Vulnerable AF by Tarriona "Tank" Ball is a beautiful collection about relationships and heartbreak. Her poems/stories are relatable I enjoyed her reflections on the contradictions in relationships. Ball narrates the audiobook phenomenally. She has such a beautiful, expressive voice that really brought her words to life.

Thank you Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing this audiobook and ebook ARC.

In Vulnerable AF, Tarriona Bell discussed her experience with relationships and love. I would recommend this one for young women dealing with a recent break up.

This collection of poems grabbed my attention from the punchy title. The blurb really intrigued me due to the slam potery element but I think because of this the format would have been better spoken or listened to as an audio book rather than written down. I think I would have enjoyed it more hearing the poet speak it.

Overall the poems were lovely, some really resonated but a lot were about the same person and I found myself not as invested. The poem about fishing and also her sisters were my favourite.

I'll keep an eye out on this author for sure.

Thank you for the arc.

The title says everything about this collection of poetry. Tarriona "Tank" Ball spared nothing and bared her soul while writing these cohesive verses, and the reader is welcomed in to this post-breakup world. Her betrayal and pain and blame are palpable and I just want to offer her something to punch and a hug to let her know she is worth so much more than the way she has been treated. My only criticism would be that the poems can feel a bit repetitive if read in one sitting since they are truly a cohesive collection. Be on the lookout for this debut coming in early June! Thank you Andrews McMeel Publishing and NetGalley for this free advance readers copy in exchange for an honest review. 4.5/5 stars

The debut poetry collection from Grammy-nominated recording artist and slam poet Tarriona "Tank" Ball about infatuation, love, and heartbreak.

How to review such a personal poetry collection when one does not fall in love with it? This is what I wonder as I keep starting and deleting yet another review. This book wasn't terrible and I can imagine some might enjoy it but sadly it wasn't me. I couldn't connect to most of the poems (key word connect NOT relate) nor did I enjoy my time reading this book. I get I am very picky about poetry but this did not fill my well. THAT BEING SAID do not stray from reading this work it you have enjoyed the author's work previously. Reading poetry is such a personal experience that what works for me might not work for you. My recommendation is to try it out for yourself.

A BIG thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read this arc.

Well the title of this one pretty much covers everything. Vulnerable AF. The author details how vulnerable you become as you get to know someone and as they learn more about you. She talks about her experience with love and heartbreak. This is raw, honest, relatable, a little sad and best of all - beautiful.

A special thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for this advanced reader copy. The book is to be published June 8, 2021.

I really enjoyed this collection of poems written by slam poet, Tarriona Ball. Mostly centered around the end of a relationship, this poetry is smart, relatable, and, well, vulnerable. The poetry, and short prose pieces felt so much like my own experiences in relationships in my 20s. The illustrations were strange and beautiful, and gave a good visual representation to support the themes of the poetry. This was enjoyable to read, but would be fantastic on audio. I recommend Vulnerable AF to anyone who’s been a relationship with someone who turned out to be no good.

Vulnerable AF is a debut poetry collection focused on love, heartbreak, and self-confidence. Ball is a slam poet and recording artist, and that really shines through in the cadence of most of the poems in this collection. I really appreciated that, because Ball’s being a slam poet is the reason I picked this book up in the first place!

I found the poems in this collection to be incredibly relatable despite containing specific references to Ball’s own life and experiences. Each piece was about her own experiences with love and infatuation and heartbreak, but the way she wrote about these experiences reminded me (and I’m sure other readers) of myself and my own experiences with dating and wanting so badly to be in love that you convince yourself you are. There’s a line in the first poem in the book: “My Infatuation led me to believe that I was in actual love with someone I barely knew”. I’ve re-read that line a few times since I picked up (and finished, in one sitting) this book yesterday.

I absolutely loved this collection, maybe even more than I was expecting to, and I definitely recommend checking it out - especially if you’re in your 20s, single, and struggling to define what it is that you want out of a relationship and love.

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the advance review copy of Vulnerable AF!

Vulnerable AF is... vulnerable AF. Tarriona Ball opens up to readers in her debut poetry collection on subjects so many of us can relate to, specifically the heartbreak of loving someone who is emotionally unavailable. Some of her poems reached out and grabbed me, twisting my heart as I pictured my own previous relationship. Ball is vulnerable and real, and her poetry beautifully reflects her experiences. It is apparent that her talent will keep growing, and I can't wait to see her future collections.

Mostly the whole volume is dedicated to her feelings about her first real love relationship with a guy who turned out to be kind of an asshole. A few poems on him would have been cool but I was hoping for more self-reflection or things about her. I really didn’t love that her first collection of poems was all about a guy. A little disappointing frankly.

I just don't think reading about people's failed relationship in poetry form (or reading poetry at all for that matter) is for me.

This will be very readable to those who like modern poetry, slam poetry. I found it very easy to relate to and enjoyed hearing the poet's experiences through her words.

Vulnerable AF by Tarriona Ball is a collection of poetry that is emotional and heartbreaking. The poems in the book reflect the course of a failed relationship and expose the vulnerable feelings of confusion, infatuation, sadness, anger, and resentment. I thought that there were a lot of great poems in this collection, and they were interspersed with short stories to provide a contextual background for the poems. I found that I really appreciated the "Tank's Story Time" sections and the illustrations that accompanied the poems. As the author is a slam poet, I think that this collection would be more powerful as a spoken word audiobook to help capture the intended rhythm of the poems. I think this collection would resonate with anyone who has experienced a painful relationship trajectory or who is in the middle of a breakup.

I received an advanced copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley which did not affect the contents of my voluntary review. All opinions are honest and my own.

This is a sad book of poetry and short stories surrounding heartbreak and loss. It was written in such a raw and clever way. The short stories gave a bit of a background for the poetry to come.

Adam was my personal favorite and I felt most relatable, as well as the Libra poem, which hit close to him for a personal libra ex.

None of these truly made me emotional, like other poets have in the past, but it was a great set of poems.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Thank you @netgalley and @andrewsmckeelpublishing for an ARC for my honest review.

I was drawn to this by the cover, and while I did love all the illustrations inside, the writing didn't do much for me. I can appreciate the emotion and vulnerability on display, but this feels like something written solely for the poet's sake, not meant for outside readers. The pieces felt more like pages of a diary trying to work things out instead of something that was meant to have an impact on an outside reader - in a lot of the poems there is no effort to present the ideas in an original and interesting way, it's just phrases put on new lines so that it looks like poetry even though it doesn't feel like it. I liked the Tank's Story Times better than the poetry, but they were few.

All that said, I understand that the author is a slam poet, and I think the poems would be way more impactful if heard in her own voice. I can see how in a performance she would create structure in her delivery and add interest to the pieces, but in written form they just don't work so well, at least for me, so maybe the audiobook would be better.

That's not to say I disliked all the poems - my favourites were "Survival guide" and "The cycle".

I wanted to relate to the poetry so bad, but I couldn’t. I felt like the metaphors just weren’t relatable.

just finished this poetry collection and it was such a sad book about being used, heartbroken and hopelessly in love, but yet... healing 🥺 i enjoyed it!
definitely would recommend to people who can relate to being used in past relationships.

Vulnerable AF is
Relatable AF
Real AF
Honest AF
and yes Vulnerable AF!
I felt like this collection was written for my past self. I really enjoyed the unpretentious and openly sincere approach in this. This collection doesn't feel like its trying to be better than you, rather its FOR you. I can not recommend this book enough!

I'll just leave yall with one of my favorite lines from this collection.
"Now forgive yourself for pretending to be a Band-Aid and heal yourself"

Vulnerable AF is a poetry collection from Tarriona “Tank” Ball, Grammy-nominated recording artist and slam poet. I don’t read poetry that often, but I loved this collection. It was raw, honest, and truly showed what it feels like to struggle with the difference between infatuation and love in a complicated relationship. I loved having the mix of “Tanks Story Time” and poetry throughout the book. Some of my favorites from this collection were “Playing Hard to Get”, “Libra Thinking”, “The Cycle”, “Tiny Desk”, and most of all, “Glare”. I don’t know much about poetry, but I do know that this collection made me feel, and I want others to be able to feel strongly when they read it, too. After reading this, I am inspired to get more into slam poetry and read many more poetry collections.