Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the chance to read Blythe’s wonderful collection of poetry. Now, I have never suffered with anorexia, but I have suffered the bullying that comes from looking the way I am. I have suffered from the pressures of society to look a certain way and to behave a certain way in order to be deemed ‘acceptable’. Quite frankly, I think I am far too much for our society to deal with. Although I have said that I have never suffered with anorexia, this poetry anthology has made me feel and has granted me this connection to the survivors and to those who are currently experiencing it due to the writing being so personal. 

This isn’t my first Blythe rodeo, I once discovered her on YouTube when she was performing her poetry on ButtonPoetry, how raw and how real her voice is, so when the chance to read this collection of poetry, I jumped and grabbed hold of it. It was absolutely wonderful to read her other poems, and to revisit a few of the ones I have seen her perform, because regardless of how many times you read a poem, I feel the subject and themes change dramatically in different points of your life.

Wow.  There was something calling out to me about this book, and I'm glad I listened.  This is one of the most powerful compilations of poetry I've read in a good long time.  Baird discusses, rape, sexuality, eating disorders, make-up, growing up a woman, and love.  My personal favorites in this collection include "The Kindest Thing She Almost Did", "The Lesbian Reevaluates", and "Horoscopes for Self-Doubt".  These and the other poems are just so articulate and beautiful.  They're truly poems to behold.  I cannot wait to purchase this book--be sure that you do!

Wow!  This collection of poems really captured what it is like to be a woman!  I couldn't believe how much I related to several of them.  Highly recommend!

Disclaimer: I received this book from Netgally for review purposes.

A lot of poetry books lately have really let me down. They can be really difficult to get through and some of them, even, annoying.

This one tho...ohhhhman this one. 

This book was so impactful and moving I actually teared up. The authors poems about her eating disorder and body completely killed me. I've also suffered with these problems and to hear someone speak what I feel really brought it home for me.

She touches on a lot of other issues and all of them were so hard to probably write about. I hope this book gets the praise and acknowledgement it deserves. It should surpass so many of today's popular poetry books.

Adored.

Recommend.

Beautiful and poignant. Very thought provoking poetry. The only negative I can see is the length. Its too long and has way too many poems also most of the poems are really lengthy.

I loved this! Poetry is not my thing but I really want to give it a shot and start reading more of it. This collection of peoms were so powerful and hardhitting and although there were some I didn't understand/connect to I had a great time reading them and I'm definitely interested in reading more. 
TW: rape, eating disorder.

Blythe Baird's first full-length poetry collection hurts. As the collection develops, we witness Baird grappling with her place in high school, experimenting, finding her identity, struggling with her parents, and, finally, being the victim of sexual violence that changes the collection. The poems develop formally, tonally, and the reader can follow their progression through elementary and high school and the author's changing sexuality. Trauma changes everything. This reviewer liked how the collection was in conversation with itself. As Baird performed these poems, and then her performance of them became part of her identity and healing. The poems in this collection engage themes of adolescence, identity, family, sexuality, violence, trauma, relationships, sex, experimentation, and meaning. The collection isn't "happy" and while the author seems to have reached some sort of healing she doesn't present herself as healed/fixed. How could she? This structure of the collection influenced the tenor of this review, and rightly so. The trauma isn't graphic but obviously it doesn't have to be to be real. The reader should be warned about this but by no means discouraged from reading this tightly crafted, engaging, and lucid collection of poems.


Thank you to Netgalley for the chance to read this book.. I thank Button Poetry for continuing to publish incredible books. I thank Ms. Baird for sharing her strong poems and her story with us.

I absolutely loved this book, I found myself highlighting specific quotes/sections a lot while I was reading it, and sharing these quotes to Goodreads/twitter/facebook. Although Blythe Baird is definitely someone you should spend the time watching/listening to on youtube or spotify, her voice is captured well in the printed version of her poems.

I really enjoyed this collection of poems. They were touching, heartfelt reads that so many can relate to. I highly recommend it for anyone wanting to get in touch with issues of body image and more. 

I received a copy in exchange for an honest review.

This anthology made me so happy. I have been listening to Blythe Baird for so long and it did not dissapoint. My favorite poems were, " Before the starving", "Evolution of healing" , "The way I was taught to love" , and "The lesbian reevaluates". I would recommend this to slam poetry fans, Kate Tempest fans, and even to beginner poetry readers.

Blythe Baird shows a talent for verse in If My Body Could Speak.  The poems are handled with excellence, and the topics speak.  There is life brimming from these creative poetic experiences.  Love it.

Wow. If you have been disappointed by some of modern Tumblr poetry in the past, don't worry: this one is nothing like the same reinforced and repeated messages.

Fiercely original, heartbreakingly raw, perfectly well-formed in terms of writing and the poetics, and just delightfully feminist all around. I loved the messages it sent about expectations placed upon young girls, the misogynistic society of high school and the bodily image.

Important, and incredibly well presented. Please treat yourself to this one!

Thanks for an ARC.

This poetry collection tackled a lot of heavy topics like rape, trauma, and how one perceives oneself. I really liked how straight forward the poems were, yet simple and very accessible.

"If your body could speak
would she
forgive you?"

I never heard about Blythe Baird before, this is actually my first book of hers and it did not disappoint me. Books like this are important and needed to be shared with other girls.

This poetry collection is amazing. It is honest, raw, and it really spoke to me as a woman. This book talks about eating disorder, sexuality, harassment or sexual abuse, trauma, and feminism. The writing is good, honest, and meaningful.

Highly recommended! 

I received a copy of this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

If My Body Could Speak by Blythe Baird

If My Body Could Speak by Blythe Baird, she debuts her full length work with Button Poetry with centralized theme of eating disorder, feminism and all that a girl could never speak with their open mind.
This book contains 45 poems which are beautiful and powerful in itself. The way what we fail to utter in our wake make way into these lyrical poem that touches one’s heart and soul.  
My personal favourite being “Pocket- sized Feminism” which had such an impact on myself that I might have read it to everyone who would ever listen to me. 
Most powerful and meaningful of them was the smallest poem in this collect called “IF YOUR BODY COULD SPEAK”.
In short this poetry collection makes you think and inspire you to make change, be the voice you just heard through Blythe’s work.

Button Poetry has provided a gateway for very honest, real, raw poetry to gain traction in a world that let's art slip through the cracks. Baird's latest is no exception. Raw, honesty is in these pages, covering her eating disorder, sexual assaults, sexuality, and relationship with her mother. Some lines I felt deeply, and others I didn't, but even in those, you knew it was important to the author. You could feel that this work was for her. Congratulations on finding your voice, Blythe.

**I was provided a free ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

"if I sink, it will be in my own ocean. if I float, it will be on the ship I built myself"

I have loved Blythe's poetry for years now, and some of her best spoken word poems are included in this book. If My Body Could Speak is a startling insistence at survival, as demand to be better. It takes a special writer to leave room for the reader to find themselves in poems so specific and personal. If you're looking for a new poetry read, I highly recommend!

I loOoOoOoOoOve this. This is such an honest, candid collection and I am honored to have read it. 

A lot of this is about the poet's experiences with anorexia, and it's upsetting but also beautiful and I feel it's beneficial, especially for those of us who have struggled/do struggle with body image and eating disorders. She writes about this in such an effective way. I really feel for her. It's so relatable.

There's so, so much good here about her experience as a queer woman. A ton about her relationship with her mom (and her mom's difficulty accepting that she's a lesbian) that's incredibly emotional.

There's a lot about abuse as well, some of it very graphic. I only mention this because I believe a survivor has a right to control the dialogue surrounding their abuse/assault, but it can be difficult to read. 

*Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for access to this collection in exchange for an honest review.*

Incredibly relatable and really good writing style. Brought up some really important issues but made them feel raw and real which makes the reader feel more connected to the author through the poetry

I think If My Body Could Speak is an awesome book of poetry for people coming of age in 2019. I think it's incredibly timely and wish it would have been around during my late teens and early 20's years. I love the descriptive way Baird writes. Especially when comparing herself and her experiences with those of her friends, watching them change and become aware of their bodies. It may be odd to say but I enjoyed the shift from her isloated feelings of an eating disorder to her isolated feelings of sexual assault. People go through so much in their younger years and no matter who your support system is, it's isolating to feel like you're the only one suffering and struggling. Reading Baird's account of these traumas makes you feel less isolated.