⭐️2.5 stars⭐️

"Your feelings are not right or wrong; they just are. They exist. Acknowledge them. Invite them in for tea. .... You’re capable of facing them and coming out the other side."

Someone Somewhere Maybe, Sophie Diener's debut poetry collection, written as a way to keep her memories in her heart while helping others to feel less alone, reflected love and heartbreak but they also guided her journey towards healing and growth. Many of her poems felt like letters written to herself as well as to others who played a significant role in her life. I did find the poems to be somewhat basic, however, not digging too deep into my emotions to feel a real connection to them although I did discover a few favorites:

💙 Feelings
💙 Looking Up
💙 Expectations
💙 Save Me
💙 The Small Steps
💙 Be Kind To Yourself

I appreciated how Sophie worked her way through the spiral of her anxiety and the uncertainty that inevitably follows. I think that is what resonated with me the most in her poetry. That is where I felt seen and understood. The poems were a great reminder to acknowledge your feelings and to let yourself feel them without running or hiding. They encouraged accepting all the parts of yourself, both light and dark, without apology and with kindness and grace, with hope and trust in the future in the midst of the unknown.

"I saw my reflection in the glass door, and she said she loves me, and I said it back."

* Special thanks to St. Martin's Press / St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. Quotes subject to change at time of publication. Available September 26, 2023. *

Melodic and heartfelt coming-of-age poems that high schoolers and thirty-five-year-olds will both enjoy. Those feelings you have at eighteen? Overflowing with romantic exploration and expectations? They come bursting forth in Sophie Diener's "Someone Somewhere Maybe" ready to unearth and unbury any shakiness in your current consciousness--and ground you back into the safe haven of sense memories and splendor.

I love poetry that makes me feel things I didn’t realize I had hidden from myself. I saw myself and my mind reflected in these poems. I can’t wait to see what she writes next.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC. I was excited about getting the poetry collection. Unfortunately I don't believe I am the audience.

“Sunday dies and Monday breathes, and faith lives in the in-between.”

It’s been a while since I read a book of poetry. I tend to want to but put them off for other genres. Thankfully the mood struck me to read some poems and the next thing I knew, I had read through the whole book. These are poems of remembrance- mostly of old loves. Sophie Diener’s words spoke to me and I hope she continues to put her work out into tue world.

Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Read if you like:
Poetry
Reflections on life

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this early!

I admit I am not an expert when it comes to poetry. I'm all about vibes; how the poems make me feel, how they flow, how I relate. In this collection, there weren't many that really struck a chord with me, but the ones that did made me felt seen and understood. Many of the poems were, forgive me, really basic. When I say basic, I mean there was nothing really to them. They were poems with ideas I've read before, but nothing was said in a new way, in the author's own voice.

The three poems I enjoyed the most were Hidden All Over, Homebody, and Reflections.

Overall, I thought as a whole, this was okay.

"Someone Somewhere Maybe: Poems" by Sophie Diener is a delightful and heartfelt collection that resonates with the experiences of young women today. Diener's writing style is both poignant and beautiful, and it's evident why she has become a TikTok fan favorite.

This debut poetry collection takes readers on an emotional journey through various aspects of life, including first love, heartbreak, loss, identity, and self-worth. Diener's ability to explore these themes with honesty and warmth is truly commendable. Her poems provide a window into the complexities of the human condition, making the reader feel seen and understood.

What sets this collection apart is its relatability and affirming nature. Diener's words capture the essence of what it means to grow up, and her poems are likely to strike a chord with readers who have navigated similar experiences. It's a book that you can pick up on a rainy day, while sipping tea in bed, or even on a sunny beach day, and find solace in its pages.

"Someone Somewhere Maybe" offers not just hope but also healing and a sense of camaraderie. The assurance that you are not alone in your journey is a powerful message that Diener conveys effectively.

While this collection is undeniably moving and well-crafted, I reserve a four-star rating because, like many poetry collections, personal preferences may come into play. Some readers might connect with certain poems more deeply than others. Nonetheless, Sophie Diener's debut is a strong addition to contemporary poetry, and it's a must-read for anyone seeking poems that touch the heart and soul.

I LOVED this poetry collection. Direct and to the point, you won’t find a ton of metaphors and underlying meanings in this volume. Of course there are some, but this feels very “what you see is what you get” and I absolutely love that. It leaves room for interpretation and application from your own experiences, and still reads smoothly and beautifully; but I love that I don’t have to scratch my head at the end of each line and wonder what the heck I’m supposed to get out of it.

It explores first love and loss, navigating anxiety, and the process of self love. It felt so relatable to my own life experiences thus far. I couldn’t stop highlighting!

Some of my favorite pieces are below, in no particular order:
“It isn’t all golden and good and beautiful, but you’d be surprised by how much of it is.”
“I think a lot about what I might say to my younger self, but not what my older self might say to me.”
“May I never love who I could be (in theory) more than who I actually am.”
“Allow yourself to be loved as you are, both in the light and in the dark.”
“Rest in this: what you’re feeling is not permanent.”
“…abut anxiety is a liar whose very favorite pastime is to spin me into spirals.”
“…and I plant my feet so that I don’t get swept up in September breeze.”
“I also hope you don’t forget that life is not about to begin; it’s happening.”

Okay wow! This book was written absolutely beautifully! Although there were parts where I was lost and had to go re-read, I don’t fully blame that on the author, I think I may have been just distracted, BUT, this book gave me a lot to think about on my healing journey! Everything the author wrote is absolutely going to be helpful for me!
This will be one I read over and over!

Thank you bet galley and publisher for the chance to read this book!

Thank you Net Galley for giving me the ARC!

5 Stars!

I've been wanting to read more poetry this year and I am so glad I got to enjoy this one. I think the topics in this collection are so vital and so necessary, it almost breaks your heart when it is so easily relatable. I found myself highlighting and leaving little notes on almost every page with my kindle and I will be going back to those every so often. So beautiful.

This was a lovely debut! I already knew Sophie from tiktok but reading her poetry and seeing her words on the page was such a delight. She captures so many of the formative emotions and life experiences young people experience as they come of age so eloquently and with such gentle and heartfelt care and compassion. Looking forward to purchasing this for several classroom libraries and as gifts for grads!

The author has a big social media presence (mainly TikTok and Instagram, I believe), with videos of her reading her poetry, and that, presumably, has led to this book of her poems being published. Diener is still a young woman but her poems, she says in an introduction, were written “to remember how it felt to be 17 and 23 - heartbroken and in love and in between.”

I really enjoyed this peek into her mind over the years. It made me think back to my own late teens and 20s, and the insecurity we all probably felt at those ages. Her poems touch on romantic relationships, mental health, body image, and other subjects. They are easy to read. Some are very short and some are much longer, but they are all very readable and reveal deep emotions that I could relate to.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for the opportunity to read an advance readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

From the moment I first heard Sophie recite the poem "Be Kind to Yourself" on her TikTok, I knew I wanted to read her poetry collection if she ever published it. Fortunately for us all, she did and "Someone Somewhere Maybe" is a lovely collection of her work.

What I love about poetry is that it is subjective and there's no right or wrong way to do it. Sophie notes that her poems are inspired by song lyrics she has written and that shows in the many poems that have a more lyrical feel to them. Personally, I love more lyrical poetry and the musical tones in invokes when spoken aloud. I may be in the minority, but I love a good rhyme scheme and there is a little of that in this collection.

The poetry ranges from first love and heartbreak to mental health and self-image. On one hand, I loved the mental health and self-image poems as they ring true no matter your age. On the other, I did find the collection to lean more juvenile regarding the first love and heartbreak-inspired entries as they take you back to being a teen. There is a general storyline to follow and I really liked that, but I did have hopes for a little more emotional maturity as the story progressed.

What I really liked about this collection are the variety of poems that can appeal to just about everyone. There are many thought provoking lines that hit your soul hard and I think this collection is best spoken aloud and I think an audiobook version done by Sophie herself would be the cherry on top as these poems have a more profound impact when she recites them. And that's coming from someone who never listens to audiobooks, but would definitely make the exception here. Overall a great collection that I really enjoyed and I look forward to reading and listening to more of her work!

I am a fan of Sophie Diener on tik tok and this collection does not disappoint! I loved everything about it, even if it was a true journey through all the emotions. Do not pass this up!
5 stars

Loved it on tiktok and I loved it even more in written form. Somehow made those words feel more permanent in my life.

I was not familiar with the author, and did not know what to expect. I found her poetry one-dimensional, lacking imagery, and just generally lack-luster. Nothing surprised me or made me think, and the lack of form was disappointing. Nothing about this book made me think Diener is a trained poet or writer in general. Being a TikTok star does not make for a great poet! If you're a poet or love poetry, this book is NOT for you.

Did not read as book was archived before I was able to download on NetGalley. Look forward to reading this book in another fashion in the future.

What a wonderful debut collection of poetry Sophie Diener has given us! This book (I'm sure more will follow) deals with the pain of first love lost, and her attempts as a young woman to find her own identity and feeling of self-worth. Diener's writing is both beautiful and poignant.

I am of an age where I'm not on Tik Tok, so I had no previous exposure to Ms. Diener's poems. I found them very insightful, honest, and highly relatable. I really enjoyed this collection and read it in two sittings. I look forward to reading more from this poet and highly recommend it to others.

My thanks to St. Martin's Griffin for letting me read a DRC of this collection of poems via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and are freely given. The book is scheduled for publication on 9/26/23.

Massive thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the advance e-copy. These are my honest thoughts.

"Someone Somewhere Maybe" is the poetry collection I needed when I experienced my first heartbreak. What I could not put into words, Diener did. And those words sometimes came off as song lyrics, which I was not too upset about. However, I do not believe I am the target audience of this collection and thus, had a rough time relating to the whole collection.

Diener's words are delicate and sensitive. Covering topics ranging from mental health, love, loneliness, heartbreak, and body image, each poem attempts to offer a sort of moral lesson, but it does not always meet that goal. Nevertheless, at times, it did feel like I was reading a self-help book for teenagers.

The first half of the collection definitely seemed more cohesive and put together, while the last few poems felt like they were just thrown in as a secondary thought. Diener's poems lacked the imagery and flow that I enjoy in most poetry collections, however, this unique straightforward style of hers can also be admired.

I am interested in future works of Diener and am intrigued to see her grow as a poet.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for granting me access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

WOW! What a beautifully written debut collection of poetry by Sophie Dinner! The fact that this author was being compared to Amanda Lovelace and Rupi Kaur made reading this a no brainer for me. I am delighted to say that it exceeded my expectations! The author uses her own experiences of first love, heartbreak, loss, loneliness, mental health and body image to create these exquisite poems. This lyrical collection is so raw and real that it evokes emotions that everyone can relate to on some level. I will definitely be buying the hard copy to add to my collection of poetry! 🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵