Review: Wild Dreamers - Margarita Engle - April 2024 Some books arrive in your life like a whisper on the wind—and Wild Dreamers was one of those for me. I received this beautiful hardback as a birthday Bookstagram gift (thank you to my lovely bookish friends—you know who you are!), and while it wasn’t the easiest read, it left me with a quiet sense of wonder. Written in verse by the ever-poetic Margarita Engle, Wild Dreamers tells the story of Ana and Leandro—two teens with heavy pasts and hopeful hearts. Ana lives out of a car with her mother after her father’s militant actions land him on the FBI’s most wanted list. Leandro battles anxiety after fleeing Cuba on a raft. Their paths cross one moonlit night in a California wilderness park, and from that moment, their connection blooms—both scientific and magical. I’ll admit, the verse format took me a while to settle into. It’s not my usual cup of tea, and I found myself rereading lines to catch the rhythm and meaning. But once I let g...

Review: Desolation and Epiphany - James W.A - October 2023 Recently, I have been catching up with reading some ARCS and that included a couple of poetry/prose books and one of those was James W.A's book Desolation and Epiphany. This poetry collection was split into two parts - Desolation which is almost down in your dumps, the sad poems, the poems where life feels like it isn't worth living.  These are emotions that we often all feel at one point in our lives, these are the days when we are at our darkest, the moments where we feel that no one understands and that there is no light at the end of the tunnel, a collection of who cares and what's the point. Desolation is like being the last slice of pizza left behind at a party—lonely, empty, and a little sad, with no one around to share the good vibes. The second half of the book is more positive and is titled Epiphany, this is where the author has decided to change his views from Negative Nancy to Positive Paula. This is wh...

Review: Sticks and Stones - Chelsea DeVries - December 2021 I have recently gotten back into reading poetry and verse format books as one of my favorites I used to enjoy and am looking forward to her new one is Ellen Hopkins, so when Happily Booked PR had Sticks and Stones available to read, I hopped on it. This one spoke to me as it would for anyone who has ever been stuck in a toxic work environment, harassed, bullied, and gaslighted. I also understood this author as she too is on the spectrum, even though I have been undiagnosed and my siblings were diagnosed as children, I know I have some of the tendencies and as I am getting older and doing more research, I am feeling less alone and able to connect. Sticks and Stones follows Chelsea's experiences as she writes them in the form of poems and a few stories scattered throughout Sticks and Stones. Reading this collection, I found myself transported back three years ago when I had to leave a job I had been in for 15 years as it had...

Review: Atrophy - Shilo Niziolek - September 2023 I don't normally get emotional in books, it has to be a very powerful book to bring me near to tears. Atrophy, I had no idea what I was in for as I opened the cover. The book was written in verse format which reminded me of Ellen Hopkins's writings. The author also touched on an edgy topic. In Atrophy, we meet our main female character who is 31 and suffering from cervical cancer and has lived with this chronic illness for a while now. The book also talks about Covid times with the vaccinations, the mask-wearing, and then the repercussions of the vaccination with the main character getting a blood clot in her leg. The book was written beautifully and in parts was very metaphorical with the imagery and language of what the main character was experiencing and going through. I felt this book hit the spot with me on an emotional level as currently my sister who is 15 months younger than me is going through Cancer at the moment and...