*I received this ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

My god this was intense. And beautiful. And incredibly well written.

I did at times get confused about who the voice of the poem was and how some of the poems related to others.

But overall, this was water and fire and blood and ice and it was incredibly powerful.

I read it in one sitting, and it's so good. There're so many good values inside. You need to check this one out though cz I enjoyed reading it very much

“plus there is that feeling you get when you catch up with yourself.”

Okay not entirely sure what to make of this but can I just say I’m honoured to have read this so earlier on. It is a work of poetry that needs to be read (and not many live up to that standard) .

I liked how most of it was simple, there was depth, it was raw and it was the truth. But I have to say a few of the longer poems were quite strange, it was telling a story that I lost track of but when they were read I swiftly moved on to the highlights of this collection.

I read this collection within two days as it was hard to put down and the prose was very lyrical. Maybe it was the format that I read it, which influenced my experience but bone might not have lived up the hype surrounding. I expected some think more. Don’t get me wrong someone it is powerful but not exactly the wow factor.


Poetry is so important. Thank you to Netgalley for providing me a copy for an honest review.

I was quite excited when I was approved for this because I had been hearing a lot of great things about it from blogger friends who had read and loved it but as much as I enjoyed some of the poems, I was overall disappointed.

This is a powerful collection, the themes are hard and raw and some of the poems hit me so hard,  they left me gasping for air. But I found that the short ones are the ones who had the most effect, the really long ones -over one page- made me lose interest once they dragged and I ended up skimming many of them because I lost focus, which I think is more a “me” problem since I don’t think other people had that problem.

And that wasn’t helped by the line breaks, some ended on weak words, some disturbed the flow of the poem and some just didn’t make sense to me. I feel like a lot of these poems I would’ve like a lot better if the breaks were better situated. I know that because all the poems I loved had good line breaks, on powerful words that just strike a cord in me. They made me emotional, they made me think and reflect on a lot of things. Some I even could relate to which is always a nice plus.

So overall, this is a collection I would recommend because it deals with important issues and I believe that there’s a poem for everyone in there.

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

It is refreshing to see modern poetry that isn't just following the fashion of the author pressing return after every word, but instead is crafted with each word carefully chosen. Yrsa Daley-Ward tackles the themes of sex, death, the unlikeliness of romantic love and the conflict of being gay in secular religion in a way that cuts deep and makes you think. Not every poem resonated with me but even those that did not still gave me much to mull over. A raw, visceral and confronting collection.

Delicate and raw at once.

(Nearly 3.5) This debut collection from a Black British (Nigerian/Jamaican) performance poet reminded me most of Kate Tempest’s work. Some recurring themes are growing up in a fractured family, the highs versus occasional anguish of romantic love, and the complications of being gay in the context of conservative religion. I particularly liked “Coordinates” (“Every time I travel / I meet myself a little more / Sometimes you have to leave all your cities to fall in love”), “Poetry” (“You will come away bruised but this will give you poetry”) and the gently erotic “Panacea” and “Artichokes.” A prose story about a father’s funeral is another stand-out.

I quite liked this - it was powerful, and moving. Though not all the poems resonated, there was a lot in there that just hit me.

"You make me feel like myself again. Myself before I had any solid reason to be anything else."

Bone was beautifully written, the author has a talent in story telling. I didn't connect with all the poems but for some, I cried. It was so deep and tackled issues that we're so significant in our society.

Bone will be released this September 26th, 2017 by Andrews McMeel Publishing (first published June 16th, 2014). A copy was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is such a beautiful and heartbreaking collection of poems. Bone is the first collection of poems I've read and I loved it. It was so beautifully written, I could feel the emotion.

Bone is, quite frankly, simply stunning. Daley-Ward’s talent is so rare, so big, that her words left me shaking to my core. Hers is a poetry book that I know I’ll go back to again and again and again, through different stages of my life, just because each time I’ll get something more from it.

Her writing, which appealed so much to me, is not for everyone; she was a very distinct way of writing, one that will definitely set her apart from her peers and fellow poets. Poetry is, almost by definition, a peculiar genre; no two people in this world ever enjoy the exact same poetry or interpret it the exact same way. If you’re not yet sure which kind of poetry you’re into, or if you’re looking for something different, then this is definitely the book for you.

The entire book felt like a very first, rough draft, almost like a rough diamond. This way of writing only strengthens her message; it’s raw, it’s honest, and unabashedly true and authentic. She never shies away from the ugly reality and she uses her art very beautifully to share her struggles and her story. Her art touched my soul and I will be quick to read any other book she publishes.

**An ARC was provided via Netgalley in exchange of an honest review**

This is a collection of contemporary poems and short stories about various points in writer Yrsa Daley-Ward's life. I felt at times that we were taking a walk through the authors mind as she experience mental illness, death of a loved one, sexual abuse and more besides. Although not a poetry fan I enjoyed the poems more than the short stories, and felt the book could have been elevated slightly if it were more about the poems.

Having said that my favourite short story was called 'mental illness' and I think it perfectly captured the mixture of mundane day to day life with the struggle to carry on with mental health problems. Some of the other stories and poems I couldn't relate too as much, and I feel that's where they maybe fell short. I want poems that evoke emotions and stir up memories. Most of these didn't move me at all.

All together a good introduction to contemporary poetry, which perhaps may appeal to people more similar to the author and the authors experiences in life.

Bone is a striking and moving collection of poetry that focuses on growing up, love, sexuality, being different, and working through inner thoughts and feelings in stark ways. Daley-Ward’s poems vary from telling vivid stories in a tiny space (‘the not quite love’) and addressing concerns like growing up religious in a concise, direct way (‘liking things’) to longer, heartbreaking stories like ‘some kind of man’. There are poems that will strike a chord with teenagers and adults about love not being with the right people (‘emergency warning’, ‘I’ll admit it, I’m drawn to the wolves’) and poems that can offer advice, optimism, and blunt suggestions of regret (‘things it can take twenty years and a bad liver to find out’, ‘mental health’).

Her writing is distinctive and offers stark stories and emotion. Many of the poems in the book have particular endings, a couple of lines or so that hit you right in the chest. A number of pieces near the end also consider the act of writing poetry and where creation and truth come from, highlighting storytelling and using words to work through difficult things. It is hard to talk about Bone without wanting to go through and point out the best lines in everything; it is a collection of poetry to savour in its blunt emotion and careful expression.