it was just okay, nothing that stays in my mind but good for the moment i guess,, might stay in other peoples mind for longer but i just didn’t find a connection to it

''Your eyes were sapphires— seas my heart voyaged in secret. Seeking islands of shelter knowing full well there were none in sight. Nothing to cling to but yet.''

I came across this book and was inmediately captivated by its cover. I didn't know the author, but that didn't matter to me. I love discovering new poets. So I decided to give it a try. I started reading it and its religious themes weren't really captivating me. Surprisingly, when I arrived to the second half of the book I found that it was more my style.

Overall, I didn't like it as much as I hoped to, but I have to admit that I've saved some lines that I really liked.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me a copy of the book.

I think this was a solid collection of poetry but definitely not one for me. I think it was highly accessible to those who find more classic poetry to be hard to get through, I think the poetry was simplistic (in a good way). The poems were clear and concise, and I did get through the collection easily. But I'm more of a fan of narrative based poetry instead of ones that try to be too motivational so this collection wasn't right for me on a personal level. But if you need a bit of self help, this is the collection for you.

I'm always a poetry junkie. I love how poets can combine a full length story or a incident or a chaos feeling just in few lines.

This book was no different. First thing that attracted me to read this book was it's title. EVERY GOOD BOY DOES FINE. How simple is that yet a has strong aurora that attracts everyone.

I loved how the poems were going in a charismatic way but 1/3 of them failed to impress. I couldn’t really felt related.

howbeit, It was a good read for me.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me an E-Arc in exchange of an honest review.

Amazing, loved this book, full of relatable feelings and jus tthoroughly enjoyed. Some poems hit home and others made me think of past experiences.

Poetry isn't really my jam but i found myself enjoying the poet's commentary and story via poetry. Such an interesting read

Dieses Buch erzählt die Geschichte des Autors in Form von Gedichten. Diese Gedichte waren teilweise sehr unterschiedlich in ihrer Länge und ihrem Aufbau und wurden gelegentlich von kleinen Zeichnungen begleitet oder ergänzt.
Das Buch teilt sich in 5 Abschnitte. Während zu Beginn die Kindheit und Jugend des Autors als schwarzer, homosexueller Mensch in einer sehr streng christlichen Gesellschaft beschrieben wird, gehen die weiteren Abschnitte auf Themen wie Selbstliebe, Liebeskummer, Homophobie und Rassismus ein.

Die Gedichte zu Beginn des Buches haben mich insgesamt sehr traurig gestimmt, da man spürt, wie der Autor unter seiner "Andersartigkeit", und dem Widerspruch zwischen seinen Gefühlen und den Werten Gottes, leidet. Ich fand die Art, wie der Autor seine Wahrnehmung als Kind geschildert hat sehr berührend. Zugleich fand ich es als Nicht-Gläubige interessant zu sehen, wie Kinder in einer solchen Gesellschaft aufwachsen; wie ihnen einerseits keine Möglichkeit dazu gegeben wird, anders zu denken als die Masse, wie der Glaube andererseits aber auch Sicherheit und Halt geben kann.
Im weiteren Verlauf beschreibt der Autor, wie er zunehmend zu sich selbst und seinen Gefühlen steht und wie er negative, aber auch positive Erfahrungen mit der Liebe macht. Auch in diesen Gedichten spiegelte sich immer wieder seine innere Zerrissenheit. Ich hätte mir dort noch mehr Informationen darüber gewünscht, wie seine Eltern mit seiner Homosexualität umgehen, jetzt, wo er sich nicht mehr versteckt. Im letzten Abschnitt thematisiert der Autor seine Hautfarbe und den Rassismus, den er erleben musste, mit eindrucksvollen Worten.

Fazit:
Sehr schöne, bewegende Gedichte zu Themen wie Homosexualität, Liebe, Glaube und Rassismus, die hier so chronologisch sortiert sind, dass sie wie eine Biografie funktionieren. Sehr empfehlenswerte 4,5 Sterne.


In English:

This book tells the author's story in the form of poems. These poems were sometimes very different in length and structure and were occasionally accompanied or supplemented by small drawings.
The book is divided into 5 sections. While at the beginning the author's childhood and adolescence as a black, homosexual person in a very strictly Christian society is described, the following sections deal with topics such as self-love, lovesickness, homophobia and racism.

The poems at the beginning of the book made me very sad overall, because you can feel how the author suffers from his "otherness" and the contradiction between his feelings and the values ​​of God. I found the way the author portrayed his perception as a child very touching. At the same time, as a non-believer, I found it interesting to see how children grow up in such a society; how, on the one hand, they are not given the opportunity to think differently than the crowd, and how, on the other hand, faith can also provide security and support.
In the following, the author describes how he increasingly feels about himself and his feelings and how he has negative, but also positive experiences with love. His inner turmoil was also repeatedly reflected in these poems. I would have liked more information there on how his parents deal with his homosexuality, now that he is no longer hiding. In the last section, the author addresses his skin color and the racism he had to experience with impressive words.

Conclusion:
Very beautiful, moving poems on topics such as homosexuality, love, belief and racism, which are sorted chronologically here so that they function like a biography. Highly recommended 4.5 stars.

This book was such a beautiful blend of memoir-like observations and commentaries and captivating poetry, I was mesmerised from the beginning. Really good.

In all honesty, the poetry style was fairly different to what I would normally read, but I founf the form of it really interesting. My favourite poem from this book was probably 'A Rainbow Connection', the way it was written felt so considered, reflective and full of knowledge of self. My favourite quote was this: 'You've loved me when I'm broken/ You love me when II'm weak/ You love though I'm silent/ II've not one word to speak.' Literally stunning. For such a short read this book brings to light so many historical and modern societal issues, such as queerness in religions such as Christianity, and more. Altogether a really good read.

This was really interesting! Musical, witty poetry round family, racial reckoning, and sexual identity awakening with an undercurrent (and often just current) of anger and heartbreak. Makes m want to search out their music and see them live.

This is a beautiful collection of poetry that grapples with the complexities of evangelical Christianity, queerness, and race. Calvin addresses questions of belonging and being known in a really honest way. I would definitely recommend this, especially to queer people who grew up within Christianity. The sections where he shared journals entries from the past really hit home and described such a specific state of mind.

I’m not really the type to read poetry, but this one called out to me. To say I don’t understand poetry is not all that far off, and I have no idea how to write reviews for it either. All that said, this collection really called to me as I read them and I felt it call to me in a way I’ve never felt poetry call to me before. I urge everyone to read this, weather they get poetry or not.

Really enjoyed and really gets you thinking in these poems from personal experiences and feelings. Really well done.

Pros: I listened to the audio version of this book a few weeks ago, and although I thought it was fantastic on audio, I was curious to know if I missed anything by not seeing the words on the page. I was thankful NetGalley also had the ebook version of this book so I could read it again. When listening to the audio, I had no idea there were lovely drawings in the book that accompanied the poems. I think the best way to experience this book is to listen to it while looking at the book itself so the reader can experience the author’s voice, the music, the words on the page, and the drawings.

Cons: None that I can think of. Poetry is personal, so not every collection will be for every reader.

Thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the opportunity to read this book.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4

This passionate poetry collection was deep and genuine. You can really tell that the author dived deep into their personal experiences to create art out of pain. The main character is a gay, trans, black man. As you can guess it was a wild & emotional ride.

content warnings for racism, abusive relationships, homophobia, transphobia, self-hate, mention of eating disorders,

This book talks about the journey of individual healing and it is a call for action. The poems show that, with love and acceptance, anyone can flourish. I enjoyed reading some of these poems but, overall, I didn't really like this book. It wasn't my cup of tea. It has a bit of harsh language and expressions, which I don't like. However, I did enjoy some of these poems — some of them were beautifully written.

3.5 stars rounded to 4 stars!

"you don't mean to hurt those you love
you just do"

A very powerful collection of poetry that I am grateful to have read. I adored the little illustrations throughout and thought they worked well with the poems that they accompanied. Like many poetry collections that I have read, there were some poems that I was immediately drawn to more than others.

As a whole, the poetry showed a sense of vulnerability while also being completely blunt when voicing the struggles that the narrator has gone through, especially when it comes to religion and race.

This is definitely worth the read, it may relate more to lgbt+ people who are also religious but it was still a good collection either way!.

What a brilliant way to express a memoir. It was gut wrenching and eye opening. The poetry combined with the the author’s raw experiences create a just a flash of blunt insight into the world we create. The world we expect all humans to “fit” in. The author makes his space and owns it. Wow. Bravo.

I  received a free digital copy of this book from Netgalley for an honest review.


It was a nice collection of poems, real gritty with strong themes. I personally couldn't really connect to the poems, they just weren't to my particular taste.

I found a lot to relate to in this book, having grown up in a small town with a religious, conservative family, and being torn between wanting their approval and being strangled by it. Seeing the author grow and reading his beautiful poems about love and life was affirming. I didn't really understand some of the smaller poems that seemed a bit like filler in between, but there were other poems that were very meaningful and cut right to the core, with a rawness that was bracing and real. I appreciated learning about what the author experienced in his life through the vivid images and descriptions in his poems.

This book was absolutely adorable! I was a little confused at first when I started reading the first few pages, because I thought the book was just pictures of each individual bug. However, I was thoroughly surprised how explanatory and well written it was. It screams boring non-fiction, but with all the pictures, it was worth the read!