First of all, I am really thankful to Andrew McMeel Publishing / Audio, Christabelle Marbun, and NetGalley for allowing me to listen to this advanced copy prior to its publication date of October 11th. Lately, I'm always in the mood for LISTENING to poetry collections because it's like sweet syrup being poured right into my senses and I feel it more deeply.

***** TRIGGER WARNING - TALK OF SUICIDE - ************

I was able to feel the author's emotional experiences so deeply, suffering her losses of life, relationships, and even run-ins with death. She was hurting at a time when she wanted to just end it all, and meet Death at her front doorstep. The author walks us through her recovery, coping mechanisms, and the external stressors that added to her madness.

As the reader/listener, I felt like I was one of the warmer voices circulating around in her mind, begging her to keep fighting and stay alive, while I knew I was combatting the darker thoughts that were listed on every page. We come to a relieving conclusion with Christabelle realizing that she can power through and defeat her demons, but many don't meet that final step.

The National Suicide Hotline is available if you or anyone you know is feeling suicidal:https://988lifeline.org/

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* different from what i was expecting (my bad lmao) but i really still liked it for the most part lol 3.5

When the Dark Spoke to Me by Christabelle Marbun is a powerful poetry collection containing dark themes, such as depression, suicidal idealization, grief, death, and even more. When reading this collection, practice self-care and read the trigger warning at the beginning.
The collection contains many poems that resonated with me. The writer did a great job depicting pain and depression.

Format: audiobook ~ Narrator: Christabelle Marbun
Content: 4 stars ~ Narration: 5 stars

In this case, you can judge a book by its cover. Poetry is both beautiful and quite dark. Be sure to check the content warnings! There’s a lot of death and suicidal ideation. The book consists of five chapters: Death, Madness, Love, Threshold, and Requiem. Most poems are sad and heavy, but we can also sense hope. The author reads these poems in the audiobook edition.

Thanks to Andrews McMeel Audio for the ARC and this opportunity! This is a voluntary review, and all opinions are my own.

This was beautifully read and I'm really glad I listened to the audiobook, it added a lot to my overall enjoyment. Some of the poems had music in the background or certain lines echoed, and it all really enhanced the experience.

Most of the poems were pretty sad, with a general heaviness, but they weren't bleak. There was a hopeful feeling to the collection as a whole, and it ended on a very satisfying note.

This one is especially impressive considering how young the author is, and I definitely recommend it for poetry lovers! Do pay attention to the trigger warnings before reading.

Thank you to Andrews McMeel Publishing and NetGalley for the review copy! All thoughts are my own.

3.5 stars

This collection deals with some serious, heavy issues but begins to explore them in an accessible way. The verse was pretty, the division of ideas was interesting as well as effective, and I enjoyed hearing the artist read her own work. For the most part, I liked and appreciated this short volume of poetry.

As you might expect, this collection explores dark themes. Marbun crafts beautiful poetry on grief, heartbreak, death and suicide amongst other things and I found myself intrigued by her unique style and voice. It was great to hear this as an audiobook, I felt this added to my enjoyment of the collection. I wouldn’t say this is what you might expect from traditional poetry, it had a sense of a story, or stories, and it flowed together beautifully, making it easy to fall into. The writing is vivid and colourful, and such a pleasure to read. Marbun’s talent is evident in every poem and I would recommend this collection for any poetry fans.

I'm glad I read this audiobook tonight. Depression and PTSD have kicked in big time the past few days and I was looking for a short and comforting escape. I didn't read the description or anything before reading, just logged on and thought the cover looked neat. As cliché as this sounds, this managed to be the thing I needed to remind me that I'm not alone. Tears were shed. Therapy inspiration struck. I felt vulnerable hearing childhood experiences and feelings vocalized. I feel numb. A good numb. The numb that comes from the swindler of souls leaving you yet again. Death is a good friend of mine, and I'm glad She was memorialized so kindly.

content warnings: abuse, depression, parental abuse, suicidal ideation

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publishers for allowing me to listen to this audiobook in advanced.

This is my first audiobook review and all I can say is that I really enjoyed the art and meaning behind every line in this book.

'When the Dark Spoke to Me' is a truly touching and heartfelt poetry collection. Marburn displays such vulnerability with each piece it is impossible not to be moved.

This collection displays the poet's take on life and death, the relationship between trauma and the way we grow, the lightness and heaviness of love, and coming to terms with and healing from all these deeply emotional journeys.

While this body of work is incredibly communicated and ultimately positive, I encourage all potential readers to check trigger warnings first as some of the heavier topics— especially communicated in such a raw and artful way— may be difficult for some readers.

Ultimately, as someone mostly on the other side of many of the struggles touched on within this collection, 'When the Dark Spoke to Me' resonated with me so beautifully that I was moved to tears more than once.

This book of poems is astonishing, heavy, dark, and beautiful. Please pay attention to the author's trigger warnings.

Christabelle Marbun is a great poet, and as all great poets do, she bares her soul naked, vulnerable, and raw. She respects the power of words and she wields that power well.

This is especially good as an audiobook because you can hear the words from the poet's own voice. This lends further depth and heart to her words. The beautiful sound effects add a great deal to the experience and immersion into her glorious poems.

Thank you to Christabelle Marbun for her beautiful words, and to Andrews McMeel Audio, Andrews McMeel Publishing, and NetGalley for a chance to read them.

Firstly I would like to thank the author, the publishers, and Netgalley for providing this ARC, and the audiobook for me to review.

When the dark spoke to me is a poetry book in which the author speaks of death, darkness, love and parental relationships. I was greatly affected by this book, it was not an easy read, which is why I decided to pick up the audiobook, and it was very helpful for me to get to ending of the book, although it was really short and fast, the words were heavy, it takes someone with certain experience to understand what heavy here means.

The labeling on this book is a little misleading though, it's more ya poetry to be honest, adults will not relate to this in general.

I genuinely suffered in understanding what the pronouns meant, in some parts the author said I, and others the author said she, and not that the pronouns matter, I just couldn't link if we were speaking about the narrator or not.

The book was separated into five chapters, the last one separated into two parts, each chapter spoke of a different topic, the chapters were named: Death, Madness, Love, Threshold and Requiem.

I would most definitely look up trigger warnings before picking up this book, the first two chapters are dark, but the last two chapters are sort of healing. I did not take this book lightly to be honest, and there were quotes that hit spots I never wanted touched, but it was a good read in general.

Thank you Net Galley for an audio ARC of When the Dark Spoke To Me by Christabelle Marbun. This is a tragically beautiful poem collection. It was moving.

(Please make sure to look up the trigger warnings provided by the author before reading!)

This poignant poetry collection finds words to express the darkest of feelings one might experience - it's heartwrenchingly lyrical yet merciless at times. Death as a Lover, Life as Abuser, Parents as one's greatest Fear, Love the one unattainable Thing. I had the pleasure to listen to When the Dark Spoke to Me in audio format, recited by the poet, the way poems are intended to be performed. When a line of poetry makes you want to write down your own little verses, that's when you know it does something to you, and that happened to me several times during this performance. Bitter, but sweet.

this was phenomenal. the author/narrator portrayed the act of coming to terms with your abuser and their actions while also keeping the ambiguity of the situation to allow for all audiences to relate to the poetry.

A beautiful rendition of poetry focusing on topics like heartache, death and dysfunctional families.

Tw: for topics with suicidal ideation and death.

If you do read this book, please take caution.

Marbun implements a beautiful yet morbid tone through the characterisation of a young character who is contemplating their life before their suicide.

Each chapter plays a part to the stages and goodbyes the character takes heed in before their taking their own life and joining with death. Death in a way Is metaphorically idealised as good and kind and as a way of freeing oneself from the pain of hardship of life. On the flip side the author does discuss the intricacies and happy moments that life can offer to individuals and it holds out as a hope for living life to its truest potential.

I really enjoyed this piece of poetry. The cover is beautiful and I would highly recommend to give this short story a try.

I loved that the audio was narrated by the author. This dealt with some heavy topics but was done so well. There was so much emotion in these poems. From beginning to end there was a process of feelings. I could feel them with the author. I cannot wait to read more from this author. Thank you to Netgalley for this audio ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is probably my first time listening to a poetry audiobook and I must say I'm in shock at how beautifully made this is. Each poem feels like a part of the poet's soul being shared with the readers. And the narrator's voice makes it even better, such a soothing and calming voice to listen to.

"Stories, they end all the time right? The end"

This book deals with really heavy topics, but does this in a beautiful way. Definitely check tw. Writing style is very good, couldn't stop listening. 4/5⭐

"So tell me, how does one unalign the stars?"

Thank you NetGalley for providing digital advanced copy in exchange for honest review.