Being more than 200 pages long, this collection of poetry was a way shorter read than I expected. I was just flying through the pages, and while I didn't dislike what I saw, I can't say these poems had a huge impression on me. I don't say they were bad, I don't say they didn't deal with things people go through, but they felt a bit juvenile for my taste. I actually think I would've appreciated this book more back in the middle of my teenage years. Now, in the middle of my twenties, it's not for me anymore. I do think, though, that these poems would appeal to many people, I just think they should be aimed at a young adult audience. It might be a hit with that age-group!

Although I could see the potential in this text, I was not able to sustain my attention and finish the narrative.

Dawn Lanuza yet again has made me fall in love with her writing. This book is so luscious and beautiful. I found myself in awe and in love with everything that Dawn puts into words even if sometimes those feelings aren't nice ones or are heartbroken ones.

Dawn is the poet you want to be reading right now and supporting. She is spectacular and what she does and she proves it in You Are Here, an anthology of poems that look inside your soul and whisper to it. It's marvelous and cannot wait to see more from her!

This is the first poetry collection that I read for this year and I am very impressed with Miss Dawn.

My favorites are Staying is Your Choice, Travelers (I remembered someone with this!), The Ideal, Imagine, To My Younger Self (Most heartwarming for me), A Message, A Prelude, Double-Edged Swords (Ouch!), Welcomed Distractions, Waking Up to A Dream and Seasons.

I love how the author divided her poems and prose into three parts. There are about love, music, relationship, heartbreak, moving on and human beings. I was inspired that I actually wrote a poem after reading the book.

Thank you for the ARC and congratulations to Miss Dawn, I hope to meet you in person!

You are here is an honest book about growth, self love and caring. You can’t avoid feeling identified with many, many poems, because we all had been there at some point.

So this is a poetry anthology about growth, change and one-self. Almost like a how-to guide to living- I really enjoyed some of the poems in here. However, some were fairly meh so I did skip them- still, enjoyable and great to read when sitting at a café!

This would be a book that I would maybe recommend to older high school students, not something I would suggest for younger students. I think I read this collection of poetry in a time that this book really hit home. I have a feeling this will be a book that I pick up as a physical book once it is released and pick it up whenever I need to feel like I am not alone.
I only recently started reading poetry, and there have been some poems and poem collections that I have read that I just do not understand, but this book was written in a way that almost seemed like it was written for me. I think that most people that pick this book up will also have a similar feeling. Even if you do not directly relate to the stories or events that are being explained or described, I think that people will still be able to make connections.
I highly recommend this book for people that are starting to read poetry and are struggling to understand it. I will be anticipating this book release so that I can have a copy for my sheld. The cover also has beautiful illustrations.

This was just such a beautiful collection of poetry. I was a little iffy at first through the first few poems, but then I really began to enjoy and identify with them. Dawn Lanuza has crafted poems here about romance, heartbreak, depression, eating disorders, and chronic pain (that last one I was super happy to see since you don't see that a lot). I'm so happy that I chose to read this and I can't wait to read more by her!

This is my first time reading the poet. I thought You Are Here was a great collection. I loved every poem. Lanuza tackles universal themes; love, self-love, self-discovery, relationships and empowerment. The poems are person and feel like Lanuza is showing me the secret chambers of her heart and soul. Those are the type of poems I love to read and write. There are a few stories in You Are Here but mostly poetry. My favourites were How to Love in the Dark, All This Wanting, Sad Girl, Crash and Burn, All I Had Was White Space and The Tourist.

You Are Here
by Dawn Lanuza
Andrews McMeel Publishing
Poetry
Pub Date 12 Feb 2019


I am reviewing a copy of You Are Here through Andrews McMeel Publishing and Netgalley:


This book deals with two intertwined themes growth and change. The poems and prose in this book remind us too that it is important that we give ourselves second chances.


The poems and prose in this collection are self healing poems that draw on the central themes of loving oneself as well as self discovery and empowerment. In order to survive the difficulties we face in life.


I give You Are Here four out of five stars!


Happy Reading!

You Are Here is my second Dawn Lanuza poetry book, I have read How It Starts as my very first read. At some point in the book, I thought that some felt really familiar. True enough those works were already featured in from How It Starts.

You Are Here is a collection that deals with love; in partner, self, opening up, accepting and getting used to being a grown-up, as we Millenials call it adulting.

I find the introduction, not for my liking but as I go through the middle and last pages I find the pieces calling me in, projecting a stronger voice of fierce, fearlessness and accepting. It tackled more on the specificity of the impact of society on one’s mental health, physical pain, peer pressure or the standards set out for us to believe, to comply with.

Here are some of the pieces that resonated with me: the tale of a girl, vessel, a message, the art of eating alone, the ideal, seasons, roller coaster and good news / bad news.

This is the poetry book for every college broken heart. It made me remember those feelings so clearly, and the message of moving forward was well aimed.

ARC kindly provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

You Are Here is a poetry collection about relationships, love, vulnerability and self-reflection. Majority of the poems are well-structed, melancholic and heartfelt. The ones I can relate to are The Art of Eating Alone (precisely me), Grow and A Message.

Final rating: 3.5/5 stars

And the first read of the year is a DNF, how fun.

DNF at 191

I really wanted to like this. I read dawns previous book last year and felt super disappointed but I know that sometimes you have to be in the right mood for certain poetry (or poetry in general), so I gave this book a try. And sure there were some okay poems that I didn’t dislike, but nothing blew me away. Nothing touched me or spoke to me. The way she writes just doesn’t work for me. I just don’t ever fully connect with it. So I think it’s safe to say I’m just not a fan of dawn’s work.

A collection of poems that ranges from stark to musical.

As the cover suggests, this is every girl's book of poetry. The tone here is very straightforward, so for anyone intimidated by picking up a book of verse this is a great volume to dive into.

That said, I found the collection inconsistent. Some of the poems were were incredibly spare; they had a dry, moving beauty. Others were lilting, lyrical and much more familiar. And others still, were conversational, explanatory, almost stilted. None of the work was strictly formal, but for me, the pieces which really shone were the ones in which Lanuza stuck closest to her slant rhymes and metered verses.
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These poems are confessional in nature. Most talk about love and relationships. And even the ones on lost love seem hopeful in tone. The end of the book is a bit darker, with the speaker confronting some personal demons, but overall reading this was a lovely, uplifting way to start off the new year.
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I found some pieces in here I really liked, and I give this three and a half stars.

http://dotswordsandwhispers.wixsite.com/bookreviews/copy-2-of-new-page

I think this will be great for a lot of people, but this writing just isn't doing anything for me. The narrative voice feels very much like a "beginner" poetry voice to me, but this author definitely shows potential for the future.

This collection of poems is just okay. The themes this book deals with are current ones such as finding the right person and not settling if you don’t want to, even if society is urging you to do it. It also talks about our body image compared to society unrealistic standards and chronic pain.
There's also a section dedicated to lost/ended love.
Among all the poems not a lot of them stood out to me and that's why I'm giving this collection three stars.

I get that I'm a jaded kind of gal, but there was so much good here with feminist statements and chronic pain talk, but it focused way too much on the love of a man. *barf* I would definitely read more from this author, but sadly this collection wasn't for me.

Enjoyed this so much! Lovelier stories, stronger emotions, better version. There's breaking through and moving forward ad hoping and guiding light and aaahhh! Just wonderful things full of growth. And yes, I know the author and got this from Net Galley, but facts only here, guys. So GET EXCITED FOR THIS!

Lanuza is a talented writer and I enjoyed her ability to share her feelings in such an artistic and thoughtful way. She shared deeply powerful messages in poetry format and although there was a lot of sadness there was also a lot of self-love and hope. This book covered a wide array of issues including rocky past relationships, loss, body image and suicide ideations which may be triggering for some.

Thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for giving me an opportunity to read this. All opinions are my own.