These poems offer a great message, as females it can be hard sometimes. These words are uplifting but heavy.

I liked this collection. It's wasn't my favorite collection in the world but it packed an emotional punch that left me reeling in it's wake. The audiobook was read by the author and her inflection was a little strange in places but I always recommend poetry read by the poet themself. However, the piano in the audiobook felt out of place and was played at odd intervals.

This is such an empowering and touching collection of poetry about the female experience, the female spirit, the female body. I think every woman would enjoy this and could find something that she relates to. I listened to the audiobook version, which is read by Mayrock, but I'll probably order a hard copy so I have one for my bookshelf. *Advance copy provided by the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Dear Girl is a book of permissions. It gives girls and young women permission to feel, to be strong, to survive, to speak out. I recommend this for fans of Rupi Kaur and R. H. Sin. As a spoken word artist, Aja Mayrock did a great job narrating this book, and there is value in hearing poetry the way the author intended it to be read.

Simple and inspiring, Dear Girl is perfect for listening to at bedtime, on early mornings, and any time you need a little more inspiration. The use of music and sound effects was wonderful and really elevated the experience for me. It felt like the author/publisher really utilised the audiobook format.

As it was an audiobook, however, any structure that the book had was lost on me. I'm unsure as to how my reading experience in this area would've varied if I read it rather than listened to it, but nonetheless; I found that all of the individual short poems seemed to merge together or jolt suddenly from one topic to the next. This issue may have been reduced if I had listened to the book in one sitting, rather than over an extended period.

The construction of the poetry was largely nice, but while there were certainly some eloquent, breath-takingly sharp moments, it often felt as if the book was trying to reach for quotable one-liners. This resulted in an over-reliance on cheap but shallow phrases, limiting the ability of the book to explore complex themes in a genuine way. This was particularly evident in the use of easy rhymes.

Ultimately, Dear Girl is an enjoyable and inspiring book sprinkled with sharp, thought-provoking lines, and refined in its use of music and sound effects.

Dear Girl Audiobook
Aija Mayrock (Author, Narrator)
A great inspiring and empowering book. Would reccomend this to mothers and daughters alike. Very well narrated.

I've had this book on my NetGalley shelf for a while now, and I didn't pick it up until the start of September. I don't know why, but I am so happy I finally brought myself to read it.

I don't know what I was expecting to gain after finishing this read, but I am so grateful. Dear Girl has been a very empowering read, and I can see myself going back every time I need a little motivation.

It has been short, and the audiobook brought to life the message of the story. Aija Mayrock has a powerful voice, and you were able to sense that from the very few worlds. Also, at the beginning of every single part, there was some piano music which marked the ending of the last part, but also gave some musicality to the verses.

It is a feminist read, and it features heavy subjects as rape, racism and gender. I loved it with all my heart, I will read it over and over again, and I recommend it for further reading!

Modern poetry books are usually a "meh" experience for me. I am not saying that they're bad. What I meant to say is that they lack soul.

Mayrock is a talented writer and I have to say that Dear Girl definitely is a lot less redundant and shallow-feeling as other modern poetry books I have read. She obviously has a way with words and she knows what she wants to write. She has a vision. That's definitely a start.

I would give it a 3 out of 5 stars because although it wasn't legendary, it wasn't awful. I actually enjoyed it. I would definitely pick up another Mayrock book someday! It's also a big bonus for me that she narrated her book. She has such a relaxing voice and there's obviously no other person who could convey what she wants to say better than her.

I listen to this audiobook and even thought was read by the author it was quite a good performance. In terms of topics or themes I feel the author tried to reach for too many and was going back and forward between them. Also I didn’t love the music that was played during intros because I couldn’t hear the voice of the author clearly. If you need some uplifting poetry this books for you. Love yourself darling!!


Thanks to NetGalley for the audiobook.

I would like to thank NetGalley and the Publisher for providing a free ARC in return for an honest review.
Dear Girl is an empowering and motivational collection of poetry about feminism and journey from girlhood to womanhood. I did relate and love a few of the poems but I couldn’t connect to most of them, but it’s about personal experience of the poet and talks about every situation that a woman deals with in her life so I understand that. I recommend this for a person who doesn’t really know much about feminism.

Splendid Poems ! !
Brazilian Poetry ! !
Highly recommended to all poetry lovers! !

It is top finest poetry book of 2020. It comprises various subjects which around Dear, which seems as a warrior of circumstances and world.

Deep, meaningful and Extravagant poetic verses ! !

I received an audiobook copy of this poetry book in exchange for an honest review.

This book packs a punch, and I mean that figuratively. Don't let the seemingly harmless cover fool you. This book is for the daughters, the mothers, and the sisters who face different challenges everyday on account of being born a woman.

It's beguiling, relatable, and touching, yet also empowering and inciting.

Another disclaimer, this is the first time I've ever tried listening to, and reviewing an audiobook, which is an altogether different experience than when I'm reading words. It's like listening to another person speak, especially since this is a collection of feminist poetry pieces, so the experience was surreal. It was like listening to a motivational speaker talking directly to me to raise my flag as a woman and take revenge on those who have wronged me by refusing to dull my shine and reaching for all that I've ever wanted to achieve.
What I liked about this book is that it doesn't only speak powerful and inspiring words, it also tackles different issues relative to being a woman, like sexual harassment, rape, racism, pregnancy, motherhood, or growing up in a predominantly patriarchal society. I guess it's also a plus that it was the author, Aija Mayrock, who did the narration for the audiobook. With free-verse emotive pieces like the poems in the book, I believe that it is necessary for the narrator to fully understand the depth of the material in order to properly convey it in spoken prose. So for this aspect, I think author and narrator Aija Mayrock did a solid job.

The only downside I found is that the tone for every piece almost sounded the same, so after a couple of minutes into the book, it felt repetitive and monotonous. Aside from the tone, a couple of pieces also sounded almost alike, especially at the end where there were several which spoke of burning, fire and flames.

All in all though, I enjoyed this audiobook and would probably dig it out when I'm in a rut, or when I need motivation to accomplish all the things that I want to achieve.

This book was empowering and touching. Some poems were highly relatable and inspiring for women. When you're feeling down, read this collection of poetry. Uplifting for all females.

What I liked in this book is how powerful this message is — especially when listening to it; I feel the angst, cries, and empowerment in today’s society. This poem contains lots of beautiful statements and one of these is: ”if you want equality, we need camaraderie”.

The Story
This is a collection of poems illustrating femininity. I am not one to normally read or listen to poems so this was out of my comfort zone. I found this very interesting because it was so far outside of what I normally read. Overall, give this book a listen (or read) even if you disagree with the positions taken in the book. It is good to know what all sides believe and not just one or two.

The Narration
I listened to this novel. With a dimly lit coffee shop, this could have easily been a slam poetry reading. I did enjoy the fact that Mayrock is the author and narrator. She is able to put emphasis on words that she wants to be emphasized. She sounded very passionate about this story. You can tell that through the novel her voice changes to fit the story which keeps readers interested.

Flow
Mayrock’s flow started from the very beginning! Her voice flows well and easily goes from loud to quiet without any awkward pauses. There were some pauses for effect and it worked well -- giving the listeners time to think about what was just said. Most of the time these pauses were after a difficult section that needed breath. I do not know if there were chapters, but the book flowed so well it didn’t need chapters. Mayrock did amazing at using her voice to transition the listener from one section to another.

Unique Elements
There was some music involved, but mostly this audiobook was filled with Mayrock’s voice. She used her vocals to dictate most of the story. The music added to the story and helped the reader get into the mindset of the novel before listening in.

My Personal Recommendation
I personally am not a fan of this story itself. Mayrock’s positions do not overlap with my personal beliefs. So, if you are reading this from a Christian worldview -- be cautious. I do recommend this as a learning curve. Use a poetry novel like this to hear about what people think out of your worldview and pray for those people. It opened my eyes to what people believe and has made me more aware of what goes on around me. I would listen to this novel just because Mayrock does such a fantastic job at her narration.

“Your cruelty is no match for my spirit.”

This collection of poems are matchless in their unfettering spirit. Would recommend: a mug of piping hot tea, a cozy spot to curl up in, and an hour or two of time to let yourself sit in the solemnity and truth of these words. Aija Mayrock, though only a fresh 19-years-old at the time of writing this, has a beautiful talent for finding words that empower, uplift, move, and budge.

• Dear girl (by Aija Mayrock)

I got in this book without having any clue or any idea what this is about. 1st surprise to me was that the rhythm and beauty of short and apt poems

The beautiful lines and words were so inspiring and enlightening that it will make you feel more valuable.

Yes, that is the main point or agenda of inspiring books. But this book has it's own way of expressing the pain and overcoming them in such a compact way, being a reader and writer that was very helpful to me.

I was listening to this book and I couldnt stop myself from taking a deep breath every now and then, closing my eyes when things get tricky like they get in out daily life.

Being a girl, is tough. Going through many adversary and obstacles might have made us strong, but sometime we need a little voice of encouragement a single phrase or prose that make us believe in ourselves more, that make us happy that we are not alone. That all of the girls worldwide are fighting their own battle and all of us and each of us are beside each other to help and support.


• development-4☆
• Plot- 4☆
• Quotes- 4☆
• Flow of the poem- 5☆
• Overall - 4☆

Dear Girl is a collection of poetry in the popular Rupi Kaur free verse style meant to empower women. While I found myself agreeing with many of the words in this collection of poetry, I found that it didn't really say anything new. With very pithy, instagram-worthy quotes, many of the poems were simply too generic for my taste. It doesn't lack cliche in the slightest, with every line containing some sort of second wave feminist motivational saying that I probably saw on Tumblr in 2014. I will say, however, that the audiobook elevated this book in my opinion. The narrator's sharp, taut reading style made for a very engaging listen.

Such a touching and empowering feminist tome of poetry.

I picked up the audiobook version, which is read by the author herself who not only has a gift for writing, but clearly also narrating. I felt angry, inspired, touched, and loved. Some of my favorite verses were the following:

"There's no such thing as weak women, only women who have not stepped into their power. Step into it. The world is waiting."

"You were not born to please. You were brought here to disrupt, awaken and speak truth, to ease the pain scattered around. And so when you are told to quiet down, I hope you grow louder. You are an entire symphony that needs no applause."

*Thank you to the Publisher for a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Audiobook didn't work on my NetGalley Shelf app. But I was very intrigued by this book and found it as an ebook and read it. I love it. It is a great, feminist, and uplifting poetry collection. I am excited about this author's future work.