Home.Girl.Hood is a selection of poetry about race, class, sexuality and womanhood. It is unapologetic and loud. Throughout each individual poem you can feel the authors heart being poured into it, and as a reader that made each poem more beautiful. I won't pretend to understand the experience of being a Black, queer woman growing up in the hood and I appreciate that these poems were not written for me. Nevertheless, I loved them. I felt the power and defiance in each line . I truly loved the influence that the author wields over words and how they snaked and weaved in different ways. I also loved how some of poems weren't particularly 'poetic'. Instead the language was harsh and some may even say shocking. I loved this also because it was raw and honest and real and I think that's a huge part of what poetry is. My favourite poem was 'Lilith' which was about the struggles and beauty of being a Black woman.
'who uses the word "no" like men do and means it
who opens her legs wide and takes up just as much space'
These collections of poems are truly brilliant.

This was a beautiful collection. Raw, honest, and holding nothing back. As a woman, there were a lot of poems I could relate to, and I appreciated all the others that I couldn't.

Thank you to Netgalley and Button poetry for this arc.
I think that Ebony Stewart is very talented and this book will work for a lot of people, her subjects are important and she speaks no nonsense which is fantastic. For me I struggled to read her poems which I think may have to do with me being dyslexic, but I still found what she was saying to be really impactful and bold.

This was an interesting read. I enjoyed the point behind it, but wasnt too fond of wording at times. Overall, as Black woman I felt the poems. They hit and the freedom in Ebony's writing was felt. I wouldn't recommend it to YA age readers personally. Would love to read more from her.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and Ebony Stewart. I normally do not read a great deal of spoken word poetry other than Elizabeth Acevado type book and this was right on. I liked it a lot. The poetry just flowed and it was easy to relate to. I realized Ebony had a Youtube page and it was. a treat to watch some of her videos.

<i>Womxn who art comfortable
and
okay with
not being
consumed.</i>

<i>Home.Girl.Hood</i> is a celebration of black womanhood. Ebony Stewart has a strong voice and writes like she would speak in real life, so it's easy to pick up her cadence. I'm just more drawn to lyrical poetry. There are only a few poems that stick with me.

<b>Favorite poems: <i>I Am, Compassion Fatigue </b></i>

<i>Thank you Netgalley for the arc.</i>

white men never intend to use just their hands.
shit thats so true.
Habla sobre el abuso y como fue creciendo como persona. Tengo cierta debilidad por los poemarios que tratan sobre este tema, por eso le pongo 3.5 estrellas.

Home.Girl.Hood. is a collection of poems that cover topics like sexual assault, racial tensions, love, gender, and being Black. Whew--- the poems are powerful and raw. The topics are heavy, but written in a way that's understandable. I feel like the poems are pathways to conversations that need to be had. The included teaching guide is a good resource to use in a curriculum.

I'm very familiar with Spoken Word & Performance poetry (being a performer myself) but it's quite something else to see the words of a performer down on a page.

Home.Girl.Hood. has a decided tone about it. It draws from the most visible areas of black woman pain makes some references to Biblical characters like Eve & Lilith and then contemporises it with words like womxn. This is not to say that the poems aren't good. The poet seems to take stage punctuation (intonation, gestures) and translate that into page punctuation (spacing, indentation). There's an occasional line sketch, characteristic of many young print poets of the Instagram generation.

My favorite was 'Eve'. I didn't much care for pieces like 'How To Write A Poem About Sexual Assault' or 'An Ode To My Pussy' as they felt like they'd just work best on stage. But more of the pieces are of the format of these two. Then it feels like more conventional page poems like 'Eve' or 'Lilith' skewed the balance of format as well as brought in a strange tone that didn't mix well with the rest.

Overall, I like the ideas brought forth and I'll be keeping a watch for Ebony Stewart's work. I just think I might prefer to watch her videos than read her books.

This book was a MOOD!!! This is definitely one for coffee table/home collection. "Happy Father's Day" took me out - you can feel the pain, power, love and anger in these lines. This will be one I come back to - definitely a top read for me this year.

“Saved and sanctified, but you can still get these hands.”

Originally published four years ago in February 2018, the rerelease of ‘Home.Girl.Hood’ is my first time reading Ebony Stewart’s work, and before I sunk my teeth into it, I checked her out on YouTube. I’m so glad I did.

“Sometimes when you think you drownin’, all you gotta do is stand up.”

A powerful, unapologetically black collection of 28 poems spanning in content from hair to racial tensions in America and colourism to sexual assault, Stewart’s ‘Home. Girl. Hood’. reads best when one can summon her voice from memory. So, before you read the book, or even this review, check out her spoken word first – ‘Mental Health Barz’ is a personal fave.

“There are plenty of men who do things because they’ve been hurt and don’t know what to do with their pain. One of them is my father.”

While there are many heavy-hitting lines and the collection, as a whole, is an incredibly important addition to poetry, and specifically black poetry, ‘Home. Girl. Hood’ isn’t going to be for everyone. It will go over many heads, the often-crude language will offend some and the unflinching takes on white people will upset others. But, as Stewart writes in the preface, “that’s okay”.

“More than anything, ‘Home.Girl.Hood’ is an offering to myself.”

Throughout the collection, Stewart plays with form, but her best work is when she writes prose; the words practically leaping off the page, begging to be read aloud. Does ‘Home.Girl.Hood’ work as well as an anthology as it would as a video series? Perhaps not. But there is power in these poems being written down, just the way they are. And they are well worth reading, and savouring.

“If it ain’t joy, we don’t want it. If it ain’t glee, we can’t keep it.”

Stand-outs are ‘Rooftop Rendezvous’, ‘Interlude’ and ‘Compassion Fatigue’.

ALSO, how GORGEOUS is this cover?!

5 stars. This poetry collection is strong. It's one of the best ones I have read in a while. It consistently hits on multiple topics such a racism, gender, feminism, intersectionality, and being Black. I have another one of Stewart's collections and I can't wait to check it out. Full review to come.

I have never cried and related so much to a book of poetry in a long time. Ebony Stewart encapsulated so much of what black womanhood is like in America and the intersection or race, class and gender and it’s affects on a entire generation of women. I keep re reading several poems over and over, trying to find a favorite but i can’t. It’s that good

I was first drawn to this book because the cover is absolutely beautiful. Home. Girl. Hood. was such a powerful collection of poetry. There were a lot of heavy topics that may make some people uncomfortable. Some of the poems that I found myself reading again are Happy Mother’s Day, Happy Father’s Day, I Love Mondays, Eve, and Lilith.

I also loved that there is a Home.Girl.Hood. curriculum available for classrooms, home schools, and workshops. There were some questions available at the end of the book along with key terms, literary terms, instructions, etc. that were very interesting.

While I don't normally pick up poetry collections, I saw this one and it really caught my eye. The cover is eye-catching, and the subject matter really drew me in. This collection of 28 poems focuses on the female, Black experience. Stewart has an incredible way with words, and her poetry is fantastic. After each poem, I thought I had chosen my favorite, only to read the next one and be blown away again. Her poems are powerful and poignant, and I would recommend this collection to anyone, especially those looking for feminist poetry.

hard hitting poetry: unapologetic, strong and brave. Fighting prejudice and discrimination and as a woman i could relate to a lot of this. As a white woman however this helped me notice my privilege and see things from another perspective. the language was harsh, which i applaud but some parts did make me uncomfortable (i get that that’s the point but it didn’t make it an enjoyable reading experience). i think trigger warnings could be a helpful addition!

I didn’t enjoy this as much as the author's other poetry book, but it was still an eye opening and raw collection. One of my favourite things about their poetry is the raw honesty, and how powerful and painful that is. The author has a talent that I hope they will continue to write about the things that matter to them the most.
Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for a chance to read and review this book.

Ebony Stewart's poetry in Home.Girl.Hood is both lovely and powerful. A lot of the poems were prosetry, but Lilith was one that wasn't. The poems ranged from sweet comfort to feelings and conversation and to let's hold this trauma together. Other than Lilith, What We Become, I got some black friends when it's convenient, and Compassion Fatigue have made a deep impression. I received an arc of the book from Netgalley, but would definitely recommend purchasing the collection.

This isn't my usual read, and it's my first dip into poetry.

I enjoyed this collection of poems and found Stewart's writing heartfelt and powerful.

My favourite poem was definitely "On The Way Back To Myself". This is one I will re-read regularly as I found it so relatable.

I started listening to Ebony Stewart’s spoken word poetry several years ago and she’s since been one of my favourites. When I got the chance to read this advanced epub copy I was excited and it didn’t disappoint! The best thing is how much it reads with a strong sense of Ebony’s voice, I could hear her saying each word she’d written. It also comes with a bunch of lovely prompts for students or readers in general to answer, analyze, and engage better with the work which is really nice. Check out some of her performances on Instagram and YouTube. Home.Girl.Hood is set to be released February 15th, 2022 and can be ordered at most retailers now 📚January 26th, 2022