3 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
What No One Says is a book of poems. The poet, Dee Aurora, writes a series of flowing verses that depict themes such as depression, abuse, loss, grief, and healing. Her poems dictate the unsaid thoughts and feelings of victims, children, mothers, and the brokenhearted. Some poems also reflect certain ideals of beauty and love. Although her poems reflect human experiences, she uses the elements of nature to evoke thoughts of encouragement and serenity. The aim of this book is to be a voice for people who may be silently struggling.
The poems in this book took me on a whirlwind of emotions. A diverse range of themes was explored and due to this, I found several poems that I could personally relate to. The poet wrote with such simplicity and truthfulness that she could have been a silent witness in my own life. Simple lines such as, “I know about the times you lay awake, drawing in your shuddering breaths, because of things you couldn’t take,” made me think about my past, especially the nights where I felt like I needed to cry without anyone else knowing. Some of the characters in her poems were nameless as the first person perspective was used. This made it easy for me to assimilate myself and my own experiences into the poem. This poetic strategy helped to conjure up my emotions in a powerful way.
The poems in this book were short and easy to understand, with just the right amount of poetic flare. I appreciated this because after reading just a few lines of each poem, I could recognize which theme was being portrayed. Therefore, it was easy for me to pick out the ones that resonated with me. Not all of the poems rhyme, but the messages in each one were clear.
One of the best features of this book was that the poet placed an emphasis on women’s struggles in the majority of the poems. I liked that she reflected upon beauty standards, society’s ideals of women, sexuality, and abuse because so many females in our society can relate to these themes. The poet also motivated women in her poems. She let them know that they are not alone in their experiences. She spoke about real love and encouraged her readers to teach love to their children because every generation has the opportunity to make the world better. I found this to be a very profound and uplifting concept for mothers and teachers.
There were not many errors in the book apart from missing commas and typos. However, the layout could have been revised because some poems were written in different font sizes, some were in bold type, and others were in italics. Furthermore, some poems were aligned to the left of the page, while others were aligned to the center. Due to this, 3 out of 4 stars is the rating I am giving this book. Once it has achieved a more consistent layout, I think it would be a good book for older teen girls and young adult women to read. Victims of abuse, oppression, and depression would also find solace from reading the poems.
******
What No One Says
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like KristyKhem's review? Post a comment saying so!
