Another book I finished today. It was such an wonderful experience to have 2 books finished in a day. Another book I read in one sitting, and I just found out that I wasn't really into some poetry books these past few days, I dont really know what happened to me, but if you're a big fan of poetry books, you definitely need to check this one out. 3 stars out of 5 from me, :)

I enjoyed this poetry collection and I liked the way it was written.

This is my first time reading a book/ poetry by this author. I received an ecopy through NetGalley. The cover intrigued me. The poetry in this book was different than what I am use to. Some of them really made me think and I enjoyed them, and others I couldn’t really get a grasp of the emotion I felt I needed to be able to fully enjoy the poetry.

"when the sky fell...you would think i would have run...i stood cemented in the relief there was nowhere else to go..."

This collection of poems by Sabrina Benaim was brutal. And achingly beautiful.

I had never seen Benaim perform "Explaining My Depression to My Mother," nor had I heard of her before receiving a copy of <i>Depression & Other Magic Tricks</i> from Netgalley. In many ways I think that made this reading experience more powerful to me. I had no expectations, so the deliberate yet effortless way she writes about her anxiety, depression, and loss cut me deeply. And then lovingly she poured salt onto the wound. So many of these poems felt relatable, somehow striking a balance where they were specific and still open, a universality many can't achieve quite so gracefully. Even though not every poem resonated, I particularly liked "nature vs nurture" and the "magic trick" series. All in all, the highs far outweigh the lows and I will definitely be adding a physical copy of this to my collection.

2.5 It was a nice book, a short and quick read, and unfortunately nothing too memorable. The descriptions often seemed somewhat clichéd and there were plenty of stereotypes in there. I liked the parts when the author was honest, telling us what she has experienced and how she got through it, but it all got under-developed after a half.

The construction of the poems themselves isn't very different from any free verse poetry I've encountered. There were some good metaphors, but it all felt too sugary and falsely sad - and that's not something I wanted to read about, as I live with anxiety and have fallen in depression many times. I do remember most of the verses of "Explaining My Depression to My Mother", as it was really exquisite. The line I am sleepwalking on an ocean of happiness I cannot baptise myself in was truly haunting and a beautiful use of language.
Anyway, I did like this book but can't see myself getting back to it any time in the future - except, maybe, to the poem I've mentioned.

This is one of those books that just keeps getting better and better the more you mull over what you have read! I have highlighted so many passages that just made me pause in wonder at how simple but powerful words can be. Highly recommended!

Another Button Poetry book I couldn't wait to get my hands on. Sabrina Benaim was the first poet who sparked my love for Button Poetry and this book does not disappoint. Watching and feeling her cycle of strength, perseverance and healing is stunning. It's inspirational and full of raw emotion.

This was okay, nothing I particularly loved but nothing I hated either. You may enjoy it, you may not.

First of all, reviewing poetry books are hard because I always find myself clueless on where to begin with…

Anyway, let’s try.

I had pretty high expectations for this book after reading a few reviews, although this book didn’t disappoint totally but it didn’t manage to touch my heart either. This collection discusses themes related to mental health, family, relationships, and self-care.

As much as I didn’t fall in love with this book, there were some parts which I could totally relate to. Especially the one- “Explaining My Depression to My Mother“. It took my mother more than 6 months to understand, or at least comprehend some of it and it took me more than 6 months to gather the courage to get help, so this poem did hit hard home.

"if I am holding you without hands,
how am i supposed to let go?"
(gravity speaks)


But there were some poems which were rather confusing. I also didn’t know that she did slam poetry, listening to her (link given above) felt like a totally different experience than reading this book and I understood that it was that particular emotion I felt lacking while reading this book. Hearing her was a rather powerful and wow experience which I didn’t exactly feel while reading this.

Anyway, my favourite poems from this collection including the above were the loneliest sweet potato, dear Beyonce (I), how to fold a memory, unrequited in nine acts among the few.

Depression & Other Magic Tricks is a collection of poems from Sabrina Benaim, a poet with one of the most popular videos of a performance out there. While that is the thing that drew me to this collection, the rest of the work is just as strong and emotional as that performance.

What I liked about this collection is that is doesn't shy away or try to put anything in a standard box. It's real and even as personal as it is to the poet, still relatable to a wide audience. The only thing I didn't enjoy is that some of the poetry is written in a block paragraph form, which I've always found difficult to maintain my attention span while reading. Other than that, it's a superb collection.

Simply put, this is a thought-provoking and compelling collection of poetry. I was immediately drawn to this book for a few reasons. The first being the title and cover which were both just beautifully enticing. Then the description had me even more interested, so I entered with high hopes and I'm pleased to report that I wasn't let down.
Truly, this was a great collection of poetry.

At-a-Glance Review: Depression & Other Magic Tricks is a good-sometimes-great collection of poetry about love and mental health, and the ways in which they intersect. My biggest issue was with choppiness in some of the poems, but that style might be what other readers of poetry prefer.

Content Warnings:
- mental health (anxiety, depression)
- sexuality exploration (kissing, mentions of nakedness – not graphic)

Babbling Review:

Guys, I’ve been excited to read this book for months. Like many other readers and reviewers, I discovered Sabrina Benaim’s poetry via the internet (Facebook, specifically) and her performance poetry videos. “explaining my depression to my mother (a conversation)” blew my mind and stuck with me; I re-watched/re-listened multiple times and showed it to everyone I know (except my own mother). When I read this poem out loud myself, directly from the book, to my husband while laying in our bed in the dark… I read it how Benaim performed (ish; I’m not a performer myself).

Anyway, I joined NetGalley a couple of weeks ago (if you like reading, get on it), and saw this book was available. I requested it, crossed all of my fingers and toes, and did a happy dance when I found out I’d be given a copy. I dove in that night, read a handful, re-read them, and then put it down to sleep on them.

My feelings about this collection: warmth, aching, understanding, resonance, gratitude; there were a few moments of confusion and slight disappointment. By the rating at the top of this review, though, you know I liked this book.

I liked Benaim’s voice throughout, the way her long lines and prose poems suggested artful streams of consciousness. I liked the lowercase aesthetic (in fact, I love all-lowercase aesthetic); I also liked that proper nouns were capitalized, and that a few of those proper nouns were “Beyoncé”. Though the format changes poem to poem, Benaim’s voice and parts of her style are strong.

My favorites were the prose poems and the poems with long lines with fewer breaks. Benaim is a fabulous prose poet, in my opinion. She writes gorgeous lines, creates wonderful metaphors and imagery, and blocks work well for her as she uses more full sentences than phrases — even in her poems without punctuation. Her writing style is narrative, and it works for her. The mostly-lowercase, mostly-complete sentences are what make her voice hers. To remove the extra pronouns to better fit broken lines would take away from her style and voice.

I do think, however, she could work on her format style. She’s well suited to block poetry and long lines, rather than short lines (three words or fewer) or blocks with way too many slashes. I found that her poems worked best when left long, broken up by a well-placed line for breath here and a slash (as a substitute for a punctuation mark) there. Longer lines are where Benaim shines, like in these excerpts from “follow-up a prayer / a spell”:

i am not alone because i feel alone
i am not alone because i feel alone / with company

i forgive myself even if i am the last person i want to forgive
whatever i have come from / wherever i am going

Her poems made up of short line lengths were choppy and, really, the weakest of her poems because of that choppiness. They seemed to be filler poems to add length to the collection. That is to say, they were fine, but they weren’t great. The block poems were good but ruined by the excessive number of slashes; they suffered the same choppiness as the poems with excessive line breaks.

Choppiness aside, Benaim handles anxiety and depression beautifully, explores mental health experiences with vivid and precise imagery that I wish I could utilize myself. (Example: “girl behind you” will resonate with every anxious person who feels like everyone is staring at them when they go out in public; Benaim hits the nail on the head with the details she highlights.)

Overall, Depression & Other Magic Tricks is a good-sometimes-great collection of poetry about love and mental health, and the ways in which they intersect. There were a few poems that I personally would have cut, but they did not ultimately detract from the reading experience in a glaring way. My biggest issue was with choppiness in some of the poems, but that style might be what other readers of poetry prefer. I do recommend this book to anyone who likes contemporary poetry. I’ll be re-reading many of these poems again and again, as I got something new out of them each instance I re-read them for this review.

Depression & Other Magic Tricks is a poetry collection with poems about mental health, love and family. Depression & Other Magic Tricks is Sabrina Benaim’s debut novel.


Depression & Other Magic Tricks is my third poetry collection that I’ve read and really liked. I didn’t love it because some poems were really weird or I didn’t fully understand certain poems. I do have some favourites that I really liked:

single
that awkward moment
magic trick 001
(i)
(ii)
how to fold a memory
on releasing light
magic trick 003
poem from the moment after you left for chimwemwe
so my friend tells me she identifies as a mermaid…

Some of the poems were relatable or just really good and enjoyable to read. I love that the poems are about mental health, love and family. Those are the most important things in life. Sabrina Benaim has a special way of writing poems and I cannot wait to discover more poems written by her!

I first encountered Sabrina Benaim's particular flavour of writing, one long night when I'd fallen into a Button Poetry hole on YouTube, and had the most cathartic experience of my life, watching amazing and talented people putting into everything I never knew could be put into words. 

Sabrina Benaim's voice is so powerful and distinctive, and it translates perfectly into the written form. You don't need to have heard her powerful reading of "Explaining My Depression to My Mother: A Conversation." to be able to follow the contours of her voice as you read her poem. The way she writes is so unique to her, that you could encounter any of the poems in this book anywhere else, and you would still be able to think, "Oh, that's a Sabrina Benaim."

I honestly enjoyed the book. The poems were all very clean (even while intentionally messy), and personal in a way that demands that you give something of yourself as you read along. I did not feel drawn to her more "Romantic" poems, but I was still able to enjoy them. Nothing in this book feels unnecessary or added just for the sake of adding things, which unfortunately is quite common in poetry compilations and chapbooks.

My favorite quote of the entire book (and trust me, it was hard to pick) is  "What you see is what you get, but that's not all there is." because I think it can very  succinctly describe the reading of the book, especially if you are someone who, like me, came here from "Explaining My Depression to My Mother", and had preconceived idea of what this would be like. 

The book is about depression, yes. But it is also about so much more than that, and I think this is definitely something that should be approached with an open mind and heart, knowing that yes there is sadness and panic here, but there's also laughter, advice and joy. Oh, and magic, of course, every book as a little bit of that.

I was delighted to receive an ARC of this book, because I've seen Sabrina's infamous poetry recitals floating around facebook and youtube, and love her rawness and authenticity. Unfortunately, her collection doesn't quite live up to expectations; I found that her best works were the ones I'd already heard and read, and a bit of the rest of the book is repetitive. That said, she's still an incredible poet and I'd recommend checking her work out if you enjoy sad, anxious words about unrequited love and mental health struggles.

Thank you to NetGalley and Button Poetry for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Depression & Other Magic Tricks explores themes of mental health, love, and family. Many of the poems you find in this book has previously been performed at button poetry, and now you can get your hand on them in the written form.

While reading this book, I found that reading each poem out loud gave a lot more of detail and I do not think any of the poems in this book ever were supposed to just sit on the page. These poems are supposed to be read out loud, they are supposed to be performed, it is the sound of each word and each pause that gives the poem their power.


There were many good poems in this collection, some poems I came to adore, and there were some poems I did not care for. If this collection lived up to the hype "Explaining My Depression to My Mother" created, I am not sure, but the poem was in this collection too. After reading the whole collection I do not think that each and every one of the poem lived up to "Explaining My Depression to My Mother", but I found quite a few favorite poems.

My short list of favorite poems from this collection: "unrequited in nine acts" (below), "On getting over you for real" & "on releasing light"


On overall I thoroughly enjoyed reading this poetry collection, with it highs and lows, its battles and triumphs. The topics were easy to relate to and the issue of mental illness was overlying through the whole collection.

misery loves company (or mine does, anyway)

my grandmother says
heartache is
a hungry caterpillar
that must be fed
so it can grow
wings
& fly away
(“feed a fever, starve a cold”)

the girl gets carried away.
she is the sugar cube,
love is the cup of
darjeeling – she
dissolves,
faster
than
you
think
she
will.
(“magic trick 001”)

I’d never heard of Sabrina Benaim before spotting (and immediately downloading) a copy of her poetry book, DEPRESSION & OTHER MAGIC TRICKS, on NetGalley. Later I learned that a live reading of her poem “Explaining My Depression to My Mother” went viral a few years back, with over five million views on YouTube, reportedly making Benaim “one of the most-viewed performance poets of all time.” And indeed, it is awesome and lovely and well, well worth the hype.

Though “Explaining My Depression to My Mother” is indeed one of the fifty-three poems found in DEPRESSION & OTHER MAGIC TRICKS, you should definitely check out Benaim’s reading as well; her performance is brimming with frenetic, nervous energy that lends the poem an added sense of urgency. Anyone who has found themselves trying to explain the invisible, elusory monster that is depression to a non-believer will relate to lines like this:

mom says happy is a decision.

OR

mom says i am so good at making
something out of nothing,
and then flat out asks me if i am
afraid of dying.
no,
i am afraid of living.

After the sudden death of my husband earlier this year, I had to make my family understand just how bad my anxiety and depression had gotten in the years since I left home. Like, it was literally a matter of life and death. Survival. Luckily, everyone around me seems to understand what I mean when I say “depression” – thank pop culture or my younger sister, whose issues maybe paved the way for the revelation of mine – but “social anxiety” is a whole ‘nother mess. People hear “social anxiety” and think: Shyness. Introvert. Quiet. Loner. Misanthrope. What they don’t hear is “mental illness.” Drugs (maybe) and therapy (definitely) and professional help. “Explaining My Depression to My Mother” is heartbreaking and darkly funny and entirely too relatable, in more ways than I’d like.

Despite the collection’s title, not all of the poems explicitly focus on depression. Love, grief, parental estrangement, self-esteem, friendship – all make an appearance here, and why not? Life is a multi-faceted thing. Yet many, if not all, of the poems are tinged with an air of sadness, and why not? Depression sinks its poisonous tentacles into everything, it seems. It cannot be cornered or contained. It’s like that darned fog in Stephen King’s “The Mist.”

Aside from the obvious – birds of a feather, and all that jazz – I like DEPRESSION & OTHER MAGIC TRICKS for two reasons: I actually “got” most of the poems, and it’s feminist AF. In this way, it rather reminds me of another book of poetry, Amanda Lovelace’s THE PRINCESS SAVES HERSELF IN THIS ONE. If you enjoyed one, most likely you’ll dig the other.

File DEPRESSION & OTHER MAGIC TRICKS under “seven small ways in which i loved myself this week.”

** Full disclosure: I received a free electronic ARC through NetGalley. **

I was unsure if reading this would be good for my general mood, however it was utterly perfect. A great mix of style of poems, all beautiful and relatable to me. My favourite was "Poem from the moment after you left", it spoke to me so much. Beautiful book.

This was a wonderful collection of poetry. Having lived with depression for a long time i'm always comforted by finding words that's reflect so well what i've been going through. I enjoyed this so much i went out and got the book as soon as i could.