Sorry I Haven't Texted You Back

This was an incredible piece of art! Alicia Cook took a book of poetry and made it so much more.

I read this book because the title described my life. I could completely relate to some of the anxious and depressive tendencies of the author.

The collection of poems is divided into two parts: Side A and Side B.

Side A was standard poems about life and love, anxiety and coping, and depression. Each poem was finished with a music track that was being listened to. I loved how relatable the poems became knowing the songs and contributing more feeling to the poems.

Side B, however, was completely different. It was remixes that changed the poems and gave a whole new meaning to them. I loved it!

First of all, the title of this book drew me in because it is me in a nutshell. I’m always apologizing to everyone for not texting back in a "timely manner" so I was really excited to read this.

This is divided into Side A which are the regular poems and Side B which are blacked out poems, showcasing specific words or phrases from the poems on the first side.

From the first one I was like uhhhhh I don’t know if this is for me, but I kept reading because I don’t tend to read much poetry so I thought it was just me not being used to it. I liked the "Currently listening to" bits at the bottom of each poem, it gave a little bit more of interaction to the reader. I felt like she was listening to everything that was going on in my head, things I was never able to put into words or never cared to were written here. The mental health representation made me feel heard and seen and like I'm not alone and there are other people going through similar battles as mine.

Howeveeeer, it felt very repetitive at times and like it was just dragging on for too long. Like I said I identified with a lot in this book but I felt like I was reading the same thing over and over again and the Side A was way too long in my opinion, because of how repetitive it became. Side B went by a lot faster as the author emphasized a couple of word on each page.

Overall I really enjoyed this collection and I'm glad I pushed through my initial hesitation. If you want to catch a glimpse of some of the things that go through the mind of someone with anxiety or depression or if you want to put into words some feelings you’ve never been able to, I encourage you to pick this book up, it might help someone out there feel heard. 💖

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This poetry collection hit me in the feels! I loved Alicia Cook's rawness and simplicity in describing her emotions.

I found the mixtape concept really original and fascinating and I especially liked the "remixes", where the author reconstructed the poems to create something else completely!

I could totally related to the poems about anxiety and depression and it felt so good to be seen. I also loved that the author included the songs that inspired her poems.

I really enjoyed this collection and I believe that anyone, poetry lover or not, can find inspiration and solace in Alicia's words.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an early copy.

I looooved this poetry collection, it is one of my all-time favorite ones now. There wasn't a poem in here that I didn't enjoy. But I especially loved those about depression and anxiety, whose hit deep. The songs listed at the end of each poem added another layer of enjoyment to my reading experience and i added some of the songs to my playlist. The list of trigger warnings at the beginning of the book was a thoughtful touch and more books should do that.
Huge thank you to Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I'm not sure I'm capable of writing a coherant review to this poetry collection because oh gosh, this really hit me. I finished it all in one sitting, but I'll definitely be ordering a copy and I know it's one I'll be reading many times. I found myself bookmarking almost every poem in part 1 ("Side A: The Poems"). I really didn't think it could get better until I got to part 2 ("Side B: The remixes"), which is a collection of strikeout poetry made up of the poems from the first part. The poems are so personal and hard-hitting; I found myself deeply relating to a lot of them and I absolutely loved the author's style. Having songs linked to each poem was a really nice touch too. I can't recommend this book enough - please get your hands on it when it come out in October/November 2020 (in the US/UK, respectively, I believe)!

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.