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...

#VBT - You Won't Know Her Name - Shanti Hershenson - November 2021 I wasn't sure what to expect with this book but as I opened it, it was written in verse format - poetry and it had a lot of trigger warnings as it touched on bullying in various ways from physical and verbal abuse. Reading this book brought back memories of another author who set the bar for writing the edgy taboo topics in poetry format - Ellen Hopkins.  Unlike Ellen's books which are thick and average to be often quite long, You Won't Know Her Name by Shanti Hershenson was a quick read as it only took me 30 mins to read on my lunch break at work today. I also have a major cover crush on this title too. As someone who has bullied me and feels like I never really fit in, I loved this book as also I took to writing and reading like this main character. I also really felt for her as the girl in this book is only eleven going on twelve and that was about the same years as I was bullied as I was a poor gir...

If You're Listening... I have been trying to tell you that I've been dying every day of my life since you left me. If You're Listening... I have been trying to tell you that I haven't been fine for quite sometime and I'm not sure that I've ever been fine. If You're Listening... I hope you will try to save me because I can't save myself. If You're Listening... is a short-story collection that center around the themes of depression, self-harm, substance and drug abuse, and healing. These stories about the lives of fictional people who live in fictional worlds and yet we see them and walk past them every single day. This is a collection about pain, loss, and suffering but also the hope, the happiness, and the love that follows.   Amazon United States Amazon United Kingdom Amazon Denmark Amazon France Amazon Canada “I am many things but normal is not one of them,” says Aimee Shaye when asked to describe herself. She is a twent...

  Review: Triangles - Ellen Hopkins - October 2011 Growing up , I first discovered Ellen Hopkins's books when I was 14 years old and I loved them as she wrote in an unusual way and she targeted those topics which others had deemed "taboo" , then in the last few years she has started writing for adults which I quite like as it seems that she is moving through the age groups and following me. Ellen Hopkins's writing style is unusual for those who write novels normally as she writes in poetry verse. In Triangles , we meet three women and their families . We have Holly who is married to Jace and has three kids Trace , Mikayla and Brianna , Marissa who is married to Christian and has two kids - Shane and Shelby and Andrea who is a single mother with a daughter called Harley and an ex-husband Steve whom has a new girlfriend Cassandra and her son Chad.  To get the meaning of the word "Triangles" - Holly is best friends with Andrea and Andrea is sisters...

  Review: Kiss of Broken Glass - Madeline Kuderick - September 2014 Are you in the mood for some edgy teen reading ? This novel is written in the same format as Ellen Hopkins and Sonya Sones with the writing style being verses rather than your average book written format. It tells the story of Kenna who over the next 72 hours will experience life in the psych ward as she is caught cutting herself in the girls bathroom at school with the blade from her pencil sharpener . Cutting is one of those issues that has been around for a while and is one of the most popular ways of self-harming, the thought of cutting has even crossed my mind but then I see myself as a wimp for pain and for me - fingernails actually does the trick and it doesn't hurt as much psychologically as I believe cutting would. In this book though, it reminded me of an episode of Criminal Minds that I watched where Kids were hanging themselves and resuscitating themselves back alive for fun. At Kenna...