I received a complimentary advance review copy of #DearGirl from #NetGalley

I think the overall messages were very important and powerful - uplifting without being aggressive, validating without close-minded wallowing, personal and supportive despite being words from a faceless stranger. This is not my preferred style of poetry and some parts felt as if a normal sentence or two just had some line breaks added in to make it a poem, but I would still highly recommend this collection to people who like the poetry style and/or who want to read a strong book about the themes of womanhood..

I just didn't connect with this book as much as I have in the past with other feminist poetry. I'm sure others will love it though!

While there are a few standout poems in this collection, I did not feel drawn to the entirety of this poet's work as a whole. It is a deeply personal look into what it is like to be a woman, which is beautiful and necessary now more than ever. The style for some of these poems just wasn't for me.

This was amazing! Such nice poetry. The journey of the girl is written as such an empowering process and it made me feel so proud and strong to be a woman! This is so well done I can't even put it into words. I think every girl and woman should read this because there is a lot of stuff happening in the world every day that makes women feel like they aren't worth as much as men are and we aren't treated equally in a lot of situations. But this really made my day!
It was poetic enough to be really deep but not too poetic that you couldn't understand what was happening. It has really clear messages with a lot of empowering elements.

Firstly I would like to thank NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for an eARC for an honest review.

I hadn't heard of Aija Mayrock before finding her book on NetGalley and then went on to find her on Instagram and fell in love with her spoken words and everything that she stands for. Her first book being focused on bullying is one topic that has pushed her into her success as she is speaking for the voiceless. 'Dear Girl' is a beautiful debut poetry book that encourages and builds up women. It feels like Aija is focused on seeing what sometimes feels like we can't put words to. It isn't a book that shames men or feels like an attack but a push for equality and speaking the truth and how we as women have to live.

'Dear Girl' is compiled of five chapters that focus' of different topics. Summarised as the truth, freedom, healing, love and sisterhood. I have to say that my favourite piece has to be 'The Truth About Being a Girl' because it is such a beautifully long piece that I read as a spoken word and went on to find her actual spoken word and loved it even more. It really was an empowering read and I hope to read more from Aija in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.

I think what I loved the most about this was, I don't know how else to say it, natural the poems felt, quite real to not only us contemporary women as one would think. To me, that's one of the things that makes a good poem, the ability to relate to all, not only one specific person (though there's nothing wrong with that), and she did that.

What a nice debut collection of poems! When I found out that this was a debut I was quite shocked, I hope I get to see more from her.

I don't know if anyone else thought this but I got the feeling that the poems in this book would make incredible songs.

I don't know what I'm doing;
all that I do know is
I chase what sets my soul on fire
to the ends of earth,
till the end of time.

At its best, modern poetry can illuminate current issues while packing a punch. At its worst, it overuses the enter key. I don't want to say that "Dear Girl" is the latter, but, in my opinion, it never really rises to the former either.

I agree with the feminist issues raised in this collection of poetry; that much was never in question. The question is, really, if just reiterating the views is enough... to make a difference? For this book to count as 'art'? To...? I'm not sure it is. The book is full of buzzwords from 'trauma' to 'slut-shaming', all used sincerely and in appropriate contexts, but I never really felt that it elevated them to something more than just the basic messages I could just as easily read in my Twitter feed. There's a certain paradox in a poetry book containing relatively prosaic language to send messages of greatness, instead of great words illuminating the everyday.

There's also something about the "Who runs the world? Girls!" and "everything you do is enough" messages of this book, not coupled with any actionable steps to further such messaging, that rubbed me the wrong way. But maybe you need that kind of blind optimism from 25-year-olds who really will take over the world. This 30-something mostly just felt old while bitterly chuckling at a lot of it.

2.5/5 stars, rounded up.

Beautiful poetry, some lines just wowed me. Few poems made me feel so good about myself. Some verses seemed a bit of a drag, but there are some really powerful lines.

I really enjoyed reading this one.
It is told from a woman's perspective about life and it was kinda true. At some points, there were some parts that really hit me like crazy because they were such real events for me. If you want your experiences told through poems, I totally recommend you pick this one up once it's released!

I loved this poetry collection. It perfectly summed up what life is like in the modern age for women of all ages. It does not shy away from any topics and allows you to feel seen and accepted. I can wait to see what else comes from this author.

🌞🌞🌞 4.5/5⭐
I was surprised by this book.

I love it. It's such a good poetry book.

I liked the way it was written, the way that the author talked about women and how women should be independent, smart and to love other women.

I really liked the message of this book and how it was written. How it was expressed through poetry rather than a normal non-fiction book.

It reminded me of "The princess saves herself in this one" (my favourite poetry collection) and I felt so good reading it.

The single minus point that it has is that it was to short, but at the same time exactly how I wanted (it's weird to explain), but it's missing something, that spark to give it 5⭐. In rest, it was fantastic.

“Dear Girl” is a poetic journey from girlhood to womanhood. This talented poetry collection is in five sections as the prologue poem below hints at.
“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”

The poet Aija Mayrock mentions in the beginning of her collection that she comprised her poetry to portray personal to widespread views. The poet also mentions it is not a memoir per say, but more of an exploration of the inherent spirit everyone shares. For me, I enjoyed her “With Love” section best, but I feel many people would be able to pick from the sections that best suits them personally.

“Step out of your own shadow.
Step into yourself.
You have come this far
by showing up
with your own two feet
and that alone
is enough.”

I am the first to admit I’m a sucker for Instagram poetry, especially words that empower women, but something is missing for me here. She scratches the surface of heavy topics without digging deep enough. I enjoy free verse, but these felt too brief and impersonal. Some pieces read like a motivational speech, but the messages are all positive and I admire her as a solid role model to young women.

3.5/5*

Dear Girl is a debut poetry collection about feminism and about becoming a woman. I think it’s a good debut collection and I really like reading poems about feminism. We, women, need to stand together and fight for equality!

"you were not born an ember
you were born the flame"

I really liked the poems in Dear Girl because I could relate to them and feel the empowering message behind them. I think a lot of us women struggle with a few of the topics that are mentioned in this collection, which makes it a book for every woman.

"I know that if this world harms you,
attempts to break you,
you will rise
broken and bruised.
The world is no match
for that flame in your eyes."

Dear Girl was a good poetry collection only too bad that the poems didn’t have titles. I usually make ‘favourite poems’ lists but I couldn’t make one for this collection. But besides that, I really enjoyed this collection!

ARC thanks to #NetGalley

Each piece in this debut collection reads like a diatribe, an irrefutable incantation to be read at dawn while assuming a power stance. What makes it extraordinary is Mayrock's self assuredness, her conviction, her idealism and belief in sisterhood. Each line is powerful by itself and the collection as whole is cohesive and ultimately healing to read.

Thank you to Netgalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for an ARC of 'Dear Girl' and giving me the chance to review this poetry collection. 'Dear Girl' is an empowering book of poetry for women of all shapes, sizes, colors, sexuality, etc. I think the most enlightening point Aija was making it that women should never devalue other women. Society has told us to be perfect and society tells US what perfect is. We become envious of the women who start showing any success but we should be praising everyone's success. Aija speaks a lot about equality in her poems and I think it's an important message for everyone to understand. Although we, as women, have gained some equal rights, the equality is not completely there for us. I read this selection of poetry feeling like I was being given courage and that's impressive! I certainly enjoyed this collection of poetry and will be keeping my eyes peeled for more poetry by Aija Mayrock.

I have kind of been a poetry kick and I found this debut collection from Aija and I was very intrigued. I think this is such a beautiful collection for women of any age who just wants to feel brave and strong and like a warrior. This book was so empowering and she shows a full journey from childhood until now and beyond. Very powerful read and I would definitely recommend!

I really enjoyed this poetry collection. I felt that it was a timely read. This collection truly explained the story of girlhood and womanhood. It showed the many lives that girls live while in grade school and what the world has in store for a woman. I think this is a great collection that both girls, women, boys, and men should take time to read.

Empowering and touching. Some poems were highly relatable and inspiring for women. However, some of them seemed a bit too generic. I felt like I have read that poem before in another poetry collection. This prevented me from connecting to them emotionally.

I am not really a fan of free verse but I found the poems quite impactful. However, some poems did sound like motivational sayings rather than poetry. Poetry is entirely subjective of course, so if you love free verse I recommend you try this collection!

Overall, a good poetry debut!

I received a review copy of this book via NetGalley.

A heartfelt collection with some particularly wonderful poems in each section.