This poetry collection was absolutely stunning, I already have a copy on my bookshelf to reread over and over again.

A poetry collection sorted around msuic, but deals with love, loss, and mental health. It's a good collection.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

I wish I had more to say about the book other than that I didn’t really like the poetry and got bored after a few poems.

The one thing i can say is be in the right headspace for this book. This book is incredibly raw and heartfelt. It is emotional at its core and you can tell the author was really trying to process things. I could feel the anxiety and the depression coming through the pages. There were definitely parts of this that were super triggering so if you do pick this up, check your mental state and make sure to take care of yourself.

In college, I started to discover a newfound love of poetry and this exploration led me to Alicia Cook and I couldn't be happier. Her work is so unbelievably raw, real, painful, and relatable. I found myself laughing or tearing up over each entry in this book. I would recommend this work to the higher end of the young adult audience and adults as a real, stark view of anxiety and depression in life.

The book is split into two sides, with each side reimagining poetry as a whole. Each poem is categorized with a music track that Cook was listening to. Side B then takes those poems and strips them down and changes form entirely. It's almost a deconstructionist view of poetry, as she blacks out and redacts words, phrases, etc. in order to create whole new works and double meanings for each piece.

The setup and format of Cook's poetry are original and interesting. If you want to take a step into the mind of someone with anxiety and depression and explore the effects those can have on a person, then I highly recommend you pick up this book. And if you have anxiety and/or depression, and want to feel seen or heard by another human, you will find a partner in pain between these pages. Absolutely worth the read.

Alicia Cook is best with her words playing through my emotions. Sorry I Haven't Texted You Back is a clever, atmospheric, and honest poetry book. I love Cook's previous book and so much again for her recent. I feel like I have been with her the whole time I'm reading this book. The emotions and clarity embedded into every pages are original and raw. Not gonna lie, I deeply love this book!

Loved this book of poetry! The cover is what drew it to me and I’m glad it did!! As someone that’s struggled with mental illness my whole life, music has always been a constant that helped me get through my toughest days so the song recommendations throughout were a wonderful addition that made the poetry even better! A beautiful work of art!

MY MY MY where do I even begin with this one right here. Dealing with depression and anxiety a majority of my life, this one hit me right in the feels. I could relate to every single word. Cook's writing is absolutely beautiful!

The poems in the book really spoke to me. All that mental illness, depression, anxiety and relationships. It's a modern look at love and loneliness.

So here's how I was completely and utterly devastated by this book.

Synopsis
"Sorry I Haven't Texted You Back" is a poetic mixtape dedicated to those who struggle or have struggled with their mental health. Divided into two parts, “Side A” holds 92 poems, titled as “tracks,” and “Side B” holds the “remixes,” or blackout-poetry versions, of those 92 poems. The book includes the evergreen themes of love, grief, and hope.

As I read it...
It seems I picked this book in the best/worst time. We were deep in the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic, overworked, underpaid, dealing with the first deaths of close ones, among other traumas... it is fair to say that the struggle was way too real, I'm sorry to inform. The first couple poems had me crying in bed, and I told myself it would be best to go slow with this one. However, I treated myself with one poem a day. Then, two a day. I found solace within this book. Alicia Cook didn't know me, but regardless, I felt seen. Understood. And as much as her words painfully cracked me open, they also managed to comfort me.

What I loved about it
Mixtapes are very much alive here and "Sorry I Haven't Texted You Back" pulled off a cross-genre with mastery. At the end of every poem, there's a "currently listening", associating the poem to a song. I reread some poems with the song later on and... wow. Some of them hit differently, some more potently than in my first read. That details is one which elevates the book and creates a rather special reading experience.

On that note, Side B, the "remixes", was a good surprise. One thing that I appreciate in poetry is the use of repetition to evoke emotion. I enjoyed how Alicia Cook "tweaked" the poems from Side A to add new, deeper meanings to their new versions.

Overall
When I came across "Sorry I Haven't Texted You Back" on NetGalley, I was instantly drawn to its cover and synopsis. I had no idea I was going to find such a rich, raw, contemporary-and-yet-evergreen body of work. This is a book to be savored, understood, reflected upon. I hadn't seen a book translates so accurately so many heavy emotions and experiences. Sorry I Haven't Texted You Back is a gift. I'm glad I found it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thanks to #Netgalley for making this book available to me.

Poetry is the language of love, acceptance and solidarity. Reading this collection got me thinking of how important and soulful Alicia's writing is.
This collection is divided into two sides, just like a CD. Side A presents poems of love, anxiety and depression, coping with loss and acceptance of nonreality. Side B focuses on words and the power of words in and out of context. I really enjoyed reading this book.

The ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The fact that Cook included a section of balckout peotry in the back of the book of her own poems from the book was something unique I've never really seen done before. With the ever increasing populairty of black out poetry I think it gives this work an edge that other modern poetry books seem to lack- many of which follow the same basic style and format (which is all well and fine) but this puts Cooks book over the rest.

Read this book so long ago and unfortunately didn’t post my review in time! Review to come, apologies for the delay

ARC kindly provided in exchange for an honest review.

This is better than the first one I've read from Ms. Cook. The poems here are more captivating and I enjoyed the first half of it. However, I felt disconnected on the second half for some reason. I felt like it has the same context but differently written. I just find it redundant.

Anos atrás li Stuff I’ve Been Feeling Lately e achei o conceito bem interessante. Agora em Sorry I Haven’t Texted You Back a autora dá continuidade ao trabalho anterior e nos apresenta poemas e referências musicais maravilhosos.

I would like to thank NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this ebook.

It was the title 'Sorry I Haven't Texted You Back' that made me request for it. Captivating and easy to follow, this book is for every girl out there. I like how it was divided. Now I am going to definitely check out Alicia Cook's other books of poetry.

Sophie spent the latter half of 2020 trying to read more poetry, and Sorry I Haven’t Texted You Back by Alicia Cook was a part of that. The book contains 184 poems split across two “sides,” Side A and Side B, the latter of which is formed of remixes. The poems contained here deal with difficult topics including depression, anxiety, grief, heartbreak, and loss, and trigger warnings for all these subjects apply strongly. This is not a book to read if you are feeling especially low or emotionally fragile.

Side A contains all the original 92 poems, here called “tracks.” Sophie especially liked tracks seventeen, forty-two, and fifty-one, although there were dozens with specific lines that leaped off the page for her. At the end of each poem/track is a footnote naming the song the author was listening to at the time of writing, and Sophie hopes to one day work her way through all these tracks. (Conveniently, a Spotify playlist already exists containing all the available songs.)

Side B is filled with “remixes.” These are the same 92 poems from Side A scribbled on and blacked out to convey new messages and stories using the same words. There are some clever choices on display here, and Sophie was inspired to have a go at creating her own blackout poetry this year using her own favorite poems or pages from books.

While this was a tough collection to read, Sophie felt very understood throughout its pages and wanted to share lines, verses, and even entire poems with family and friends to help them understand how she sees the world. These are powerful poems and this will certainly be one of Sophie’s favorite poetry collections for many years to come.

I thought that this poetry book was really pretty with elegant poems. I found that some themes and motifs were a bit too repetitive at times and that's something that made my reading laborious mid-book. I would still recommend this book because poetry hits everyone differently and someone might need these words. :)

Alicia Cook has offered up a unique poetic experience.

The poetry was thought provoking and emotionally charged. Each poem had a corresponding song that Ms. Cook was listening to during its' completion. I found that to be an added bonus for the reader to assist in coming to a better understanding of the author. I was enamored with both Side A and Side B (although I will say Side B is more visceral). Gut wrenching and honest, you will leave this work feeling like you have lived through the journey along side the author.

I enjoyed reading this work of art. and will look forward to reading more of Ms. Cook's writing in the future. This is worth a read.

Thanks to NetGalley, Andrew McMeel Publishing, and Alicia Cook for a copy of this ARC in return for an honest review.