Title: Small Cures
Author: Della Hicks-Wilson
Pages : 186

Poems, poems, poems. This is an anthology of poems written for those who enjoy the prose and those who are lonely. The poems are meant to touch the heart, to inspire and to exclaim. It does all that.

I am not a poetry person - Oh believe me I pretend to be to the right people, but once again I get lost in the words of a poem, looking for a meaning and an explanation that I cannot discover. Although I am by far not the correct person to be judging/rating some ones poems, I just have to mention that Hicks-Wilson has a definite way with words, even to the untrained reader.
Lyrical and captivating her poems can easily inspire various emotions in the reader, leaving them to discover why those words in that order can get them feeling.

As such I would recommend this anthology to those who want to dive into the genre and further for the long time lovers of this genre.

"everything we try to forget,
our blood remembers.

i cannot tell you where to put your pain.
i can only tell you
that this pain is not your main destination.

it is. and it is:
one point on a map
of a thousand others...

for you are only
traveling through hurt,"

Oh, I loved this collection. I just laid on my bed with my headphones, closed my eyes, and listened, occasionally quietly weeping. It was a balm to my soul.

Hicks-Wilson's poems speak of things that are true in such a pure, beautiful way. Her images are clean and honest and true, it's as if we immediately know her truths as life-long beliefs after she speaks them. I adored how each poem crafted creative, new ways to see my world.

The poems tell a story of romantic love and loss, but for me I identified with simply my pains of being exhausted. I took in her words and revived.

I listened to the collection on audiobook and loved the warm, empathetic cadence of her voice. I then read the poems and loved all the white space and breath visually between each poem. I highly recommend each format. ​

"actually, i was wondering
if branches on trees
ever get tired of reaching."

I plan to order a copy of the poems and will then post a review to Instagram

This poetry collection has more of a modern poetry style, which is definitely not for everyone. For me, it only works when there is a cohesive story that we can follow. In this case, that happens so it helped me enjoy the story more.
It's a very interesting group of poems and, obviously, some people will find it easier to relate to them than others. Even if they cover some universal topics.
Overall, it was a nice little read that I can see a lot of people enjoying.

This is an amazing book, which really touched my heart and soul. It is a collection of short poems which come from a high vibrational place within the author's being. The poems are very touching, emotional and deep. They talk about how to let go of hurt and grief in order to love and accept yourself more, as well as covering other topics. The book is a great self help book and it is perfect for anyone who is going through a break up and who wishes to rediscover and empower themselves. I highly recommend this book, which is awesome!

Many thanks to the author, publisher and Net Galley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

this was fine, but nothing special and not really enough to compel me to finish the whole collection.

the good: they were short so it was easy to get a feel for the style

the not-so-good: i just didn't get engaged enough to really care about the subject so i didn't bother finishing the entire thing

I think this is a perfect book for someone who enjoys reading daily reminders and pick-me-ups that tell you the love that you give yourself is one of the most important and pure forms of love that exist. I found so many of the poems comforting to read while others were more powerful - a mix that I ended up liking quite a bit. I do wish there had been a little bit more depth to the poems. They were very simple which ended up working in their favor in some ways, but I think at the end of the reading it I also felt like I wanted a bit more as a reader. Maybe as Della continues to write she'll dive more into longer style poems, but I was still very impressed with this book. I think this is a great place to start for someone who's interested in lyrical poetry but doesn't just want to fall in the deep end.

This was a nice collection of short poems that celebrates self-care, Half-Life and healing. It was a quick read composed of short poems and verses.

[2.5 stars]

Small Cures unfortunately did not impress me. Fans of r.h. sin, Michael Faust, and other insta poets may enjoy it but I found it repetitive and overdone. It's a lot of the "I'm going to tell you that you are worth love with basic metaphor" type poems that never seem to come off as genuine.

The second part of the collection did have a better flow and format, basing each day for a poem of healing and recovery. The rest of the books format left much to be desired. The run offs at the end of one poem that guide us to turn to the next page and continue is interesting, sure, but can be hard to deal with when a reader has dyslexia, adhd, or autism.

I read nayyirah waheed's 'salt' a few years ago and would have liked this collection a lot more if I hadn't. Honestly, it's pretty much the same book. Hicks-Wilson even uses full stops mid-sentence the exact same way that waheed does, and has done for years, and as beautiful as some of the poems are here, they're all so derivative that it felt like reading a book I'd already read before (McKayla Robbin's 'We Carry the Sky' is another book which reads almost identically to this one.) There's no unique voice here at all, as poetic and lovely as the voice often is, and it lets the book down; untitled, inspirational short form poetry about self-love, with a lot of sun, moon and ocean imagery and 'darling' thrown around a lot, is practically a genre in and of itself, and one collection of them is pretty much identical to the next. There's room for variation, even in this oddly specific genre, but this book doesn't deliver it.

I really did like some of the poems here a lot, particularly the longer ones, where Hicks-Wilson allows herself to develop an idea beyond a line or two. These are the ones which feel most like her own words:

'all words,
like us,
are ninety percent water

you can choose
to drown
in the ones that hurt

or,
you can choose
to let them
cleanse you.'

And even some of the shorter ones were evocative and lovely, and I re-read them a few times just to enjoy them over and over:

'it's not just ghosts
that come back.

the living do
too.'

but others are literally just Pinterest quotes (I even googled them to check):

'you should have been your first love.'

Yep, seen that one before.

This whole book reads a lot like a poet mimicking the voice of other poets, which is fine and a perfectly valid way for a poet to experiment and ultimately craft their own unique way of writing, but it means that it's really hard to view it as a work of art in and of itself, rather than just an addition to an identical canon. It'll appeal to anyone who enjoys that generic Rupi Kaur / Amanda Lovelace style of poetry, where it's all about getting over heartbreak and loving yourself in a series of three-line poems, and I genuinely think that Hicks-Wilson is incredibly talented. In particular, she has an impressive way of crafting gentle imagery that invokes warmth and comfort. She's also clearly impressively prolific, just going by the sheer amount of poems she's already written, and I think there are many better volumes to come from her. This is just a starting point, and it's not bad - it's even great in parts! - but it's just not as original as I think she's capable of.

I have to admit it's not easy writing this review. Everyone seems to love this poetry collection, so maybe it's a me problem, but I did not like it at all.

Let's begin with the format: the poems are short, sometimes 2 lines or a few words long, written in that awful Tumblr style. I will never consider those true poetry because they always come across as thoughts and not art.

The only good thing was the message: self love, self acceptance, and empowerment, which let's be honest we all need sometimes.

I'm sorry for giving this book such low rating, but I did not enjoy it at all. If you enjoy the work of Amanda Lovelace and Rupi Kaur, then I am sure you will enjoy this one too tho.

First and foremost, I really enjoyed the format of this collection as the poems were all interconnected and clearly portrayed a journey. While some of the poems were the super short tumblr style poetry that I don't always love, the fact that there was variety made me not mind these types of poems interspersed in the collection. There were some poems that were really standouts, whether because of the emotion they portrayed or the imagery in them. While the collection dealt with some heavy topics it was an enjoyable and quick read.

I really liked this book and the words used. It is easily read in one sitting and flows really nicely from one page to the next. I really felt a connection to the words in this book, but on occasion felt it was slightly repetitive. However, I would recommend this book to all poetry lovers who enjoy micro poetry that has a big impact.

These bite size poems are great reminders of the importance of self-love, and the value of understanding that one's self is a lifetime project. Lots of beautiful earthly imagery evoking the sun and moon, flowering gardens, and oceans. 'Treatment' is my favorite section. The only thing I struggled with in this collection was the italicized format at the beginning, it seems to connect the poems like a narrative through line and it took me a minute to understand they were separate but connected poems. I really enjoyed this introspective and uplifting collection.