Sorry I Haven't Texted You Back by Alicia Cook is a poetry collection composed to feel like a cassette tape split into two sides. The first half of the book (Side A) is composed of ninety poems and song titles that are attached to each poem. The second half (Side B) is identical to Side A, but the poems are partly blacked out and scribbled over, bringing completely new meanings to them.

In regards to the content of Side A, I enjoyed it but didn't find it outstanding in comparison to a lot of other modern poetry I've read. The writing style seemed to fluctuate a lot between pieces and I found myself losing interest several times along the way. There were a couple that I felt connected to but on the whole I was a little disappointed as I found the poetry was more focused on the topics of love, sex and the ups and downs of relationships, rather than mental health, as it was advertised. The technique of remixing in Side B definitely saved the book for me. I loved the black out poetry and felt this was a lot more meaningful. The poems were crafted in a hard-hitting way that was straight to the point and made me want to carry on reading. I also liked the "Currently Listening to" idea with each poem, although admittedly I felt a lot of the music choices were not to my taste in any way.

I think this collection is worth a read if you are looking for poetry about love and breakups, but when it comes to mental health, there could have been more emphasis put on it.

I loved this collection! I wasn’t expecting to love it as much as I did because I didn’t completely love “Stuff I’ve been feeling lately” but I’m glad I gave this one a shot. There wasn’t one poem I didn’t love and majority of them were so relatable and resonated with what I’m currently feeling. Truly felt like Alicia Cook was reading my mind. She put all my feelings into words which I haven’t been able to do these past few weeks.
My absolute favorite lines from the collection came from track 3 and 11, “sometimes I feel like I only feel anything when something is going wrong” and “that’s always been my problem. I shut people out. I only let them see me from certain angles, in certain lighting, at certain moments. My mother says it’s because I’m independent. My therapist says it’s my defense mechanism. My ex says it’s why we broke up. My friends say they love me anyway”
I cannot wait for Alicia Cook to release more

4 Stars ( I received an e-arc from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review)

I remember hearing about the author’s first collection back on YouTube by someone who I trust for good poetry collections. So I jumped at the chance to read her new book from Net Galley and thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I was familiar with her format from the YouTube review but I love seeing the song recommendations and if the song fits the vibe (If I know the song). I didn’t realize until halfway through the second half that with the blackout poetry the song recommendations were different from Side A. Being a 90’s child (born in 90) makes me feel nostalgic towards the cassette tape theme to her collections.

3.5 stars

This one was hard to read and rate.
This book touched all the places where it hurts.
It's raw and felt so real I got teary more than once.
Not a light read at all.
Be sure you're in the right place to read it because it can wreck you.
Beautiful and heartbreaking portrayed of mental illnesses.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the change to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I knew I wanted to read this when I read the title. It's become a set phrase for me for the past few years which I only realized last year after being (pointedly) pointed out.

Anyway, the book had me at the first page. What I instantly realized I loved was the creative design and format of it. As the cover suggests, it's divided into Side A & Side B-like a mixtape.

Well, it was track 5 (poems are numbered as tracks!) and I was already punched in my guts. There were times when it got pretty personal, as I like them to get.

As a huge music fan, I was pleasantly surprised to see how the author had a song recommendation after each poem which I turned into a playlist over the weekend and have been enjoying it since then.

Thanks to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Alicia Cook's newest poetry collection, Sorry I Haven't Texted You Back, is a super relevant exploration of mental illness, grief and lost love through verse. While I really enjoyed the first set of 92 poems (Side A), I found the remixes (Side B) even more intriguing. To create this super inventive B-side, Cook takes the first round of her poems and uses them to create new ones, using blackout/erasure poetry techniques to ultimately change their meaning.

*recieved a copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

I had read Alicia Cooks other poetry collection a few years ago and really enjoyed the concept of two sides to the poems. The first side being the original poems and each song having a song associated with them and side B with revisiting the poems as blackout poetry. I rated this one a 3/3,5 star because I enjoyed some of the blackout poems and some of the original poems but didn't enjoy it as much as the first poetry collection though I think that big poetry fans would really enjoy this.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this book!

Favourite poems: tracks 39, 42, 47, 53, 56, 73
Themes: love, relationships, mental illness


I adore Alicia Cook poetry, “Stuff I’ve Been Feeling Lately” is my favourite poetry collection of all time, so I was super excited to finally read “Sorry I Haven’t Texted You Back”!

However, I do think I read this one in the wrong headspace, so I’ll be buying a physical copy and rereading at some point!

Overall, I can’t wait to read more by this author and I really enjoyed this collection.

In need of a friend;
lonely living in a world
Addicted to pharmaceuticals
50898135
Sorry I Haven't Texted You Back by Alicia Cook is the poet's sixth collection of poetry. Cook dedicates much of her life to shedding light on how drug addiction impacts the mental health of families. She released a collection of essays on the topic entitled Heroin Is The Worst Thing To Ever Happen To Me. An essayist and speaker, her activism to fight the opioid epidemic is far-reaching and has garnered a worldwide readership, and her very own episode on the Emmy-nominated PBS series Here's the Story.

Sorry I Haven't Texted You Back is the third collection of Cook's poetry that I have reviewed. I am fond of her use of music and the music theme to frame her poetry. Her poems, or tracks as she calls them, are influenced by music. I can't say for all the poems, but where I knew the music in her "currently listening to" following each poem, it was synergy. The combination of Springsteen's "Glory Days" and "Track 89" was fantastic. Unfortunately, most of the music is after my time. The poetry, however, on its own, is substantial and moving.

Cook stands out among the younger poets in her writing. Her poetry is traditional in form and much more developed than the Instagram poetry that seems to be all the rage today; her poetry also packs much more of a punch. Deep and well-thought lines adds power to the words. It is refreshing to see traditional poetry for all readers that is actually poetry and not a collection of clichés masquerading as a poem. With that being said, the second half of Cook's collection, "Side B The Remixes," takes each individual Track to create a new poem or perhaps, a lyric, through blackout. Blacking out portions of the original track or hand-drawn connections of words creates another layer of meaning. A clever reader will see this as a continuation of the drawing by Katie Curcio after the dedication; what remains hidden in what we say.

Cook writes with emotions and carries her themes throughout this collection. Her emotions, although strong, are not overpowering her message. Her themes are natural without a hint of being forced. Cook exhibits a great talent that is rare today in younger poets. A master of verse.

I enjoyed this poetry collection and the musical theme that is from the outset of each 'track' or poem. I also enjoyed the little songs at the bottom, as they added a new dimension to the collection and again added to the sense of musicality that permeates the poetry.

I appreciate the fact that the poet has put a list of trigger warnings right at the beginning. They are so important and necessary - it helped me to mentally prepare for what I was going to read. I would recommend this collection to a number of people.

"Practice Kindness. Always"

Rating - 4 stars

The poems in the book, “Sorry I Haven’t Texted You Back” make you feel less alone. Mental health advocate and author, Alicia Cook writes poems that aim to help others.

Since the book is a mixtape, the poems have track numbers instead of titles. I liked that I didn’t have an idea what the poem was going to be about until I read it. Common themes are love, grief, hope, with frequent mentions of anxiety, drugs, and alcohol.

At the end of each poem, there’s a name of a song and artist that the speaker of the poem is currently listening to, which is a fun feature if you love music.

Overall, the poems drive home the point of a popular quote going around social media that goes something like, “Be kind. You don’t know the struggles others may be going through.” A smiling face doesn’t always mean that all is well.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advance review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Sorry I haven’t texted you back by Alicia Cook explores themes of depression, anxiety, heartbreak. I’ve a lot to say about the way she has put her feelings into words.
I am still astonished by the author’s understanding about what goes on in an individual’s mind when they are suffering from depression and anxiety.
Although I couldn’t connect to a couple of poems but I feel that there was something magical and powerful in the writing style.
The thing I liked the most about this book was that the poems were written in the form of tracks (Track 1, Track 2) and each track had a song associated with the poem. I’ve already added a couple of songs to my playlist.
I loved the concept of the book and I feel that both the sides (Side A and B) worked pretty well but I loved Side B more as compared to Side A.
I’ve written a couple of poems in my reading journal so that I could re-visit those beautiful lines again

This collection is really balanced and honest. I especially enjoyed the blackout "remixed" poems...they are full of surprises and are visually interesting.

I had never come across Alicia's poetry and I really enjoyed not only her craft but her originality.
I enjoyed reading the poems, mainly the ones about "otherhood", mental health, and self-love and I definitely adored that there is a song at the end of each one, an immediate playlist. In fact, I would love to see some of these poems be set to music because they have such a nice rhythm and flow.
I don't want to spoil anyone but side A was definitely my favorite, simply because it was easier to read in a digital medium but I did appreciate the originality of Side B.
If you are looking for all those themes, supporting POC authors and original not only poetry but art, this is a great way to find it.
Thank you to Andrews McMeel Publishing and NetGalley for this DRC

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<p>I have read other books by Alicia Cook and her unique writing style is enjoyable. </p>
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<p>the music in this book along with the poems is a different kind of vibe. her musical choices are so magical, they make a mood. I love the vibe I get when reading an Alicia cookbook. this book, the poems hit me so hard. it's like my thoughts, my interactions are reflected in cook's words. every poem is so true for me and for i guess everyone who has mentally struggled. every poem is worthy of praise. it hit me so hard. like how can i relate with each poem so much? remarkable work. a work of art. it has heartbreak and honesty. </p>
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I found this collection to be really lovely. Sometimes it felt a little long, but it was cool that we almost got to take two trips through the narrative. The marking up in Side B was creative and unique.

First and foremost, be aware that there are trigger warnings for anxiety, depression, talk of suicide and death. This was definitely a collection of poems that I had to take in multiple settings as to me they rang extremely true.

I really enjoyed the format of this collection, with the first half being more traditional poem formats and the second half being black out or other styles that isolated specific words of the poems. Both halves went really well together and captured the feelings invoked in the collection as a whole. Each poem also comes with a song - which if you don't know the song listed I highly recommend looking them up since they add another layer to the experience. It's definitely an emotional read, but the language used and the way the poems flow just add beauty to the overall collection.

The immediacy and confessional nature of these poems can be compelling. But overall it feels a bit surface-level and dashed off.

I love that there’s songs at the end of the poem and listening to them was a great experience made it more personal. This book doesn’t shy away from what depression and hardship feels like and I appreciate it for that. There needs to be more books about the truth about mental illnesses. But also how to deal and move on from the demons and the feelings of them. Side B was such a cool blackout poetry and so inspiring. I loved this book so much.
My favorite quotes: “We are in a world of war and confused survivors.” “ how do I silence my mind like I silence my phone?” “We are in repair, never beyond repair. We are healing, Never healed.” “Together we can survive and endure loss”

*This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

‘Sorry I Haven’t Texted You Back’ is a poetry collection published by Alicia Cook, following the format of ‘Stuff I’ve Been Feeling Lately’ which I read at the beginning of the year. This one definitely felt a little more mature, which I really appreciated.

Trigger Warnings (which you can find in the book): mental illness, death, weapons, sex, violence, suicide, trauma, drugs and alcohol, and natural disaster.

Both of the collections mentioned are written in the form of a mixtape with two sides. Side A is filled with heart-wrenching poems and Side B is basically those same poems’ remixes, in a super original form of blackout poetry. This second part really brings the book up a notch, hooking the reader to its simple looking and yet so impactful phrases.

As it is common in poetry, there are a lot of smart metaphors sprinkled throughout the book for very much current problematics, such as domestic abuse for example.

Whether you’ve been feeling down for no apparent reason, or there is something going on in your life making you feel sad or frustrated, and you can’t quite put all of that into words, this collection is for you. With a little bit of everything in writing, I found myself feeling so many emotions – sometimes simultaneously, sometimes one right after the other. It is always good to feel like someone out there understands you, and this book did that for me.

And can we talk about how beautiful and unique the blackout poetry was? For Side A I made a list of my favourite tracks, but for Side B I couldn’t help but want to write all of them down!

Another detail I absolutely adored was the fact that each poem got its own song! At the bottom of the tracks you will find a ‘Currently listening to: blank’ – which are all great recommendations by the way! Doesn’t music just make everything a little better? And after all, this is supposed to be a mixtape!

If you generally enjoy poetry, or are trying to get more into the genre, this is a great place to start! It ripped my heart apart in the best way possible and made me think about anything and everything, just like I want any of my poetry collections to do! I will definitely reread this one throughout the years and check out more of Cook’s work!

Thank you again to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity!