F.S. Yousaf always delivers on beautiful prose and thoughtful reflections on love, particularly in their heartfelt poems about their love for their wife. This is a lovely and enjoyable collection overall, but probably not one that I'll revisit often. Great for fans of Ocean Vuong's style!

Poetry isn't something I gravitate towards.
F.S. Yousaf's poems absolutely got me. I felt understood, I could relate to what was said - it was great. I absolutely recommend their poetry, especially if you enjoy Ocean Vuong.

My library doesn't buy many poetry books but if someone asks for recommendations I would recommend this . I may also use some of the poems for poetry events for teens at the library. I have seen this authors collections at target and a lot of my teens shop their and I think they'd lik this one.
Thank you for the opportunity to review.

Se lee bastante rápido. Pude conectar bastante con los poemas y los temas que tocaba, solo que los dibujos me distraían un toque.

beautifully written but nothing to stay with me, however i did. enjoy reading it and it was good and entertaining

Very beautifully written and let me just say how beautiful this cover is for a moment. Maybe the cover was my favorite part because of how it matched with the book’s theme.

Serenity was such a lovely collection of poetry! I felt so moved by F.S. Yousaf’s work. Perfect for someone who wants to get more into poetry or who is looking to expand their collection!

A collection of poetry that has been divided into three sections: acceptance, hope, and tranquility. I did like the division into the sections and the poetry collection overall. It was beautiful, though not my favorite. I couldn’t connect with most of the poems. The chosen topics have been explored by numerous writers and poets and as such, this collection doesn't tread a new path but rather walks one that has been worn, rewritten, and reanalyzed with time.
I am not entirely sure what ist lacked, but to me the collection lacked something. Therefore this wasn’t an overly exiting read for me personally.

This was a heartfelt, beautiful collection that tugged at the heartstrings. I thoroughly enjoyed the way this poet weaved their words together. They struck a nerve with me in both positive and negative ways making me feel things I neglected to face.

This book was sent to me as an ARC on NetGalley. However, all opinions are of my own.
Unfortunately, this book was archived before I was able to read it and review it.

Very sweet book of poetry. Reading through you can feel the love and passion the author has for his subject. Really quite lovely.

4 stars. I greatly enjoyed this poetry collection. The first section, Acceptance, was quite beautiful and heart hitting. The rest didn't quite me in the poetry feels and while I enjoyed them, they weren't strong as the opening of this collection. Review to come.

This collection of poems made me feel things. That’s what I think poetry should be. It elicits feelings from the reader. These poems did that so when I’d read a line I’d think, wow, that applies to my life. The poems were aptly titled and the way the poems embodied their titles reminded me of when a teacher would say to define a word without using the word in the definition. It all just made sense as the poem progressed. Definitely worth the read and it is so beautiful.

This is a new poet for me. I enjoyed some of the poems in this collection but wasn't overly impressed with any of the poems on offer. The poems dealt with themes such as love that I've come across over and over and had nothing new or dazzling to offer. The poems were written in quite simple language. This is not necessarily a bad thing but there was no real depth to the poems.

Thank you to F.S. Yousaf, Andrews McMeel Publishing, and NetGalley for this advanced reader copy of 'Serenity' for an honest review.

"Live,
so you can tell
your story of survival
to those who need it most."

Originally introduced to the work of Yousaf through 'Sincerely,' I could not resist getting his next book of poetry, too. This one, like the first, blew me away with its emotionally sharp simplicity. Most of these poems fall between five and fifteen lines, and yet I saw often saw myself, and the journey's of my life in those few words. The struggle between courage and fear, between serenity and settling.

Serenity
by F.S. Yousaf

** This poetry collection was given to me for free by NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing in exchange for an honest review. **

A collection of poetry that has been divided into three sections: acceptance, hope, and tranquility. Yousaf writes about love, self-acceptance, mental health, moving on from the past, hope, and so much more.

Thoughts:
This collection provides a beautiful door into one person's lived experience. With art that adds to the experience and lyrical writing, I found myself bookmarking several of the poems within this collection as I could relate to many of the topics he wrote about. I will say that this collection doesn't offer anything out of the ordinary. These are topics that have been explored by numerous writers and poets and as such, this collection doesn't tread a new path but rather walks one that has been worn, rewritten, and reanalyzed with time. Although I did struggle to keep picking it up, I did ultimately enjoy the collection and would recommend it to those who want to get into poetry but find that it is hard to understand. I could also see myself going back to this collection to share romantic poems with my significant other because some of them have a very "hallmark-like" quality to them.

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Was not able to read in time before it was archived. I think I was only given a week. would love to read eventually, though.

I'm reading a lot of other poetry in different languages right now, from the classics to modern masters. Amidst all these, I'm afraid this collection does not stand out at all. Each poem seems overly simplistic, even by Instagram poetry standards. And I didn't receive the impression of an overarching theme or frame narrative from the collection. I guess I like my poetry more complex.

This is not for me, I'm afraid.

He took it very seriously to dedicate these verses to his wife. You can see the enthusiasm for his poetry (though he tried being influenced by Rupi Kaur). At least I appreciate that his thoughts were not too cheesy 🤔

A very easy 5 stars.

Part 1 acceptance, I absolutely loved all but 1 of the poems, the one poem I didn't love I disliked, but not strongly and this was due to the sentiment behind it not the writing itself. The poems I loved, there were so many, reading them I smiled, I recalled memories, and I felt like I travelled to so many of my own memories whilst reading the words of someone else's.

Part 2 hope, the opening to this was perfect and from then on it only got better. This part didn't speak to me as much on a personal level but it was soft and quiet and written beautifully.

Part 3 tranquility the title of this section describes every poem I don't need to add more. What was interesting about this section was that the proms touched upon many different things whilst still having that tranquil energy to them. Some of them even hurt but we're still tranquil and to read like that was truly amazing.

Thanks to @netgalley , the publishers @andrewsmcmeel and the author @fs.yousaf for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.