I am not always the most avid poetry reader, but I read this book in literally one day. Each page holds beautiful words strung together like a length of pearls draped lovingly around a neck. Full of peace, hope, love, and a gentle...well, serenity. I can't wait to read all of the rest of F.S. Yousaf's books of poetry!!

I found this collection of poetry to be pretty standard there was some poems that I loved and felt a connection to but majority of them were pretty standard for me.However I do think that this collection of poetry was written beautifully.I will definitely check out more of this authors work.

I enjoyed this soft but powerful poetry collection about the author’s experiences in pain and resistance. The content is about relationships, and the author’s view of the world in the same vein as Rupi Kaur’s work. I’d definitely read more from this author!

4 deep, tranquil, and reflective stars~

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a digital copy for review ^^

This was a lovely and refreshing collection of poems, divided into different parts. This is a great read for those looking for a little more peace, acceptance, or tranquility during the trying times we are in.

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

Woah, I really liked this poetry book. The first book I've read of F .S. Yousaf and will probably be my favorite of his. Very cohesive and relatable. Recommended.

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

When I read the description of Serenity and saw that it was described as soft-spoken yet powerful, I was immediately intrigued. I was pleased to discover the accuracy of that description throughout the pages of this book. Each poem is clear, beautiful, and honest. Experiencing moments of overwhelm, confusion, and/or yearning can feel isolating, yet the poems find a way to address these themes and leave you feeling understood. Yousaf's new poetry book, Serenity, is sure to engage and offer new perspectives to each reader.

Thank you, NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for allowing me to preview this beautiful work in exchange for an honest review.

Honestly, while this was beautiful, this was definitely not my favorite poetry book. It truly felt like it lacked something, there were emotions running through the words, however I felt no emotion from the author. It felt like Yousaf was pouring their heart and emotions out onto the page, but I felt none of that while reading.

The author obviously went through love and loss, it just did not seem that genuine to me that they seemed particularly upset over that loss. Like me, they seemed pretty “meh” about it. That’s pretty much how I felt while reading it. It was very well written, and I’ve seen a lot of praise for it, I don’t know, it just wasn’t my cup of tea, perhaps.

While this collection was deep and touching, it was missing something for me. I was looking for something a little more emotional. Even so, I'd be really interesting in reading this author's other poetry!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Lovely and heartfelt. This collection of love poems is steeped with affection. It is clear how much the author loves and cares for their beloved in each stanza. Pretty collection with a few lines that really struck me as I navigate through and to the murky waters of love.

The poems in this book is so beautiful and relatable. I made so many highlights. So many poems I want to go back and read. I smiled and even teared up a little reading some of these. I love when such things make you feel so connected and heard. I felt so many things reading this and I believe that that tells you a lot about it because it’s short. Poems about love and gentleness is correct “All the good in this world take time.”
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a review copy of this beautiful book

Poetry is very personal, and subjective. I so wanted to love these poems, as the themes really spoke to me. Unfortunately, they just didn’t resonate with me.

Thank you to Andrews McMeel Publishing and Netgalley for an eARC of this book to read and review

I really really liked this book! It felt very raw and open. This is my first time reading anything by F.S. Yousaf but I will definitely be looking into more of their books! I highly recommend!

I think I'm going to buy this work of poetry and give it to every potential partner in my life. It was like this was seeing straight into my soul and what I want and need from a partner. And it is also what I want from my live overall. This was the first work of poetry that I have read from this author and now I plan on going out and finding more since I fell in love with this work after the first few lines.

Thank you for allowing me to read this book!

I have read quite a few poetry books already, but I am not sure how I felt about this one.

First off, the cover. It is gorgeous! If i’d see this in stores, I’d definitely buy it for its cover. Perhaps I will anyway.

Until the chapter Hope and Tranquility, I read and read, but couldn’t really feel it so much.. Then, finally there were some poems I could really feel and relate to with my favourite being on page 124. I can’t really explain why though. I’ve read works of Rupi Kaur and similar artists and loved those. perhaps I missed some rawness in it. Nevertheless, this is still a beautiful collection of poems and loved how the illustrations were scattered here and there. I feel this collection didn’t need illustrations for all the poems, this was a perfect balance.

This is why I give this book a solid standing 3 stars.

And do note: writing, but also reading poetry is a very personal thing to do.

There is relatability in poetry. The great thing about it is the freedom of expression, its fluidity, and configuration to each person who chooses it as a form of expression,

This collection is clearly from the heart, relating the writer's experience of love and loss. This is something many, if not most people, can relate to. I will commend the book in its display of affection and its subsequent ability to impact audiences who would enjoy this.

Personally, however, it was not my cup of tea. There was nothing memorable to see, with many of the poems being similar. There were a few standouts in this collection but not enough for me to thoroughly enjoy this read.

Many of the poems have the same essence as Rupi Kaur or Amanda Lovelace; poetry that is just sentences broken by spacing.

Poetry never has to be unique nor inventive, but enjoyed and related to, however with a lack of diversity in the poetry to keep it interesting I was just often bored. The layout of the collections did not lend itself to the writing which led to me being disappointed.

Serenity is the perfect title for this collection of poems. Each poem was beautiful alone but put together they created a sense of nostalgia and hope. In fact "Hope" was my favorite section of the book where it seemed like each poem spoke directly to my heart. Yousaf is a gifted writer and I look forward to reading more of his work.

Five stars for well written, cohesive collection of moving poems.

Serenity by F.S. Yousaf is a gift you need to give yourself. It's filled with so much love and hope, and I'm telling you, it melted my heart!

Lately, I was feeling a bit down, but I made the right decision of finally opening this book in my phone. If I loved Yousaf's Sincerely because of it vibes, Serenity to me was more personal because it helped give back my love for my self, the energy to go on.

I did use to say that in life, my final goal is peace. Serenity is a poetry I know I'll go back to at different points of my life to guide me back to that peace.

This is to say, that F.S. Yousaf now joins my auto-read authors. Honestly, I'm really looking forward to reading more from him in the future, and I'll make sure to support him and his works.

I recieved my reading copy from the publisher through Netgalley, but rest assured my opinions are my own and not influenced by it. Serenity by F.S. Yousaf comes out this March 1, 2022 by Andrews McMeel Publishing, so watch out!

Serenity by F.S. Yousaf is a book full of raw emotional poems. This book is moving, full of heart & will captivate the reader.

Wow, just wow.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an Arc to this poetry collection!

It was really good I must say. Some of the poems hit way to close to home and many made me cry a little bit. With others I couldn't really connect since I haven't live through anything like that or neither been in love, but F.S. Yousaf has an impactful writing style so almost all of them made me feel something. The prose and stanzas we're also great and I enjoy how the author doesn't use complex words but still manages to make it unique and beautiful to read. I didn't give this a full 5 star because I thought that some poems felt a little bit repetitive in my opinion.

Overall this is a great poetry collection and beware that you may need some tissues while reading it.

3.5 ⭐️

This is such a beautiful book!

I had really hoped to connect more with the poems, however there were some that resonated with me and made me feel all the emotions. I just think for me personally I didn’t vibe with the authors writing and how he structured this book. I can see a lot of other people enjoying this book, and I would definitely recommend picking it up.