ugh this was such a raw and heartfelt poetry collection - Warsan really bared her soul for all to see and unapologetically aided the reader to experience her thoughts and feelings during her rocky journey of life. it hurt my heart reading certain parts - specially around race, sexual assault, immigration etc - a line that stuck with me was “the insults are easier to swallow than finding your child’s body in the rubble.” if you want to read something raw and hard hitting i’d recommend this collection.

Warsan Shire deserves every plaudit coming her way – a rare talent whose contemporary poetry is powerful and evocative yet laced with such injury and sadness. This latest collection is no exception – as extraordinary as everything that has gone before.

Here, Warsan narrows in on the refugee/ migrant experience. These are verses of disrupted lives, of people who are rootless and at sea (literally and metaphorically). Warsan is bringing voice to the voiceless and in these lines gives them not just emotional grace but also insight for the rest of us into the confusion and resilience.

A particular highlight is the powerful short poem dedicated to Victoria Climbie, who sees this young girl whose short life in the UK was violent and terrible raised to the highest heavens with every angel by her side. It’s in lines like these that Warsan unapologetically centres the marginalised and gives them resonance and meaningful existence. Beautiful, incomparable words. The complete Queen of contemporary British poetry.

Unfortunately, I do not think that these poems are me, although I can appreciate what they do for other poetry readers. Personally, with poetry, I like to consider the way in which it might sound as it is performed but I could not do so here.

Oh my god, I haven't read a lot of poetry books in the past year, and to read this is really making me miss poetry.

Love the premise and the execution, although some of it is rather sloppy, but I love how sloppy it is. How messy it is, like been done intentionally.

Poems are not too long, and precise. It says what it needs and then baam! next!

Overall, love it. ✨

I'm not usually a person who reads a lot of poetry however this is a game changer. It really has changed the way I look at poetry and there are many I go back to time and time again. Its both bitter and heartbreaking with many lines that leave an imprint in your mind
a must read

A powerful collection to give your time to, put down, breathe and pick up again and again. Beautiful and harrowing.

Formatting was off-putting but still well done overall. Enjoyable and cathartic in many ways. Hope there's more in the future

STUNNING. I have been waiting for this since reading 'Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth' and WOW it did not disappoint! You can tell the author has grown between collections. these are mature, poignant and connected throughout, but still raw and emotional.

By turns moving and heartbreaking, and raw and defiant, I found this to be an unforgettable collection of verse.
Thank you to the author, to the publishers and to Netgalley for the opportunity to read an arc.

(4.5/5) ‘Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head’ had plenty of vivid and punchy poems (the audiobook probably hits even harder if the sample I heard was anything to go by), with really fascinating premises, original turns of phrase and imagery that I’d not really seen anything like before.

My favourite poems were: ‘Home’, ‘Earth to Yosra’, ‘Assimilation’, ‘Bless the Qumayo’, ‘Are You Afraid of the Dark?’, ‘Hooyo Full of Grace’, ‘My Father the Astronaut’, ‘Backwards’ (I loved the structure of this one!), ‘Bless the Blood’, ‘Victoria in Illiyin’ and ‘Bless Grace Jones’. Some poems make more of an impact if you have extra context from other poems; for example, ‘Earth to Yosra’ carries new weight after reading ‘Her Blue Body Full of Light’, so it’s great that they were all collected and ordered into one volume.

Handy tip: there’s a Glossary at the back clarifying terms for readers unfamiliar with Somali, Somalia, Islam, the UK and some more technical terms like trichotillomania. If you’re one of those readers, I do recommend also having a phone or laptop with you while reading in case you want to look things up in more depth! I learned some interesting new things, for example briefly diving into the discussion about houris in Islam. A couple of the poems are also references to real-life criminal cases, so it helps to look them up (though fair warning, they are disturbing).

Some poems did go over my head even with the Googling and Glossary but I think that happens with every poetry anthology. In any case, there is value in the space between complete understanding and almost-comprehension. It allows you to wonder and make your own connection to the poem, and I think that’s really special.

Beautiful collection of poetry that really hits home. With themes of womanhood, migration, motherhood, love, war and grief. Short but hard hitting read. Her words really do something to me. There were times I had to re-read some of the poems because I really felt it.

A thought-provoking collection I'll be sure to read again. I loved the connections between her Somali culture, Islam and British culture. Shire wasn't on my radar as much before this but I know I'll be checking out more of her work!

Thanks to the publisher and to Netgalley for the ARC of the book!

Warshan Shire is a young Kenyan-born Somali poet and this book is her 1st full length collection of poems. Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head is her 2nd collection that I have read by the author. I was so impressed by the 1st one that I gave it 5* and I do not read a lot of poetry. I liked this one as well but Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth is still my favourite. It was small, raw; it was pulling your heart out while you were marveling at the beauty of the words. Bless the Daugher is a collection of a more mature author, the poems are connected through themes and characters, the poems seem more thought out. I thought that the increase in sophistication of the poems made some of them too cryptic and it took out the impact the 1st collection had on me. I still think it a wonderful and heart-breaking collection of poetry about womanhood, refugee’s life, displacement, identity, war, love and death.

Also, I wish I knew there was a glossary at the end of the book. There were many African terms that I did not know and I missed the meaning of some poems because of that.

Shire addresses issues of violence against women and racial violence, although in her case the context is a British one and around immigration. Some of these poems are hard to read (again), some are funny; some interact with Somali culture, some with Islam, some with British popular culture; all are thought-provoking.

Here, "Home" is the famous poem; who hasn't read that and if not wept, at least had a hard think? Many poems are addressed to "Hooyo", defined as "Mother" in the glossary, and cover different aspects of a young woman's and an immigrant's life, creating her own way through the world in the absence of a tangible mother figure.

Poems talk about Victoria Climbié, the Ivorian child who was murdered in London, and unnamed victims of violence and hatred, but the whole collection rises above tragedy with its power and clear eye. Highly recommended.

My full review (published Sun 03 Apr) here: https://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2022/04/03/book-reviews-maya-angelou-and-still-i-rise-and-warsan-shire-bless-the-daughter-raised-by-a-voice-in-her-head/

An incredible and hard-hitting poetry collection by Warsan Shire that demands complete attention to every single word. I am not an avid reader of poetry but Shire's work is emotive and powerful enough that I think non-poetry readers would be converted after this.

There are so many lines that I highlighted to come back to because they encapsulated the first and second-gen immigrant experience so beautifully.
These were some of my favourite poems:
Home
Dahabshiil Sends Blessings
Bless The Qumayo
Saint Hooyo
Her Blue Body Full of Light

This wasn't a terrible book in any way, but I have to say I didn't enjoy it as much as I expected. If you're familiar with Shire's previous work, this collection of poems feels familiar, even with the recent additions. The poems are powerful and I'm always amazed by her capacity to root her poems in the experiences of the body, but I don't know, I expected more exploration.

Thanks to the publisher and to Netgalley for this copy of the book!

Have you ever read poems that cut deep through you and lodged itself in your bones and it is so beautiful that you don't want unlodge it? This book contains such poems. Every poem is a revelation, a cascade of emotions that unleashes and leaves you in deep thought and a heavy after taste that makes you think.
Absolutely loved the collection of poems.

‘No one leaves home unless home is the mouth of a shark. You only run for the border when you see the whole city running as well. …You only leave home when home won’t let you stay.’ - from ‘Home’

My thanks to Random House U.K. Vintage Chatto & Windus for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head’ by Warsan Shire in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first experience of Somali British poet, Warsan Shire. As I am not particularly savvy when it comes to contemporary poetry I welcomed this opportunity to expand my awareness and experience the work of this acclaimed poet,

Poetry collections are difficult to review. Many poems in the collection moved me; I found them raw and powerful, numinous and poignant.

As I usually do with poems, I read them aloud to get a sense of the rhythms of the words and sought out a few online readings by Warsan Shire including ‘Home’ that in heartbreaking visceral images chronicles the experience of the refugee.

Her poems deal both with these weighty subjects as well as more personal reflections about her family and her faith.

I also appreciated that she included a glossary of words and phrases used in the poems.

Not an easy read - but absolutely worth it. Really beautifully put together and one of those poetry books that make sense as a collection. Buy it, you won't be disappointed.

2.5 rounded up

Poetry is so subjective, and really hit or miss for me. This to say that I thought some of these poems were striking and memorable (particularly the one on Victoria Climbie), whereas others - whilst including some great imagery and writing - didn't leave much of an impression. I'd suggest reading this one if it sounds interesting or up your street and making up your own mind.

Incredibly moving poetry collection with raw emotions and experiences vibrating through each line. Sadly very relevant lines at this moment in time.
Each poem is an experience. Beautiful.

The first line of the poem My father, the astronaut: If the moon was Europe, my father was an astronaut who died on his way to the moon.

Thank you Netgalley and Random House UK for the e-ARC.