Dear Girl by Aija Mayrock

3 stars

This is a poetry collection addressed to women. It's all about women and celebrating women. It's mainly a call to action as well as a calling out in complacency of how women often allow other women to be treated. I think Mayrock is probably a fantastic spoken-word or slam poet. I would love to watch her read some of these poems. That ability shines through a lot of the poems. I personally didn't love this collection. It feels like every other collection that is targeted towards feminism. This poetry collection has some great messages, but it doesn't really stand out to me. I would recommend it for poetry fans and readers who are specifically looking for poetry about feminism.


Whimsical Writing Scale: 3

Plotastic Scale: 3

Cover Thoughts: I like the cover and the font is striking.

Thank you, Netgalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing, for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Aija Mayrock gives us a powerful, unapologetic collection if poetry.

I'm not gonna lie, some of this is hard to read and it may deserve a TW. That being said this stuff needs to be talked about!

This is about girls and woman and how society treats us no matter who we are or where we are from. It is also a sharp empowering narrative encouraging woman to support each other and have their own voice.

What I didnt like about the collection is that it feels so familiar. I've read Rupi Kaur, Amanda Lovelace etc that all have the same tone. Overall I did very much so enjoy this collection and appreciate the messages throughout. I will continue to read the author future works.

Thank you netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this collection.

This poetry book is split into 4 parts:

The search for truth in silence: About the #MeToo and Time's Up movement, gender inequality

The freeing of the tongue: About strength, body image, gender inequality and being a girl

Deep wounds, deep healing: About rape and sexual assault, pain, trauma and healing

With love: About love and heartbreak

To the sisterhood: About strength, growth and feminism

I preferred the middle segment of the book. There were quite a few poems that resonated with me. Some felt more well-written than others. Overall, the book is a strong symbol of feminism and empowerment.

This book of poetry was so inspirational and beautifully written. I was so blown away with the use of words and prose and how beautifully everything flowed together. I want to own this book to reference and build up my self confidence and those of others everyday. . I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This is a collection of poems aimed at woman and girls, on a range of topics which we face as females! Some are much better than others and the content is very varied. Poetry isn’t massively my thing, so my rating might bias? I didn’t love it but it wasn’t awful, as I said, some poems were better than others! ⭐️⭐️/5!

I really loved the topics Ajia Mayrock chose to deal with this collection of poems. According to me, words can really change the way people think and act. Ajia writes beautifully and I mut admit that I was on the verge of tears several times.

"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 the flame."

The only thing I regret was the lack of insight for some topics. I was expectign more. But it stil is a wonderful book to read! a real journey to womanhood and its hardships!

This poetry collection written by Aija Mayrock is a true hymn to feminism. Her poems tell us to fly high and be proud of ourselves as women. The author talks about gender (in)equality and how that affects our daily lives. This is such a powerful book. Rating: 4/5 stars

This debut poetry collection did not disappoint. It had my feminist blood boiling as she wrote about what women are faced with everyday. I really connected with her words, and it was like my thoughts and feelings had been taken and she had written them into her book.

Mayrock speaks to various people through the collection: 'Dear Girl', 'Dear Child', 'Dear Brother', 'Dear First Love', 'Dear Sister' and more. She explores the relationship of those she is addressing and feminism and how they can help or how they have been affected.

It is such a motivating read and also such an important one. Mayrock takles problems such as self-worth where she discusses how quite often people value themselves based on how the other person in their relationship treats them. She discusses how boys should be taught about sexual assault and harrassment to stop this from happening. She also addresses people struggling with their sexuality, urging them to love who they love without shame or guilt. Mayrock addresses all of this, and more, in a poetic and respectful way whilst also delivering each line with a memorable punch.5 star


I was so impressed by this collection. I reccommend this to anyone and everyone.

I give this 5/5 stars.

This book is beautiful poetry to empower any girl or woman. It highlights important topics like rape culture, equality, relationships, double standards, etc. This book is timeless!

"I come from a line of wild women
Divine in their pursuit of truth
For the women I come from
do not run with the wolves:
they lead the pack."

It is 'Women History Month' and I don't think I will read another poetry collection any time soon that will make me feel a sense of power surge through my veins and speak every woman's sublime truth as Aija does. This is such an exceptionally empowering collection that it is a compelling and a riveting read to every one of this age!

Divided into 5 sections: The search for truth in silence, The freeing of the tongue, Deep wounds/Deep healing, With love, To the sisterhood- the collection is filled with poems full of raw endurance of womanhood. It is so heartening that this collection is also inclusive to women of colour and LGBTQ+. I have not read a collection which gave equal importance to the two communities in the same collection!
Aija addresses pro-choice, #MeToo, misogyny, patriarchal societies, rape culture, mental and physical abuse, gender pay gap, motherhood, sisterhood, rising and healing, love, suffragettes, other important aspects of women's history and everything we face/faced. I love how she addresses equality at the home, between sons and daughters. Collections like this are so necessary, withholding the power to spread the word and helps in blossoming camaraderie to bring or demand the right changes!

I have read collections by so many poetesses and I can now say that no one touched my soul as much as Aija did! Whatever Aija is writing next, I will be picking it up! This collection is the definition of the true feminism and no one can tell me otherwise. No poem failed to reach the depths of my core and that counts for something!

Recommended: Absolutely, I loved this collection and I will be recommending this until the end of the times!

I feel like this book of poetry would have resonated more with me if I was in my early 20s or late teens. This is a collection of poems that range from topics of knowing your worth, love and loss, and feminism; that being said, this is a collection written by a 19-year-old girl. So although I support her writing, the language was a little young and the message was a little shallow and disconnected for me. I would still recommend this to younger adults looking to grow their poetry collection.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me the chance to read and review this book.

Well, the poems are short and forgettable but I agree with the message this collection stands for. It's feminist poetry, from girl to girls. It tackles issues like violence, healing, body image, gender roles etc. It's a great book to exist out there in the world, I'm just not a fan of the poetry style, so that's on me really. I'm not the target audience but I would've loved it if I were younger. I'm sure teenage girls will love it, and hopefully will find console in it. I expect them to feel very empowered after this read.

Dear Girl by Aija Mayrock was okay, but I didn't love it. I wouldn't read it again, but there were some poems that were really nicely crafted, and me thinking over for a few moments before moving on.

*I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for the free book of poetry.*

In her poetry collection, Aija Mayrock deals with topics such as feminism, the me-too-movement, gender roles, upbringing, (self) love, how normal periods are, or how women are allowed to be themselves. Some poems resonated more with me than others, but this one was my favourite:

"Raise your daughters like you raise your sons;
the inequality did not begin with her birth;
the inequality begins when you choose to raise
your daughter in a box labelled "ladylike"
and your son, in no box, with no label." (25)

As someone who has been constantly told to be "more ladylike" by my mother (because mothers can perpetuate the systematic degradation and marginalization of girls), it was nice to be seen and to find myself in that poem.

Some poems are longer than others, but they are well written and sometimes have a rhythm to it that makes you want to read them out loud.

5 Stars

Yes. Yes. Yes. This is the book we have been waiting for. How do I feel after reading Dear Girl? EMPOWERED. I couldn’t put it down. I will buy this book for myself and for all of my girlfriends. Women are the future. Thank you Aija.

Dear Girl is one of the best poetry collections I've read in a long time. I've picked up quite a few poetry books the past month or so and Dear Girl really stands out from the rest. The poems are all very well written, super powerful. I feel like a good deal of poetry books have filler poems, but I didn't come upon any poems in Dear Girl that seemed like fillers or noticeable lesser quality. The whole book was very consistent in quality and I loved that.

this book spoke to me. like, literally. I'm hearing my brain talk. It's scary how much I could relate to some of the poems here.

I received an advanced reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

This book of poems is beautifully empowering to females everywhere no matter what race, size, shape, age or beliefs! The poems are short but reach into your core and make you really think about them, about life, about the world!
This book encourages women to support each other and believe in each other and build each other up instead of tearing each other down.
I loved every page of this book!

I feel this book would have resonated with me more if I were 10 or 15 years younger. There is some very thoughtful and empowering poetry in the collection, it just seems meant for a younger audience.

This was the perfect cleansing book that I needed after my mighty series binge of over 30 books!!

This was so good! I really felt the words that Aija wrote 💙 I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for future books of hers!