This was a great poetry book. I always absolutely enjoy her work and I can't wait to read more in the near future. I highly recommend it.

I have loved all the book this woman has written from prose to poetry, her words oozes of emotions and love. The book is very therapeutic

The poem entries are such whimsical, beautiful and remarkable. But I don't like the other entries and I wish they were omitted but nevertheless, it's a good collection of poems.

Although I did enjoy this poetry collection, it wasn't particularly unique or great. That's why I gave it only three stars..

Full review to follow!

Quick thoughts:

Should I be
Thankful
That I did not have to
Spend my own money
Just to read
This awful, overly simplistic
Lang Leav-esque
Poetry book
Or
Regretful
That I bothered
To read it
In the first place?

Actual rating: 1 star

This was a pretty good book of poetry! Some of the imagery was cliche but mostly it wasn't. Awesome style too! Good job!

Like many poets, this is an exploration of love and loss. How do we get over someone? Why is it so difficult? Writing is a cathartic balm in such times. Here were my favorite lines:

From "Other Means of Communication"
I like how our hands seem to have their own conversations... / In these spaces between, / Our fingers meet,... I like how our hands knew how to be together / At times we can't seem to.

From "Sustenance"
I learned to think of you / In tiny rations / Like meals delivered to my plate / Three times a day

From "Unasked Question"
Was I a secret not worth sharing / Or / Was I a fact not worth telling?

From "Memento"
...these mementos / Things that were not ours but in our possession....

Somehow keeping it / Wasn’t as comforting / As holding on to it / So we can see each other again.

From "The World is Our Souvenir"
“The world remembers / What we try to forget”

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This book of poetry hits close to home with love and lost. For anyone who's dealing with a breakup, this is what you need.

*ARC received via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. The thoughts are entirely my own and in no way biased.*

The Last Time I’ll Write About You is a collection of poems that one may write to their ex after a break up if they’re not over the relationship yet, but are trying to move on in life.

The words are just so sad – the comparison between before and after leaving the reader with a good look of what the writer may have been feeling or trying to emote with the book. I really found it easy to connect with the story the poetess was trying to convey and it didn’t take me long to get sucked into the book.

Though overall, the it wasn’t amazing or extraordinary and didn’t impact me as much as I would have wanted it to, it was still a nice read.

I read the The Last Time I'll Write About You when it was still in its first version and I absolutely loved it! Now, it has a revised and updated version and I also love this edition! So happy that this book is going to have more exposure and going to be available internationally!

The main focus of this particular collection is love, relationships ending, and the power every human has to process the grief and recover from it. Lanuza’s words truly show the strength and skill we all have inside that allows us to build ourselves back up again after we break apart. She writes short and simple poems that she injects with more depth despite their size—and she has quite a beautiful style of writing.

However, there were only a handful of poems that really stood out among the rest for me. Other than that—while well written—many seemed too reminiscent of the typical poems written in this newly popular style of very short but powerful poetry. That style didn’t always work out in her favor.

I also feel as though I might not have gotten everything out of these poems that I should have. While I could recognize the emotion and power in Lanuza’s words, I couldn’t quite connect properly to many of the topics and themes that spoke on romantic love. I have very limited personal experience in that area, so it was hard to relate on that front.

However, the message of strength through grief is something that I can apply to other parts of my life—such as a loved one passing away—and with that in mind, I felt the impact of her words slightly more. Though this particular collection did not blow me away, it still made for a fairly interesting read. I would recommend giving it a try and seeing if and how these poems speak to you.

A collection of poetry that I just didn't find particularly inspiring either which way. It just didn't move me at all, positively or negatively.

I don't tend to read poetry, but I thought I'd give this book a chance. Unfortunately, nothing was particularly memorable or stood out. I thought the poems were quite superficial and came off as insecure, especially the ones that are about not being remembered or not being told they were beautiful. Since most of the collection is about losing love, I couldn't relate to the heartbreak. This might've been more impactful if I was going through something similar, but I think it just wasn't for me.

My 2 star rating is because I personally did not connect with it. This book is a poetry book focusing mostly on break ups. I picked this book up because I have previsously gone through break ups, so I assumed I would feel a connection to this book. Sadly that was not the case for me. However I do think people that are currently going through a break up, might enjoy this.

I think the concept of focusing the book on break ups was a good idea. Unfortunately I felt that it fell flat after a while. The poems blends a bit together, and I end up feeling like nothing really stuck with me. There was a few poems that I felt I had heard before, only slightly different. Some of those poems were:
"How many times do I have to break my heart before I get it right?"
"I think you loved me
And I loved you
But we never really did
At the same time"

There was two poems in this collection I connected with. I am currently in a long distance relationship, and these two poems reminded me of our relationship. The two poems are called 6AM and STILL.

In conclusion I found this book to be lacking in originality, and not relatable for me personally. I do recommend this book if you have just come out of a relationship.

Thank you for sending me this galley, however unfortunately I was unable to access this book on my e-reader.

I enjoyed this poesy collection.
It hit me right in the feels and I had a really good time reading it.

All in all, it was just really relatable and made me feel a lot of different things...

"I don't think you think of me
The way I think of you
For you do so only sporadically
While I have you in me
Constantly"
WHAT A BEAUTIFUL poem. this book gave me so many goosebumps and made a few almost-tears threaten to spill down my cheeks. The short and very concise wording of this collection makes me so happy that not a lot of unnecessary stuff was taken out of the book, and only the very heart warming (and breaking) bits were kept! It talks about how love can change us, while in a relationship and its aftermath. The way apologies threaten to spill out of lovers lips but are stopped by a force of pride with a mix of hurt and anger.

It involved a poem named Northern Star that is probably one of my favourites ever! The idea of looking up to the same sky as a lover and wishing that the pull of the universe could just lead them back to you.

Another notion in this collection of poetry, albeit a very sad one is the feeling overwhelment. The feeling of having TOO MUCH of a thought for someone, and learning to slowly take small bites.

The last bit I'll talk about it the poem named "Mystery Solved"
"I think you loved me
And I loved you
But we never really did

At the same time."

This brought me to tears, I love the simplicity of the words, and the way they hit so close to home. Star-crossed to a whole new level.

This piece is so well crafted, concise and brings someone to reality really fast.

I'm a big fan of contemporary poetry, but I didn't really enjoy this one. The Last Time I'll Write About You is about love and break ups. I found this one lacking in depth and trying to hard to follow the Lang Leav trend. I can see how teenage girls going through a break up could find the poems relatable, but that's just not me.

The Last Time I'll Write About You is a contemporary poetry collection from Dawn Lanuza. Like most of the poetry collections released in the past two years, it makes a point to stick with simple language and standard images that deal with the cycle of a romantic relationship.

What stands out about this one is that it doesn't stand out from the pack--there is no ah-ha! poem in here that you want to share because it does something to stir the soul. This collection is much more like something you would put in a diary during a breakup, not out into the world. If it's going in front of stranger's eyes, it should be dressed up a little bit with complex imagery. This collection simply does not have that.

I read poetry mostly out of curiosity. I only read READ Neruda's poetry. Noticing that connection to her collections' book title, I am very interested in checking her work. I may not have experienced having my heart broken (thank God) but I can still relate to her writings. I have no doubt the Filipinas would certainly enjoy them. The general Filipino public is not a poetry reader, so I'm hoping the marketing team behind the book could reach those untapped market.

The book is internationally available and I'm guessing it will be a hit overseas. I have noticed a couple of contemporary poets' works circling the readers' community, this will become one of them. I will definitely buy a copy of this book. I only hope Filipino readers would too. I think with enough social media presence in the country this book would reach teenage and young adult readers.

You may not be into poetry but you will enjoy this one, this is a good start to dip your toes into it. I am happy Filipino writers are starting to enter the publishing scene, and poetry at that. I hope Lanuza's works will encourage young readers to read local writers' work because the other only Filipino writer I know that is popular in the current book community is Melissa de la Cruz.