On its head, the book contains mirrors of the harder aspects of the pandemic and the growth experienced from it. The feelings of challenges and anxiety are at times poignant, however, the "growth" narrative screams toxic positivity. Poetry written for the sake of it and overall incredibly unrelatable.

Great collection of poems and illustrations. Brings out the feelings of wanting to change and grow
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC. All opinions expressed are my own

This is a beautiful collection of poetry. This is one I'll return to again and again. Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the advanced copy of the book.

Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read and review this book!

While the poetry wasn’t exactly too my taste, I actually really liked the illustrations in the book and how the author seemed to have really thought about those. Simple, but sweet.

The Shift
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you Netgalley & publisher for the ARC!

“I did it to myself, like I always do.”

So many good poems that hit right to the heart. Powerful yet simple in the best way. The art piece with each poem made some of the tougher topics feel light. I adored almost every piece in this book, each one was unique and sweet with words and incredibly relatable.

The title is perfection too, you can feel the self love and growth - the shift - in each poem towards that goal. Beautiful.

“ I pulled back the earth and
Gently laid down my guilt, fear, and trauma
I watered them with my acceptance and
Watched as they transformed
Once seeds of self doubt
Now a field of self love. “


This is a great collection of modern poetry that touches on themes of fear, pain, love, motherhood, womanhood, the human experience, identity and growth. The further I read, the more I enjoyed this book, as we can follow along with the authors journey in a raw and relatable way!

A gorgeous quick read with great illustrations. If you are a fan of Rupi Kaur style poetry and layout then 100% give this a read!!

The Shift is all about the compare and contrast of the life before the pandemic, before the struggle, and before the world felt like it ended - to the now, the clarity of time, and the steady walk forward.

I'm a huge fan of collections like this, with a concept that has poems tied together and discussing a larger subject, but something about these fell flat to me. I found it a little hard to connect to a lot of them and they seemed vague. I did, however, enjoy that every single poem set had illustrations that go together. I think it made each pairing like their own little art pieces.

Overall, I do think this is a good set of poems, there are definite gems hidden through, and I found myself reading to get to the longer poems because I knew I liked those a little more than the shorter, snappier ones. I just don't think these were for me this time, but I'm happy to pick up more of Godfred's writing to try again.

Thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel for providing me with a copy for an honest review.

The cover is very appealing to me. Although I did not know the author yet, the book immediately aroused my interest because of its look.
Already after the introduction I was convinced that this book was going to be good.
The poems themselves have sometimes more and sometimes less met my taste, but that's how it usually is with poetry collections and I do not expect that I feel a kind of " connection "/myself reflected in every single one of them again. In addition, the structure has appealed to me very much. Also, the illustrations were really fitting and underlined the statements of the poems again perfectly.
Somehow reading this book felt like a hug from an old friend. You just feel much better afterwards and are reminded that you are loved.

Thanks to NetGalley for the e-ARC!

This book of poems was a great read! The author shares vulnerability in thoughts as she grows and steps into her awakening. It was a very short and fast read. I am interested in reading more from this author. I definitely recommend if you too are on a path of awakening. It is very relatable.

The collection is all about changing mindsets and perspectives and I think it managed to show that. When reading poetry collections there will always be poems that resonate more than others and it happened to me with this one too. There are also beautiful illustrations that really complement and encapsulate the essence of the poems. It feels like you could use these poems as daily reminders and just have them there, which is nice.

I thought this was a decent poetry collection about changes and shifting your perspective. My favorite thing about this collection was the introduction discussing how monarch butterflies were having a 'comeback' in terms of their ranking as endangered species. I really liked that there were a couple of poems that connected with that. I wish there were more poems that had that connection with the butterflies because it would connect with the intro and the cover, but not the case.

As a reader, one of my favorite experiences in any book is shifting perspectives – whether that means characters who grow or a story that will change your way of thinking. This book of poetry reflects the changing of the author’s mindset as each poem features first the “old” thought and then the “new” thought.

I love reading a poetry book that flows so smoothly in a first read but begs you to come back and reflect longer on each page. The author has done an amazing job of creating this effect with beautiful transitions and artwork.

This is my first book by the author, but I’m excited now to collect her poetry books for future reflection – we all need a reminder from time-to-time on appreciating each day instead of rushing to the next task, next project, next day.

Thank you to Andrew McNeel Publishing for providing me with an e-ARC of this book via NetGalley.