The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur // Simply Gorgeous.

The Sun and Her Flowers, by Rupi Kaur
Publication: October 3, 2017, by Andrews McMeel Publishing
Genre: Poetry
Pages: 256
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased
Rating: 

From Rupi Kaur, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of milk and honey, comes her long-awaited second collection of poetry. A vibrant and transcendent journey about growth and healing. Ancestry and honoring one’s roots. Expatriation and rising up to find a home within yourself.
Divided into five chapters and illustrated by Kaur, the sun and her flowers is a journey of wilting, falling, rooting, rising, and blooming. A celebration of love in all its forms.

My Thoughts

The Sun and Her Flowers was absolutely gorgeous. If I could use any word to describe this book as a whole, I would choose gorgeous. I never really understood the hype surrounding Rupi Kaur and her writing, but that suddenly changed once I read this story. Her poems are stunning, and cover so many precious, interesting topics, including feminism, love, family and self-love. I have so many favourite poems, and I found myself constantly bookmarking pages to save and to come back to when I need a refresher. This is a compilation of poems that will make you second-guess your entire existence, and will cause you to think about life a little more deeply.

Rupi Kaur writes about really sensitive topics. It's something you have to prepare yourself for when you pick this one up. These sensitive topics often are sad topics, and it might cause you to shed a tear or two. I picked this up while I spent time in Hawaii, in the midst of a tropical road trip through the mountains, and let me say: there was no better setting to read this book in. I definitely feel like this is the type of collection that you can constantly go back to; it contains poems that can treat different moods of yours and make a difference in your life/days.

The Sun and Her Flowers is stunning and so memorable that I know that I'll remember its impact on me for years to come. I cannot wait to see what else Rupi Kaur has in store for her readers.

The Language Inside by Holly Thompson Review

The Language Inside, by Holly Thompson
Published On: May 14, 2013, by Delacorte
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Poetry, Contemporary
Pages: 528
Format: Hardcover
Source: Borrowed
Rating: 

A nuanced novel in verse that explores identity in a multicultural world.
Emma Karas was raised in Japan; it's the country she calls home. But when her mother is diagnosed with breast cancer, Emma's family moves to a town outside Lowell, Massachusetts, to stay with Emma's grandmother while her mom undergoes treatment.
Emma feels out of place in the United States.She begins to have migraines, and longs to be back in Japan. At her grandmother's urging, she volunteers in a long-term care center to help Zena, a patient with locked-in syndrome, write down her poems. There, Emma meets Samnang, another volunteer, who assists elderly Cambodian refugees. Weekly visits to the care center, Zena's poems, dance, and noodle soup bring Emma and Samnang closer, until Emma must make a painful choice: stay in Massachusetts, or return home early to Japan.

   Poetry is just something that is gorgeous and has so many feelings. It's certainly something that is difficult to feel, as well. To be honest, The Language Inside was really missing that good feelings inside and out from me. It definitely had the potential to be gorgeously remarked by my masterfully reviewing skills. But instead, I felt like I was being blown away.

You see, my hair is flawless here but the book sure wasn't.

 

     Books that deal with cancer and depression always hit me in the heart, hard. I always, just always end up throwing the feels all around me and feel like I've just died. But really, this was the first case where I wasn't really that interested.

I had a theory which states:

    "Book lovers may have loved a specific genre and/or concept at one point during their life, but as time goes by, things change. You may hate sushi when you're 10, but when you're 20 you may adore it. You may adore dystopia, but then a little later you may hate it."

      Honestly, that was the cheesiest theory that one can make, but I feel proud of this truth that has occurred in my situation. Here are the main points of the plot that seemed too average:

a) Emma is a new girl and has never dealt with love before. Really, I've felt like I've dealt with this thousands of times before. Is this another repeat of High School Musical or what?

b) Emma can't seem to know who she is. *rolls eyes* And then, she's going to obviously meet a boy who's going to change her perspective of where she doesn't seem to fit in. EW.

c) She actually finds something that takes her mind off her struggles such as; her mother's cancer and her homesickness of Japan. Yeah, she does poetry. Cool. She's really not bad at it, either.

      This story was everything but unordinary. There were so many rolled-eyes moments where I wanted to pound my head against the nearest wall to me. After telling you the three cheesiest things in the story, I guess that you're able to guess the plot. Emma Karas has lived in Japan for almost her whole entire life, until her mother finds out that she has breast cancer and decides to move their whole entire family to Massachusetts where she'll be undergoing treatment and they'll all be living with their grandmother. There, Emma feels lost and homesick for her only real home in Japan and decides to start volunteering in a long-term centre and meets Zena, a patient with locked-in syndrome—who actually helps Emma a lot more than she expected.

       Even though there were those moments where I thought of this as nothing special, there were many sweet and special moments of love and humble in this book where I was actually squealing to the point where my hands flew off. Okay, not that much craziness.

      As poetry usually is for me, this was a very quick read—I finished this in 2 hours with almost no stopping because I really wanted to see how everything would turn out by the end. I guess that's the magic of these types of contemporary novels. You're interested, but maybe not as much as you wish to be—it was mainly nothing special. 

      Was there romance? Sure, there was a tiny bit, but nothing too large to fangirl about. It was Sam, and the summary did seem to make a big deal of him and Emma together, but in the end, I rolled my eyes. I didn't like him so much...? *cries* Although I did want to. 

        

EWWWWW.              

       You have to admit that everyone's all striving and hoping for different things while reading. For me, I probably would've wanted more seriousness and detail and less page breaks while reading this book. The poetry was okay, but I feel like it could've had a stronger story with more depth added into it. I did see that there was a fantastic balance of characters added into the story, as they were strong and truly fit the role of the book. More depth, better writing, and something more to look forward for will equal something perfect.

Out of This Place, by Emma Cameron

Out of This Place, by Emma Cameron

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Poetry, Romance

Rating: 2/5 stars

Publication: May 14, 2013, by Candlewick Press

Format: Hardcover Edition (borrowed)



Goodreads Summary: In verse, three teen voices sound. Beach bum Luke works shifts at the local supermarket, and avoids trouble at school. His mate Bongo gets wasted, blocks out memories of the little brother social services took away and avoids the stepdad who hits him. Casey, the girl they both love, dreams of escaping to a free new life.


Review:

      I love poetry. I really do. And poetry incorporated with YA novels are just magnificent, and utterly unique than the normal way we see literature. One of the reasons why I picked this book up was because, well, the poetry. 

      This book disappointed me. I expected something better and wiser and so touching that it could just break my delicate heart that often cracks in half when characters just make me cry. This book wasn't even close to that level. Contemporary, yes, but no intriguing.

       This is a verse novel. Three main characters/protagonists are telling the story, and each POV of theirs is split into three sections of the book, and each person gets to tell their story of how they get out of high school and survive with their problems in 1/3 of the book. Of course, there are mentions of the protagonists in the opposite characters' points-of-view. Luke is your average teenager who just wants to leave his hometown and go out into the real world, while his friend Bongo gets wasted all of the time and gets beaten by his stepdad. Casey just can't wait to start a new life. This is their journey of going into adulthood, and into the real world where there are even more challenges.

      The largest dilemma that this book gave me was the fact that there was no plot. What was the main point of this book? I didn't see it at all, and that frustrated me very much. No-plot novels just seem useless to me, and I'm usually left questioned for the rest of the book. 

       I almost DNF-ed this book. But I really liked the characters, so I decided to read it until the end since it wasn't a long-length read. But if it was 350 pages+, I'd be out of here ASAP.

       Since there was no use in the plot, a lot of the book went downhill, obviously. I really liked the issues incorporated with the book--abuse, hate, depression, all of it addicts me. The whole book was pretty slow-paced, with no much happening.

       So, yes, I did love the characters, especially my hottie new-boy Luke. 

      No other words or photos needed.

      I didn't like Bongo too much because he didn't believe in the real world, but he was acceptable at times, especially during his love moments for Casey and his love for his little brother. Casey was just awesome, though. 

      In conclusion, this book was mostly bad, but it did have some good in it. I don't recommend it, but you should give it a try if you want. Maybe your opinion will be different than mine. :)

And We Stay, by Jenny Hubbard

And We Stay, by Jenny Hubbard

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Romance

Rating: 4/5 stars

Publication: January 28, 2014, by Delacorte Press

Format: Hardcover Edition (borrowed)







Goodreads Summary: When high school senior Paul Wagoner walks into his school library with a stolen gun, he threatens his girlfriend Emily Beam, then takes his own life. In the wake of the tragedy, an angry and guilt-ridden Emily is shipped off to boarding school in Amherst, Massachusetts, where she encounters a ghostly presence who shares her name. The spirit of Emily Dickinson and two quirky girls offer helping hands, but it is up to Emily to heal her own damaged self.

This inventive story, told in verse and in prose, paints the aftermath of tragedy as a landscape where there is good behind the bad, hope inside the despair, and springtime under the snow.

Review:

"This is where her story

begins and ends. This is where

her story ends and begins.

In her story, the telling 

is not linear. The telling 

is a circle, the shape of earth."

  Poetry is rarely incorporated with a book, but when it is, it's truly something worth reading for. I, in fact, adore poetry. Some people believe that the message is unclear, or it's confusing, but I see the meaning like it's crystal clear. Having the author get the protagonist of this book, Emily, to have a love for poetry is beautiful. For Emily, poetry was her only way to escape the world, to escape the troubles that she went through not too long ago. This is a stunningly written book, and poetry is just one part of it, truly. 

   This is written in a third-person narrative, which usually confuses me. Coming from this story, I was okay because the story was very powerful and imperfect, which in Emily's case, is capable of handling. Emily is sent to a boarding school in Amherst, Massachusetts, after the wakening of the tragedy that she went through not too long ago--Emily got pregnant with her boyfriend, Paul. She breaks up with him and two days later, Paul pulls up a gun at Emily, and takes his own life. Emily was left damaged, and her parents believed that boarding school will keep her away from the memories that broke her, and the ones that saved her.

    If I were you, I'd seriously take a note to self to keep in mind: this is a very depressing read. 

      This is not a bright, cheerful read. I got really sad after finishing this book. It's a story that you really need to think deeply about and to understand it, you'll need to read between the lines. Powerful stories like this are always amazing and are the hardest ones to rave and talk about because the message is so glorious and moving.

       So yes, the concept of this book was beautiful. It had a mix of everything: romance, boarding-school, suicide, depression, poetry, and death. Jenny Hubbard has just done it right. I recommend this book to lovers of contemporary books and ones who are ready to get out of their comfort zone. Also, if you've read Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak, go for this one. It's a little more milder, but totally great.

        The only thing that upset me with this book was the fact that it didn't really go anywhere. We can tell that there's a strong idea and message being pushed out into the reader, but I didn't see the book being moving. The message was, but the plot wasn't. There weren't any plot twists or moment when we just wanted to scream at the author for making something horrible happen. It was very slow and the book was just showing Emily's recovery. It was fast-paced (especially since the book is fairly short) but I wanted events.

         Like I said above, I love the fact that this deals with poetry. Emily has really inspired me to read more poetry, and especially from Emily Dickinson. 

         "If I read a book and it makes my whole body so cold no fire can ever warm me, I know that is poetry." -Emily Dickinson

          Yeah, that really describes Emily's poetry. Emily was such a bold, special, amazing protagonist. I felt so much sympathy for her because of everything what happened; she was a gorgeous person with an unique personality and didn't deserve everything. And after everything what had happened, she was still broken inside and out. 

          But my favourite character of them all was K.A. This girl was unbelievable. She was so kick-ass and daring. She truly was Emily's best friend by the end, and that meant a lot to me because we rarely see book friendships. :)

           This book was fabulous, special. It's one that you'll never hear about ever. It's something unique and amazing. I recommend it 100%, despite the disadvantage.