgender girls and women, so I think I would have liked for there to be more inclusive situations that were not biologically centered. The poems that resonated with me the most are the ones that were on page 22 and 30. These poems highlight that women do not need to hide their voices and that they have the right to speak their minds. I just like the way the author wrote these poems and resonated with the wording.
I gave this poetry collection a 3 out of 5 stars because I enjoyed many of the poems, but I did not love them. I believe that the author is on the younger side, so she may be still developing her writing style and I look forward to seeing if her style develops as she ages. In my reading of the poetry collection, there was a focus on cisgender women and I would have liked the collection to focus on the gender identity of women too instead of focusing on biological functions half the population can do. This collection should have been longer and touched on more specific topics of the transition of girlhood to womanhood as the book description states. I felt like I was reading the collection was about halfway done with it and then blinked it was done. I somewhat felt like, ‘oh that was it’ when I read the last poem.

Dear Girl is the debut poetry collection from Aija Mayrock - written from a sister to another sister. It is sharp , so on point , empowering and ultimately it touched the soul. This collection calls out to the women to speak up - to find truth - to make their voices heard. It is not just poetry but motivational writings.

"you must believe the words you speak are weak,
but Echoes of words
can start revolutions. "

'Dear Girl' is an impressive collection of poems. I was listening to the autho's piercing voice with the lights off and honestly speaking it gave me chills because major portions of this book hits a chord - incidents I experienced while growing up as a girl and of course as a woman.

"grow wiser, grow deeper, but never grow up"

This book is not something that no one has ever read before or have not heard somewhere else , but it is something that needs to be taught to your offsprings ,to be told to your siblings . It is not only meant to be read but also learnt.
This book restored my spirits and made me believe that I am the fire.

" Dear Girl,
You ask me what I wish for you.
I simply say -
Never allow any soul to clip your wings
You were not born an ember
You were born a flame."

This book consoled me - it taught me that I do need to take care of myself at times. Everything else - everyone else will vapourise but what matters the most is self-love and self-esteem.

The theme may seem repetitive at times but the use of impactful words made it very consistent in quality and made me fall in love with my being.

If you are in search of something motivational or are feeling a bit low spirited today just grab your earphones and start listening to the audio version (maybe you can grab the soft copy also) and start listening (or reading - whatever you choose to).

ARC kindly provided in exchange for an honest review.

When you're feeling down, read this poetry collection. It's meant to uplift your spirit and to remind yourself that you're more than enough. You don't need to seek validation from anyone. We, as women, should unite and support each other. It's a promising debut poetry collection.

I enjoyed reading this book. The poems were informative and shocking and so important. I liked the repetitive nature of 'Dear girl' throughout the book.

This book is a very powerful book. As Mayrock says in one of her poems:
“You might believe the words you speak are weak,
but the echoes of words
can start revolutions.”
This is a quote that very much speaks to the book.
I really appreciated the poems in this book, however some of them didn’t speak to me.
I give this book 3 out of 5 stars.

I feel like I have read these poems countless times before. And not in a good way.. As much as we need more women in the literary field, we need quality more.

There are no original thoughts and emotions that should fuel the book and make the reader overcome with feelings. Instead the book offers all the things that as important as they may be, are shoved down our throats and made tedious.

This just goes to show, that everybody should search for their own voice and their unique way of expressing their beliefs, and not go with the current flow.

A real let down.

Today I am reading: Dear Girl by Aija Mayrock (@aijamayrock). This is definitely a good book for young women in their late teens, early twenties. Affirming and confessional at times.

The book is a collection of poems which act as a conversation, a cry and a ray of hope and sometimes a reprimand from the author to numerous readers.
The book covers many grounds from sexuality, body image, consent to harassment, misogyny and sexual, physical and mental abuse. It might seem like a wide scope, maybe too many issues of society crunched up into a hundred pages, but this is literally what every woman goes through every day.
There are two things that I loved about the book and which really stood out for me. One is the appropriate level of storytelling; nothing is over-exaggerated; it is kept simple and truthful and naked, exactly as it is with no shrouds of metaphors in them for varying degrees. The second is that the poems aren’t meant to be a rant. They do portray the anger and the disappointment, but they are also inspiring. They talk of healing and empowerment and equality and being proud of surviving and talking about your own story.
It is driven by emotions that become more volatile as you read them more and more. I can’t say enough for this book so here is what I’ll say instead – if anyone asks me to describe poetry in its bare form with raw emotions that touch the soul, I will tell them to read this gem.

This book of poetry was honestly a breath of fresh air. It was an empowering work of art, perfect for every girl.

“The battles you fight do not take away from who you are”

This is a beautiful collection of poems that I read in a day. It’s so powerful and beautifully written that I don’t have the words to express my feelings. I absolutely admire poems that aim to uplift women because they are empowering and they try to give a voice to girls who are oppressed. This book is honest and great but there were times where I felt it was generic and just like other poems. But despite there were works that were beautiful and special which left me in awe.

"you might believe the words you speak are weak,
but the echoes of words
can start revolutions."

dear girl, as the author describes perfectly, is "a journey from girlhood to womanhood through poetry. it is the search for truth in silence, the freeing of the tongue, it is deep wounds and deep healing and the resilience that lies within us. it is a love letter to sisterhood.".

it's an incredibly impressive debut poetry collection that I found very empowering and touching, some poems even gave me chills reading them because a lot of the collection truly hits on the experience of growing up as a girl and a woman.

"grow wiser, grow deeper, but never grow up."

I found the poems a bit too repetitive at times, though at other times the repetitive nature of a lot of the wording made it even more impactful, and if you like me have read other feminist poetry collections before you might, like me, find some of the poems a bit generic at times.

it was overall, again as I said, a very impressive debut poetry collection though and one I wish I could give to a younger version of myself.

I applaud Aija Mayrock for writing such empowering words in this book, and her debut poetry collection at that. Society has a way of making us feel inadequate. Women are objectified, silenced, judged, and dismissed; sometimes even by other women. In this collection, Mayrock stresses the importance of camaraderie to dismantling the misogynistic system we exist within, the inherent and irrefutable power in all of us, and the necessity of embracing and loving our vulnerabilities. This collection of poetry is one that every woman needs to read. Gift this collection to your mother, your daughter, your sister, your best friend, and every woman in your life. In short, read this book, listen to this book, experience this book.

This poetry collection was beautiful. It was feminist. It brought in politics. It brought in the Me Too movement. And it was all done so naturally. It didn't feel forced. I did feel that the ending was a bit to abrupt. It needed to be smoothed out a bit. I absolutely would have loved for this collection to be much much longer.

I have always been a fan of poetry books that follow themes in terms of content, and Aija's poetry collection definitely falls into this category. The poetry feels inclusive, thoughtful, and feminist (all things our world needs today). I did find that some of the poetry was repetitive in sentiment, but for the most part, DEAR GIRL encourages girls (I would say this book would resonate with women aged 14 to early 20s) to raise their voices. It's clear, on every page, that women have been silenced for too long. Time's up.

I've only ever read one poetry book aside from this, and that is Wild Embers by Nikita Gill. Both of them talked about gender inequality and how us females always need to mind our behaviors, our clothing, our everything, in the presence of males.

However, Aija Mayrock's Dear Girl has an angry tone to it. And it made me wonder whether the poems she wrote were solely of her experiences or whether she drew inspiration from others around her. It feels repetitive, the poems about female power and strength. And instead of being inspired it left me feeling a bit uncomfortable. It was as if the book was telling me what kind of woman I should be so I can be heard.

Dear Girl is a poetry collection covering topics like sexism, feminism, love, healing etc
Even though I'm not a huge fan of this poetry collection, there were a few that I really liked.

A sincere thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for providing me with an ebook copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This is not my usual genre, I’m more into romance stories and literary fiction however I wanted to take the opportunity to read something from outside my norm. And I am glad I did!! Thank you for  opening up my mind to something totally different.

I really really enjoyed this, it was my second attempt at poetry so I might not be super talented at telling when a poetry book is good or bad.

But I loved the overall message that this book gives us, the fact that we are reminded to leave all of the hate and bias we have towards other women, our bodies and minds is beautiful. I love that we have so much love for survivors and the embracing of our uniqueness. To leave all of our shame and learn to heal and to know that it all starts with loving ourselves and accepting our emotions and uniqueness to find love.

Women supporting women is what I love to see, leaving all those hateful thoughts that we are taught are normal. All the trash talking we want to do, all the judgement we sometimes feel for the way people dress, talk or do with their bodies. All toxic should be left behind.
just looking at ourselves internally has really had me reflecting on my actions.

One last thought was that something about this was making me not rate it higher, that doesn’t take away from the message nor make it less amazing or that I hated it. It just a feeling that I can’t explain but in no way makes this book horrible nor not worthy of a read.

It’s a short read and I totally recommend it.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this & most of all thank you to the publisher.