3.25 Stars (I received an e-arc from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review)

TW: Mentions of self-harm

I read this collection a couple of days ago and while I did enjoy it, the content didn't really stick in my mind. The format of poetry e-books can be tricky as depending on the device you read on, it may not appear the same as the author intended. I read this on my i-phone and I could tell the formatting was supposed to be another way. I did like how each section had simple illustrations on birds in flight to indicate the a change. One line that sticks out to me is "self love v.s self harm".

This was powerful. It resonated with me after finally leaving a bad situation, not wallowing in the hurt, but becoming stronger in myself and finding something more than I ever expected that’s better suited for me. Sometimes what we think we want isn’t what we need and once we receive that we realize how lucky we are to have lost what it was only to find better. Thankful for this life and the chance to move forward with the knowledge I’ve gained from loss.

I always see Faraway's work on Instagram, Tumblr, and Pinterest and have even saved or liked several pieces that I related to. The beauty of Faraway's writing on those platforms is that individually, there is something that feels real to all of us - love, heartache, grief, desire, pain. Although there was a common thread that ran through the book and told a story, collectively, the whole of it isn't as relatable as it is when it's pieced out. *Advance copy provided by the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

First, I would like to thank NetGalley and Central Avenue Publishing for providing me with an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

I thought this collection was a good collection, however it is not memorable to me. I appreciate the deep dive into human nature and emotions that lead and follow things, but for me it didn’t do much besides pretty words in a page. There is wonderful imagery at times, and magical wordplay, but it doesn’t do much for me after that.

I get the trend of insta poets and I know it’s a very controversial topic within the writing and poetry community. I’m not one to judge based off that though. I judge a collection by what sandwiches it together. And unfortunately, this one didn’t hit the mark for me.

First I would like to thank Netgalley and Central Avenue Publishing for providing an e-ARC of this collection to me. That being said all thoughts and opinions are my own.

I enjoyed Sad Birds Still Sing overall, however, I found it to be a collection that was a little superficial. This isn't a poetry collection that I am going to be praising and quoting ten years from now unfortunately. Part of it was the poetry style. I usually like to have a little more "meat" to my poetry and most of these were quite short. The biggest factor by far though has to be the formatting of the Kindle version. It needs help. I understand that ARCs sometimes don't have the most perfect formatting, but the way it was laid out here was distracting and had me wondering where poems ended and began at first. I wasn't familiar with this authors style before this collection so I was wondering if it was all one big run on poem or not at first. However, once I got familiar with the formatting I enjoyed it quite a bit more. It's a quick read, with a few poems that really hit hard.

The collection discusses relationships, depression, and to an extent fate. One of my favorite passages was:

If the stars
are not aligned, I've always found it best to tug
them into place.
- why wait?

However, I think the better poems of the collection are the ones that discuss depression and how we as humans deal with it.

Emotional numbness
is not a cure for unhappiness; sedation is not
peace
for those who panic.

We are a different type, we who've lost our way:

our brains are not broken; it is our souls that
need renovation.
- broken souls and broken systems

If you like quick poems, you'll probably like this collection. I would say pick up a hard copy though if you can.

The Sad Bird Still Sings is a lovely poetry collection. As someone who also has lived with mental illness I found myself represented in many poems. The writing is sincere and doesn’t pull any punches. I was emotional reading it and it’s a collection I know I’ll read it for years to come. If you have the time to read this one I highly recommend giving it a chance.

Review copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

I wanted to like this, I really did. But maybe, this book, these poems aren't for me. I thought this book would be about depression and hope, but it's about love. Romantic love, love your parents gave you, relationships all past, present, and future. And it's not something I can relate to.

Maybe it was the book's theme. Maybe it was that my brain was getting distracted all the time while reading it, music was playing somewhere in the background and couldn't be turned off. Part of it was also caused by the fact that I read it on my Kindle that joined separate poems and therefore made it confusing to read. So that's probably the only thing I have to say about this book - don't read it on your Kindle

This is a wonderful book of poetry! Some are a couple of lines, some are a couple of
pages, but all made me feel something. As soon as I finished the book, I found myself
back at the beginning reading many of them over again. I must have this book in my
hands to treasure, and what a wonderful gift to people you care about! It would make a
lovely, Christmas, or Birthday gift.

Thank you so much, NetGalley, Faraway Poetry. and the Publisher for giving me the chance
to read and review this great book of Poetry.

I liked this collection, especially the more descriptive pieces. In many of Faraway’s poetry, there’s an interesting play on words. He also utilizes alliteration and rhymes often. I enjoy the subject matter he covered, from mental illness to heartbreak to abuse. I found a lot of the poems relatable. Even poems I didn’t like had elements to appreciate, such as rhyme scheme or interesting vocabulary.

Though I mentioned Faraway often uses strong words, some poems do contain simplistic language that don’t properly express the strong concepts of the poems. There’s also the occasional filter word and a few similar poems.

However, overall I enjoyed this collection.

This book got me feeling all the feels. This book was written so honestly by the author. While reading this book, you really got the feeling that the author really honestly wrote her feelings down and it’s amazing to read such books. I bookmarked a lot of the poems and loved most of them so deeply.

"I write because I have things to say to people who will not listen."

My second foray into poetry through advanced reader copies occurred when I decided to request Sad Birds Still Sing by Faraway, an anonymous poet. Having dealt with my fair share of darkness and depression over the years, I found myself relating to the subject matter much more than I predicted. The wording is dark and beautiful with an underlying feeling of hope just around the corner. I think I may be into poetry now.

"Do not go quiet. Sing, sad birds, sing."

Bei diesem Buch handelt es sich um eine Sammlung von kurzen Gedichten und Texten. Das Buch ist in vier Abschnitte unterteilt: "sad bird sings", "the bad days", "autumn evenings" und "unfinished business". Unter den jeweiligen Gedichten, die mal nur zwei Sätze, mal zwei Seiten lang sind, steht immer eine Art Titel. Dieser kann manchmal als eine Moral oder als die Essenz des Gedichtes verstanden werden. Da er unter dem Gedicht steht und man ihn daher erst liest, nachdem man das Gedicht gelesen hat, eröffnen sich so teilweise ganz neue Gedanken oder Interpretationsmöglichkeiten.

Insgesamt handelt es sich um traurige, nachdenkliche Gedichte und Texte. Viele handeln von Reue und Schmerz, von Selbstzerstörung, Verlust, Versagen, Depressionen und dem Gefühl, seinen Körper nicht zu spüren. Es gibt aber auch einige, die Hoffnung vermitteln und davon handeln, einen Neuanfang zu wagen; davon, mit der Vergangenheit abzuschließen und nach vorn zu sehen, für sich selbst einzustehen und glücklich zu werden, und dass auch ein trauriger Vogel immer noch singen kann. Viele der Gedichte handeln von zerbrochenen Beziehungen zwischen Menschen, aber manche auch von Misshandlung oder Vertrauensbruch.

Mich haben diese Gedichte und Texte sehr bewegt. Bei manchen hatte ich sofort eine Vorstellung davon, worum es geht; bei anderen musste ich mir die Zeilen immer wieder durchlesen um zu begreifen, was wohl gemeint sein könnte. Aber bei vielen geht es nicht darum, zu wissen, was Faraway sagen will, sondern einfach zu fühlen. Die Verzweiflung und der Schmerz von Faraway sprechen aus jedem Vers, und dennoch ist so viel Positives, Lebensbejahendes in ihnen zu finden, dass ich das Buch mit einem guten Gefühl beendet habe.

Sehr empfehlenswerte 5 Sterne.


In English:

This book is a collection of short poems and texts. The book is divided into four sections: “sad bird sings”, “the bad days”, “autumn evenings” and “unfinished business”. Among the respective poems, which are sometimes only two sentences, sometimes two pages long, there is always a kind of title. This can sometimes be understood as a moral or as the essence of the poem. Since he is under the poem and therefore one reads it only after reading the poem, in some cases completely new ideas or possibilities of interpretation open up.

All in all, these are sad, thoughtful poems and lyrics. Many are about regret and pain, self-destruction, loss, failure, depression and the feeling of not feeling your body. But there are also some who convey hope and act to make a fresh start; about coming to terms with the past and looking forward, standing up for oneself and becoming happy, and that even a sad bird can still sing. Many of the poems deal with broken relationships between people, but some also deal with mistreatment or breach of trust.

These poems and lyrics have moved me a lot. For some, I immediately had an idea of what it was about; in others, I had to read through the lines again and again to understand what could possibly be meant. But for many, it's not about knowing what Faraway wants to say but just feeling. The despair and pain of Faraway speaks from every verse, yet there is so much positive, life-affirming in them that I ended the book with a good feeling.

Highly recommended 5 stars.

I've been feeling like getting back to my poetry roots lately and decided to request a few up and coming poetry books through Net Galley to get back into reading it. Poetry was one of my first loves. I majored in creative writing and studied under the amazing Nikki Finney, had over a hundred poems published in literary journals and used to do occasionally scandalous poetry readings in coffee houses and local TV back before I got busy with parenting and more boring elements of grown up life. I was really curious what was being published these days and how it would relate to my old loves like Anne Sexton, Robert Frost, Sylvia Plath, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Theodore Roethke, etc.

I feel great empathy for the author, who calls himself Faraway, and I'm sure that many people (particularly teens) will love this poetry. I just did not care for it. One of the hallmarks of great poetry is that it uses words as art -- they have multiple meanings, or the author blends them so that they are rich with alliteration, rhythm and/or rhyme, they say things in ways that nobody thought of before to say things we've all felt. This is why we adopted thousands of sayings from Shakespeare, because he knew how to say something in a brand new way that perfectly expressed what we felt.

This is not that kind of poetry. There is no real rhythm, flow, layers of meaning, crazy beautiful way of communicating, nothing. It's just Instagram Lite poetry -- sparse words of how sad he is, and occasionally how mad he is (mostly at his parents), and occasionally how sad but hopeful he is and how the reader should hang in there. Sometimes he ends the poems with a hyphen and then a sort of a title or summary (?) in a different font.

An example of one poem:

Quiet moments,
when words are worlds away
when not a sound is being made
but so very much is being said --
I live for those.

--eye contact

I will have to keep looking for some new poetry collections to bring back my love of poetry.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for the purpose of review.

'Sad Birds Still Sing' really contains my kind of poetry. Play with words, and tell a whole story with often but one sentence. Many of the poems are now written down in my journal, because I did want to remember them, and one or two I have already used in a roleplay setting because they perfectly worded the emotions of my character.

I really loved this collection of poems, and hope to read many more of those. It is a given, I guess, that I now also follow @farawaypoetry at instagram.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you NetGalley.

Sorry for the delay in my review, life has gotten in the way.

beautiful poetry... beautiful cover... i'll definitely be on the lookout for more by this poet.

Faraway is quite the phenomenon and here is another reason why. These touching pieces a worth reading and spending time with.

This beauty had such touching words and meaningful thoughts but I would have expected no less from Faraway Poetry! It's lines make you appreciative, reminiscent and powerful.

Thank you Netgalley and Publishers for granting me early access to "Sad Birds Still Sing".

I'm currently in the middle of a major move, and will definitely come back at a later time and write out a full review and rating.

Thank you so much!

Thank you to NetGalley and Central Avenue Publishing for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I had never come across any of Faraway's poetry but I know I will definitely be on the lookout for more after reading this book.

This collection of poetry is beautiful and Faraway has a magical way with words. Definitely worth a read!

Sad Birds Still Sing’ is the highly anticipated debut book of poetry from the anonymous author known as ‘Faraway’. With one of the quickest rises to social media stardom in author history, in six short months, Faraway has become one of the most recognizable figures on the platform they write on – Instagram (@farawaypoetry). With a following of 200,000 and growing, Faraway has gained attention and shares from superstars like Jessie J, Brenna D’Amico, and many more. Their writing style is minimalistic, hopeful, and full of life and character. In this debut, Faraway takes the reader on a journey of discovery, with a message of hope as the main artery running through the pages. ‘Sad Birds Still Sing’ fearlessly dives into the depths of the human condition, tackling topics such as new and old love, loss, depression, self-harm/love/awareness, parenting, dreaming, and much, much more. They are here to prove to the world that every emotion is valid and necessary, and that “it is still beautiful when sad birds sing.”

I can’t say in words how much i love this book so so good, highly recommend to everyone.
Following is some of my preferred poems from this book:

‘You are a human, not a rest stop; do not let them come back when they are in need.’

‘ I hope you realize this someday soon: true happiness isn’t sexually transmitted.’

‘ If I die alone, build my tomb for two, just in case my soul mate is born in a different time than I.—separated by centuries’