This collection of poetry by Warsan Shire is a startling one, full of insight, incredibly powerful and deeply moving. Exploring what it means to be a black woman in this world, she finds new ways to express universal truths, whilst speaking to the unique experience of one person. After reading this I will be tracking down more by her.

ARC provided through NetGalley for an honest review, thank you to them and the publishers and to Warsan Shire for a memorable collection.

Really beautiful poetry. A lot of it is repurposed from other volumes, which I wasn't expecting, but that's only a problem if you've already read Warsan Shire's full corpus. If you're a new reader, then it won't matter one whit. Warsan Shire is one of the most exciting poets writing today, and I'm so grateful to finally have a full length work from her. I couldn't pick a favourite from these. They're heartbreaking and beautiful and there are so many lines that stand out; you'd end up highlighting the whole book if you tried to pick out the most evocative.

The sole criticism I have of this one is that some of the poems were quite repetitive, using the same imagery in the same way, as though they were reworkings of the same root poem. That's not a problem if the text is structured in a way that makes use of this as a deliberate device, such as by placing both poems next to each other or using them to bookend other poems, but it seemed randomly spaced out so as to disguise these similarities rather than celebrate them, and that made the poems lose some of their resonance for me.

Still, this is one I'll be thinking about for a very long time. Many of these poems call to be read over and over again, until you can recite them off by heart. The language is rich and gorgeous. The imagery is striking in a way you can physically feel. As a collection, it could have been structured better, but every individual poem is incredible.

Warsan Shire's first volume of poetry for a mass audience is, ironically, a sort-of greatest hits for those who have followed her work for years (or listened to Beyonce's 'Lemonade'). The level of her internet fame is such that you probably already know that, and you're probably surprised it took this long to materialise.

Shire's poems are like ripe fruit; a proper sensual experience. They dance the line between longing and shame, between memory and bitter nostalgia. The images she talks about are sometimes hazy or dreamlike, an echo of how trauma can mess with your memory. Running through the volume are observations on a mother figure. Is she tragic or abusive or both? Shire knows there is no neat answer. A beautiful book.

POETRY
Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head by Warsan Shire
PUBLISH DATE - 10 March 2022

''No one leaves home unless home is the mouth of a shark''

Apart from the long title of this book, I was interested to read this poetry collection. I did wanted to read this collection of poems but sorry to say, the poems did not 'speak to me' with the exception of HOME, which the above sentence was taken. I found the poems uncomfortable, raw and difficult to read at times.

I give a 3 star rating

I WANT TO THANK NETGALLEY FOR THE OPPORTUNITY OF READING AN ADVANCED COPY OF THIS BOOK FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.

‘Mama, I made it out of your home alive, raised by the voices in my head.’

i first came across warsan shire’s poetry in 2020, after reading the poet’s short collection called ‘teaching my mother how to give birth’, and i’m thus grateful to have received an advanced e-copy of her newest book. as in shire’s previous work, ‘bless the daughter raised by the voices in her head’ similarly encompasses a handful of poetry that is visceral and gut-punching, of which i’m sure will resonate with many readers. most impressive about this collection is that in such a short length of work, the scope of shire’s focus is shockingly vast, combining raw, eloquent poetry with electrifying details to explore the everyday violences, pains and losses experienced by refugees, immigrants, women and girls, and mothers and daughters.

shire’s is one of the most unique poetic voices i have read, and although i personally preferred the aforementioned previous poetry collection more, i would still recommend this to those readers looking for poets with a unique style of writing. note: content warnings for discussions of war and sexual violence within this collection.

many thanks to penguin random house uk, vintage for my netgalley e-arc :)

I loved the premise of this poetry book, I also really liked the opening poems.
However, the more this book went on, the more frustrated I became about the portrayal of women, and mental health.
I found it really patronising, and there was no heart to it at all in my opinion.
Really flat poems that gave no feeling to me when reading.

I didn't like the way mental health was portrayed in this book at all!
I know i'm in the minority, based on the other reviews but this just wasn't for me!

This is a book of poetry that is a quick and enjoyable read. It's not normally the sort of thing I would read but I liked it.

I wasn’t the biggest fan of this poetry collection. I enjoyed some poems and not others. However, the writing was incredible, I just didn’t relate to the poems. I find poetry is subjective so it's hard to review. What I might not enjoy, someone else will love. Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for a chance to read and review this book.

I was extremely excited to see this on NetGalley and it didn’t disappoint. It’s a strong collection of emotional, powerful and raw poetry that is a great continuation of her work.