This collection was beautifully written, raw and very much relatable. I loved the artwork too and thought they were really pretty also. These poems were straightforward yet simple enough to really show the emotion and soul that the author put into every piece. I really loved the imagery she used in her collection. the second half was rose's and nature while the first half was clouds. I really related to a lot of the poems in this collection just like with her first book. So I hope she comes out with more work in the future. I will be buying a physical copy to go with the first one.


Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my copy to read and review.

Sad, deep and not always easy to read. Love and heartbreak fuel distrust and disillusionment in these poems drenched in raw emotion. The poets self awareness make them all the more hard to read but also hard to stop reading.

This is a beautifully written collection!

I loved the cloud imagery in the first section of the book (where you left me); I also enjoyed the animal and plant/nature imagery popping up throughout the rest of the poetry collection.

The language used is emotional, soulful and elegant yet also very straightforward and simple. However, I think because that the lines were very simple that some lines were a miss with me (while others were a hit, of course). The benefit of the simple language, however, is that the poems were easy to understand and thus, relatable.

Overall, I love the journey the poems took me on. Also, the artwork throughout the book was gorgeous as well - it was very social-media friendly.

This collection of poetry was beautifully written, heartfelt, and beyond relatable. I loved the artwork as well.

I finished reading in one sitting and reread it the next day and also listened to the audiobook. Bridgett Devoue definitely exceeded my expectations.

I will be purchasing this for my own personal library as well as for gifts for friends.

This is a good poetry collection, full of emotion and some really powerful pieces. I really related to several of the pieces where the author talks about putting on a mask, adhering to expectations in a relationship in order to be loved, and then pulling away when it doesn't feel like they're putting equal effort in the relationship at the same rate. I liked how this was a continuation of the first soft thorns collection, and the ways themes were repeated and reoccured.

I enjoyed some parts.

And I like the sketches in between the pages.

Somehow I couldn't connect much with the lines and at times I felt like there's too much information that needn't be shared.

But it's okay.

I enjoyed this advance reading copy.

Will look out for the next volume.

Thank you author and the publisher for the advance reading copy.

3 stars. It was enjoyable. The visuals were very pretty. The poetry was very well written it touched on a lot of different topics that were very heartfelt.

I received an arc in exchange for an honest review

I didn't read soft thorns volume 1, but this is the kind of poetry that I love, the kind that breaks your heart a bit when you read it. Some of the poems hit close to home in the romance department.

The book focuses on dating, trauma, and having to leave people as well. It hurts when you read it, but it is so well written it also inspires you to stop and reflect, and just enjoy. My only complaint would be some of the spacing felt awkward, like was it the same poem over many pages spaced weirdly, or was it multiple poems?

Regardless, I highly recommend this book.

What a beautiful book of poetry. You will be taken on a journey of love, lust, abuse, heartbreak, and finding yourself again. These poems truly resonated with me. There were so many beautiful ones I felt I could relate to.⁣
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The illustrations are absolutely stunning as well. Some that I felt would even make gorgeous tattoos. ⁣
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Thank you @netgalley for an ARC for my honest review!⁣
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Poems unlike fiction books, works only on emotions. If you can relate to a poem or not, that’s what matters. In soft thorns, I was divided into loving and identifying with some poems or It bored me and felt banal.
I felt that the author has a lot to say but she keep holding herself or did not choose the right words to describe her feeling. But overall, it was a good book of poems.

I very much enjoyed reading this book. The words in a lot of cases were completely relatable and the ones that weren’t had so much feeling behind them that you could understand how the thoughts and emotions came to be. For me the emotion expressed is what makes this book a great read.

I loved this. It was beautiful and every poem took me on a journey. You can clearly tell Bridget put every inch of her soul into this poetry book.
The illustrations are absolutely stunning and I love how the art complemented the poems without taking away from them.
The themes Bridget wrote about really hit home for me. I like how open and real the poems are, they hide nothing. They’re straightforward and so relatable. The way each poem was worded truly spoke to me.
I usually do not enjoy modern style poetry, but this one was a wonderful experience that I will come back to time and again in the future.

I liked better the Vol. I of this poetry series, even though there were a few poems that reached my soul.

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

I remember reading Bridgett Devoue's first collection of poetry as soon as it came out and loved it so much! after receiving this ARC of vol. 2 of soft thorns i went back to my copy of vol 1 to read through the poems I had highlighted, the poems that have impacted me as a poet myself. Bridgett's writing is soft yet impactful and filled with emotions, it has everything i love about poetry. although I have stepped away from poetry the past few years, I appreciated everything I've read in this ARC and will be on the lookout for everything the author writes in the future. Highly recommend for poetry lovers. be aware that some poems could be triggering for some of you as poetry is a way of dealing with trauma for many.

It feels weird resting poetry because whoever wrote it bared part of themselves to do it and it’s imbedded with their experiences, so how do you rate someone’s experience?
All i have to say is that i felt like there wasn’t anything new in this collection all the poems felt like things i’ve already heard before, i found myself only liking one poem every twenty poems.
the illustrations were very nice and helped tie the poems together

SOFT THORNS VOL.II is thoughtful, relatable, and filled with beautiful illustrations. I enjoyed the theme of relationships, of love and loss, and trauma. And in terms of writing style, it's consistent, sparse, and confessional. Some of my favorite poems from this collection were in the WHERE YOU LEFT ME section.


I think overall, it offers insight into one's own experience with those subjects, but I also think that is part of the struggle here: it's so personal, at times, it's difficult to connect to or understand where the poet is coming from. Most of the poems fell flat with me; even though I mentally knew I could relate, I was unable to connect with it emotionally, if that makes sense. Some of the poems were random lines. Others were pretty passages, but I personally felt most weren't...well...powerful? They just didn't hit me with the impact I expected.

End of day, SOFT THORNS VOL.II will resonate with readers who like simple, blunt confessional poetry that is broad enough to let you interpret it however you want. It's not a collection I would reread time and again, but I do think others would find it enjoyable for the reasons listed.

CW- sexual assault, rape, toxic relationship
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I thought that this was a lovely poetry collection. I enjoyed the illustrations throughout, and overall it was a fast paced impactful read.
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Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Wow!! These poems are so beautiful. I highlighted so many favorite quotes. I'll probably re-read it many times. We can actually feel the author's emotions on these pages. At some point, I thought I was going to cry. Personally, I enjoyed this second volume best.

* I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

My rating: 3.5 stars

A while back I read the first Volume of Soft Thorns and even though I didn't end up liking it that much, I was still curious to check out the continuation.

Soft Thorns Vol. II explores the journey from dreaming about meeting a person and starting a relationship to facing the realization you have to leave that person because they've changed you into someone you don't like.
The poems deal with trauma, trust issues, the fear of letting go of something because of nostalgia and all the good memories that overcloud the reality and toxicity of the relationship.

I liked some of the poems, while others felt like a random sentence or two that were separated in parts for "aesthetic" reasons and I found myself feeling bad for the whole page/the paper that was wasted.
I definitely enjoyed this volume more than the first one. The illustrations were quite beautiful, I do wish they were more frequent.

I went through a break up a few months ago, and this expressed my feelings so accurately. I loved this so much. The illustrations were beautiful too.