ARC thanks to #NetGalley

Each piece in this debut collection reads like a diatribe, an irrefutable incantation to be read at dawn while assuming a power stance. What makes it extraordinary is Mayrock's self assuredness, her conviction, her idealism and belief in sisterhood. Each line is powerful by itself and the collection as whole is cohesive and ultimately healing to read.

Thank you to Netgalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for an ARC of 'Dear Girl' and giving me the chance to review this poetry collection. 'Dear Girl' is an empowering book of poetry for women of all shapes, sizes, colors, sexuality, etc. I think the most enlightening point Aija was making it that women should never devalue other women. Society has told us to be perfect and society tells US what perfect is. We become envious of the women who start showing any success but we should be praising everyone's success. Aija speaks a lot about equality in her poems and I think it's an important message for everyone to understand. Although we, as women, have gained some equal rights, the equality is not completely there for us. I read this selection of poetry feeling like I was being given courage and that's impressive! I certainly enjoyed this collection of poetry and will be keeping my eyes peeled for more poetry by Aija Mayrock.

I have kind of been a poetry kick and I found this debut collection from Aija and I was very intrigued. I think this is such a beautiful collection for women of any age who just wants to feel brave and strong and like a warrior. This book was so empowering and she shows a full journey from childhood until now and beyond. Very powerful read and I would definitely recommend!

I really enjoyed this poetry collection. I felt that it was a timely read. This collection truly explained the story of girlhood and womanhood. It showed the many lives that girls live while in grade school and what the world has in store for a woman. I think this is a great collection that both girls, women, boys, and men should take time to read.

Empowering and touching. Some poems were highly relatable and inspiring for women. However, some of them seemed a bit too generic. I felt like I have read that poem before in another poetry collection. This prevented me from connecting to them emotionally.

I am not really a fan of free verse but I found the poems quite impactful. However, some poems did sound like motivational sayings rather than poetry. Poetry is entirely subjective of course, so if you love free verse I recommend you try this collection!

Overall, a good poetry debut!

I received a review copy of this book via NetGalley.

A heartfelt collection with some particularly wonderful poems in each section.

Dear Girl by Aija Mayrock

3 stars

This is a poetry collection addressed to women. It's all about women and celebrating women. It's mainly a call to action as well as a calling out in complacency of how women often allow other women to be treated. I think Mayrock is probably a fantastic spoken-word or slam poet. I would love to watch her read some of these poems. That ability shines through a lot of the poems. I personally didn't love this collection. It feels like every other collection that is targeted towards feminism. This poetry collection has some great messages, but it doesn't really stand out to me. I would recommend it for poetry fans and readers who are specifically looking for poetry about feminism.


Whimsical Writing Scale: 3

Plotastic Scale: 3

Cover Thoughts: I like the cover and the font is striking.

Thank you, Netgalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing, for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Aija Mayrock gives us a powerful, unapologetic collection if poetry.

I'm not gonna lie, some of this is hard to read and it may deserve a TW. That being said this stuff needs to be talked about!

This is about girls and woman and how society treats us no matter who we are or where we are from. It is also a sharp empowering narrative encouraging woman to support each other and have their own voice.

What I didnt like about the collection is that it feels so familiar. I've read Rupi Kaur, Amanda Lovelace etc that all have the same tone. Overall I did very much so enjoy this collection and appreciate the messages throughout. I will continue to read the author future works.

Thank you netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this collection.

This poetry book is split into 4 parts:

The search for truth in silence: About the #MeToo and Time's Up movement, gender inequality

The freeing of the tongue: About strength, body image, gender inequality and being a girl

Deep wounds, deep healing: About rape and sexual assault, pain, trauma and healing

With love: About love and heartbreak

To the sisterhood: About strength, growth and feminism

I preferred the middle segment of the book. There were quite a few poems that resonated with me. Some felt more well-written than others. Overall, the book is a strong symbol of feminism and empowerment.

This book of poetry was so inspirational and beautifully written. I was so blown away with the use of words and prose and how beautifully everything flowed together. I want to own this book to reference and build up my self confidence and those of others everyday. . I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This is a collection of poems aimed at woman and girls, on a range of topics which we face as females! Some are much better than others and the content is very varied. Poetry isn’t massively my thing, so my rating might bias? I didn’t love it but it wasn’t awful, as I said, some poems were better than others! ⭐️⭐️/5!

I really loved the topics Ajia Mayrock chose to deal with this collection of poems. According to me, words can really change the way people think and act. Ajia writes beautifully and I mut admit that I was on the verge of tears several times.

"Dear Girl,
you ask me what I wish for you.
I simply say -
never allow any soul to clip your wings
you were not born an ember
you were born the flame."

The only thing I regret was the lack of insight for some topics. I was expectign more. But it stil is a wonderful book to read! a real journey to womanhood and its hardships!

This poetry collection written by Aija Mayrock is a true hymn to feminism. Her poems tell us to fly high and be proud of ourselves as women. The author talks about gender (in)equality and how that affects our daily lives. This is such a powerful book. Rating: 4/5 stars

This book is beautiful poetry to empower any girl or woman. It highlights important topics like rape culture, equality, relationships, double standards, etc. This book is timeless!

"I come from a line of wild women
Divine in their pursuit of truth
For the women I come from
do not run with the wolves:
they lead the pack."

It is 'Women History Month' and I don't think I will read another poetry collection any time soon that will make me feel a sense of power surge through my veins and speak every woman's sublime truth as Aija does. This is such an exceptionally empowering collection that it is a compelling and a riveting read to every one of this age!

Divided into 5 sections: The search for truth in silence, The freeing of the tongue, Deep wounds/Deep healing, With love, To the sisterhood- the collection is filled with poems full of raw endurance of womanhood. It is so heartening that this collection is also inclusive to women of colour and LGBTQ+. I have not read a collection which gave equal importance to the two communities in the same collection!
Aija addresses pro-choice, #MeToo, misogyny, patriarchal societies, rape culture, mental and physical abuse, gender pay gap, motherhood, sisterhood, rising and healing, love, suffragettes, other important aspects of women's history and everything we face/faced. I love how she addresses equality at the home, between sons and daughters. Collections like this are so necessary, withholding the power to spread the word and helps in blossoming camaraderie to bring or demand the right changes!

I have read collections by so many poetesses and I can now say that no one touched my soul as much as Aija did! Whatever Aija is writing next, I will be picking it up! This collection is the definition of the true feminism and no one can tell me otherwise. No poem failed to reach the depths of my core and that counts for something!

Recommended: Absolutely, I loved this collection and I will be recommending this until the end of the times!

Well, the poems are short and forgettable but I agree with the message this collection stands for. It's feminist poetry, from girl to girls. It tackles issues like violence, healing, body image, gender roles etc. It's a great book to exist out there in the world, I'm just not a fan of the poetry style, so that's on me really. I'm not the target audience but I would've loved it if I were younger. I'm sure teenage girls will love it, and hopefully will find console in it. I expect them to feel very empowered after this read.

Dear Girl by Aija Mayrock was okay, but I didn't love it. I wouldn't read it again, but there were some poems that were really nicely crafted, and me thinking over for a few moments before moving on.

*I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for the free book of poetry.*

In her poetry collection, Aija Mayrock deals with topics such as feminism, the me-too-movement, gender roles, upbringing, (self) love, how normal periods are, or how women are allowed to be themselves. Some poems resonated more with me than others, but this one was my favourite:

"Raise your daughters like you raise your sons;
the inequality did not begin with her birth;
the inequality begins when you choose to raise
your daughter in a box labelled "ladylike"
and your son, in no box, with no label." (25)

As someone who has been constantly told to be "more ladylike" by my mother (because mothers can perpetuate the systematic degradation and marginalization of girls), it was nice to be seen and to find myself in that poem.

Some poems are longer than others, but they are well written and sometimes have a rhythm to it that makes you want to read them out loud.

5 Stars

Dear Girl is one of the best poetry collections I've read in a long time. I've picked up quite a few poetry books the past month or so and Dear Girl really stands out from the rest. The poems are all very well written, super powerful. I feel like a good deal of poetry books have filler poems, but I didn't come upon any poems in Dear Girl that seemed like fillers or noticeable lesser quality. The whole book was very consistent in quality and I loved that.

this book spoke to me. like, literally. I'm hearing my brain talk. It's scary how much I could relate to some of the poems here.