Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book. There are never enough books on mental illness so I think it was great that Juniper could find the strength to write this book and put herself out there like she did. And the format of poetry!? Genius! I absolutely loved this book. Def recommend.

I devoured this poetry collection! It felt like just minutes before I had the entire thing read. It was absolutely wonderful. I am officially a fan of Emily Juniper and I can't wait to read more of her work.

Someday I’ll have a daughter, and I hope the earth trembles a little beneath her feet, and that Cassiopeia watches over her as she sleeps, and that the greatest love she ever knows is in herself.

I read that poem as my daughter slept snuggled into me and I thought wow, yes! It literally brought tears to my eyes. As a parent I found that to be such a powerful passage and I'll never ever forget it.

I'm on the fence about this one. To me, poetry is very personal and it's hard to "judge" something so intimate. There were certain poems in this collection that didn't move me at all. At all. There were poems that literally made no sense (to me). However, I'm sure with context from the author, it would have come together. As a reader with no experience with this author, though, I don't have that. My biggest issues with this collection are 1) some of the poems seem underdeveloped, as if it was more for the author than the reader, and 2) most of these poems were about romantic love. That's totally fine, but not really what the synopsis described. That said, I highlighted quite a few poems that really resonated with me. While this is not a collection I would purchase or add to my library, it was a decent read.

[triggers at the end of review]
A Strangely Wrapped Gift is a modern poetry collection that i felt shined a light on a different aspect of mental health and loneliness that hasn't been done much before. the representation of mental illness, heartbreak, queerness, and sexual harassment were takes that have not been explored much, a breath of fresh air was given to the genre with this collection.

i particularly found myself enthralled by the description of the author's feelings and heartbreak, how visual all of it was made to be. with the realistic depiction of mental health issues such as OCD and depression, i could sense the empathy and relatability towards a topic such as those.

all in all, Emily Byrnes showed us poetry readers a take on modern poetry that is easily accessible as well as expressing points that could be hard to swallow.

trigger warnings: mental health issues, mental illness, OCD, depression, suicidality and suicidal thoughts, sexual harassment, internalized homophobia, outward homophobia, body image issues, eating disorders.

Don't let anyone
treat you like a secret
when you know
damn well
you're a revelation.

'A Strangely Wrapped Gift' contains so many poems that pulled and affected my emotions. This might have been the strongest one for me: if only I had read it and listened to it when I was younger ...

One of the most amazing poetry I’ve read. It resigned with me so much. The whole time I just thought she gets me and we should be friends.

4.5*

This was a very moving, honest collection of poetry. It was full of beautiful imagery and I loved a large majority of the poems in here. I'd really recommend giving it a read.

Emily Juniper, not to be confused with the British actress of the same name, is the author of three poetry collections including this one being released by Central Avenue Publishing. A New York-based advocate for mental health in children and teens along with animal rights, Juniper is hard at work on her first YA novel and can be followed via Instagram.

"A Strangely Wrapped Gift" was originally a self-published collection and as a self-publishing author myself it's always exciting to see an author be picked up by a publisher in the hopes of reaching an even wider audience. "A Strangely Wrapped Gift" explores journeys both intimate and universal including mental illness, most specifically OCD, to mental health recovery. The collection also explores experiences with heartbreak and heart growth, hopelessness transitioning into empowerment, and the universe around us from the ocean to the stars.

Juniper lyrically and rhythmically tackles difficult subjects with both raw honesty and an occasional sense of whimsy. For those who connect with the material, and that will likely be quite a few, Juniper creates safety in the human experience and within the universe. You'll likely feel like you know her by the time you're finished and you'll likely also feel like you know yourself quite a bit better.

The style in which Juniper writes resembles the more lyrical styles of r.h. sin and Rupi Kaur among others. If you require a strict structure with your poetry, then you may be challenged to adjust to Juniper's looser, more fluid way of writing and willingness to, in essence, go with the flow.

"A Strangely Wrapped Gift" is a breezy, relaxed read that I easily finished within one evening. However, it contains linguistic gems that you'll likely refer back to over time and find yourself pondering upon for quite some time after finishing the book.

"A Strangely Wrapped Gift" fits well within the literary genres of LGBTQIA and poetry and nicely balances Juniper's more serious topics with reflections on love, personal growth, and the wonder of the world around us.

While "A Strangely Wrapped Gift" wasn't quite what I expected, it's a rewarding and engaging collection of poetry from an insightful, gifted writer who has taken her strangely wrapped gift and re-wrapped it for poetry lovers everywhere.

You will find journeys from mental illness to recovery, from heartbreak to heart growth, from hopelessness to empowerment, and from the ocean to the stars. In these pages, Juniper takes heavy, emotional raw material and weaves it into stunning, relatable poetry you’ll long to share with friends and loved ones. This collection is a reminder that broken pieces make the most beautiful mosaics, and that all of us possess the power to bloom even after a harsh winter.

Observations made whilst reading A Strangely Wrapped Gift, which, frankly, I can’t be bothered expanding on as I feel like I’ve devoted more than enough time to this book already:

Undeveloped ideas - the whole book reads like the journal of the author, where she’s jotted down notes that might be developed into poems in the future.

Unoriginal - themes that have been done to death before, lazy phrasing, parroted ideas.

Not a collection about OCD, it’s a collection of keening love poetry.

Repetitive. Boring word choices, stuttering prose, no rhythm or flow.

No idea what purpose (tHeSE iNtErJeCTiOnS) are meant to serve.

Childish.

This type of thing is fine for Instagram captions but you can’t then copy and paste them all into a book and expect it to magically transform into a cohesive poetry collection.

Beautiful. Absolutely stunning little book of poetry. A few spelling errors here and there, but nothing too drastic. It felt as though the author was speaking directly to my soul. I felt known and loved and cherished. This was truly a pleasure to read.

I am not a fan of this type of poetry, but I really, really loved this book.
It's a true story about pain and healing, most poems are short, raw and straight to the point. It feels almost like the words have a life of their own, flowing through me and reaching places where it hurts.
Reading this book made me feel safe and understood.

Some of my favourite lines:

"revenge is not a healing language"

"I am not a ship to sail
or a wave to ride,
no,
I am a fucking ocean to get lost in;
a sea full of sirens
that can either
return your love
or swallow you whole."

"And there she was
like the night sky,
just inviting me
to be inspired"

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book!

I gave this a four out five stars. I would like to thank Netgalley for the earc I received. All thoughts and opinions are all my own. I really enjoyed this collection of poems, I highlighted some of them. I'm hoping to get a finished once I get the chance. There was a part in the poetry collection that I related to and actually said the same thing last week.

This was a take it or leave it collection for me. It touched on a ton of topics but didn't really have a unifying message or connection. There were some definite gems within the pages and I enjoyed the variety, but I probably won't remember this next month. Some of the topics
-mental illness and OCD
-being a woman
-being queer
-relationships
-toxic men
-self love and positivity

Thank you fo netgalley and the publisher for this free copy. All opinions are my own.

I know some people really love this style of poetry (I feel like calling someone an 'Instagram poet' is unjustly dismissive but I can't think of a better description!) but it just isn't for me, I'm afraid. I just can't get into poems that seem like they're trying to be epigraphs.

What was doubly frustrating was that sometimes it did feel like the poems were on the cusp of something - particularly the OCD sequence.

I'd be interested to read a collection of essays or similar by the author, as she clearly has something to say and has a command of words. It's just the form I can't get along with!

This was beautiful. Spilled thoughts ("instagram-style") really is my favorite way to enjoy poetry at the moment and this collection was just what I needed. Great images and deep meaning, about love, self-love, family, friendship and identity. I really loved it. I'll sure read what else she wrote! Loved it!

A Strangely Wrapped Gift is presented more like a collection of short random chaotic thoughts rather than a standard poetry book. There is plenty of deep mental health thoughts and topics in there as well as some inane day to day things. The day to day basics would likely be dismissed easily by most people and not given a second thought so I think the fact that there's been so much analysis, thoughts and meanings given to even these basic parts of life gives us some insight into how people may view things differently and how they might search for hidden meanings.
There were parts of the book that were lost on me but again, I think this reinforces the idea behind how other people think about things.
There were also some very beautiful poems that I could relate to and those stuck with me. My favourite being;

You didn't have to break me, just to prove that you are whole (break)

I truly believe that people, especially women, who suffer from mental health problems, low mood, low confidence, or are struggling with their self worth will really relate to this book and find hope within the pages of this beautiful, raw, emotional and honest book of poetry.

(ARC received from netgalley)

“I wish I could be okay with unrequited love, but I am not a wolf, and you are not the moon.”

I love that, so much.

Man, I need a physical copy of this book. Not every line hit for me, but those that did, hit hard. I need to go through it again, and highlight every line that made me fall in love a little bit.

Also, this book makes me wish there was some kind of secret mental illness handshake or fist bump you could do, to be like, hey, me too. It’s always comforting to hear about how other people have similar brain bruises.

I will say, a huge component of this poetry collection is... an echo? A voice? Present with odd capitalization and parentheses.

IE;
“Do not weep for lost love. Weep only for lost time.
( Wee P)”

This... didn’t quite resonate with me, though that’s mainly because I’d be left puzzled as to the spacing and capitalization, and my internal voice gave it a mocking tone. Which, the second one is definitely a “me” problem, not a problem with the book itself.

I also found some of the leaps of topics within poems to be puzzling (random musings on colonization, factory farming, abuse, racism).

Still, over all, super lovely and I’d definitely recommend it for fans of poetry.

Very beautiful poetry. Flowed like a short story and really resonated with me. Enjoyed this collection very much.

<i>arc provided by the publisher and netgalley in exchange for an honest review</i>

I really enjoyed this poetry collection. I could relate to some of them, some were making me feel a whole plethora of emotions and others were just alright.

Overall, the author’s writing is beautiful and I really enjoyed this collection as a whole. I will definitely check out other work by them!

3.5/5 ⭐️

A Strangely Wrapped Gift is a collection of short modern poems about love, loss, mental health, recovery and being part of the LGBTQ+ community. It is split into 5 parts: Summer, Autumn, Winter, Spring and Leap Year, that I all enjoyed equally. There is a consistency throughout the whole book that I really appreciated. I didn't feel like one part was stronger than another as it is often the case with poetry collections.

If you liked "Milk and Honey", chances are you're going to enjoy this collection as well :)

I will definitely look for more of Emily Juniper's work.