Dear Azula, I Have a Crush on Danny Phantom is a short collection of poems inspired by popular children's cartoons, including Avatar: The Last Airbender, Mulan, Shrek and Kim Possible, among others. It examines the feelings of the characters that we grew up with, as well as the feelings that we as viewers had towards them, and this results in a poignant and reflective exploration of our childhood emotions.

This was an incredibly quick read, but I found that I really became very invested in each individual poem, despite the fact that all were under two pages. As some of the cartoons included were some of my favourites growing up, it was definitely interesting to see their emotions explored in a much more mature way.

I enjoyed this book and all of the entertaining pop culture references that it contained. It's a fun collection of poetry that I would absolutely recommend if you're looking for a burst of childhood nostalgia, and if you're at all interested in going back and thinking about how our favourite characters shaped us when we were growing up.

This poetry collection written by two close friends, is the absolute embodiment of Gen Z’s humor and pop culture reference. Each poem is deeply engrained with the very relevant struggles and issues of being in the younger generations while expertly mixing in RELEVANT pop culture to tie it all together. It’s short, easy, and fun; highly recommend.


**I was provided a copy from Netgalley for review

Maybe I - a millennial who is only a part of a few of the fandoms featured - is the intended audience for this collection, maybe I'm not. But I really liked it nonetheless. Not a word is wasted and all the poems do what I've been trying to do unsuccessfully for years - express how much animation of this period bleeds into who you become (or are) as a person. And how low-key cute Danny Phantom is.

I can't wait to buy this book and take a deeper dive.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I breezed right through this. I didn't know I wanted this to exist, but when I saw the title I impulsively hit "Read Now." Beyond the Danny thirst, I found a collection of nuanced emotional catharsis centered around outcast characters that I also love.

Dear Azula, I Have a Crush on Danny Phantom is a short collection of poems exploring animated worlds and how people see themselves within them. The poems centre around different TV shows and films like Avatar: The Last Airbender, Shrek, Mulan, Kim Possible, The Emperor's New Groove, and others, exploring the characters, emotions, and identity within them and around watching them.

I really enjoyed the ways the poems engage with fictional characters and how important these characters and their emotions can be to someone's sense of self or exploration of who they are. The poem 'Refraction', for example, looks at some of the identity issues within the animated Mulan film, but never actually covered in the film. As someone who was never really into animated TV shows in the early 2000s, I found the poems about films easier to engage with because I knew those stories, but I did like the writing and ideas in the poems even when I didn't get the references (in particular the opening poem 'Self Portrait: Danny Phantom').

If you like things that explore internet/fandom experiences, this is a good collection to read, especially if you know at least some of the source material being referenced/expanded upon. I like how it takes a playful yet still serious approach to engaging with existing fiction and characters, getting across how doing this can also be formative for people's own identities.

I loved the cultural references to all the different medias and fandoms. I am a poet myself but often miss out on reading other's anthologies, but I'm so glad I got to read this one

I love the idea of this poetry book connecting to different cartoon characters! It’s also refreshing to read a short poetry book and not one over 400 pages. It felt precise, purposeful and well chosen. I also love Button Poetry so am glad to get the chance to read this! Definitely one I would like to buy and would recommend to others.

A Huge Thank You to both NetGalley and Button Poetry for the opportunity to read this arc.

I love poetry, but I don’t own many poetry books. Usually I don’t feel the need, to read them more than once or twice - but I can’t wait to purchase a physical copy of Dear Azula.

One of my favorite poems is Refraction. It shines a light on one of the biggest issues in Mulan, and does it better than Disney.

Another gem is I Have A Crush On Shego. It illuminates how big an impact fiction, in all it’s multimedia forms, can have on us, and how it can help us find the courage to explore and discover ourselves..

A must read for late Millenials, Gen Z’s and geeky nerdy aficionados everywhere.

I adored these poems by Azura Tyabji and Jackson Neal about some of my favourite fandoms! The movies/shows that inspired the poems are Avatar: the Last Airbender, Danny Phantom, Shrek, The Lion King, The Emperor's New Groove, The Incredibles, Mulan, Kim Possible and last but not least Teen Titans. Since these are all movies or shows that I enjoyed, I really enjoyed the poems.

Of course, I lived for the poems about Avatar: the Last Airbender. I loved them so much. As soon as I saw the title Dear Azula, I Have a Crush on Danny Phantom I knew I had to read this poetry collection and it did not disappoint!

If any you are part of any of these fandoms, please do yourself a favour and read this poetry collection. You will not regret it.

Thank you NetGalley and.Button Poetry for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a beautiful short collection of poetry on what our favourite characters taught us growing up and the pieces of them we carry and see ourselves reflected in.

My favourite poem was Zuko’s Palinode. I didn’t have a male role model growing up, so Iroh was everything to me and seeing my love and gratitude for this character summed up in a short poem just meant so much.

“I am not reverent at the altar
Where he offered me anymore”

If you, like me, grew up wanting Shego to win or mourning for the brokenness that Azula is, than read this poetry collection.

I only wish it was longer