I enjoyed the first volume of The She Book and enjoyed this as well. The poems deal with universal themes and ideas of being a women and are often addressed to an unknown ‘she’ or ‘you’ or for the most part, women in general. The poet does sometimes use clichés but I didn’t have any real issue with this. My pet hate is that the poems have no real titles, just the number they fall into the overall sequence of The She Book volume 1 & 2. This is my pet hate as I like poems to have titles but this doesn’t detract from my overall enjoyment of the collection. This is a mix of poems and short pieces of prose. I enjoyed it.

This is such a beautiful book of poetry. The author's experiences resonated with many of my own struggles through depression and sadness, which was incredibly cathartic. She also has an incredible sense of resiliency that comes to life, which leaves you inspired as a reader.

The She Book v.2 is a raw and moving poetry collection. It's an inspiration to read and has lots of beautiful poems and prose.

While I had never heard of this author or "The She Book," I suppose I have no choice but to read it ASAP. This one is just too darn good. Alluring and raw, "The She Book v.2" is a poetry collection about one woman's process of dealing with shame and being reborn as a warrior. This is a tale of strength. A self-help book in the form of poetry.

The author is brutally honest about how she used to lie about herself. Grew up in a poor and abusive family among whom she is the only survivor. She was sexually assaulted, had an eating disorder and was stoned for four years straight. And even though dark thoughts still creep into her life, she now takes action and chases them away.

Markul's poems are the much needed motivational tale of resilience and perseverance. She reminds you to "kick your own demon's ass" once you realize that what is suppressing you the most is the lack of faith in our own force.

"Do not believe
the things
you tell yourself
while possessed
by your inner shit."

But my absolute favorite verse is something I needed to hear more than ever:
"Draw a circle around you, woman.
Even the ocean has boundaries."

*Thank you to the Publisher for a free advance copy of this book in exchange from an honest review.

This was a beautiful book of poetry. Bounced around quite a bit and found it a little hard to follow at times but otherwise was written well and was very touching. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

'The She Book v.2' is a beautifully written collection of poems that shows the various struggles faced by women. The book deals with a lot of subjects including addiction and abuse. This book portrays the strength of women and how she can come out of the darkness stronger than before. It tells the story of a fighter and how she not only survived the darkness but also fought against it.

The She Book v.2 is a conversation between a narrator and an addressee that is sometimes herself and sometimes another woman and sometimes the entire female gender. The poems are numbered in sequential order (though some have a postscript title as well), each working to address some mix of grief, trauma, and womanhood. The book closes with a poem to correspond with each month of the year.

I wanted so badly to like this book. Some of these poems are impactful and honest (in particular, I enjoyed 119, 138, and 171), but unfortunately the momentum of these few do not make up for the sludging high-school-counselor-office-poster-meets-Homegoods-quote-a-day-agenda-meets-Instagram-self-help-guru feel of the rest of the collection. The forced rhyming detracts from the sentiment of the poems and the organization of the overall collection is disjointed. I wish that it had been organized with a more visible structure, such as grouping all of the "sister," "woman," "girl," or "you" poems together to show a shift in interlocutor.

I am reminded of a memoir I read a few years ago that was lauded for its deep-dive into the author's history with eating disorders and poor body image. Rather than speaking about her experiences with any semblance of verisimilitude or reality, the author often opted for cliches. Doing so is not powerful or resonating. It is a cop-out. Similarly, THE SHE BOOK V.2 opts so often for cliches and absolute language that the message grows hollow, contradictory, and self-indulgent.

It is the sort of hopeful that spoils into saccharine. It is unconvincing.

Scattered throughout the collection are the recurring motifs of mermaids, midwives, the four elements, altars, scars, stars, and "blessed are"s (forgive the rhyming - the fact that many of these words rhyme may, quite frankly, be why they are used so frequently). I wanted to interrogate them: what is the significance of speaking to the sea and being a creature within it? being a mother versus a midwife? the relevance of religion and prayer?

It wasn't for me.

1 star out of a possible 5. I received this book electronically from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A beautiful, evocative collection bursting full of potent prose and poetry.