Though I am not a big reader of poetry outside of the classroom, dipping into F.S Yousaf's Serenity over this holiday period was a delightful reprise from the busyness of the end of the year. Each poem feels like an edifying conversation with a wise friend, offering a moment of clarity about some aspect of this messy experience we call being human.

With poetry, I often find that it's best to get a sense of the language. Here's an excerpt from one of my favourite poems:
"Your soul is a guest
that calls your sacred vessel home."

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I picked up the eARC of this poetry collection, as I had read Yousaf’s Sincerely and enjoyed it. I had annotated the poems of Sincerely that reminded me of my girlfriend and gave it to her as a gift, so I went in to Serenity expecting similar themes of love, of growing, of being gentle with yourself.

It is not the most profound poetry I have ever read, but Yousaf does a very good job at making their experiences feel very universal, while somehow also specific.

I do like the way Yousaf structured their poems. In an era of “tumblr poetry,” it was refreshing to see lines of poems that are full thoughts/phrases/ideas and not single words.

This is a quick, easy read that I would recommend to a poetry lover, but I also can’t say someone is missing all that if they don’t read this collection.

Thank you to NetGalley, the Publisher and Farhan Yousaf for providing me with an ARC of this book.
Wow! I loved everything about this collection of poetry. It's the style of poetry I love to read! Everything is so beautifully written, and it really resonated with me and was easy to connect to.
I'll definitely be ordering more of Farhan's books

I first became aware of Yousaf on tiktok, and was instantly spellbound by the way he uses words. This book is no different. The way he describes and illustrates feelings of love and hope is simply beautiful, and reaches the depths of human emotion.

Serenity made me smile and remember how in love I am. It’s sweet, to the point, and darker in moments where it needs to be. A fantastic read.

I always start my reviews about poetry books with saying that poetry is very subjective and really is hard to rate or review. It speaks to some more than others, the topics are vague for some but clear and relatable for other people.
I enjoyed this collection of poems and could relate to many of them and thought them beautiful.
They made me think about my wife while reading in a way that I feel the same way for her as how the author described his feelings for his significant other and what they meant for him.
The cover of the book is very beautiful and dreamy too, which was the first thing I noticed when picking this book up.
I’d recommend to read this book on a cozy sunday, tucked under a blanket and with a cup of your favourite hot beverage.

I really loved this book. Poignant and relatable, this was a wonderful book to have on my phone to dip into instead of endlessly scrolling Instagram. The perfect retreat from the everyday world with beautiful imagery and word choice. I look forward to reading other books by F.S. Yousaf.

I really loved these poems!

There were some that I just had to sit and take in for a few minutes because they just hit me and my emotions so well!

On top of the poems I absolutely loved the drawings on some of the pages - they just gave this extra detail into the poems that made them that much better.

I have to say I love short poems way better because I feel I can take them in better and this book had just the write amount of long and short poems to keep me hooked.

I will definitely be reading from this poet again and I would 100% recommend this poetry collection!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4404019079?book_show_action=false

Serenity by F.S. Yousaf is a collection of passionate poems about acceptance, hope, and tranquility. Yousaf has a genuine way with words and conveys his emotions beautifully. Each piece whether short or long, paints a vivid picture for the reader.

After reading this book, I am adding F.S. Yousaf to my list of favorite poets. I didn’t have to connect to every single piece to feel something. I highly recommend this book to any lover of poetry. I’m certain we can all appreciate the passion in Yousaf’s words. Thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Unfortunately, this collection didn't connect with me or cause me to feel much of anything. As per the description of this book, I was expecting more on overcoming fear and growing to find courage.

I felt this book spoke more about the author's relationship with their person than their own growth separate from them. I was left disappointed and wondering if I was the right audience for this collection.

(Also, not sure if the last sentence on the last page has a typo, but it seems to me that it's missing a "to" between "back" and "the.")

A beautiful collection of poems that together created a piece so moving and serene. I don't often find myself enraptured with books like these, as they often seem too much for Instagram aesthetic than actual meaning, but Serenity shatters all prior notions for the better.

I adored this collection of poetry. The longing in the first part of the collection almost made me misty eyed.

Accessible poetry, we love to see it! Certain pieces sparked joy but overall as a collection I wish it took more risks.

Thanks to net galley!

Validation and Understanding are the two words I would use to describe how I felt after I read this amazing collection of poems. I sobbed through nearly most of the book. I feel as if F.S. Yousaf stepped into my cloud of memories and past traumas and then proceeded to write poems about having courage, self-love, and growth. There was so much validation within these pages. I felt like I was being heard through the entire book. Even sitting and thinking about it makes me tear up. I really honestly did not know I needed this book until I began reading it. 5/5 stars.

Thank you Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

This collection of poetry is about love, healing, and kindness towards ourselves and others. I was really captivated by the cover, and I love reading about those themes, so I was really excited. I feel like many poetry books write about super painful topics, which makes sense and I like those too, but sometimes, I prefer more inspiring lighter poems. This collection definitely brings that. While it deals with pain, it's focused on healing, self-love, growth, and hope. The writing style is mainly free verse, which isn't always my favorite, but I enjoyed it, and it was really easy to read. I didn't fully connect to the poems, but there were a few which really resonated with me.
There are also illustrations in it, and those were a little underwhelming for me. They're drawn in a simple black-and-white style, and there are only a few of them. I wish there were more of them, but it's obviously focused on the poems, so I understand.
Overall, I really enjoyed it, and if you are a poetry lover and you like the themes mentioned above, I think you'd really like it!

I hope I find someone who loves them as much as this author portrays their love, everyone deserves to find this type of love. This book a great short read and goes in depth as to how love feels and the ups and down. It’s been a long time since I read poetry and this was a great re-entry into the genre.

I related to so many of the poems which is why I’m giving this a 3.5 rating. The whole time it made me think of the exact way that I feel sometimes so it was nice to see that articulated. I did however feel that a lot of the poems were very repetitive, and some were a little too short and seemed like “filler” as well as the illustrations. I would be open to reading more poetry by this author. The cover is absolutely gorgeous.

Thank you to NetGalley and Andrew McMeel Publishing for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review. "Serenity" is a very sweet and optimistic poetry collection which would motivate and inspire the reader. I truly liked the structure of the book and the illustrations as well. The author's writing style is also quite nice, it connects with the reader, but it also tends to get a tad bit repetitive. The content you'd find here could be described as: optimistic, hopeful, positive, inspiring, motivational, which is, of course, pretty good for some readers, but not for me. I value realism in poetry and life is simply not as optimistic and full of hope. Every single thing that was bad at the beginning ended up being positive in a way and that seems quite unrealistic to me. It also reminded quite a lot of Instapoetry, which is, again, not necessarily a bad thing, but it's just something that I am not particularly fond of. Quite a lot of poems looked more like motivational quotes. If you are looking for a poetry collection, whose sole goal is to inspire you and give you hope, this might be the book for you.

What a wonderful collection of poetry by F.S. Yousaf.

Serenity was divided into three sections, and I felt each of the sections was equally strong. The wording was simple yet powerful. I see this being a selection of poems that my husband and I will return to over and over. Partnership was my favourite poem as I knew it would have an a profound impact on my husband and I was extremely correct.

I enjoyed the illustrations so much that I wish there were more of them.

I feel this is a poet that I will continue to read throughout the years. I cannot wait to add this collection to our small poetry collection. I have already preordered this collection, and I ordered my husband more of Yousaf's poems for his birthday.

I received an eARC from Andrews McMeel Publishing through NetGalley. All opinions are 100% my own.

I was sort of expecting something different from this poetry book. It was okay, but nothing special for me. I just didn't relate to the poems, I guess.