I enjoyed reading this book. The poems were informative and shocking and so important. I liked the repetitive nature of 'Dear girl' throughout the book.

This book is a very powerful book. As Mayrock says in one of her poems:
“You might believe the words you speak are weak,
but the echoes of words
can start revolutions.”
This is a quote that very much speaks to the book.
I really appreciated the poems in this book, however some of them didn’t speak to me.
I give this book 3 out of 5 stars.

I feel like I have read these poems countless times before. And not in a good way.. As much as we need more women in the literary field, we need quality more.

There are no original thoughts and emotions that should fuel the book and make the reader overcome with feelings. Instead the book offers all the things that as important as they may be, are shoved down our throats and made tedious.

This just goes to show, that everybody should search for their own voice and their unique way of expressing their beliefs, and not go with the current flow.

A real let down.

Today I am reading: Dear Girl by Aija Mayrock (@aijamayrock). This is definitely a good book for young women in their late teens, early twenties. Affirming and confessional at times.

This book of poetry was honestly a breath of fresh air. It was an empowering work of art, perfect for every girl.

“The battles you fight do not take away from who you are”

"you might believe the words you speak are weak,
but the echoes of words
can start revolutions."

dear girl, as the author describes perfectly, is "a journey from girlhood to womanhood through poetry. it is the search for truth in silence, the freeing of the tongue, it is deep wounds and deep healing and the resilience that lies within us. it is a love letter to sisterhood.".

it's an incredibly impressive debut poetry collection that I found very empowering and touching, some poems even gave me chills reading them because a lot of the collection truly hits on the experience of growing up as a girl and a woman.

"grow wiser, grow deeper, but never grow up."

I found the poems a bit too repetitive at times, though at other times the repetitive nature of a lot of the wording made it even more impactful, and if you like me have read other feminist poetry collections before you might, like me, find some of the poems a bit generic at times.

it was overall, again as I said, a very impressive debut poetry collection though and one I wish I could give to a younger version of myself.

I applaud Aija Mayrock for writing such empowering words in this book, and her debut poetry collection at that. Society has a way of making us feel inadequate. Women are objectified, silenced, judged, and dismissed; sometimes even by other women. In this collection, Mayrock stresses the importance of camaraderie to dismantling the misogynistic system we exist within, the inherent and irrefutable power in all of us, and the necessity of embracing and loving our vulnerabilities. This collection of poetry is one that every woman needs to read. Gift this collection to your mother, your daughter, your sister, your best friend, and every woman in your life. In short, read this book, listen to this book, experience this book.

This poetry collection was beautiful. It was feminist. It brought in politics. It brought in the Me Too movement. And it was all done so naturally. It didn't feel forced. I did feel that the ending was a bit to abrupt. It needed to be smoothed out a bit. I absolutely would have loved for this collection to be much much longer.

I have always been a fan of poetry books that follow themes in terms of content, and Aija's poetry collection definitely falls into this category. The poetry feels inclusive, thoughtful, and feminist (all things our world needs today). I did find that some of the poetry was repetitive in sentiment, but for the most part, DEAR GIRL encourages girls (I would say this book would resonate with women aged 14 to early 20s) to raise their voices. It's clear, on every page, that women have been silenced for too long. Time's up.

I've only ever read one poetry book aside from this, and that is Wild Embers by Nikita Gill. Both of them talked about gender inequality and how us females always need to mind our behaviors, our clothing, our everything, in the presence of males.

However, Aija Mayrock's Dear Girl has an angry tone to it. And it made me wonder whether the poems she wrote were solely of her experiences or whether she drew inspiration from others around her. It feels repetitive, the poems about female power and strength. And instead of being inspired it left me feeling a bit uncomfortable. It was as if the book was telling me what kind of woman I should be so I can be heard.

A sincere thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for providing me with an ebook copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This is not my usual genre, I’m more into romance stories and literary fiction however I wanted to take the opportunity to read something from outside my norm. And I am glad I did!! Thank you for  opening up my mind to something totally different.

I really really enjoyed this, it was my second attempt at poetry so I might not be super talented at telling when a poetry book is good or bad.

But I loved the overall message that this book gives us, the fact that we are reminded to leave all of the hate and bias we have towards other women, our bodies and minds is beautiful. I love that we have so much love for survivors and the embracing of our uniqueness. To leave all of our shame and learn to heal and to know that it all starts with loving ourselves and accepting our emotions and uniqueness to find love.

Women supporting women is what I love to see, leaving all those hateful thoughts that we are taught are normal. All the trash talking we want to do, all the judgement we sometimes feel for the way people dress, talk or do with their bodies. All toxic should be left behind.
just looking at ourselves internally has really had me reflecting on my actions.

One last thought was that something about this was making me not rate it higher, that doesn’t take away from the message nor make it less amazing or that I hated it. It just a feeling that I can’t explain but in no way makes this book horrible nor not worthy of a read.

It’s a short read and I totally recommend it.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this & most of all thank you to the publisher.

2.5/5
I was waiting to read this book since long, and since I have followed the author while listening to her Spoken Poetry. I wanted to love this one, but this one felt a bit short of new ideas, or something new.
Dear Girl, is collection of poetries those are based on general experience of women, and womenhood (girl-hood in this case).

I left as the author is young, she hasn't (or may be I am wrong) gone under difficult situations of life as a women, As many poems felt like just words, and not well deep enough to cut thru.
The book is divided in 5 parts, and I liked 1st(The search of truth in silence) and 3rd (Deep wounds, deep healings) the most.

In the end, I read that an audio book is available of this book as well. May be I will give it a go, as I love Aija speak the words more than reading them. :)

Dear Girl is a poetry book by Aija Mayrock. This collections of poems are written for and about women and the experiences they face due to gender inequality.

I absolutely adored this collections of poems. They were power and well-worded. They hit the mark they were trying to accomplish without being a whiny or condescending. They were filled with emotions. They were relatable. Aija does a great job of writing experiences that women all face. There is so much of these poems that is relatable.

I will definitely be recommending this collection of poems to my friends and family.

I wanted to love this book so much! Unfortunately wasn’t as powerful to me as I expected it to be. Was looking for more woman power in all aspects of life and I felt like it was one area.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with both the e-ARC and the audiobook for review. I enjoyed listening to the audiobook especially since the author Aija Mayrock narrates it herself. However, I liked reading the poems myself more. Possibly, because instead of the spoken word which is over so quickly, you can reread the verses and stanzas you particularly like.

I recommend Dear Girl to those who has enjoyed The Princess Saves Herself in this One and anyone who likes poems about sisterhood.

I never read any poetry before and I used to think that it could be complex and difficult to understand but after reading Dear Girl, my opinion changed. It was so easy to read and so beautiful, I really enjoyed it. I picked it up on NetGalley because of the cover that I found really pretty and I did not regret it. The voice is powerful. It is about empowerment and it really is uplifting. I think every girl and woman can relate to most of the poems, they are just so simple and yet so full of truth. As said in this poetry collection, we need to support and help each other, so let’s do it; it’s about women everywhere. The poems are a call for women all around the world to rise up and be heard. This collection is not about reading something you have never heard before, but reading about something you have maybe not been able to formulate before, about something you may have not been told before. I don’t know what I was looking for when I started reading but I definitely feel like I got more strengths after.

I loved the poems in this book, and especially the variety of topics that they entail. They are truely uplifting, playful and serious at the same time. It was great exploring the words.

So often women are told not to share their experiences and made guilty for doing so. Mayrock attempts to break this pattern through her poetry. Unfortunately, I couldn't get into her style of poetry. It is very much in the vein of Rupi Kaur cliches of comparing women to a phoenix, a flame, a warrior, a constellation, etc.
It just didn't feel like anything that hadn't already been done before. It was all a bit cringe if I'm being honest. #deargirl#netgalley

Perfect for fans of Kaur and Atticus.
This book is a collection of poems with passion embedded with them. The experiences portray in this book and the emotions given are beyond amazing! This is so compelling and easy to read!