Cindy Cherie's CONFESSIONS OF HER revolves around love--unrequited, returned, and everything in between. What the description of this book promises is an exploration of how self-love is what empowers women. There were some really beautiful sentiments in this book. However, I do have two main items of contention: that this book is classified as poetry, and that there is a VERY heavy emphasis on love from others.

Some CONFESSIONS OF HER poems are, in my opinion, not poetic. Instead, they read as short personal essays, which was kind of disappointing as someone who loves poetry (especially prose poetry).

This book centers around love -- unrequited and returned. What I kept waiting for (and am still kind of waiting for, even after finishing the book), is the author's realization that self-love is the most important kind. There was really only one "poem" (the last one) that solidified this point. I'm left wondering: where was the build-up to this?

Overall, I did enjoy Cherie's CONFESSIONS OF HER and felt the emotional impact all the way through.

I found a lot of the poems absolutely beautiful and heart wrenching. I couldn’t help but remember the anguish the heart break that I felt not so long ago and that most feel at some point or the other. It honestly really hit me in the feels, while others just left me feeling meh about so much so that I would skim them or just skip them. That doesn’t take away from my enjoyment or do I hold anything again the author. It was simply that some of the poems were just not my thing.

I think that overall this was beautiful and raw. And a testament on how love can truly destroy you and leave you feeling raw and open. So hurt and destroyed that you no longer recognize yourself. It was impactful and i couldn’t help but love this.

I received a copy for review thanks to Netgalley, all opinions are solely mine.

"I collect my mistakes like seeds of knowledge, plant them within the walls of my heart and watch myself grow..."


This book was incredibly beautiful! So many lines spoke to me, and really made a definite impact on me. I could relate to so much of what Cherie was saying within her prose.

The book opens with such pure delight, pure love. However, there is a sense of imploding doom. There is a sense that things are not going to end well. So even thought I was relishing the love story I could just feel the darkness that was about to come next. I was right.
However, the darker chapters were even more emotive and heartbreaking. I particularly like the section 'musings of a wallflower' - where despite the more emotional hard hitting subject matter it was still so relatable and beautifully written.
"They tell me I wouldn't be so damaged if I was a little rougher, preaching of hardness as something I would do well to obtain, that I should spit out my softness and wedge swords between my teeth..."

The arch of the book goes through so many different emotions, just like a heartbreak would.
"My sister tells me I carry a fear of men, I tell her she's wrong, I have a fear of drowning, she tells me it's the same thing"

Despite the heartbreak, I'm grateful that the book ends on a positive and uplifting note. I felt incredibly empowered just reading.
I would love to re-read this book at a later a date to get a deeper connection to Cindy Cherie's writing.

The writing here is beautiful! I recommend for any poetry lover. I recommend for anyone who has experienced heartbreak. It is a perfect example of how one can 'rise from the ashes' of a significant trauma.

Thank you Cindy for writing such a poignant book.

This was a crazy ride through love, loss, and finding love again. True raw and emotional. A quick read and highly recommended. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This wasn't how I expected the book to be. Overall an insightful read however not a book that I'll remember/recommend to others. I was hoping for more! I think I expected more 'poems/quotes' on their own.
My favourite part about the book was the illustrations, I just wish there were more!
- Review for Net Galley and the publishers.

(I recieved an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review)

I don't really have much to say about this one, besides the fact that it didn't reach my expectations at all. I was expecting a powerful poetry collection about losing and finding yourself as a woman and... It didn't quite make it for me.
It was, indeed, faithful to the theme of women empowerment, but it also evolved around love a whole lot. The synopsis left me under the impression that we'll be able to witness a woman rising from her ashes and finding love within herself, but I genuinely felt that in the end she was still expecting love from all of those around her, especially men, more than she did from within herself.
The writing is very flowery at times. I love me some flowery writing, but this aspect was dragged down by all of the times that the writing became very simplistic and to the point.
There were whole pages of beautifully crafted text and then pages after pages of short poems, kind of Rupi Kaur style. I established long ago that I don't usually vibe with that kind of style, so maybe it's just one of my literary perks.

I would recommend this book to the people that are into more contemporary time poetry (again, kind of Rupi Kaur style) and into romance. Maybe to those who are seeking to see a woman who is trying to get empowered from within herself as well, although I didn't feel like the book really lived up to my expectations on this matter,

I am a bit on the defensive about this book. It has positive and negative points.

THE POSITIVES:

This sentence: I have always envied the rain, the way it touches so many people all at once.

This sentence is so powerful, and it is not the only one in the book. It really appeals to me. I like the rain and references to it, if well done, are a hit with me.

This books has the topic of unrequited love, which is shown in a pretty straightforward way in spite of the poetic language. The author retells several of her previous love stories with guys who didn't take her seriously, so the experiences have left her at the defensive and hurt. She describes her unsurmuntable feeling of depression and loss.

The unrhyming verses. I think it is more poetic prose, which I usuallly adore. It doesn't reach the level of some of the Latin American authors that have used this literary device before, but it is OK. She uses broken lines sometimes in the right places.

Religion and the constant references to god. Many people would consider it a positive. For me, as an atheist, they don't work, but that's what many readers consider a "deep message".

THE NEGATIVES:

I have really read a lot of good poetry during my life, in English, Spanish and Galician, and I am not even sure it belongs in this category. It is more a self-help empowerment book in poetic prose, in the guise of Paulo Coelho, Deepak Chopra or Jorge Bucay.

The drawings are technically good. I can see that Neyha Sofat. the artist, can draw extremely well, but the drawings of topless hunks do not really belong to a poetry book. Canadian poet Rupi Kaur does the illustrations of her poems herself, but they have a completely different vibe, with sometimes heavier topics.

I know that it doesn't work like that, but if the author read this review at some point, I would give her this advice:

What works in a business doesn't always translate to a different business. In this case, what makes you successful in Instagram, doesn't necessarily translate to success in the publishing world. Make it of this advice whatever you want. We discussed this idea during a course in self-employement and start-ups, and it makes plenty of sense to me.

After finishing the book, I checked out what other things Cindy Cherie has done. I had no idea what type of Instagrammer she was. I will leave it at "i shouldn't have checked out her Instagram." If she wants to be taken seriously as a writer and poet, I would think twice about having twenty photographs of myself in a negligée to promote the book.

This poetry book is outstanding. The author's story is relatable and her writing is evocative. The true story told in this piece is one that will resonate strongly with any woman who has been disappointed by men and experienced heartbreak and loss, it is perfect for any woman who is or has had to learn to love themselves instead of pinning their hopes on a knight on a white horse. Many of these poems are incredibly quotable and the word choice is sublime, I'll want to come back to this book again and again.

"Silence is a quiet rebellion; it is the laying down of swords; it is all the women in me you ever hurt declaring, You don’t deserve my breath."

Beautifully written poems.
I felt them all and couldn't put it down. You can feel everything she is saying.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read an eARC of this book!

"One of my greatest fears is I will die without finding a single soul who knows what to do with all this fire behind my eyes."

Wow! This story was written so beautifully. The way the author crafted the words of the verse and prose in this book was stunning. I found myself engulfed in the words from page one. The imagery and story telling was so unique but also relatable. It was real. The flow of words made this read go by quickly and I was turning pages and suddenly it was done.

We get to follow the narrator as they fall in and out of love with a man and then eventually, get to go with her as she learns to love herself. Again, the words are beautiful and I could read them for hundreds of pages. I appreciate the craft that is this book and am interested in reading more books with this style.

Thanks to the publisher for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Confessions of Her is the perfect book for anyone trying to get into poetry/verse books.

Following the speaker through falling into and out of love, dealing with heart break, then eventually finding love in herself, this book perfectly blurs the lines between the universal and personal and love and short form poems in order to create a reading experience anyone can enjoy.

Confessions of Her by Cindy Cherie takes us on a beautiful and empowering journey of passion, loss, and ultimately finding the love that we deserve within ourselves. The prose is deeply personal, and will certainly resonate with anyone who has ever experienced the agony of heartbreak. The unique way in which poetry and prose is presented is both effective and accessible, and I was completely swept up in the journey. Recommended.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Central Avenue Publishing for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I found myself having to re read a lot of this. Going back again and again like huh 🤔 I don’t get it. Saying that I did enjoy most of it and found it easily relatable.

Beautiful, relatable poetry and prose. This journey through love and heartbreak will resonate with anybody who has loved and lost. It was really easy to see some of my own feelings and experiences in this book, which gave it all the more meaning to me. I loved the fact there was a lot more than just sadness and heartbreak to the poetry- it was great to see a lot of positive thinking and happiness in there too. I knew I loved this book as I was desperate to quote it, to share the words which I found my own experiences in and know that others will too. Simply beautiful writing that is heart wrenching in places but so positive and up lifting too, a sure success

Cindy Cherie explores relationships from beginning to end in a beautiful and meaningful book of poetry. Whatever stage of the relationship the reader is in, in love, breakup, moving on... this will resonate with you.