Girls That Never Die

Safia Elhillo writes beautifully even when describing the most awful experiences. It was hauntingly powerful. As well as being a joy to read, it has taught me a lot too. Wow wow wow

Thank you Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Girls That Never Die by Safia Elhillo is a triumphant collection which unpicks, displays and criticises what it means to be a girl, particularly one raised across more than one culture.

Elhillo focuses on the use of a name - what it means, where it is from, what is both taken and bestowed when we are named and how we are shaped thereafter. From here, Elhillo's poetry and prose spans these different experiences with an emphasis on how girls are made women in their innocence as their innocence is stripped or 'cut'.

For once, this is a poetry collection that doesn't centre a Western narrative either. I believe it is the first time FGM has been mentioned and written about, and I admire Elhillo for tackling this stigma, to criticise why FGM is taboo when we know it happens and forever alters the girls who suffer with the consequences.

Thus, Girls That Never Die is incredibly important. Reminiscent of Warsan Shire, but unique in Elhillo's subject matter and voice.

beautiful, raw, tender & heartbreaking. i love poetry that makes you feel seen in the most terrible & deepest parts of you that you thought you would never be able to talk about but then see the words spelled out perfectly in front of you & think one day you might change your mind. ‘everything we allowed to be done to us in silence. to ask for help would be to speak and of course we never spoke’ i’m itching to get my hands on a physical copy so that i can annotate & read & reread every time i am sad or lonely or need to feel comforted & understood the same way i reach for bluets by maggie nelson

What a gorgeous poetry collection to start the year with. Elhillo writes about being a Muslim woman and what that means to her, how it relates to the world around her.

It’s also about shame, especially what that means for women & girls. An extremely heavy topic covered is FGM, it looms large and unaddressed by the subjects in these poems. It is something that is done but never spoken about, a perpetual cycle of violence often carried out by those victim to it. I found it extremely chilling.

Elhillo was raised in the US but her family is from Sudan and she muses on how these two identities live within her. This collection is both tender & angry and made for a reading experience I don’t think I’ve had yet.

Will be so keen to pick up the authors other work, this has really piqued my interest!

Now this is a poetry collection, Arresting, beautiful and honest, I savoured each and every poem.

Girlhood, womanhood, shame, family, heritage and growing pains are so well encapsulated in Elhillo's carefully curated words and intentional use of form and space.

I look forward to reading more of Elhillo's poems.

Elhillo has crafted a beautiful collection of moving pieces on faith, womanhood, community, and survival. At turns haunting and inspiring, she wields language like a master painter. I found myself laughing, smiling, and tearing up at the works in the collection. So many beautiful, vital verses here that feel so powerful they almost demand to be re-read. I will definitely be adding this to my collection.

A beautiful collection of poetry, raw and at times visceral. Provides a new perspective on a culture/experience different from my own, but also touches on topics I'm familiar with such as misogyny and sexual assault. This is definitely one I will revisit.

This was a really moving poetry collection. The poems flowed into one another really well, and the different visuals for some of the poems were so captivating. A really heartbreaking and healing journey.