Book: Bless the Daughter Raised By a Voice in Her Head
Author: Warsan Shire
Rating: 3 Out of 5 Stars

I would like to thank publisher, Random House Trade, for providing me with an ARC.

I went into this one knowing nothing about the book nor its author. I guess that want makes me a little different from others who have picked up this book. I am just going to get this out and get it over with: I had a really hard time connecting with writing. I know what the author was attempting to do here, but I just felt this great sense of disconnect.

I found that these poems just did not speak to me. They did not drive the point home to me. Like with so many other books as out late, there was just something there was missing. I could tell what the author was trying to do and trying to say to us, but it just felt like it wasn’t all there. The anger and rage was there, but I just felt it because it was what we were supposed to feel. We were told what we were supposed to feel. Had we not been told that we were supposed to feel these things, I really don’t think I would have felt them.

One thing that I really did enjoy about this book was how we use real events in poetry. The use of real events does help. The goal by doing is to give people a chance to find something to connect t. By exposing the horrors that people live in everyday, there should be something for everyone to connect to and to find something to talk about. Again, I really struggled with this. Yes, I will admit that there is something to talk about and we are given plenty of talking points. Once again, I just had a really hard time finding something to latch onto, something to give me a reason to really care about what the author was writing about.

I really do have no idea why I had a very difficult time with this one. There was really no reason why I couldn’t form a bigger bond that what I did. I have no idea what the deal was. It’s really annoying because I did want to like this once.

Sigh….I guess it’s on to the next one.

This book comes out on March 1, 2022.

"Are you there, God? It's me, the ugly one."

"Mother says there are locked rooms inside all women. Sometimes, the men- they come with keys, and sometimes, the men- they come with hammers."

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As always by Warsan Shire. this collection of poetry was raw, honest, and astounding.
As in "Teaching my Mother how to give birth", Shire focuses on womanhood, her culture, and the expectations of society.
Partly thought-vomit, partly stories from her past, you can see Shire's voice shine.

I really enjoyed this collection and would highly recommend it.

A collection of poetry that took my breath away.Poetry that makes you think poems so meaningful they will stay with me.Perfect for discussion a book I wil be recommending and gifting.##netgalley#randomhouse

Perfectly balances the weight of distance with the weight of memory, capturing the dual pain of nostalgia for a time of great trauma, neglect, and loss.

i was sent this earc after reviewing revenge body, and i was so excited to start this collection because i have never read poetry by a somali woman! this was a beautiful collection and i really felt the pain of being a somali migrant/refugee but also the joy that is in being a version of yourself that you love. warsan shire is also generally a super cool person (collaborating with beyonce?!? and being one of the youngest members of poetry associations in england?!!?) and i'm excited for everyone to read her work!

I was recommended this on NetGalley based on my review on Ghost Forest. I loved them both equally. Poetry collections tend to pack a punch just like novellas can in a short period of time and that’s why I love them. This collection of poems by Warsan Shire was moving, beautiful, enlightening and thought-provoking. I devoured it in one sitting and gained a lot of meaningful quotes that I will think about forever.

My favorite quote is from “Bless This House”

“Mother says there are locked rooms inside all women. Sometimes, the men- they come with keys, and sometimes, the men —they come with hammers.” 5 stars.

First and foremost, thank you to Random House, Warsan Shire and NetGalley for reaching out to me and offering me the opportunity to review an ARC of Shire’s debut, full-length poetry collection, "Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head: Poems".

If anyone knows my reading tastes, they know that I’m not a fan of contemporary poetry. I don’t enjoy free or blank verse, nor do I enjoy prose poetry, so I admit that I hesitated when I was given the chance to read and review this collection of poems. Since I studied poetry in school, I was taught about poetic language and devices and how to “dissect” poems in order to understand them. That being said, the poetic devices that I learned about were those which are/were specific to the Anglo-European canon. While that’s fine, it’s absolutely vital to note that BIPOC poets may choose to/often subvert those established norms. And quite frankly, the only black poet I read in my undergraduate American lit course was Phillis Wheatley, and she was absolutely writing for white readers. So, I recognize that I may not be the intended audience for Shire’s poems. I’m also not the most qualified poetry reviewer, so please take my review with a grain of salt.

Some of the themes that Shire explores in this collection are ones that I love reading about: the refugee and immigrant experience, sexuality, feminism in the face of cultural and religious suppression, and relationships among women (whether supportive and uplifting or toxic and harmful). There were also topics that I’m not a big fan of reading about as well, including grief, mental health issues and mother-daughter relationships. However, I was okay with reading about subject matter that I’m not a fan of because it was extremely educational for me—especially the content which focused on mental health. For readers who struggle with reading about suicide or mental health, please tread carefully. Some of these poems are heartbreakingly difficult to read.

One thing that I have to mention that made me chuckle were all of the 90s western references: Terry McMillan's "Waiting to Exhale" (novel and movie starring Angela Bassett), Dawson's Creek (TV series), the Baby-Sitters Club (books) and Britney Spears. Another thing that made me smile and feel nostalgia was all of the Arabic (although it was clearly sometimes a different dialect, "Walahi" is the "Wallah" that I'm more familiar with) and the smell of Oud? Just lovely (I've lived in Kuwait, Oman and Qatar).

I applaud Shire for her determination to tackle such difficult issues while writing poetry that’s accessible to readers who may not enjoy poetry or (as I hear so often) “get it”. Admittedly, I wish that there were a few more moments where Shire had employed a few more poetic devices because when she did, she did so amazingly: I cannot get the image out of my head of Sofia's mother-in-law parading the white nuptial bedsheets stained with Sofia’s “virginal” blood through the streets, all the while the mother-in-law is ignorant to the fact that Sofia used blood from a pigeon, which is what the mother-in-law resembles while running amuck.

For those who love t’ai freedom ford’s poems and/or contemporary poetry, I encourage you to pick up this new collection from Warsan Shire! I don’t think you’ll be disappointed!

A satisfying 3.5 stars from me.

I read and reread Home, which I thought was the jewel of this collection. Overall a very heartfelt and thought provoking collection, asking the reader to sit with ideas of refugees, immigration, and hardship. Warsan Shire stitches together what we might think as foreign onto dominant pop culture references (for instance, a quote from a Britney Spears song), and thus reclaims her own story and complex identity. I feel like I had to reread poems and take my time with them and some hit harder for me than others, but overall glad to have experienced these words.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review!

You will want this poetry collection. You think you don't recognize the poet's name but most of the words in Beyonce's Lemonade were penned by Warsan Shire.

Poems in this collection range from the refugee experience to the body to love. She's also well known for the poem "Home," which can be found online and starts with this line:
"no one leaves home unless
home is the mouth of a shark"

Shire is British, born to Somali parents in Kenya, so many of her poems ponder belonging and place.

I will also recommend the audio, read by the poet.

Grateful to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this e-galley. I can't wait to share this poetry collection with my creative writing students in late summer and fall 2022. I know they will love what Warsan Shire has to say--and how she says it.

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy!

Available March 1st 2022.

Poetry gathers our dead. Through testaments, obituaries and allegories, Warsan Shire invites to sit with our ghosts. Whether honoring the girlhood we lost or in honor of a lost daughter, each poem in this collection is a stirring call to action. To love, to protect and to recognize our daughters as more precious than gold. To bless them, again and again.

This is an amazing collection, with beautiful imagery of womanhood and what it means to be female. But included are some high voltage descriptions inspired by rape and immigration experience that have the power to remain.

Beautiful and haunting, Shire's work mixes modern popular culture texts, with Somali histories and narratives. She weaves a journey of a girl out of a wartorn nation into womanhood. She vividly brings alive the stories of immigrants and refugees, of mothers and daughters, and the women they become or could become. This powerful collection is a must-read.

“Baati caught on door handles, pulling her through time. At night her silk scarf slips around her neck like a noose.”

beautiful, authentic, angry, painful.

this collection explores the experiences of girls and then women, Somali and Muslim and black. It explores family relationships, (particularly mother daughter), The immigrant and refugee experiences, social expectations and again and again, sexual assault. (FGM is also briefly discussed)

idk why such harrowing content did not feel like trauma dumping but a lyrical examination of real experiences. The author does not draw from only her own life but of her mother’s, her siblings, her father, and family friends young and old. Some poems were also inspired by news stories and large events.

Overall I loved this so much, 11/10 will absolutely buy a print copy as soon as I get a chance !!

5 stars

This book is a beautiful collection of poetry. The writer has a gift with words and language; her poetry is lyrical, musical, something I can almost hear while reading it. She conveys a variety of intense emotions and meaningful experiences through concise lines that make the reader truly and vividly imagine what she’s describing. She had me from the first poem; I’m definitely a fan. Once this book officially publishes, I will be looking to purchase a physical copy and will determine how I can use an excerpt or two in some of my high school classes.

Warsan Shire can really do no wrong. This collection was a quick but powerful read. “Home” is an incredible poem that has stuck with me since I first read it, and I found some new favorites in this book as well. Could I relate to a lot of these poems on a personal level? Thank God, no. But Warsan Shire has a way of drawing us into very real experiences and punching us in the gut. She does it remarkably well over and over.

Thanks to Netgalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve been waiting for this book for a long time. I read Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth in 2014 and thought Warsan Shire was an extraordinary poet. I found many of the poems in Bless the Daughter Raised by the Voice in Her Head to be gut-wrenching and poignant. They are also very personal—the descriptions and the feelings they evoked often made me feel like I was intruding or reading someone’s diary. Quite a few times, I started a poem over and read it several times to make sure I felt the full weight of it. My favorite poem in the book was “Home,” which I had read previously, but it has not lost any of its impact upon repeated rereads. New favorites included “Backwards” and “Bless This House.” I look forward to more from Ms. Shire in the future. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Have you read anything else by Warsan Shire? Literally anything else? Well, you have probably read this book already.

I will admit that there were some very powerful lines on here but for the most part it feels like every other one of her work. Take that how you will..

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This is the first Warsan Shire collection of poetry that I've read. Warsan has a stunning voice that shines through in these poems.

Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head is a collection that blends gender, sexuality, nations, religion, family, and more into powerful poems.

Most of the poems in this collection are short, but they certainly pack a punch

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book. I, like many others, have been blown away by some of Warsan Shire's other work, but this one didn't do it for me. That said, I think many people would resonate with and appreciate this, but maybe it wasn't the best time for me to be reading it.