bone

This is a collection of contemporary poems and short stories about various points in writer Yrsa Daley-Ward's life. I felt at times that we were taking a walk through the authors mind as she experience mental illness, death of a loved one, sexual abuse and more besides. Although not a poetry fan I enjoyed the poems more than the short stories, and felt the book could have been elevated slightly if it were more about the poems.

Having said that my favourite short story was called 'mental illness' and I think it perfectly captured the mixture of mundane day to day life with the struggle to carry on with mental health problems. Some of the other stories and poems I couldn't relate too as much, and I feel that's where they maybe fell short. I want poems that evoke emotions and stir up memories. Most of these didn't move me at all.

All together a good introduction to contemporary poetry, which perhaps may appeal to people more similar to the author and the authors experiences in life.

Bone is a striking and moving collection of poetry that focuses on growing up, love, sexuality, being different, and working through inner thoughts and feelings in stark ways. Daley-Ward’s poems vary from telling vivid stories in a tiny space (‘the not quite love’) and addressing concerns like growing up religious in a concise, direct way (‘liking things’) to longer, heartbreaking stories like ‘some kind of man’. There are poems that will strike a chord with teenagers and adults about love not being with the right people (‘emergency warning’, ‘I’ll admit it, I’m drawn to the wolves’) and poems that can offer advice, optimism, and blunt suggestions of regret (‘things it can take twenty years and a bad liver to find out’, ‘mental health’).

Her writing is distinctive and offers stark stories and emotion. Many of the poems in the book have particular endings, a couple of lines or so that hit you right in the chest. A number of pieces near the end also consider the act of writing poetry and where creation and truth come from, highlighting storytelling and using words to work through difficult things. It is hard to talk about Bone without wanting to go through and point out the best lines in everything; it is a collection of poetry to savour in its blunt emotion and careful expression.

Bone is, quite frankly, simply stunning. Daley-Ward’s talent is so rare, so big, that her words left me shaking to my core. Hers is a poetry book that I know I’ll go back to again and again and again, through different stages of my life, just because each time I’ll get something more from it.

Her writing, which appealed so much to me, is not for everyone; she was a very distinct way of writing, one that will definitely set her apart from her peers and fellow poets. Poetry is, almost by definition, a peculiar genre; no two people in this world ever enjoy the exact same poetry or interpret it the exact same way. If you’re not yet sure which kind of poetry you’re into, or if you’re looking for something different, then this is definitely the book for you.

The entire book felt like a very first, rough draft, almost like a rough diamond. This way of writing only strengthens her message; it’s raw, it’s honest, and unabashedly true and authentic. She never shies away from the ugly reality and she uses her art very beautifully to share her struggles and her story. Her art touched my soul and I will be quick to read any other book she publishes.

**An ARC was provided via Netgalley in exchange of an honest review**

This is such a beautiful and heartbreaking collection of poems. Bone is the first collection of poems I've read and I loved it. It was so beautifully written, I could feel the emotion.

It's hard for me to write a review for this book. The poems are so intensely powerful that you have no choice but to feel something. Some of them are beautiful, some incredibly sad. bone deals with such important topics that it cannot and more importantly should not be ignored.
The thing about poetry is that it's very individual, it becomes a being of its own. I depends solely on the reader what interpretation they chose or what feelings are provoked. At first I found it hard to connect with bone. My problem is that I'm a cynical, straight, white teenage girl from an average family who knows nothing about life and even despite that claims to be an atheist. At first I was sceptical - I don't read poetry on normal bases, in fact the only book of poetry I'd read before this was a collection by Edgar Allan Poe. The poems didn't do much for me. But as I gradually became more open-minded, I started to see that no matter who I am, what I am and what I've been through, this book does do a take on topics I could relate to, things we all went through. And the author isn't always gentle. By the end of the book, I was in love with it.

"You make me feel like myself again. Myself before I had any solid reason to be anything else."

Bone was beautifully written, the author has a talent in story telling. I didn't connect with all the poems but for some, I cried. It was so deep and tackled issues that we're so significant in our society.

Bone will be released this September 26th, 2017 by Andrews McMeel Publishing (first published June 16th, 2014). A copy was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I quite liked this - it was powerful, and moving. Though not all the poems resonated, there was a lot in there that just hit me.

Delicate and raw at once.

A heartbreaking, painful, hopeful, gorgeously written poetry book with pieces that were so sad and with the capacity to make you feel a range of emotions. It made me feel things with such rawness and even though I wasn't completely invested in all the poems, I was invested in the entire story Yrsa Daley-Ward was telling and I was hoping for so many good things. It's the definition of a clear, direct and hard to read story but that is so needed to understand what she was trying to say and convey here. It was devastating but at the same time it was so brilliantly constructed in a way that took you through an entire journey that was so difficult to follow. I was so engaged in hearing this story and the language was simple but used in such a way that created pieces of work that shined and came alive. It talked about sex, death, abuse, relationships, identity -blending her West Indian (Jamaican) and West African (Nigerian) cultures with her writing- and mental illnesses. I recommend it if you want to read good poetry but be aware of the trigger warnings since it's very raw, like I said.