Pretty interesting start and would honestly be open to and up to reading alot more from this author then we’ve gotten. This was very interesting and I’m excited to get into way more in the near future!

Thank you NetGalley and Helle Gade for letting me read this.
Raw, real and really amazing. It's been quite some time since I've read poems, and it's just as I remembered. Honest to the point of pain, hopeful to the point of happiness.

Urban Rose is a poetry collection by Helle Gade, and it deals with emotion, loss, heartache and mental health.
This poetry collection really resonated with me.
It was beautiful, so deep, emotional and impactful.
I love how real and raw it is, no sugarcoating, just pure raw emotion.
What makes the whole book even more believable and relatable is how atmospheric the poems are.
The whole story has this dark undertone to it. There is a shift that happens throughout the book. It is a journey through feeling optimistic to heartbreak and darkness to recovery and finally finding hope and joy of life.
I loved this one and definitely will check out other poetry collections by Helle Gade.

Thank you to Netgalley and Butterdragons Publishing for the ARC opportunity.

The things I loved about this poetry collection:
1. The portrayal and personifications of chronic illness and disability. Many of them resonated with me on a personal level, and I think that someone blessedly unfamiliar with these experiences would find it a helpful and eye-opening reading experience.
2. The cosmic and natural metaphors. In particular, I really enjoyed the employment of the stars and frost as emotional and physical sensations and/or manifestations.
3. The very visceral emotions the author has shared. Even in what I assume is a translation (the author is Danish), the emotions of anger and angst in particular really came through.

Things I didn't love:
1. The lack of punctuation. I can usually deal with this, but for some reason, the lack of punctuation really hindered the experience of the poems for me; I sometimes struggled to follow where one thought ended and another began.
2. The plethora of spelling mistakes. Unfortunately, these errors were numerous and definitely took me out of the emotional experience of the poems in which they appeared.
3. This could be a translation issue, but some of the word choices seemed very... dramatic? Almost theatrical, at times? I found when the author was talking about themself and their pain experiences, this wasn't an issue; it more so applied to the general works addressing society and nature and such.

Overall, I did enjoy this collection, but I'm not sure I would recommend unless someone was in need of disability rep; in that case, I think this collection is particularly strong, so I would.
3 out of 5 stars

I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This book is well written and the characters are described well. This is the first poetry book by this author that I have read and I enjoyed the writing style. It keeps your attention from the first page. I would recommend reading this book to anyone and everyone. This book will be in stores on May 24, for $14.99 (USD). I can't wait to read more books by this author.

This new poetry collection by Helle Gade is about loss, longing, loneliness, love, hope, sadness, and a lot more. It is beautifully written and deeply emotional, and I really enjoyed it. There were some poems that resonated with me so strongly that I could only stare at the page for a while, trying to process the meaning. I connected with it a lot, which is all I can ask for from a poetry collection.

It's definitely really raw and emotional, and if that is something you're looking for, definitely pick it up. Helle Gade's writing is beautiful and impactful, and a little different from most collections of poetry. So check it out when it comes out!

The more I read Helle Gade's poetry, the more I fall in love with her writing. This book is maybe the third or fourth book of hers I have read. It seems she knows how I am feeling on days that I read her books. They are so spot on my feelings for the day. Love, love her books and hopefully I get to read more of her collections very soon.

I received a free copy of the book and is voluntarily writing a review

*thank you netgalley for providing me this arc in exchange for an honest review :)
Urban Rose is a collection of short poems that depict the many experiences we go through life heartbreak, betrayal, finding happiness, desperation, aches and so much more.

I ended up enjoying Gade's collection. I was able to relate to some of them and I believe that most of us would be able to as well.

I believe that in Urban Rose, Helle Gade depicts the journey of "growing up" and overall the journey of life. Life comes with ups and downs but we must feel all that life has to offer for us because if we start to deny ourselves the ability to feel said emotions (the good and bad), we are denying ourselves to experience an authentic life. And life is an eventful journey. Life doesn't have to be sunshines and rainbows 24/7 for it to be a blessing. I believe that life is beautiful because of all of the experiences we as human beings get to experience.

My favorite individual poems from this book were:
Aches
Sometimes
Envy
Freak Show
Repeat
Ugly Feelings
The Path
Words of Wisdom
Want
Cold Pain
Betrayal

4/5 stars

I don't read poetry often. But when I do, it's because I want to see emotion unrestrained from a story. Helle's collection of poetry is a great example of that. Several of her poems felt like she was writing me. Others made me think of the stories of those who have crossed my path as and made me feel something. It was truly lovely.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and have reviewed it willingly.