A Strangely Wrapped Gift by Emily Juniper is proof that when it comes to poetry, sometimes less is more. This short yet impeccably curated collection touches on love, heartbreak, redemption , mental health issues and recovery, which seems like a lot of ground to cover in such a small book, but Juniper is able to concisely convey her experiences in the most beautifully simple manner. Some poems are more like phrases than complete works, and none are longer than a single page, yet I found something moving about almost all of them, and can see how they relate to so many universal experiences.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the Publisher, all opinions are my own.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Don’t let anyone
treat you like a secret
when you know
damn well
you’re a revelation.

Wow.

This collection of poems was everything I didn’t know I needed. I wanted to quote and share every single one of them. I devoured them within an hour. I am officially a fan and I cannot wait to read more of her work.

The poems were so relatable and powerful. She’s challenging the stigmas associated with mental health. They are fast-paced; quickly moving from metaphor to hard truths.

This collection is about mental health and self-love and it resembles the styles of Rupi Kaur or Amanda Lovelace. Emily captures the way we feel in specific situations in a raw and authentic way.

I adored this collection, and I am so glad to have been granted a copy to review. I highly recommend this. It serves as a reminder that you are not alone.

Five things to know:
You have been loved.
You are loved.
You will be loved again.
You will get through it, no matter what it is.
You are not alone, even when you feel the heavy weight of loneliness.

Trigger warnings: Mental health, OCD, Depression, Suicide, homophobia, eating disorders, body image issues.

Wow.

There were so many poems in this collection that I wanted to save/quote/print/share. They were so relatable and so powerful.

Speaking about love, loss, self love, and mental illness, Juniper successes in speaking to her audience effectively and meaningfully.

I loved this collection of poems a lot.

This is a poetry collection about mental health and self-love which I highly recommend to anyone who likes Rupi Kaur or Amanda Lovelace. Emily Byrnes captures extremely well the way we all feel towards specific situations and gives us the brightest poems. It is such a sincere and relatable poetry collection.

When you rate books, you sort of compare them to other books you’ve read before and base your judgement off of that, don’t you? Well in this case, I believe this is the second collection of poems that I’ve read, literally, ever. So it’s not like I have much experience in this field or anything so I’m definitely not one to rate this book really but I’m going to do it anyway so- I did like this? Sort of?

I think I’m going sadly going to have to say that reading poetry isn’t my favorite way of consuming literature. I prefer reading fiction I think, I feel like poetry is such a divider and sadly I fall on the side of “don’t love it”. With that being said, I kind of liked this collection. I sometimes found the poems a bit too…pretentious? But that’s probably more due to the fact that it’s /poetry/ than that it’s /bad poetry/, you know? Since this is a collection of poems, I was bound to like some and not like others as much I guess; a testament to this is me going back and reading through some poems again and again, not wanting to let go of them. As an LGBT person who struggles with some mental health issues, I found some poems super relatable and like I could really recognize myself in them.

Honestly, all in all I don’t know what else to write so I’m just going to stop here. Please disregard my rating because I feel like I can’t give this book an honest review due to my limited experiences with poetry; however, I feel like if you’re into poetry and are LGBT and/or struggle with mental health issues, you should definitely pick this up and judge for yourself. For the right reader, I feel like this could be a very good read.

This is a book of poems to help people who is going through mental illnesses. The authors OCD was always said to be a strangely wrapped gift. Although she doesn't like romanticizing mental illnesses, she uses that as a way to motivate others and to tell them that things will get better even if it isn't at the present moment.

I thought it was great that there is more people standing up and speaking on mental illnesses because I think we often try to push it aside like its not important so I was so here for the book.

I'm giving this book 4/5 stars. It was relatable, motivational and gave a boost of confidence but the reason why it's not getting a 5 star rating is because it lacks a good amount of emotion. The book was filled with free verse poetry that you can read and really be motivated by but not much of the poems really touch the core of your heart your soul.

I think this book might be a help if you're going through mental illness like OCD and depression because it was written to promote confidence and to help with your struggles.

AStrangelyWrappedGift #NetGalley

4/5

One of the best poetry collection I’ve read in a awhile that kept me entertained through all the poems. Absolutely beautiful!!

Most definitely recommend

This is a stunning poetry collection by Emily Juniper. Her poems are face paced, quickly moving from metaphor to hard truths to challenging stigmas about mental health. For me, the fast paced style really added to the poetry. It made reading it more of an experience, as personally, it represented the fast paced thoughts that comes from having mental health. Going from thinking of absolutely nothing, to recalling multiple things from childhood all at once.

'you're so unorganised, they said, you can't have OCD'

Throughout the collection, Juniper challenges stigmas around OCD. For example, having to be really organised or very clean. Which is not always the case. OCD comes in various forms and affects people in all different ways. I really enjoyed this aspect of the collection as it was a refreshing read. I have read collections about mental health issues such as PTSD, anxiety and depression, but not one which the main focus is on OCD and I think Juniper did this well.

I give this collection 4/5 stars.

It's so difficult for me to review poetry, it's so personal to the author, and even if I don't connect with it, it doesn't mean someone else won't. I loved the themes of this collection. Love, loss, mental health, recovery, and LGBTQ+.
The style was unique and even though it wasn't a style I prefer, I liked that it was unique. I also liked the consistency through out the book, there's wasn't any noticeable filler poems. Because of the style, I couldn’t really connect deeply with the entire book but I could relate to the themes and I appreciated the consistency.

Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book. There are never enough books on mental illness so I think it was great that Juniper could find the strength to write this book and put herself out there like she did. And the format of poetry!? Genius! I absolutely loved this book. Def recommend.

I devoured this poetry collection! It felt like just minutes before I had the entire thing read. It was absolutely wonderful. I am officially a fan of Emily Juniper and I can't wait to read more of her work.

Someday I’ll have a daughter, and I hope the earth trembles a little beneath her feet, and that Cassiopeia watches over her as she sleeps, and that the greatest love she ever knows is in herself.

I read that poem as my daughter slept snuggled into me and I thought wow, yes! It literally brought tears to my eyes. As a parent I found that to be such a powerful passage and I'll never ever forget it.

I'm on the fence about this one. To me, poetry is very personal and it's hard to "judge" something so intimate. There were certain poems in this collection that didn't move me at all. At all. There were poems that literally made no sense (to me). However, I'm sure with context from the author, it would have come together. As a reader with no experience with this author, though, I don't have that. My biggest issues with this collection are 1) some of the poems seem underdeveloped, as if it was more for the author than the reader, and 2) most of these poems were about romantic love. That's totally fine, but not really what the synopsis described. That said, I highlighted quite a few poems that really resonated with me. While this is not a collection I would purchase or add to my library, it was a decent read.

[triggers at the end of review]
A Strangely Wrapped Gift is a modern poetry collection that i felt shined a light on a different aspect of mental health and loneliness that hasn't been done much before. the representation of mental illness, heartbreak, queerness, and sexual harassment were takes that have not been explored much, a breath of fresh air was given to the genre with this collection.

i particularly found myself enthralled by the description of the author's feelings and heartbreak, how visual all of it was made to be. with the realistic depiction of mental health issues such as OCD and depression, i could sense the empathy and relatability towards a topic such as those.

all in all, Emily Byrnes showed us poetry readers a take on modern poetry that is easily accessible as well as expressing points that could be hard to swallow.

trigger warnings: mental health issues, mental illness, OCD, depression, suicidality and suicidal thoughts, sexual harassment, internalized homophobia, outward homophobia, body image issues, eating disorders.

Don't let anyone
treat you like a secret
when you know
damn well
you're a revelation.

'A Strangely Wrapped Gift' contains so many poems that pulled and affected my emotions. This might have been the strongest one for me: if only I had read it and listened to it when I was younger ...

One of the most amazing poetry I’ve read. It resigned with me so much. The whole time I just thought she gets me and we should be friends.

4.5*

This was a very moving, honest collection of poetry. It was full of beautiful imagery and I loved a large majority of the poems in here. I'd really recommend giving it a read.

Emily Juniper, not to be confused with the British actress of the same name, is the author of three poetry collections including this one being released by Central Avenue Publishing. A New York-based advocate for mental health in children and teens along with animal rights, Juniper is hard at work on her first YA novel and can be followed via Instagram.

"A Strangely Wrapped Gift" was originally a self-published collection and as a self-publishing author myself it's always exciting to see an author be picked up by a publisher in the hopes of reaching an even wider audience. "A Strangely Wrapped Gift" explores journeys both intimate and universal including mental illness, most specifically OCD, to mental health recovery. The collection also explores experiences with heartbreak and heart growth, hopelessness transitioning into empowerment, and the universe around us from the ocean to the stars.

Juniper lyrically and rhythmically tackles difficult subjects with both raw honesty and an occasional sense of whimsy. For those who connect with the material, and that will likely be quite a few, Juniper creates safety in the human experience and within the universe. You'll likely feel like you know her by the time you're finished and you'll likely also feel like you know yourself quite a bit better.

The style in which Juniper writes resembles the more lyrical styles of r.h. sin and Rupi Kaur among others. If you require a strict structure with your poetry, then you may be challenged to adjust to Juniper's looser, more fluid way of writing and willingness to, in essence, go with the flow.

"A Strangely Wrapped Gift" is a breezy, relaxed read that I easily finished within one evening. However, it contains linguistic gems that you'll likely refer back to over time and find yourself pondering upon for quite some time after finishing the book.

"A Strangely Wrapped Gift" fits well within the literary genres of LGBTQIA and poetry and nicely balances Juniper's more serious topics with reflections on love, personal growth, and the wonder of the world around us.

While "A Strangely Wrapped Gift" wasn't quite what I expected, it's a rewarding and engaging collection of poetry from an insightful, gifted writer who has taken her strangely wrapped gift and re-wrapped it for poetry lovers everywhere.

You will find journeys from mental illness to recovery, from heartbreak to heart growth, from hopelessness to empowerment, and from the ocean to the stars. In these pages, Juniper takes heavy, emotional raw material and weaves it into stunning, relatable poetry you’ll long to share with friends and loved ones. This collection is a reminder that broken pieces make the most beautiful mosaics, and that all of us possess the power to bloom even after a harsh winter.

Thank you to Netgalley for this one.

This has to be the best book of poetry I've read recently.
Most books are only about love but this one spoke about more than that. recovery, mental illness, depression, OCD. I was impressed by this book. Even had to hold back tears a couple of times. I recommend this book to anyone struggling with anything. Even if it's a struggle against yourself.

Observations made whilst reading A Strangely Wrapped Gift, which, frankly, I can’t be bothered expanding on as I feel like I’ve devoted more than enough time to this book already:

Undeveloped ideas - the whole book reads like the journal of the author, where she’s jotted down notes that might be developed into poems in the future.

Unoriginal - themes that have been done to death before, lazy phrasing, parroted ideas.

Not a collection about OCD, it’s a collection of keening love poetry.

Repetitive. Boring word choices, stuttering prose, no rhythm or flow.

No idea what purpose (tHeSE iNtErJeCTiOnS) are meant to serve.

Childish.

This type of thing is fine for Instagram captions but you can’t then copy and paste them all into a book and expect it to magically transform into a cohesive poetry collection.

Although some parts of this collection are truly beautifully written and a proof of Emily's talent, as a whole this left me quite cold. The parts in brackets were a bit jarring and I didn't feel they contributed to the impact of the poems, and overall I felt this collection could've been more powerful had it been better curated.