I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the author, Shelia Powell, and the publisher, Sapphire Books Publishing, for this opportunity.

This is a collection of autobiographical short poems that chronicle the past pain and present romantic happiness of the author. Powell writes both frankly of her harrowing past and evocatively of her present relationship, and I enjoyed reading of her transformation from one state to the other.

I found my opinions on Powell’s poetry to be quite varied: some had a poignancy and lyrical beauty that were of transcendent quality, whilst others felt a little too angsty for my personal preference. I also found that I preferred her abstract poetry as opposed to her more traditional rhyming verses. The timbre of the latter often felt a little off and some lines included too many syllables to beat a steady rhythm.

This is pure raw emotion in the written form! For that reason this felt, on times, a little like a first draft. I did however love the roughness of it, in some areas, as it felt like an honest outward portrayal of inner emotion: it felt like these poems had to be born and releasing them was like a cathartic process. On other times this hampered my enjoyment of the poetry as small elements, like the timing being off in many of the rhyming couplets, left me with mixed opinions regarding this general collection.