Cover Image: September Love

September Love

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Member Reviews

I forgot quite how much Lang Leav's poetry means to me (having not read any of her work in years), and luckily I've rediscovered her poetry towards the end of a year which has not been kind - the perfect time to take in Leav's words of wisdom and introspection, in my opinion. I'd recommend every one of Leav's collections, and September Love is no exception. Do yourself a favour: run a hot bath, light a candle, and read September Love.

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This is my first poetry collection by Lang Leav and I honestly enjoyed it.

Some of the poems really hit home for me and I could relate to them at a deep level. The rest, though not as impactful as others to me, were very real. I appreciate Lang Leav sharing her life like an open book to the world and accepting the healing process that goes along with writing poetry.

I see her bravery in sharing her innermost thoughts so openly and it blesses my heart that many others can find comfort in those words, especially during this pandemic season.

Thank you Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing me a copy of this book through NetGalley. All opinions in this review are my own.

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Thank you Andrews McMeel and Netgalley for giving me a copy to read and review.

First off I want to talk about Lilie Reinharts introduction note and I loved everything she said in it. She spoke about all kinds of things that could not be more true. I'm really excited to read her debut collection in the future.

Ever since I've found Lang Leav I've loved her poetry and this one was no different. These poems had a lot of self exploration in it but they are still really relatable. She explores the struggles of being a woman that wants to be independent, finally hitting your 30s, self love and so much more. This new collection of poetry feels a void and makes you feel stuff that you havent felt in a long time. They had a warmth to them. They always seemed to be the perfect length. I had so many favorites in this collection and I cant wait to read it again in the future

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The ARC of this book was provided by
@andrewsmcmeel via @netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve always loved @langleav. She was one of the first poets I discovered. This collection had a lot of self exploration within it, but very relatable.

Leav details the struggles of being an independent woman & not waiting for a man, the feeling of being in her 30’s, it dabbles into self love, being happy...& so much more.

This is the kind of poetry that fills a void inside of you. I will definitely be reading again.

I won’t say too much because you need to read it.

Grief

Grief is like a flower
the way it blooms
and blooms. It is
a heart-shaped wound

that never closes
A mouth, always wanting
More love is found in grief
than in love itself

Like a diamond
that can only be cut
with another diamond
grief is the only thing
that cuts through love.

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This is the kind of poetry that fills a void in you and just make you feel.
I liked the warmth of the language, the length of the poems, the author's voice, the themes themselves…
I found myself strangely drawn to the poems that gave us an insight into how being a famous author, a famous poetess makes her and others that interact with her either in person or online feel about her chosen career and craft.
Most of the poems are about the self, thoughts, and feelings and my favorite image from this book is poetry being presented not only as a way to show love but love itself.
I'm only sorry this is the first book of her's I ever came across because I was sometimes melancholic that I started reading her work in the middle of her journey, mainly when she writes about past poems and criticism received for them.
My favorite poem was "God". That poem was feral. That poem made me tremble and tear up as I breathed it in. I loved it.
I devoured this book.
Thank you to NetGalley and Andrew McMeel Publishing for this DRC

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Meep. I am sad.

For the most part, I enjoy Lang Leav's poetry. But after reading this collection, it just left me feeling meh.

The poems felt like they were sucking life out of me, giving some back, then sucking it out again. I was left feeling drained and irritated. Like that feeling after you've just done 5 loads of laundry and the machine ruined your favourite shirt in the last load. Look, LL is SUCH a talented poet, but this collection felt very average compared to her other work.

This collection was a combination of stimulating poems and unnecessary Facebook-like drama:

Exhibit A (Facebook dramalama):

To the Guy Who Claims My Poetry Was the Cause of His Break-Up

"It is astonishing to think that my words have the power to
make someone fall out of love with you. That I have somehow
been conspiring against you, even though up until this
moment, I was blissfully unaware of our existence. Maybe
you should ask yourself why she has found her self-worth in
the words of others and not yours. Could it be, perhaps, that
I'm not some grand puppet master like you believe, that my
words are not a cold hard slap, but merely, a soft tap on the
shoulder and the truth is--you're just a shitty boyfriend"

(Tbh, this^ "poem" or whatever the heck that was, was weird. Who cares what some random DUDE claims you caused. I mean, is he some random? As an outsider, I have no context, no idea if you know him or if he's a stranger. So, he's shitty for blaming you and you're just as bad - if you don't know him - to say overall he's a shitty BF, especially if you don't know what happened in their relationship. Also, if "he" were a "she", would you have published that they're a shitty girlfriend? I felt an ulterior motive with this poem, and I just didn't care for it. )

Exhibit B (probably my fav from this collection):

A Woman

"The day you become a woman, they hand you a grenade.
And you must choose between hurling or holding. Between
want and expectations. Excise your desire, while you are
hungry for everything. Give up your life for a version of you
that isn't you at all.

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.

So, make up your own rules. Don't be afraid to hurl, to fall,
to get dirt on your face. Sweetheart, let this be your one
glorious mess because in the end the only person you should
answer to is yourself.

After all, you are a woman,

And long before they punish you for what you've done, they
will punish you for what you are.

Thanks a million to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC. Quotes are subject to change upon publication.

September Love comes out in Canada on 3 November 2020.

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I had a hard time relating to this one. Maybe I just haven't had my heart broken enough. Some of them were really lovely. Some of them were a sentence or a paragraph just...masquerading as poem? Not my favorite

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Poetry is a window to the soul and the soul is a window to the world. This is around the third or fourth poetry collection i have read from Lang Leav and i loved it just as much, if not more.

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4/5 stars

Thank you to Andrews McMeel Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I first discovered Lang Leav’s poetry on Tumblr when I was younger, similar to how Lili Reinhart did, who wrote the foreword for this book. Since then, I’ve read all of Leav’s poetry books and novels.

September Love didn’t disappoint. Much like her previous collections, this one focused on themes like love, loss, and grief. However, there are also poems now about Leav’s prominence as a public figure as well as critics of her poetry. It made me think of the concept of the “I” in writing. The writer may write about their experiences and themselves — but the “I” in the story isn’t necessarily them or a reflection of themselves.

Leav has a way of putting the emotions I’ve experienced but am unable to explain into poems. She’s able to evoke imagery of other worlds, other places, and other loves with very few words. From this collection, two of my favourites were “The One After” and “The Chase”. I definitely recommend reading it once it’s released!

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I love how Lang Leav seems to be on a whole different level here! There's a different kind of courage and feminism I haven't felt in her previous books, all while maintaining her art and poetic genius, if not upping her game a bit more!

Thank you for making this available here in Net Galley and for allowing your fans to have an advanced copy of your masterpiece.

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4.5/5 stars.

I loved this latest poetry collection from Lang Leav! Poetry can be really hit or miss with me, but I enjoyed reading most of the poems.

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As other of Lang Leav's novels and poetry collections, this one is brilliant. I enjoy so much all of her books; she never disappoints. This book is extremely well written. There are so many emotions expressed throughout the poems which made me connect with them in a deeper level, as if she's talking directly to me. I honestly recommend this book to everyone. Rating: 4/5 stars.

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2.5 stars

Lang Leav’s September Love was a mixed bag for me. While Leav explores a host of poignant themes – love, heartbreak, writing, sadness and self-love, her style fell flat. There is a premise of vulnerability and depth without the delivery.

The poems in this collection varied widely. Leav talks about writing and the vulnerability of creating poetry in Good Enough and Be a Poet, but it was Being An Artist, that explored writer’s block that I liked the most. Some of her poems are whimsical with a touch of dark, such as Locked Boxes, Ten Things, and Facade. Others, Self-Control and A Woman have feminist undertones. The poems The World Is Mine, This World and To Understand talk about depression – coming in and out of it and the fragility of happiness.

Her shorter poems were hard to connect to. Some of them sounded like a sentence or a thought tacked on under a heading – Endless Thirst and To the Guy Who Claims My Poetry Was the Cause of His Break-up – while others sound like unsolicited advice, or worse, preachy: Either Or, The Golden Rule, To Yourself, and Above You.

While I think the messages and themes that underscore Leav’s poetry are important, it was difficult for me see the professed depth and vulnerability in her words. That being said, there were moments in these poems – a line here, a metaphor there – where I felt like Leav dug until she found something solid. Perhaps her other collections would be more suitable for me, but this one was not my cup of tea.

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⨳4.5⨳

This is my second Leav book and I’m so glad I gave it a chance!

“I used to think love had no limits—
but I draw the line at myself.”

I'm actually shocked by how much I loved it. It's like you open the box on the kitchen top, thanking your brother internally to be generous enough to leave you a piece of apple pie and it turns out to be a whole chocolate truffle cake!

Coming to this bittersweet treat—I can already say I’m going to read this again sometime. I finished the book and went back to the first poem immediately because it was a masterpiece. I tried to list my favorite pieces but soon realized it’ll be better if I just add the whole book to favorites.

If you’ve read Leav before, expect the usual flow and style here. She addresses several themes like love, heartache and grief, womanhood, self-empowerment, self-love which she has always voiced through her poems. What was new (and my favorite parts) was the way she wrote so beautifully and poignantly about being an artist, her inspirations, and the burden of acceptance or criticism her work carries.

There were so many pieces that had me just stop and take a breath- not because she says something no one has ever said or felt, but because she plucks the most mundane, alluvial thoughts and gives them a home on a paper.

Also, shoutout to Lili Reinhart for that amazing foreword!

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

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Let me start by saying that, even though I was acquainted with Lang Leav's poems previously through pinterest and Instagram, this is the first time I actually read a full collection. And as it is with poetry collections (and definition with short story collections as well) it is very rare that you would love each and every poem with the same intensity.

September Love, as a whole is moderately good collection with some extremely beautiful poems and even though they are rare, they are accompanied by poems that contains some good one liners. Here poems are very simple, sometimes almost too simple that they seemed bland and obvious. But as i said, this collection has its gems and marvels.

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I was given access to this collection through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I haven’t read a Lang Leav collection since I was in high school and I think it’s safe to say that my poetry tastes have changed greatly. Put simply, this work (which I would compare to Rupi Kaur’s work) just doesn’t do it for me. I felt it read more like a collection of motivational quotes rather than poetry - but of course, that is my own opinion! If you like short/casual prose poetry, gentle rhymes, and Rupi Kaur’s work , you should definitely check this one out!

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(3 stars = liked it)

I have been hearing about Lang Leav for a long time, and am still to check her other works (which I still want to do after reading this, so that should be a good sign!). I have also heard that her books can be a hit-or-miss and, somehow, for me this was both! For the first third of it, I thought stuff was pretty basic but specially around the middle I found many that I liked and bookmarked.

In September Love, Leav covers heartbreak, grief, abuse, feminism/patriarchy, knowing yourself and being known, self-reflections upon her own writing, other people's reflections upon her writing, and (you guessed it) love. She switches back and forth between those, and there may be one or two other topics that were featured, but these were the main ones. She also switches between verse and prose (I hope I'm getting these terms right), which I thought was interesting. Even more interesting was how you could be reading about love and tenderness and on the next page you would be reading about heartbreak and abandonment. A true rollercoaster.

As I said, this was both a hit, where the words were beautiful and I felt what she put on the page, and a miss, where the poems seemed too simple and didn't elicit any special emotions and I couldn't connect with them. I was considering the possibility that the texts I liked the most were only the ones I was able to relate to, but I've debunked the theory. I found the bits where she talks about her writing to be really interesting, as you get a view of what she has been through as a person and as a writer (but, remember: you still don't know her).

I look forward to reading more from her in the future!

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A beautiful book. I'm such a fan of poetry and reading this books right now was so wise as there are many themes that resonate with fall including change and rebirth.
Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review.

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full review - https://alittleofallblog.wordpress.com/2020/09/28/september-love/

I was literally jumping when I started reading this book. I am a huge Lang Leav fan and was so so excited for her new book. Reading September Love in September is magical.

the forward written by Lili Reinhart is beautiful, raw and honest.

the poems were sweet, the vibe was nice. some poems like ‘always will’; ‘a life unlived’ really were on point and if I had a paperback I would be highlighting the shit out of them. Leav pours her heart into these poems. it's like you can see and feel her soul in them.most of the poems are about love and heartbreak. then there are poems like ‘crystal ball’; ‘ for a man’; ‘a woman’ that make you think. some poems like ‘if you didn’t’; ‘to past generations’; ‘self-control’ truly got my heart. I had to sit with it for a while. this book is beautiful. it could be such a perfect gift for anyone. leav always has the best books, some poems you read, others you feel and some speak your truth. ‘taking time’ was my favourite poem of the lot. 70 per cent of the poems in here are masterpieces.

the second part of this book is better than the first. the poems focus on you and self-love and they are so pure, it feels like my soul is talking to me. simply brilliant. there are some inspiring. motivating poems that I wanted to copy and put in my room so I can read every day. this book is everything. “this world’ is so apt for 2020. girl, ‘above you’ is so hard. like I think it has changed my way of thinking. a brilliant sweet book.

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I got an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Honestly, what can I say about this book? This is one of my favorite poetry books I have read in a while. Has some of my favorite poems that resonates with me currently. In fact, there is not a poem in here that would not reverberate to any stage in your life. And not to be a bad feminist <I>pero los poemarios de amor son superior a los de un hombre</I>. El poeta escribe con el intento de enamorar, es cursi; y la poetisa lo escribe con la experiencia de ser mujer; de ser mujer en una sociedad que odia a las mujeres, de aún amar, y del desamor. This book soothes and warms my soul. This book puts into words feelings I could not explainCannot wait for more.

<blockquote>Grief

Grief is like a flower
the way it blooms
and blooms. It is
a heart-shaped wound

that never closes
A mouth, always wanting
More love is found in grief
than in love itself

Like a diamond
that can only be cut
with another diamond
grief is the only thing
that cuts through love
</blockquote>

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