a reflective, yet hopeful exploration of the author's trauma and grief told in rhythmic verse. while i love the gorgeous rhymes and figurative language throughout this collection, i could've done without the one/two-line "poems" that felt more like "instagram poetry" and filler for the collection as a whole. the wellness/self-help vibe of this story could've been communicated in many less, but larger pieces. with that said, i'm a big fan of the affirmations that this collection sends as well as Biddy's style as a poet overall, so I'd recommend this for anyone looking for a quick journey into the process that is healing.

I loved this so much! I really want to buy a physical copy so I can look back and read some of the poems that reached out to me in times that I will need it the most. It made me feel empowered and to help me understand the importance of not being a passenger in you own life

I read and review so much poetry that some of it begins to blend together. Not this book. I am amazed and moved by Reyna Biddy's ability to put so much raw emotion and honesty into such impactful, flowing words. While the poems can be heavy, they are also cathartic. After reading these poems I instantly went to order Reyna's other books. When an author is truly vulnerable with their work it resonates with an audience on such a personal level - even though not all readers have faced similar situations. The undertones of persistence and healing are felt on every page. One of my favorite reads of the year thus far.

Thank you NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the chance to read and review this ARC.

I would like to thank the author, Reyna Biddy, the publisher Andrews McMeel Publishing, NetGalley, everyone that made it possible for me to receive a copy of this book of poetry to review.

To start off with, from the description alone I knew these poems would hit me close. While reading these poems to review I ended up saving excerpts on slips of paper to find later.

This is a book of poetry for anyone in love, to anyone facing addiction. Whether it be addiction to substances or to a person. To the ups and downs of life. This is poetry for the modern human. Everyone could learn some lessens from these words. In these words you can find strength for those who need to be strong, strength to recognize toxicity that surrounds us. And ultimately telling us that its okay to let go. Soul mates are people that you will meet in the next life as well.

Reyna Biddy’s words are full of lessons we all could use. Lessons I identify with as a woman of color. I see myself in so many of these words and I appreciate it.

This poetry book is set to release on October 25, 2022.
Thank you so much Andrews McMeel Publishing and NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review and thoughts.

This was a little stagnant for me. There were some quotes that I really enjoyed, but I did feel as though I was connecting to many of the poems. The pain and suffering in a universal aspect are very large and easy to connect to, but nothing about this collection of poems really blew me away.

Overall, I think this book would be amazing for people who are just starting to get into poetry and feel as though they aren't ready for the deeper poetry books that hit a little too close to home.

I really enjoyed this collection of poetry by Reyna Biddy, which covered topics such as grief, death, rebirth, ancestors, and spirit. I recommend reading this book slowly as some of the poems are quite dark and heavy, but also to take the time to reflect on the poems. I also really liked how the poems had a mixture of different lengths with some being quite short and others being a few pages long. Personally, I think that helps break things up and I often find that the smaller poems leave a big punch. Although some of these poems didn’t really resonate with me, I will definitely try some of Reyna’s other work in the future.

It has to be a gripping description for me to pick up poetry. I am very picky when it comes to spoken word/verse. Usually I stick with the very few I know: Rumi, Rupi Kaur, Maya Angelou, Langston Hughes and Nikki Giovanni. However, a blurb from the author is what piqued my interest: "To describe this book, I wrote from the perspective of the black experience. My experience particularly. It's a book about grief, death, rebirth, ancestors, and spirit."

We Find Our Way is Reyna Biddy's latest and third collection of poetry. Themes include love, sacrifice, healing and hope. In just 162 pages, there is a variety of writing styles. Most poems are short yet thought-provoking while a couple are long and lyrical. I found myself pausing to reflect on certain lines. I see why Reyna Biddy is not only a poet but a self-love enthusiast.

Right away I noticed that We Find Our Way follows the trendy structure of all lowercase, no punctuation. Sometimes left margin, sometimes center spaced. Some poems made sense but didn't create the urge to dig deeper into thoughts before moving on to the next unrelated poem.

Collections are supposed to flow smoothly from one poem to the next. But the formatting made it seem disjointed with the poems losing interpretation along the way. Perhaps the poems could have resonated with my soul more if the transitions were smoother. I can best describe it as papers falling to the floor then picked up in no particular order and stapled together.

Again, I am picky when it comes to poetry so my opinion could be unpopular. The good thing about poetry is that it hits readers differently. We Find Our Way may be worth YOUR reading.

Happy Early Pub Day, Reyna Biddy! We Find Our Way will be available Tuesday, October 25.

Disclaimer: An advance copy was received directly from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions are my own and would be the same if I spent my hard-earned coins.

~LiteraryMarie

Thank you NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the chance to read and review this ARC.

Reyna Biddy's poetry book can first and foremost be described as honest. You can tell that all of these came from a place within her, and for that the collection is commendable.

However, that being said, some poems were definitely better than others; I absolutely stopped paying attention to some of them and started skimming them. Some of these, long and short, should have been removed as they did nothing but bring the quality of the book down. See you, forever more, join me, spring cleaning and some others were not good. I also didn't like the organisation, I didn't get a sense of any journey but jumps from one place to another which made it harder for me to sink into a feeling.

I will add that I did truly love some of them such as new age. circle back, be kind to your elders, and, tribe. For these alone I'll be keeping an eye on Reyna Biddy and reading whatever she publishes next.

This was a beautiful book; so many topics in here that I related to and the way they were written about were eye opening. I loved the style of the poems and how centered a lot of them were on being a woman.

4.5
I read “We Find Our Way” in a cold math classroom and though my fingers shook and my teeth chattered I kept scrolling and reading. I really liked this book. I’m not a huge poetry lover but “We Find Our Way” has changed my mind. My favorite poem was “before it’s too late”, however I loved so many more. I would recommend this book to women and poetry/spoken word lovers. I think the cover is also so beautiful.

The concept was a bit jarring for me. This book tried to tackle a lot of things all at once and I feel like some don't fit well when looked in the bigger picture. The emotions was there but the organization of each poems and the overall chemistry of the topics/subject matter was not it for me. I appreciate the inclusion of astrology and esoteric concept, though. I just wished it picked a lane on whichever way the collection goes.

A beautiful collection of poetry and essays that describe our authentic self. I found myself thinking about this pieces long after I read them. This book would be perfect for poetry lovers but I honestly anyone would love it.