Poetry – Jill's Book Blog

Review: (S)Kin

Title: (S)Kin
Author: Ibi Zoboi
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Poetry, Contemporary
Publisher: Versify
Source: BookSparks
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: February 11, 2025
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

From award-winning, New York Times bestselling author Ibi Zoboi comes her groundbreaking contemporary fantasy debut—a novel in verse based on Caribbean folklore—about the power of inherited magic and the price we must pay to live the life we yearn for.

Fifteen-year-old Marisol is the daughter of a soucouyant. Every new moon, she sheds her skin like the many women before her, shifting into a fireball witch who must fly into the night and slowly sip from the lives of others to sustain her own. But Brooklyn is no place for fireball witches with all its bright lights, shut windows, and bolt-locked doors.… While Marisol hoped they would leave their old traditions behind when they emigrated from the islands, she knows this will never happen while she remains ensnared by the one person who keeps her chained to her magical past—her mother.

Seventeen-year-old Genevieve is the daughter of a college professor and a newly minted older half sister of twins. Her worsening skin condition and the babies’ constant wailing keep her up at night, when she stares at the dark sky with a deep longing to inhale it all. She hopes to quench the hunger that gnaws at her, one that seems to reach for some memory of her estranged mother. When a new nanny arrives to help with the twins, a family secret connecting her to Marisol is revealed, and Gen begins to find answers to questions she hasn’t even thought to ask.

But the girls soon discover that the very skin keeping their flames locked beneath the surface may be more explosive to the relationships around them than any ancient magic.

Review:

This is a beautiful novel in verse. It follows two girls: Marisol and Genevieve. They were connected through their shared power, where on every new moon, they shed their skin and fly like a comet with the ability to hurt someone who has harmed them. I read most of this book in one sitting. It was fast paced and so hard to put down. It addressed racism, bullying, and slavery in an intense and engaging plot.

(S)Kin is a beautiful story!

Thank you BookSparks for providing a copy of this book as part of the Winter Reading Challenge.

Content warnings: bullying, racism

Have you read (S)Kin? What did you think of it?

Review: Tongue Teasers

Title: Tongue Teasers
Author: Dr. D.W. Knight
Genre: Children’s, Poetry
Publisher: Giggle Spoon
Source: Publisher
Format: Paperback
Release Date: July 24, 2024
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Tongue Teasers is a collection of illustrated poems written in rhyming verse with hilarious wordplay and outlandish inventiveness imbued with wit, life-lessons and wisdom that transcend age but equally entertain children with zany, memorable characters, making this book a favorite for all ages!

Written and illustrated by Professor D.W. Knight, Tongue Teasers is the foundational body of work that inspired GiGGLE SPOON Laugh-Along Songbooks which is the artistic collaboration of two brothers – one a poet and artist, the other a composer, singer-songwriter and musician. Combining their talents, the brothers create laugh-along songbooks using rhyming verse and catchy original songs, serving up laughter to the kid in all of us!

Review:

This book is a collection of illustrated poems for kids. Some of the poems teach lessons, such as the importance of washing your hands, while others are silly. I think kids would love these funny, rhyming poems.

At the beginning of the book there is a QR code that leads to a website with songs that go along with some of the poems. Those were really fun to listen to while I read the poems because they gave the poems a specific rhythm. That would be great for kids who are reading the book on their own, because it would teach them how to read the poem.

Tongue Teasers is a great kid’s book!

Thank you Dr. D.W. Knight and Bookinfluencers.com for providing a copy of this book as part of a paid campaign!

Have you read Tongue Teasers? What did you think of it?

Review: The Lightning Circle

Title: The Lightning Circle
Author: Vikki VanSickle, Laura K. Watson (illustrations)
Genre: Young Adult, Poetry
Publisher: Tundra Books
Source: Publisher
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: March 26, 2024
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

An intimate coming-of age novel for teens, told in verse with delicate line art, chronicling the beauty, magic and transformative power of summer camp, for fans of Elizabeth Acevedo and Judy Blume.

After having her heart broken, seventeen-year-old Nora Nichols decides to escape her hometown and take a summer job as an arts and crafts counsellor at an all-girls’ camp in the mountains of West Virginia. There, she meets girls and women from all walks of life with their own heartaches and triumphs. Immersed in this new camp experience, trying to form bonds with her fellow counselors while learning to be a trusted adviser for her campers, Nora distracts herself from her feelings, even during the intimate conversations around the nightly campfires. But when a letter from home comes bearing unexpected news, Nora finds inner strength in her devastation with the healing power of female friendship. Presented as Nora’s camp journal, including Nora’s sketches of camp life, scraps of letters, and spare poems, The Lightning Circle is an intimate coming-of-age portrait.

Review:

Seventeen-year-old Nora wants a break from her hometown this summer after having her heart broken, so she goes to a summer camp as a counselor in West Virginia. She meets young women, both campers and counselors, from different backgrounds with their own heartaches. Nora must learn to open herself up to new friendships to begin healing.

This was a beautiful book. It is written in verse, which suits the emotional time Nora is experiencing. Each section of the story was concise, but also evoked the teenage emotions of the story. There were also beautiful illustrations in a sketch style that accompanied the verses.

The Lightning Verse is a beautiful summer camp story.

Thank you Tundra Books and Penguin Teen Canada for providing a copy of this book.

Content warning: eating disorder

Have you read The Lightning Circle? What did you think of it?

Review: Diary of an Artist in Love

Title: Diary of an Artist in Love
Author: The Muse Frequency
Genre: Poetry
Publisher: Independently Published
Source: BookInfluencers.com
Format: Audiobook
Release Date: August 15, 2023
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

A slender, beautifully illustrated volume of 30 poems, enumerating love in all its configurations and through enchantment, presence, magnetism, illusion, nature, restlessness, wonder, and memories that rise from our past, and follow us into our future. Readers will be immersed in a series of 15 poems called “Love is” I through XV, with 15 additional poems that sit between them, threading the eye of the needle that we call love, with topics that seem to successively build on one another and chronicle the different phases of this intangible marvel that rules our lives. These poems · “We Start Here”
· “Stay With Me”
· “Wondering”
· “Beautiful Things”
· “Limitless”

For seekers, artists, lovers, moon-gazers, anyone that dares to glimpse the beating heart within, this collection is a goldmine of inspiration and magical fairy dust. On Audible
Diary of an Artist in Love is an intimate new audiobook of prose poetry best listened to with headphones on and eyes closed. The Muse Frequency presents listeners with a calming and ethereal meditation on love. Throughout this profoundly serene and uplifting experience, the artist and sound designer gently coax us into a meditative state using Solfeggio frequencies and by communicating in the most direct possible way through a sacred one-on-one conversation.

Originally inspired by the work of diarist Anaïs Nin, The Muse Frequency aims to design an audio experience that feels confessional and personal. At the heart of it all, this wholly unique project creates intimate experiences meant for one listener, where they can close their eyes, shut out the rest of the world and drift off to beautiful places.

Sound Design for Audiobook by Sébastien Nouat

Review:

Diary of an Artist in Love is a collection of poems about love. There are 30 poems, with 15 of them called “Love Is” alternating between the other poems.

The audiobook is beautiful. It is in an ASMR style, with relaxing, meditative music playing along with the narrator. The auditory experience is unlike any other audiobook I’ve heard.

I highly recommend Diary of an Artist in Love for poetry lovers.

Thank you The Muse Frequency and Book Influencers for providing a copy of this audiobook.

Have you read Diary of an Artist in Love? What did you think of it?

Review: When We Make It

Title: When We Make It
Author: Elisabet Velasquez
Genre: Young Adult, Poetry
Publisher: Dial Books
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: September 21, 2021
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

An unforgettable young adult debut novel-in-verse that redefines what it means to make it, touching on themes of mental illness, sexual assault, food insecurity and gentrification, in the Nuyorican literary tradition of Nicholasa Mohr and the work of contemporary writer Elizabeth Acevedo.
Sarai is a first-generation Puerto Rican eighth grader who can see with clarity the truth, pain, and beauty of the world both inside and outside her Bushwick apartment. Together with her older sister Estrella, she navigates the strain of family traumas and the systemic pressures of toxic masculinity and housing insecurity in a rapidly gentrifying Brooklyn. Sarai questions the society around her, her Boricua identity, and the life she lives with determination and an open heart, learning to celebrate herself in a way that she has been denied.
When We Make It is a love letter to girls who were taught to believe they would not make it at all. The verse is evocative and insightful, and readers are sure to be swept into Sarai’s world and rooting for her long after they close the book.

Review:

Sarai is a Puerto Rican eighth grader living in Bushwick with her mom and sister, Estrella, in 1996. She struggles with her family, while her mom just tries to keep them alive, moving from apartment to apartment. Sarai struggles to find her place in the community, knowing that her family doesn’t have the same lifestyle as her friends. There are pressures to follow a certain system, yet Sarai knows there’s the possibility of a different, and better, life that she could reach one day.

This novel was written in verse. This was the perfect format for this emotional story. Sarai and her family had a lot of struggles, though they didn’t always realize that things could be different. The rhythmic writing, and the inclusion of Spanish words mixed in with the English, made me feel like I was right there with Sarai.

There were some tough subjects in this story. These include addiction, mental health, postpartum depression, gun violence, and racism. These subjects were handled delicately, but are definitely important to telling this story.

When We Make It is a beautiful story about girls who can defy the odds.

Thank you Dial Books for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Review: Punching the Air [audiobook]

Title: Punching the Air
Author: Ibi Zoboi, Yusef Salaam
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Poetry
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Audiobook
Release Date: September 1, 2020
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

From award-winning, bestselling author Ibi Zoboi and prison reform activist Yusef Salaam of the Exonerated Five comes a powerful YA novel in verse about a boy who is wrongfully incarcerated. Perfect for fans of Jason Reynolds, Walter Dean Myers, and Elizabeth Acevedo.
The story that I thought
was my life
didn’t start on the day
I was born
Amal Shahid has always been an artist and a poet. But even in a diverse art school, he’s seen as disruptive and unmotivated by a biased system. Then one fateful night, an altercation in a gentrifying neighborhood escalates into tragedy. “Boys just being boys” turns out to be true only when those boys are white.
The story that I think
will be my life
starts today
Suddenly, at just sixteen years old, Amal’s bright future is upended: he is convicted of a crime he didn’t commit and sent to prison. Despair and rage almost sink him until he turns to the refuge of his words, his art. This never should have been his story. But can he change it?
With spellbinding lyricism, award-winning author Ibi Zoboi and prison reform activist Yusef Salaam tell a moving and deeply profound story about how one boy is able to maintain his humanity and fight for the truth, in a system designed to strip him of both.

Review:

At sixteen, Amal Shahid was convicted of a crime he didn’t commit. He was an artistic student and a poet. The only way he can survive prison is to express himself through his art. Over and over again Amal is let down by the adults around him. He needs to figure out how to speak his truth and fight for justice.

This is a story written in verse. The poetry suited the emotional story. Amal had a lot of emotions that he expressed through his art. He was able to explore his anger in a constructive way by writing poetry and drawing. This story couldn’t have been told the same way if it was written in prose rather than verse.

I listened to the audiobook version of this story. The physical book has some illustrations that I missed out on in the audio version. However, I loved the narrator for the book. He sounded like a teenage boy, so it was like Amal was telling his story. He put a lot of emotion behind the words, which made the story come alive. I really want to check out the physical copy to see the art, but the audio was very good!

This is a great, powerful story!

Thank you Balzer + Bray for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Review: Pillow Thoughts IV: Stitching the Soul

Title: Pillow Thoughts IV: Stitching the Soul
Author: Courtney Peppernell
Genre: Poetry
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: August 4, 2020
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

The final installment in this bestselling series completes the journey that Courtney Peppernell began with Pillow Thoughts. With 600,000 copies sold across the series, Pillow Thoughts continues to inspire all who dip into Courtney’s encouraging words.
Self-healing is the theme of the entire Pillow Thoughts series. While books II and III focus on healing the heart and mind, respectively, Pillow Thoughts IV offers a balm for healing the soul. Have a cup of tea and let yourself feel.

Review:

This is the final installment in the Pillow Thoughts series. This collection of poetry is about healing the soul, through grieving, empowering, and recovering.

Most of these poems are spoken directly to “you.” Often the “you” is the speaker’s former partner. The technique of speaking directly to the reader brings the reader right into the poetry. It made me feel more connected to the poetry, since it seems to be speaking to me.

I loved the comparisons to nature. There has been a lot of nature imagery throughout the series, with the images of the jellyfish, the fox, and the owl. There were some poems that compared the soul to nature. You have to weed a garden to make plants grow, just as you have to look after your soul to keep yourself well.

The parts about grief were quite moving. Though we don’t like feeling grief, it is a part of life that we all have to go through. We can’t have good moments, if there aren’t bad moments to compare them to. These poems say it’s okay to grieve, but you must move on after.

Empowerment was another important theme of this collection. Empowerment can heal the soul by encouraging you to keep going. It’s important not to judge your success by the success of someone else. This is so difficult to do, because we want to be the best we can, and it can be discouraging when someone else has what you want. However, everyone has different skills and works at different speeds, so it isn’t fair to compare yourself to other people.

This is a beautiful poetry collection.

Thank you Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Other books in the series:

Pillow Thoughts I
Pillow Thoughts II: Healing the Heart
Pillow Thoughts III: Mending the Mind

Have you read Pillow Thoughts IV: Stitching the Soul? What did you think of it?

Review: break your glass slippers

Title: break your glass slippers
Author: amanda lovelace
Genre: Poetry
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: March 17, 2020
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

“more forgetting time.
more midnight dances with yourself.”
amanda lovelace, the bestselling & award-winning author of the “women are some kind of magic” poetry series, presents a new companion series, “you are your own fairy tale” the first installment, break your glass slippers, is about overcoming those who don’t see your worth, even if that person is sometimes yourself. in the epic tale of your life, you are the most important character while everyone is but a forgotten footnote. even the prince.

Review:

This poetry collection tells a Cinderella story. This Cinderella gets the Prince Charming, but he turns out to be a bad boyfriend. He lies to her, wants her to change, and cheats on her. He is very critical of her. Her fairy godmother speaks words of wisdom, telling her it’s okay to be alone.

This was a great twist on the fairytale of Cinderella. She is often the character girls aspire to be, because she overcomes her faults and gets the prince she wanted. However, this story shows that her “faults” are not what’s wrong with her. They make up who she is, and she shouldn’t try to change for anyone, even her Prince Charming.

I loved the illustrations that went along with some of the poems. They illustrated some of the imagery in the poems, such as a bird cage and a love potion. They reinforced the idea of the modern fairytale, since they are usually children’s books with illustrations.

This is a great poetry book!

Thank you Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Review: I Hope You Stay

Title: I Hope You Stay
Author: Courtney Peppernell
Genre: Poetry
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: March 3, 2020
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

In the spirit of her bestselling series, Pillow Thoughts, Courtney Peppernell returns with a new, empowering collection of poetry and prose. From heartbreak to dreaming of and finding a new love to healing the heart to ultimately finding peace, the themes in this book are universal but also uniquely individual to readers.
Just as moving and endearing as Peppernell’s previous books, I Hope You Stay is a reminder of the resilience and hope needed after heartache and pain. The book is divided into five sections, with poems ranging from free verse to short form. These words are a light in the deepest hours of the night: Hold on. The sun is coming.

Review:

I’m not a big fan of poetry, but I really enjoyed Courtney Peppernell’s Pillow Thoughts collection, so I wanted to read this book.

The collection is divided into 5 parts: You will ache, You will dream, You will love, You will heal, and You will rise. These covered many subjects, from falling in love to breaking up with someone. I especially liked the final section, You will rise, which was about feeling empowered.

There was one poem about how women should stick together and support each other, which really resonated with me. Sometimes we judge others, without thinking about how we can help them instead. The example she gave in the poem was whispering to a woman to tell her she has lipstick on her teeth. We should look out for each other, rather than trying to bring each other down.

This is another great poetry collection by Courtney Peppernell.

Thank you Andrews McMeel for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Review: When You Ask Me Where I’m Going

Title: When You Ask Me Where I’m Going
Author: Jasmin Kaur
Genre: Young Adult, Poetry
Publisher: HarperCollins
Source: Publisher
Format: Paperback
Release Date: October 1, 2019
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Perfect for fans of Rupi Kaur and Elizabeth Acevedo, Jasmin Kaur’s stunning debut novel is a collection of poetry, illustrations, and prose.
scream
so that one day
a hundred years from now
another sister will not have to
dry her tears wondering
where in history
she lost her voice
The six sections of the book explore what it means to be a young woman living in a world that doesn’t always hear her and tell the story of Kiran as she flees a history of trauma and raises her daughter, Sahaara, while living undocumented in North America.
Delving into current cultural conversations including sexual assault, mental health, feminism, and immigration, this narrative of resilience, healing, empowerment, and love will galvanize readers to fight for what is right in their world.

Review:

This is an incredibly moving poetry collection.

This collection contains a combination of poetry, prose narrative, and illustrations. The poems give a personal, emotional look at Jasmin’s life. The prose narrative tells a story that demonstrates the themes in her poetry. All of these art forms combined to tell a complete story.

Even though I have had very different life experiences from the author, I could relate to many of the poems. One that was particularly moving read: “depression is this ghost that looks over my shoulder & nobody seems to believe in spirits.” At one of Jasmin’s book signings that I went to, she said to snap your fingers if something she read resonated with you. I was snapping along as I read this book.

I loved this collection! I can’t wait to see what Jasmin writes next.

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What to read next:

Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo

Dear Martin by Nic Stone

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Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

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What to read next:

Pillow Thoughts III: Mending the Mind by Courtney Peppernell

Break Your Glass Slippers by Amanda Lovelace

Other books in the series:

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What to read next:

the princess saves herself in this one by amanda lovelace

Pillow Thoughts by Courtney Peppernell

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What to read next:

Pillow Thoughts III: Mending the Mind by Courtney Peppernell

The Princess Saves Herself in This One by Amanda Lovelace

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What to read next:

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds