This poem book was so beautifully written. I resonate with some of these poems. I love the way that it was formatted and written. Thank you to publishers and author and illustrator behind this book. It was a short read but it was powerful. It covered a few hard topics and in my mind, the author did a good job on tackling them. I highly recommend this book just for anyone!

“I think that the first step to loving the life you have made for yourself is knowing that you want it.”

I think this poetry collection is great for body positivity, healing after trauma and the experiences women have to go through in life. I liked this but I did not enjoy this as much as Aphrodite Made Me Do It. I think a large reason why Aphrodite Made Me Do It appealed to me was because of the use of greek mythology in the poems. I still enjoyed this collection overall, I just did not connect to it as much on a personal level compared to the author's previous collection.

3/5

Absolutely gorgeous poetry. Beautiful, thoughtful poems. Definitely a book to savor and enjoy a few poems at a time. These are poems to reread, reflect on, take pictures of, and to tear out and put on your walls. I hope everyone who reads this beautiful books of poems feels seen, heard, and understood.

Thank you to #NetGalley for my digital ARC of #WhentheStarsWroteBack in exchange for my honest review. This book is marketed towards Young Adults but I think all ages will relate and enjoy it. It comes out June 2nd and I’m going to preorder a copy for myself to reread and one to send to my teenage niece.

Fans of Milk and Honey will enjoy. Buy it. Read it. Feel it. Share it.

Cw: mentions of sexual assault/rape culture

Typically, I read eARCS (and ebooks in general) on my Kindle Paperwhite. However, due to the format available from me on Netgalley, I ended up reading this on my iPad and I’m glad I did because the illustrations were gorgeous on that screen.

I ended up devouring this collection in two sittings over one day. I liked how cathartic it felt; it felt like I was getting a glimpse into the author’s journal and getting to release my emotions with her. I especially liked the poems that were arranged in lists. This was my first book of contemporary poetry so I haven’t seen that before and I liked that way of portraying the poem (and it helped with the journal-like feeling).

In terms of the subject matter, I appreciated the content warning given in my advanced copy. I thought it was appropriate and honestly more books should include it. I think the subjects covered are things that today’s teens will recognize and relate to. I especially think the poet’s discussion of sexual assault and rape culture were presented in a way that wasn’t particularly graphic and were extremely powerful.

While I wouldn’t recommend this book for younger teens and caution potential readers to look at the content warnings, I highly recommend this poetry collection, especially to young women. I myself am in my early twenties and the collection was still very relevant to my life. My only criticism would be that the way the ebook downloaded on my iPad made some of the illustrations rather indecipherable, but I’m sure this will be fixed in final copies. I have already preordered a finished hard copy of this book online as I want to return to specific passages over and over.

Powerful collection. I can see some of my teen students really relating to this one and rereading parts of it over and over. I can't wait to see the final version with the art.

I feel as if poetry books are hard to review. Poems are very interpretive and can mean so many different things to so many different people. That being said- my honest review of this is 2/2.5 stars. I'll start with what I liked first- the art throughout the book I enjoyed a lot. I thought it was very pretty. A little scattered but pretty nonetheless. A few lines/poems here and there I really liked too. The medium length poems I felt like I connected to the best. The shorter poems (some literally being one line) were probably my least favorite. It's not as if I believe that all poems need to be longer than one line but I feel as if the one line poems were lyrics pulled from random songs. They didn't see to connect and some of them were missing words (maybe this was stylistic since they were also mostly "handwritten" poems that had the words missing). I feel as if I also went into this poetry book expecting a flow or theme to kinda emerge as I read it. While a theme did peek it's head through every now and then the flow felt very off and as if there were multiple writers. If I was told this was an anthology of poems I would have probably liked it more. The flow just wasn't a winner for me.

So once again: the art was pretty. I liked a few random poems. I didn't like the flow or the one line poems. I personally wouldn't read again but if you're into poetry you should read it yourself to form your own opinion because poetry is very personal and taste specific.

This was one of the best poetry books I've read in recent years. I really enjoyed the variety in it and it was an emotional and impactful poetry collection. The author encapsulated emotions that I didn't know could be written about and it just seemed so seamless. Would recommend this to anyone!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. Unfortunately, i did not notice if was only available by protected pdf and I do not have the capability to open it.

This collection touches on a lot of triggery subjects. I can see it both being a good collection for teens to read but also might trigger some of their past experiences which isn't always great.
I like her writing, I think it has a certain flow and the collection reads quickly. But I wouldn't recommend it to all teens out there.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC!

The poetry addresses powerful subjects like eating disorders, rape/ sexual assault, loss of love, emotional abuse, and suicide. It is angsty and self-reflective and I think a lot of young adults will see themselves within the text.

Advanced reader’s copy provided by #NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars

This collection is short and palatable. Even folks who do not normally fancy themselves fans of the medium will be able to manage here.

There are quite a few resonant themes, but some include body image, feelings of low self-worth, and experiences in love and/or romantic relationships. The periodic illustrations stand out and highlight some of the works, too.

Overall, this is a nice collection but does not reflect the originality that Mateer's earlier work does.

Trista Mateer covers a lot of ground in this collection, and there's a lot for the reader to connect with. Ranging from heartache to the aftermath of abuse, to coming to understand one's worth and value, this book is a roller coaster of emotion, but not in a bad way. I loved the art and can't wait to see it finalized. I think teens will really like this one.