I would like to preface this by saying this is actually the first time I've read any of Lang's work. A few years ago, I think I avoided her poems on purpose - not just hers, any poems. Back then, poetry wasn't for me, I avoided poetry as long as I could while being envious of the people who did enjoy reading it. That being said, certain poems were a hit, certain were a miss. I really like how this anthology is for her September Love-r. There are certain poems that I find so phenomenal - I want someone to turn them into songs that my tongue can hum at random times of the day.

I have received an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for my review.

***5/5***

Lang Leav is one of my all-time favorite poets. In the past, her books have inspired tears and emotions with every turn of the page and luckily "September Love" is no different. Other times Leav has inspired me to feel love but this aptly named collection inspires new emotions. Where other collections were about past hurts and new loves "September Love" feels fresher, a new hurt, and new pains. The relatability of her works is one of her greatest talents, to make the reader feel emotions like this is truly extraordinary.

Some of my favorite poems in this collection are:

Breaking, Grief, Between Us, All I See, and Nine Books

I received an ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

My first time encountering Lang Leav, I was a starry-eyed fourteen year-old who thought there was life to be found in the smoke of some denim-clad, bruised boy. I remember sitting in a cafe with a friend, skimming through Love & Misadventure like the writer had uncovered the all of the universe’s secrets. How could this woman know all the sensibilities I tucked under my sweater, pick the grub and grime under my fingernails, thieve the knives I slid into my socks?

Give or take seven years later, my copy of Love & Misadventure is lost and I'm a little different. But as I read Lang Leav’s new poetry collection, September Love, I feel transported back to that crowded cafe—not from a sense of nostalgia, but from the pricking feeling that her poetry has not changed, not grown, not moved since I’ve last met her.

This book has recurring themes of love, literature/writing, and heartbreak printed into every page of the book. As I read through each piece, I began to understand Lang Leav’s greatest strength—her relatability. There is a great sense of universality to her writing. You could easily slide any experience you’ve had with romance and heartache into the spaces between her words.

However, relatability is a double-edged sword that she wields too casually. The collection, in general, excessively relies on relatability—to the point that the writing became vague.

I understand that writing, to an extent, has to be relatable. Us readers like to connect to our literature, especially when the subject matter is as ubiquitous as love. The problem with leaning (too much) on relatability is that depth and distinction can go astray. Toiling on something more personal complicates the mass appeal as it has a high chance of alienating an odd percentage of readers. But poetry is a craft! It’s important to keep reinventing and innovating with it.

At some point, the writing style got too repetitive, too prosaic for my tastes and all the works blurred together. I kept feeling like something was lacking. There are poems that are literally just sentences—and obviously length doesn’t dictate quality, but if a sentence reads like any other, like a tweet I could impulsively send out or a histrionic statement I’d say in passing to a friend, I’d pass by it without feeling anything.

The two poems I really liked are War, which played with allegories and line breaks powerfully, and God, which kept engaging with me through its illustrative imagery. God, in particular, was very intense and I had to take a minute or two after reading it to just sit in its shadow and process what I was feeling. I think these two show just what a wordsmith Lang Leav is by handing out nuance, ingenuity, and sentiment wrapped up in a pretty bow.

Overall, if I were to describe September Love in one word it would be ‘comfortable’. It was good, but not extraordinary. It felt too safe and recurrent and could have explored the boundaries of poetry and prose a bit more.

I kindly received this copy of September Love for free as an ARC through NetGalley.
Wow! I have only recently begun my exploration of poetry collections, but this will be one of my favourites for a long time. September Love details the struggle of an independent woman to reconcile her intense love of a man with her modern ideals. Leav writes an honest, beautiful construction of prose. It is not overly flowery, but descriptive enough to paint an emotional picture. The organisation of her ideas is simple - this poetry is easy to understand but very emotionally vulnerable, Her struggles as both a poet, woman and person are included in this collection and are extremely relatable, especially to many women.
Some of her shorter poems are a little simplistic, and lack the content to make them impactful, however this was only a minor issue, and is more due to my personal preference as a reader than the fault of the writer.
My favourites in this collection include 'Facade', 'Diorama', 'Show of Love' and 'Among the Stars'. I absolutely adore these particular pieces, and found myself rereading them several times just to absorb them fully. I will definitely be purchasing a copy of this book when it releases.

Sea of strangers was a bit of a hit and miss but this is my favourite of Lang Leav's yet. So many of these poems hit home especially as we're in lockdown, its september and love is all we can hold onto until this pandemic ends. Beautiful, thoughful poems - looking forward to one day getting a physical copy of this 😊

Thank you to the publisher on NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. Made for great bedtime poetry reading ☺

The contents of this book are either too cheesy or flowery that it distracts me away from the message. It didn't hit me with emotions that I want to feel when reading poetry books.

Really beautiful and refreshing to read, I was left with such a hopeful, wistful kind of mood. Lang Leav speaks on going back to her true voice with a clear mind and I really felt that. Her voice was distinct and has its own essence that shows in each poem.
There were topics on our current pandemic, on love, loss, yearning, having a public voice / audience, receiving criticism, and more. This one really touched on all corners and I feel that's also symbolic of our current time just contemplating on all the things that make up our lives. I liked that there was such a variety of subjects it made each poem stand out from each other.

Lang Leav's prose has the power to bring me to that moment in her mind. September Love is a beautiful book that connects me with the deepest emotions of the writer and her personal experiences. They say that the books are dialogues and that each one has a different mood, Leav's books are intimate and deep conversations in which one always feels listened to and warm.
Being a woman, being happy and feeling loved are the themes that are explores through her gaze. These types of books are the ones I like to have on my shelf to return to their pages a thousand times more.
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#SeptemberLove #NetGalley #LangLeav

It remains true, once again, that poetry collection by Lang Leav can be a hit or miss. And this one did it for me. Poignant, powerful, but vulnerable and deeply honest at the same time. I really enjoyed it, and I'm glad to see improvement in Leav's work.

This one focused on the topics of lost love, and I loved those. However, some of my favourite poems explored being a writer from a different angle. How poetry means stripping yourself bare, and how it takes tremendous bravery to share those parts of yourself with the world, ready to judge you at any time. It was relatable and resonated with me. I simply loved reading about it.

Leav's poetry is truly beautiful and, after reading everything except Sea of Strangers, I'm really excited to see where she stands when it comes to novel writing. And I'll patiently wait for her next release.

Thanks to Netgalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing me with eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I liked a lot of the poems in this collection, quick and easy read, very similar to her previous works of poetry.

The ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I always love Lang Leav’s poems to the point she’s basically an auto-buy for me. I really liked the forward written by Lili Reinhart as she is also releasing a poetry collection around the same time. Looking forward to purchasing the physical copy in November!

This poetry collection was so easy to read, I really enjoyed it.

Its been a while since I've read poetry and this collection has got me in the mood to read more of the genre, and even write some of my own. I was smiling through most of this book and found that some of the poems were so powerful and inspiring. I loved the themes of love, self-love, inner self and more. I was able to really relate to these poems and find myself between the lines. The poems were written in different formats which gave such variety within the book and I really enjoyed the changes throughout.

I would definitely recommend this book to both poetry lovers and people who are trying out poetry for the first time. I loved the style of writing used by this author and would even consider picking up her other books! I'm very happy I decided to pick this up.

Lang Leav’s poetry continues to be incredibly overrated. Going into this one, I had no faith that the book would “change the way you think about love, relationships, heartbreak, and self-empowerment” as the premise claims. There’s no sense in bestowing her poetry with a power it has not earned.

<i>arc sent to me by the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review</i>

This poetry collection definitely had some gems and the writing was beautiful. It took my breath away a few times.

It wasn’t my favourite collection of all time but it was still super enjoyable and I connected with quite a few of the poems.

Overall, I really liked this poem collection and would recommend it to anyone looking to try or needing a new poetry recommendation.

3.5/5 🌟

I am always happy to read a new Lang Leav poetry collection. And,as always, this newest one,September Love,did not disappoint. There is just something about her writing that hits me like no one else can. Even the small poems that are just a few lines have an impact on me. I feel like there wasn't a poem here that I didn't enjoy, but I especially liked the ones on writing.
Huge thank you to Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Love everything she writes. I was so excited to read this and it didn’t disappoint! Always honest and true and something for everyone.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. Unfortunately, I do not have the capability to read this book in the protected pdf format. Thank you.

I definitely took down notes when it came to advice and insights on writing while reading this collection and who knew that you could start off with February and make December but a month and not the end of the world?
My favorite has to be Limbo because it reminded me of who I am, of how much I lose when I lie in wait for another.

Thanks Netgalley for the eARC.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy.

I have mostly enjoyed Lang Leav's previous collections but the pieces within them can definitely be hit or miss. There are always some pieces I connect with and love and some that just fall incredibly flat. This collection is the same, but I feel that September Love shows growth and development in her skill. Even the simpler pieces are quite lovely. I very much enjoyed this one.

I've been a fan of this author for several years since I first discovered her work on Tumblr. I usually devour her books within one day but I had to force myself to finish this one. This book felt like she was trying to be different from her other work but not too different, and it ends up coming off as just more of the same but it doesn't quite have the emotional impact of her earlier work. That isn't to say that the entire book is a miss, though. "September Love" (the first piece which shares the name of the book) and "Twenty Nineteen" were quite good. But overall I felt very underwhelmed by this book.