I very rarely read poetry - in fact, this may be the only poetry book I've read for pleasure since ~2011-12. Since I don't often read poetry, bear with me during this review. I am not as familiar with the technicalities of poetry, so this review will be based mostly on how it made me feel.

What drew me to September Love was mostly the author – I've heard good things about Lang Leav, and despite DNFing Sad Girls, I thought I would give her poetry a chance. "Maybe it's an entirely different thing?" – I told myself.

September Love is a poetry collection that seems to focus primarily on, well, love. Whether they are all about Leav's love life, or someone else's, isn't entirely clear. But love is the subject. Some focus more on relationships, others on breakups, others seem to be about the relationship with oneself. Others have a feminist tone.

I'm glad I gave her poetry a chance – many of the poems resonated strongly with me, especially the ones with a feminist focus.

"Do not think twice about the imposition when they tell you, there is nothing worse than a fallen woman. Nothing worse than a woman who doesn't know her place. You will learn otherwise when you trade your truth for an ideal that no amount of good you do will ever be enough anyway."
(from "A Woman", September Love, Lang Leav, pp. 117.)

The love poems were also quite beautiful, and captured the imperfectness that comes with love – how it's not always rainbows and sunshine. The breakup poems were also quite heart-wrenching.

"Tell me there has been someone else like me, for you. That your experience of love has not been defined by the way I spoke your name into the hollow of your neck.
(from "September Love", September Love, Lang Leav)

I did skim some of the poems. Some of them were too vague for my tastes, others had too much of a "Tumblr" feel. (I found out later that Leav got her start on Tumblr – I wasn't at all surprised.)

Of course, as I previously stated, I am not usually a poetry reader. Perhaps my criticisms are unfair – I usually like plots and answers. From a technical standpoint, Leav is a writer of high caliber. I just think poetry is not-for-me. If Leav were to write fiction again, I would give it a try.

Ending on a positive note, from a beginner-poetry-reader standpoint, I will say Leav was very accessible. If you're looking to read poetry, I'd say Leav is a great way to dip your toes in to contemporary poetry. At least, it's a lot more accessible than Gertrude Stein or Shakespeare.

this is another book that i was immensely excited to read but unfortunately due to the system i was not able to download it and when i came back to attempt it one last time it was already expired. i will be definitely purchasing this on my own but thank you netgalley for the opportunity.

another good one by this author! she makes books meant for a coffee table for sure. Each one of these poems is different and its fun to just open the book up and flip to a page and see what is to offer.

I requested Lang Leav’s ‘September Love’ because when I first began writing poetry in 2014, I had come across her work online. I was taking the plunge and pouring my heart out in a different way than I ever had before.

Poetry is incredibly personal and special to the poet themselves which is why I do not believe in calling poetry bad or good because the subjectivity is there and with a very strong presence. Personal taste will continue to influence how we as humans view certain poetry.

As I write this review, I am listening to the band Japanese Breakfast which fits the mood of this poetry collection. Just like my own work, Leav explores love and human emotion through words and metaphors. Ultimately, as the reader, you must put yourself in the shoes of the writer and see the experience through their eyes.

In the poem ‘More A Poet’, Leav says;

“One day I woke up with every breath
I thought of you”

Your initial impression would be that this is a very broad thought but we mustn’t forget that this line will evoke something wholly different for Leav. She wrote that line with a specific memory in mind. Despite the broad subject matter, it can strike a chord with anyone.

More often than not, strangers to poetry are intimidated by it. They believe that Shakespeare represents all forms of poetry. However, they are mistaken because poetry has become far more accessible over the years.

In conclusion, Lang Leav is a contemporary poet for those new to poetry and also people who are avid readers of the form. Leav manages to put the feelings that you have never been able to express into sweet words.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The cover is simple and gets the job done.

I love Lang Leav's work. Her poetry is raw and emotional.

I'll definitely be looking out for other work by this author.

Eu sou fã dos trabalhos iniciais da Lang Leav - Love & Misadventures e Lullabies, por exemplo - e September Love me passa uma vibe um pouco diferente dos trabalhos anteriores da autora. Gostei de alguns textos mais do que outros, de fato, e essa não se tornou uma das minhas obras favoritas.

I'll just come out and say it. I'm a bit of a poetry snob, but in a weird way. Some poetry, like Emily Bronte and Sylvia Plath's, is simply beautiful. And then I try to read Wordsworth and it just doesn't click. Coleridge is otherworldly, but I can't connect to Keats. I'm usually hesitant to try out new poetry, but I'm happy to have explored a little with Lang Leav. Thanks to Andrews McMeel Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest

Various topics are at play in September Love. Love, of course, permeates the pages. Whether it is love found, lost, regained, you will find it in these pages. Similarly Leav addresses her writing process, the passage and cruelties of time, and all the small tragedies and triumphs that make up a life. This wide net means that almost all readers will find something to connect with. Leav aims for a hopeful message, arguing that no matter how often life knocks you down, there is that glimmer of hope. This is a great message, especially considering the year we have all gone through and the year we're facing. There is beauty in the small things and every victory should be celebrated.

What I like about September Love is how accessible it is. Leav's style is minimalist and direct, which means that her poetry feels like something you could imagine yourself saying or thinking. I also found the combination between poetry and prose refreshing. It meant that for readers like myself there was no way to glaze over, or skip from one poem to the next without really taking any in. And yet, September Love didn't entirely resonate with me. Although this is possibly trite, Leav reminds me very much of Rupi Kaur, who I absolutely adored when milk and honey first came out in 2014. I was 19 going on 20 and the deeply personal nature of this type of poetry went some way to soothe that hurt and insecurity unique to new adults. Now that, alas, I am a bit older I find it doesn't quite hit the spot in the same way. This could be down to my own, acknowledged, poetry snobbishness, or perhaps this poetry mainly works when you really are in the midst of working these things out. However, for anyone looking for that reminder to look up and look in, September Love can be valuable.

Although Leav's writing didn't entirely work for me, I can see the great good a collection like September Love can be capable of. Anything that nudges you towards hope, understanding and, who knows, happiness, is a good thing in my book.

Lang Leav does it again. Her newest collection of poetry is so heartbreaking and beautiful it will bring tears to your eyes. I highly recommend reading these poems aloud - it just feels different and might make your heart skip a beat.

"They accuse me of never putting myself on a page, that I distance myself from my poetry like an old lover I have lived to regret. They say I'm dishonest, inauthentic, that I don't know heartbreak the way I write it. But there are other ways to tell my secrets, and I have many. Like apple seeds buried deep in my bones. Cinnamon and cyanide. Blood pacts and promises. There are so many versions of me splashed onto a page, like a carnival of mirrors. I wanted you to know my poetry, but I never meant for you to know me.
- My poetry"

Thank you NetGalley & Andrews McMeel for providing me with a temporary e-arc.

September Love is a poetry collection by the international bestselling author Lang Leav exploring love, relationships, heartbreak, self-empowerment: breaking the rules, challenging perceptions, and exploring the secret desires we keep hidden from the world.

I have read Lang Leav poetry at every corner I turn on social media and I have loved the one's that I came across. Even if I never explored her works, I have always wanted to. And when I saw September Love on NetGalley, I was quick to think that this could be something that I can start with. But sadly, it wasn't quite what it made out to be.

When I began reading the raw stirring foreword by Lili Reinhart, I was thinking how this may just turn out to be the read I was waiting for but as I read my way through the poems, something felt bland. Something felt missing. And as I read on, I saw how the words just felt like words. They lacked a certain elegance that I have observed in Leav's work. Only a few of the poems were the way that I always saw them be and for that, this collection proved to be worth it. It is surely not something I will go back to, considering it has been months since I read the collection and I remember nothing about the book except for a thought I had while I was reading the collection: how true are the poems relating to poets and writing poetry. Apart from that, it is the foreword. As I am aware of the fact that Lili recently published a poetry collection, I am more interested in checking that out now.

This was not for me but I hope that this may be just the one you are looking for. I will be checking out other works by Lang Leav but not any time soon. I am fine with the daily dose I get on social media.

Rating: 2.25/5

Lang Leav has the most beautiful way with the most simple of text. Few words turn to big emotions, and this collection is another masterpiece she should be proud of

September Love by Lang Leav is a deep and emotive prose and poetry collection that seized my heart and refused to let it go.

Enjoyed this book, it was very evocative and full of feeling. I recommend it if you're into sentimental writing.

Poetry can be hit or a miss and a collection with themes like grief, love, relationships, loneliness, the boundaries can get limited. With September Love, that's what happens. Though thematically the poems are expected to be similar, the emotions they evoke are wet and sometimes non-existent. Its unfortunate because Leav's earlier collections have been gorgeous but this one seems to be missing few standouts.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

"I learned that when you confront your fear, it will no longer have power over you. and when you are no longer afraid, the possibilities are endless."

Lang Leav brings us another emotional collection of poems, full of heartbreaking verses, and moving messages. I have been reading her books for some years and the way she gets to the reader is amazing. Unfortunately, I had some issues with this book. Some poems didn't fit the collection and felt underdeveloped, almost like drafts. However, even as I think this isn't Leav's best work, she did an excellent job with some poems in here and managed to touch me with a few words. Overall, I enjoyed this volume but wasn't my favorite from the author. Still, I am very glad I got to read a work of hers after a few years.

I almost always don't know what to say when it comes to Leav's poetry, because there are some that I genuinely love, and some that are so overdone and overwrought, it leaves a distasteful memory on my tongue, and acts more to ruin the feelings that the ones before it had invoked.

There are some poems in this book that I found myself going back for, but rest of the pages filling this book was filled with filler mediocre nonsense that I wished were not added for the sake of increasing the page count.

What else is left to say?

Another book by Lang Leav! When I was in university, I loved her every collection of poems. Unfortunately, this one, I did not love so much. The themes are a bit vague and repetitive, but I enjoyed the general messages. One thing I didn't enjoy personally are the poems that sound more like a one-liner advice than poetry.
That being said, I'll continue to read her works in the future!

This is the second poetry collection I've read from Lang Leav, and I very much enjoyed it. I actually underlined a lot of poems and quotes with which I felt identified and will probably visit in the future.

Great discovery.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read this before publication date.

I enjoyed this collection of poetry, although I don't think it fits the demographic of my library. I'll be recommending it to specific students who may enjoy it.

Leav continues to be a frenemy of mine. I go from absolutely loving her books or thinking they are just subpar. This didn’t stand out whatsoever. It didn’t seem to have any overall themes, it just felt like it bounced all over the place but didn’t really say much in the process. I’ve talked before about the flow of poetry and this one had me bored and just waiting for it to end. I know that I wouldn’t reread this and will probably forget I even read it. I will continue to read her works in the future though because like I said, I run hot and cold with her work. But this didn’t NOT feel like a Lang leav book if that makes sense? It still felt like her writing style but I just didn’t feel like much was said I guess.

Lang Leav does not disappoint with her new book. Her words seem to come natural but, at the same time, are filled with such emotion that can only happen when someone works hard on what they do. And a poet not only understands words, but understands human emotions, their own emotions. And it is not easy to face one's feelings. But the author does it beautifully and across a variety of subjects, all intertwined by love. I didn't connect with every poem or text, but that is just because the human experience is unique to each person. But the poems that I connected with, those are saved in my heart and in my mind for the days I need words of understanding and hope.