Lang Leav was my first contemporary poetry love, and no matter how many collections she releases, I genuinely don't believe I'll ever stop adoring them. She always seems to know exactly the right things to say, and when I pick up one of her books, always, it feels like coming home.

Love Looks Pretty on You stands apart from her previous collections in its unapologetic, bold feminist theme, and that made it my favorite yet. Lang takes the time to break down what misogyny has done to women, and how it has encouraged us to tear one another down for our sexuality or even our mere, most human mistakes.

There are endless references circling back to abuse and the things women in m/f relationships have come to not only fear, but to expect, and while it's a tough read at points—or it was for me, as a survivor—it also feels like a tight hug, a fellow warrior saying, "I understand you," and I didn't know how much I needed that right now until reading these poems and Lang's quick flashes of righteous anger and sorrow.

Finally, some of the most heartache-inducing moments in the collection are the references to Lang's mother, which made me take a moment to think of how grateful and blessed I am to never have lived through the struggles of being a refugee. In these moments, it's easy to see that Lang Leav got her bravery honestly.

I could easily fill page upon page with quotes and my own gushing over this collection, but I'll stop here and say only that, if you enjoy poignant, powerful, relevant poems from a writer whose work I genuinely believe will go down in history for generations to come, read this.

This is my first Lang Leav book. I just couldn’t resist the hype surrounding this author, and I thought it's about time to read her work. Big thanks to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.


The book is an odd mixture of supposedly inspiring quotes, tips, poetry and short prose. It’s not as cohesive as I would have liked, the collection has a sort of disjointed feel to it. I did not connect with most of it and some are just plain confusing and some are almost preachy (which I really hate).


It felt deeply personal to the author, which is not so bad in itself but in this situation it feels like it creates a gap between the author and me as a reader.


I'm still giving this a 3⭐️ rating because there are some gems within the collection. I did like the nostalgia of childhood and the love for mothers and the rare empowering statements. I can imagine how other people would like this more than I did.

This collection is heavy with the tenderness of love and depth of loss. I appreciated the relatability I found for different times of my life in different places in this book. I adore Lang and words. Although not my favorite of her works I did thoroughly enjoy it.

I've always wanted to read a book of Lang Leav's poetry. This was a strong collection and enjoyable to read for me - someone that isn't a big fan of sporty. I am excited to read her other books now too and will definitely recommend this to readers!

A beautiful addition to the rapidly expanding poetry of Leav. It's so interesting and such as gift to see her progress.

Wow! I was pleasantly blown away by Lang Leav's book of poetry and prose. It was a fast read, but the words stayed with me and will continue to stay with me. Full of feminism, this book is a lovely component to the conversations that so many women are having today about what we want and truly deserve in this world. Some of the poems are still fresh in my mind and it's fascinating to think that so many topics could be covered in one book. I highly recommend Love Looks Pretty on You for those interested in women's studies and feminism, or just for someone who wants to read something they can relate to!

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

My first (and definitely not my last) of Lang Leav’s poetry- this was a breath of fresh air and just what I needed today!

Light yet emotionally deep, I loved this collection and cannot wait to order my next Leav poetry collection.

Thank you so much to Netgalley, Andrew McMeel Publishing, and Lang Leav for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a lot more angsty than the other collections I've read today. It was very much about accepting loss as a companion to love, but at the same time it seemed completely contradictory, about how it was fine to be spiteful towards the people you lose sometimes. Although I could relate to some of the poems, they seemed quite shallow in comparison to other poetry I've read. This is my first Leav collection, so I don't know if it's just my own experience or if that's Leav's writing style. Maybe I'll check out more at some point.

Thank you so much, NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read this poetry collection!


"And I can already picture ten years from now, living our lives like parallel lines. Looking across at each other from time to time."

Lang Leav's poetry collections have been on my TBR for a while now and I have been wanting to read something buy her for ages! So when I saw "Love Looks Pretty on You" on NetGalley, I was very excited.

This collection definitely didn't disappoint.

Themes: Love, failed relationships, mental health, self-discovery, women empowerment
Favourite poems: Someone Else, Vultures, Regrets, Loyalty, Too Young, Friendship Bond, Slut Shaming and Anxiety.

"Here's the story of my life. Hoping they would care about me or wishing they wouldn't care so much."

This collection was very thought-provoking. The author's words resonated with me and I connected to the majority of poems in this collection.

Overall, I am very glad I had the opportunity to read this and I would definitely recommend it to any poetry lover! I will be picking up more by Lang Leav very soon.

"And it suddenly occurred to me, what I held in my heart for her was hope, when it should have been expectation."


A review will be posted on my blog soon.
Disclaimer: all quotes taken from an ARC copy, these are subject to change

There is something about Lang Leave, the way she weaves the words into phrases, and stories. I can't get over them.
There are so many phrases that I want to quote from this one.

Thanks author & publishers for sharing e-arc .

I definitely consider Lang to be one of my favorite authors now. I think with each poetry collection I love her work a little bit more. It’s hard to do reviews on poetry because it’s such a highly individual thing. Every person can interpret it differently. I really loved this one, I think the different topics it touched on were good and it had really nice flow. Really enjoyed it and excited for her next one.

I’m a huge fan of Leav, after having reviewed a few other titles. I read screeds of poetry and prefer modern, contemporary poetry the best. It’s most relevant to my life and the times we live in. I loved every piece in this collection. There’s a good mix here of different lengths. Some of the poems are several stanzas more and other’s just a few lines. I loved the prose pieces as well, some only two of three lines. Every piece spoke to me. Leav examines universal themes; love, relationships, loss, hope and the ups and downs of being a woman. Every word, every line is relatable. My favourite pieces are Abusive Relationships, House of Stone, My Heart and Time, Obsession, The Novelist Struggles and This Was the Year.

Thank you to Netgalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing me with an E-ARC, in exchange for my honest review.

4 stars
This is the 3rd poetry collection by Lang Leav that I've read. And she's never disappointed me. I do prefer her poetry to her prose, but I just find that her poetry flows better. Every piece is good on it's own as well as in it's collection.
As with lots of poetry collections, some pieces affect you more than others. But it is a collection that you can pick up at any time of your life, and each time you will connect with a different piece.

As always, beautifully done!

This came to me at an important time in my life.

Everything is a mess, and my mind is so loud that it's hard to breath. Lang's collection matched all my thoughts and emotions. Love and longing, loss and emptiness.

"A Long Time Ago

Everything feels sentimental these days, every song feels loaded, feels somehow directed at me. Every emotion is heightened tenfold, your fingertips leaving burn marks on my skin.

I think it only feels this way for me when things are beginning or when they're ending.

And my love, we started this a long time ago."

*I thank Lang Leav, Andrews McMeel Publishing, and Netgalley for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

There were some poems that lingered on in my mind, but overall, this was my least favorite poetry collection by Leav. However, I would definitely recommend this book to the fans of her previous collections. I think they will thoroughly enjoy and relate to this book.

I read my first Lang Leav book, Love and Misadventure a few years ago and fell so in love with her writing and thoughts.  I have no idea why it has taken me years to pick her work back up!  I was offered this book through NetGalley to read, so thank you so much to them and also to Andrews McMeel Publishing; you have both rekindled a spark for Lang Leav's poetry in me! 

Love Looks Pretty on You is a collection of poetry and prose, as the subtitle says, that deals with a plethora of topics.  It most certainly has the feel of earlier collections of Leav's work.  I think the most pertinent tidbit about Leav's work is that it always tends to capture some of the rawest, most fleeting, and intense emotions of life and all the stuff that comes with love, longing, and heartbreak.  Her books are always very strong and this newest collection keeps up with that while adding a little more life and hope.  Specifically, this collection of work really celebrates women and current day problems that we face.  Leav does so in a poetic voice; she is able to weave beautiful pieces of writing that pack so much meaning.

One thing that I specifically loved about this book was the variance between poetry and prose.  Even within each category or writing, the forms varied within.  Some prose was a letter format, some was a sentence.  Some poems were a page long, some rhymed, some very open free verse just lines long.  I adore how it goes back and forth between these different forms.  Leav really has a knack for feeling what she is writing and putting those words into the perfect form.  There are a ton of the smaller prose pieces that just stick with you because they are so short but potent.  I think reading these different forms mixed together keeps me as more of an active reader, especially when it comes to poetry and does make the emotions and feelings that saturate the works weigh me down.  I will say that I read this in several settings over a longer period just because I like to take my time and let things sink in and go back to what I really loved.

For me, the varied forms made this entire collection so much more personal.  I feel like Leav is writing these poems and letters, and small snippets about life and love wisdom to herself to read later.  This feels like the book that I wanted to read when I was younger because it feels like a protective caring nurturer giving you advice and helping you through some tough stuff.  It is almost like a personal manifesto or a very open collection of wisdom.  Almost everything in this book is things that we all need to hear at some point in our lives.  The versatility and almost agelessness of this book make it a strong piece to read, as you can connect with it on so many levels through time.  There were pieces in here that I had wished I was able to read years ago and pieces that I am glad I read.  The piece titled "What He's Lost," hit on some big issues for me from the past year and just reading those words gave me immediate comfort and hope.  It was the note that I needed to find.

Technically speaking, the index at the end is fantastic.  I usually don't review pieces of books like that, however; the index is very well done and not only lists poem titles but also major subjects and topics.  Readers can flip through to look for possible triggers, but also if you know you need something to read that relates to something she has written about, it is easy to get there.  The look and feel of this book are exceptionally aesthetically pleasing.  It uses a lot of white open space and blank pages.  Nothing feels cramped to rushed or busy.  It feels like each page is its own piece and the clean design and blank pages between enhances that, giving the reader time to contemplate before they are rushed off to the next.  

On Goodreads, I gave this book 5 stars because I have no reason not to.  There is nothing that I disliked, nothing that gave me problems, and no complaints about the pieces in general.  This is one of the best collections of work I have read this year and one that I will buy for the young women in my family for when they need it.  This book is due to published on January 29, 2019.

this was my least favorite read by lang. Her other novels were amazing! these poems didn't have the same power and connection to the words. I will still pick up every lang book she writes because when you find those short poems that resonate in your heart and soul I feel she changes you. There is so much self help in her poetry. I just wish the passion was in this one. =[

The novelist struggles.
The poet suffers.
[pg. 105]


Love Looks Pretty on You tilts back and forth between themes of self-reflection and confessions and declarations with the above poem as the fulcrum of this beautifully balanced collection of notes to the author’s younger selves. “Too Young” on page 61 was written when Lang Leav was twelve years old, but the majority of the text ruminates on the whirlwind of experiences during young adulthood.

The introduction proclaims Love Looks Pretty on You as a celebration of the female spirit, which is more directly linked to the authorship of self on page 5 with, “All this time, I thought I was writing for the lovers, when I’ve been writing for the writers.” This seemingly unexpected realization connects the recurring themes of voice, personal back story, past loves, loss, and flowers with the feminine power of creation, regeneration, and resurgence. Ideas about actual and imagined selves or identities wrestle in the past, present, and future.

Lang Leav taps into a generational spectrum of the musical zeitgeist and transposes it into present-day chords with deep emotional reverberations that also incorporate religious and secular imagery. Love Looks Pretty on You, title and overarching themes about romantic relationships, harkens back to the wistful regrets in “You Look So Good in Love” by George Strait. “At Last” on page 6 evokes the yearning ache of the Etta James version of the tune by Harry Warren and Mack Gordon. “The Long Way” echoes the sense of bewilderment in 1979’s “Take the Long Way Home” by Supertramp. There’s a little of Beyoncé’s “Lemonade” on page 77, and essential truths shared with “You Say” by Lauren Daigle, Hailee Steinfeld’s “Most Girls” and Roxette’s “It Must Have Been Love” scattered throughout these intimate reveries.

Some pieces are titled and some are not. All of them capture a facet of being young and searching for one’s strongest, most authentic self.

Now that you have it all, do you ever wish you could go back to when you had it simple? [pg. 95]

Lang Leav throws down the gauntlet above and with “This Year: on page 19. It’s a challenge worth accepting.

The index is arranged alphabetically by title or by the first word for untitled pieces.

Friends, I am pleased to announce that poetry is making a comeback! In recent years there has been a distinct upsurge in the interest of poetry by both readers and publishers. Lang Leav, international bestselling novelist and poet, is one of the voices of this movement.

Previously, it was an accepted fact that poetry simply didn’t sell. In modern times, people prefer novels and other works of prose. I have heard it lamented by my friends and other literary critics that poetry has fallen by the wayside. They bemoan the fact that “no one reads poetry anymore.”

Leav’s groundbreaking success, as well as the success of other contemporary poets such as Elizabeth Avecedo, Amanda Lovelace, and Rupi Kaur, have proven that this simply is not the case.

The face of poetry has changed. Poetry is no longer the sole playground of men dominated by misogynists like T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pound. Instead, poetry is now young, vibrant, and undeniably female.

Even more than that, I am overjoyed to see that poetry has once more become an act of rebellion. Female poets such as Leav are using their words to loudly proclaim that the lives and experiences of women and girls matter.

According to her website, Leav “was born in a Thai refugee camp when her family were fleeing the Khmer Rouge Regime. She spent her formative years in Sydney, Australia, in the predominantly migrant town of Cabramatta.”

Literary critics continue to look down their noses at poets such as Leav, despite her numerous awards and literary achievements (Leav has been featured in both The Guardian and The New York Times). Ironically, novels were once also disparaged as being only fit for the “fairer” and “simpler” sex.

A common criticism of Leav and her fellow contemporary poets is that their poems are “not poems at all.” Leav directly confronts such criticism in In her latest collection, Love Looks Pretty on You, which is due to be released January 29th. She grapples directly with her many critics and offers words of encouragement to other writers, especially young female writers.

Leav’s words are revolutionary in a world that would prefer women and girls to be objects of ornamentation instead of fully self actualized human beings. Furthermore, she proves in her collection that she is capable at both traditional forms of poetry as well as contemporary prose poems. She even includes a piece of her juvenalia (a poem written when she was twelve) in order to illustrate her development as both a writer and poet.

This was my first encounter with Leav. I was very pleased to discover her and I’m surprised that I have not encountered her work sooner, especially when one considers her massive following over 2 million fans on social media.

This collection was beautifully written and explored important themes that need to be discussed, such as healing from an abusive relationship and finding one’s voice in world full of brokenness.

I purposely seek out female poets of color because I long to see myself represented in one of my favorite art forms.

Poetry is not dead. It has simply transformed. I am grateful that Leav has helped to inspire people all over the world to once more lend an ear to the music of poetry.

This was my first experience with Leav’s work and I can’t wait to read her earlier poems, as well as her novel Sad Girls.

I highly recommend Love Looks Pretty on You for anyone who is a lover of words, especially if you are a female writer who loves poetry.

Note: I received a free digital advanced reader copy of this book through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher I was able to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
****
This is not my first time reading Lang Leav’s work, at this point I think the only thing I haven’t read is her first novel.

Love Looks Pretty on You is a collection of love in all its forms. Love of family, friends, partners, healthy love, broken love, lost love, etc. One of my favorite things about her prose is that despite how short her poems are, they’re not lacking at all in emotion. You get equal gut punch or soft ‘oh’ of wonder no matter the poem. My favorite of Leav’s collections is Lullabies, also the first one I read, coincidence?, but this comes in a close second. Highly recommend.