Thank you Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing and Netgalley for sending me a copy of 100 Poems to Break Your Heart by Edward Hirsch. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Well let's dive right in.

Going into the book I was expecting a collection of poetry and as a seasoned veteran of books and poems breaking my heart I was interested in what was in store. In my opinion, the sypnosis is a bit misleading as the book more revolves around the factual depiction of the poems in question rather than the emotions surrounding them. I think definitely if you are very interested in analysis and knowing the backstories then this is a great book for you! I enjoyed some parts and the insight into the pieces but found myself wanting to draw my own interpretations more. I truly believe with a different sypnosis / summary, this book could reach a much more desired audience and go further in an educational and analyzing sense. A wide range of content was talked about which was appreciated as it covered a big time span and really gets you to see the evolution of poetry (which is something that interests me). Overall, a solid analytical book and a very pretty abstracted cover as well.

A very interesting book, however it was not what I expected. I thought it would be just a collection of poems, but it ended up being a book that teaches literary structure classes on how each poem was written ...

The reading was heavy and I couldn't finish it, since it wasn't what I was expecting from the beginning.

At times I thought I needed to have knowledge of grammar and poetry writing and its structures.

Thank you to NetGalley for sending me an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

As someone who deeply enjoys poetry and it’s hidden messages / meaning behind each piece, I thought I would really enjoy this collection. I’m sure other readers may enjoy it, but it personally wasn’t something I was interested in once I started reading the first few pages. This book seems to focus more on “this is exactly what this poet meant when he wrote this poem” rather than just having the poems there for each reader to interpret themselves. It wasn’t a book that could keep my attention and I wasn’t able to get past the first few pages.

I thought this collection was just superb. The poems were a wonderful mix of those I have read before and some that were new to me. Nonetheless, each and every piece of work that I read, had the immense power to transport me and I was boundless in the sphere of time in this poetry. You don't even need to think twice. Pick it up!

Hirsch's addition and his splendid illustration via words was just the cherry on top. It made everything all the better. This particular aspect is especially great for beginners!

Edward Hirsch collected 100 of the most dramatic poems with the theme of heartbreak. These poems guide and make the reader feel less alone during the journey of sadness and grief.

** A copy of 100 Poems to Break Your Heart was provided by the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review **

Powerful and beautiful collection of poetry. Reading this collection evokes a lot of emotion: grief, sadness, resilience, acceptance, closure and love. Nothing short of a gut punch!

This collection of moving poems studies traces left by heartbreak from the last 200 years of poets: sad for one reason or another, over the same things that bring us sorrow today. Can poetry make us feel less alone in the midst of a broken heart? Through each of the 100 selected poems’ analysis and backstory, we learn what inspired the original work and how much our pain has in common. I like that small, intriguing excerpts of each poem are featured, but I wish I could read the entire poem first before the intense breakdown of it. And, while way more literary than I expected from the title and cover, and less emotional and more analytical than I thought it would be: this book would be perfect for a deep dive into each classic work captured in beautiful prose, and it’s analytical enough that you won’t be left devastated by each one.

I loved the detailed explanation and how the poems were chosen carefully. The overall book is quite worth the read and the book is a total page turner.

I was hoping the explanations to be precise and brief. It was an okay-ish read.

On a positive note, the book definitely covered some great poetry. Appreciate the attempt.

I started reading this book last month just before my wonderful mother-in-law died and finished it Friday, the day my wonderful father-in-law died. I certainly didn't need any help having my heart broken in the past month. My parents died when I was young and our family has been rocked with grief at losing both of my husband's parents and both of my children's beloved grandparents within 3 weeks of each other. None of us has any doubt that Chester died of a broken heart after losing his best friend of 65 years.

So it was perhaps a bad time to read a book that promises to break your heart. I did actually enjoy the book, though. I read a few poems a day, which took a long time since the editor spends many pages carefully examining the background of each poet and poem, along with very detailed insights into things like the poetic styles, meter, alliteration and so on. I see that many reviewers minded this but I actually enjoyed it (though I did sometimes skim his words) because he offered insights into the actual building of each poem that I really would have missed in many cases.

I majored in creative writing and had over 100 poems published in my youth, so I am experienced with poetry. That said, the editor is clearly a poetry scholar and he is incredibly knowledgeable about poetic forms and elements. There were many instances where he pointed out carefully crafted elements of a poem that I would have missed. Did I need to know them? Probably not, but it was an interesting peek into the poems themselves, a lot like looking at the code that builds a web page or computer game. I also really appreciated the back stories, knowing heartbreaking details about the poets' lives and what they were going through when some of the poems were written.

The poems themselves are in chronological order and use a nice balance of poems from around the world instead of focusing only on English speaking poets and Western poetry. Many are translated, but they are translated well. Themes include death, war and loneliness. I expected more of some subjects like sexual abuse and assault, racism, mental illness, LGBTQ issues, and so on. There is a good mix of male and female poets, but the themes themselves seem a little more male-centered to me (that could be bias because I am female, though). I expected more along the lines of Anne Sexton and Sylvia Plath about some of the heartbreaking aspects of being a woman (especially in earlier times) and also more from poets of color about issues like slavery and racism. I am also currently reading a compilation of 250 years of African American poetry and that one is so full of really heartbreaking stuff that it almost made this one seem like "heartbreak lite" in comparison. Many of these poems seem universal -- almost anyone could relate to them -- as opposed to focusing on very personal subjects or topics that don't apply to all. This could be seen as good or bad, depending on what you're looking for.

As the book is arranged by the poems' dates of publications, I also found myself reading the dates and anticipating which historical elements would come up. I was very curious what themes would be covered in the poems of the past 20 years, and was a little disappointed at the lack of timely topics. Again, this speaks to the universality of the poems, and some people may prefer that.

This would be an especially useful book for homeschooling high school poetry or for those who want to understand the bones of poetry, since so much focus is on how the poems are constructed and what literary devices are used. As mentioned, some people dislike this, but it's great knowledge for those who are looking for it. The poems themselves are generally good poems that are accessible for everybody and not the obscure, hard to understand types, though some are more academic than others. Again, I think the author/editor's own background heavily dictated the poems he chose. I may give this book to my 20 year old daughter for Christmas this year, since she loves both poetry and heartbreak, but I'm pretty sure she'll skip the explanation pages.

I read a digital ARC of this book for review.

I don't understand why was there a need for this book. It actually forces me to analyse these 100 finest collection of poems according to the author's perspective.
I really like reading poetry and I am an avid poetry reader as well. I read and like portey only for the fact that it helps the reader individually analyse and make meaning out of it. It does not generalize it, that's the beauty of poetry. Also, sometimes it's ok to not remove meaning out of each and every poetry you read. It's totally okay to just read and feel without actually knowing it's meaning. This book was definitely not what the blurb says and I expected it to be different.

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

100 poems to break your heart was a book I had to drag myself through and which I ended up skipping some pages and focusing more on just the poems rather than the information that accompanied them. I found this book to be too heavy and dense for me to get into and got bored reading it, but thats not to say that others won't enjoy it.

Just pretend to read this as if you’re John Keating from The Dead Poet’s Society, complete with your dark academia sweater, and you’ll have the time of your life.

When I first requested this, I thought it was just going to be a nice compilation. Then, of course, I found out it was more of a commentary in addition to the poems. Anyway, after clearing up my confusion and reading the synopsis, I was expecting more of an emotional insight to the poetry with historical context - and while we did get some of that - there were more facts than feelings. And that did impact my reading enjoyment level. But in all honesty, I don’t think that’s what this book is about. It’s about information, more than anything.

This was an intense dive into some of the world’s most angsty poets and their poetry. It was honestly so huge for a poetry book, and there were many times where I felt it could have been shorter. The writing was excellent, however, and I liked how informative it was. It’s not a book you read to enjoy unless poetry is your life. It’s a book you read for educational insight. It’s for the poetry die-hards, the ones who are in love with the history, facts, and technicality behind a poem. I did find the commentary on the poetry to drag at certain points, but overall, it was a very informative read.

Big thank you to Netgalley + Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for sending me an ARC copy of this book!

I received this book in exchange for an honest review.
This is a really great book to start getting into poetry. The poems are chosen really well and the commentary by the author is great. Enough context is given to really understand the content of the poems while not being so overwhelming that it takes away the meaning of them. A great collection of love poems.

I love poetry, most of all because it offers a door for readers to explore their own interpretations of the art. This book was not what I expected, and was very disappointing. If I wanted to read someone else's interpretation of poetry, I'd pick up a thesis.

Unfortunately I feel like I was tricked into this book, and my views often did not align with that of the contributing editor.

great collection of poem by some of the best poets. I would recommend this book to all those who love reading poetry.

Was a little disappointed I thought this was going to be a book of poems. Instead it was a analyzing poems. A little over my head however for someone that would enjoy something like this very well written and put together. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I really wanted to like this book since I absolutely love poetry but this book just did not do it for me. I hated Hirsch’s analysis at times and did not like that the book was incredibly dense with information that at times felt unnecessary. If the poetry were on their own, then this book would have been much better. I hated the unpacking of each poem and felt that it left me feeling simply exasperated at times. If I could give this book zero stars I would.

*Thanks to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and NetGalley for this Ebook in exchange for my honest review

Quite an interesting read, it’s a long time since I read any poetry so wanted to see what I thought. I liked the way that each poem gave some insight into the person who wrote it. But I was expecting just poems that I could jump in and out of.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

This is a very interesting book for all poetry lovers. As it says in the title, there are 100 poems included in this book and all of them are accompanied with a thorough analysis. I enjoyed reading it, but I would honestly appreciate something a bit lighter. Rating: 4/5 stars.