Review: Pieces of Me - Shaun Allan - July 2025 Poetry rarely finds its way onto my reading list. As someone who typically gravitates toward the thrillers and family sagas that populate my usual Zooloos Book Tours selections—stories brimming with romance and suspense—I approached Shaun Allan's Pieces of Me with curiosity rather than expectation. What I discovered was something profoundly different from my comfort zone, yet deeply necessary. Having lost my mother almost twelve years ago this December, when I was just twenty-seven, I found myself unexpectedly confronted by familiar echoes of grief . Shaun Allan's words became a mirror, reflecting experiences I recognized. Poetry, Shaun Allan demonstrates, transcends mere wordplay. It becomes emotion given tangible form—a sacred space where grief, hope, love, and uncertainty don't just coexist but dance together in harmony. Throughout this collection, we traverse the shadowy depths of mortality, loss, and mental health struggl...

      Review: Monday : Tall, Dark and Aromatic - Book #1 The Hookup Cafe - Fifi Flowers - April 2017 Get ready to swoon! Fifi Flowers delivers a delectable blend of romance, humor, and insta-love in her novella Monday Tall, Dark and Aromatic. This quick read offers readers a cozy escape into the life of Pansie, a charming café owner with a knack for brewing more than just coffee. Set in the whimsical Cafélicious, Pansie's Monday night poetry events take a steamy turn when Basil, a ruggedly handsome gardener with a poetic soul, takes the stage. Mistaken for a homeless man upon his arrival, Basil quickly proves he's much more than meets the eye, captivating the audience—and Pansie—with his sensual verses. When he directs his "panty-dropping" poetry toward her, sparks fly, and a delightful romance blooms. Flowers excels at crafting relatable, quirky characters who leap off the page. Pansie is a relatable heroine with her blend of confidence and vulnerability, while Bas...

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: The Universe in Verse - Maria Popova and Illustrated by Ofra Amit -October 2024 In Maria Popova's "The Universe in Verse," the marriage of science and poetry takes center stage, orchestrating a symphony where the left and right brain work in unison. This captivating exploration transcends conventional boundaries, offering an exquisite ode to wonder and a poignant journey through humanity's pursuit of truth and significance. At the heart of Maria Popova's narrative lies the belief that both poetry and science serve as instruments for delving into the depths of our world, fostering a profound intimacy and love for it. Across fifteen succinct essays, she delves into a spectrum of subjects, from the enigmatic realms of dark matter and the infinite elegance of pi to the enduring resilience of trees and the intricate intelligence of octopuses. What sets Popova's work apart is her seamless integration of scientific inquiry with the human narratives behind it...

Review: To Cutting Me Open and Spilling Me Out - N.S Burton - 2024 I don't often read a lot of poetry, but when I do I have enjoyed it as some of my favorite verse authors/poets are Ellen Hopkins and Lang Leav.  Recently I read a poetry book called Atrophy that touched me and so when I saw on Sunny Babe PR that they had a poetry book to read, I jumped at the chance again this was amazing and a book that will resonate with every female who has a break-up with someone who we all thought was going to be "the one". The one guy who we thought we would have forever, the one we put all of our heart and soul into the relationship - the one who despite everything we were rewarded by having our hearts pulled from our chests and then the hearts stomped on and then placed back into our chests. The hurt was so strong, that we turned to a dark place, and for some like the poet, that meant self-harm by cutting. I never personally reached that level but I turned to eating less and havin...

Diary of an Artist in Love The Muse Frequency Publication date: August 15th 2023 Genres: Adult, Poetry A slender, beautifully illustrated volume of 30 poems, enumerating love in all its configurations and crucibles: through enchantment, presence, magnetism, illusion, nature, restlessness, wonder, and memories that rise from our past, and follow us into our future. Readers will be immersed in a series of 15 poems called “Love is” I through XV, with 15 additional poems that sit between them, threading the eye of the needle that we call love, with topics that seem to successively build on one another and chronicle the different phases of this intangible marvel that rules our lives. These poems include: · “We Start Here” · “Stay With Me” · “Wondering” · “Beautiful Things” · “Limitless” For seekers, artists, lovers, moon-gazers, anyone that dares to glimpse the beating heart within, this collection is a goldmine of inspiration and magical fairy dust. On Audible Diary of a...

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...