I forgot to review this closer to when I read, this but I enjoyed these poems. I believe they deep with original structures.

*4.5 stars. Firstly I'd like to thank Netgalley and Central Avenue Publishing for an eARC for an honest review.

This is my third book of Catarine Hancock (my favourite being Shades of Lovers) and this one is such a beautiful read. I love watching an author's growth. I thought that the format of the book was really good with all the poems being inspired by a different tarot card. Hancock had my crying in the first 15% of the book. This is a truly uplifting collection that focuses of the self - journeying through the peaks, valleys, and plateaus that lead to accepting ourselves completely. I am once again in awe of how personal poets like Hancock are in their published works. Each book becomes a small window into their lives.

Some of my favourite sections were Justice and The Devil and two of my favourite poems were the recovery of a teenage girl and do as I say, not as I do. I loved how Hancock moves away from writing poems about ex partners and moved towards self worth and all that it entails. Another really good collection of poetry. I look forward to reading more in the future.

This was fairly average and in line with the many similar offerings these days. Readers who enjoy this style will enjoy her writing, but readers who are looking for something with more depth than the kind of self-help poetry that saturates the market will be left wanting.

After reading Catarine Hancock's sometimes i fall asleep thinking about you, I was excited to read her latest collection of poetry. The title got my attention, and the cover is gorgeous. I love that poems were tied with Tarot. I also think the book had a decent mix of poetry and prose.

Another amazing collection of poetry from the wonderful Catarine Hancock. I adore this author’s work so much. She has an incredible way with worlds and a unique and exciting perspective on life. That comes across in her poetry for sure, and she adds layers of complexity and insight into many difficult topics such as mental illness, trauma, relationships and the journey of healing.

Catarine’s writing has grown so much with each new collection and evolved in such a way that it makes me proud I’ve followed her writing journey.

This collection leaned more toward positivity, which I loved to see, and I still related to it. I believe she could write anything and I’d love it. That’s how much she has a way with words. Thank you to netgalley, the author and publisher, for a chance to read and review this book.

I absolutely loved reading this book. Very moving and emotional poetry and I could not stop reading it. I need to get myself a physical copy of this book once it's out because I love to own physical copies of books that I enjoy reading.

This is a beautiful collection of poetry, self-love, affirmations, and growth. My favorite pieces were the ones about her mother; they were so relatable and beautiful. I've been slowly making my way through this book for a while now, and it was really nice to sprinkle into each day. I wrote down a lot of quotes I liked, but my favorite was probably "this is my secret: i gave into the urge."

Thank you to Central Avenue Publishing and Netgalley for the chance to read and review this ARC.

Such a beautiful collection. I could not put it down and am looking forward to more work by this author!

I just reviewed I Gave Myself The World by Catarine Hancock thank you for the ARC NetGaley.

This is a wonderful poetry collection written by a female voice that will grab hold of you. I read this as a middle school teacher and had in mind all of my students and the years ahead of them.

This could be read by any age group. It is packed with different insights that the threads will connect to a piece of you. Take note of each lesson, it can be a helpful guide.

This book of poetry will filled with many moments of pausing and reflecting on what the author just brought up with her words. Thought provoking, creative and inspiring. I will definitely be looking for more poetry by Catarine Hancock!

A lot of poetry books deal with the same subject nowadays, and it’s very easy to sound repetitive or unoriginal when your readers enjoy reading that sort of poetry. What makes the difference for me is the number of poems that speak to me personally and the poetic form itself. I felt that this collection lacked the poetry I thought it would have; this felt more like a collection of advice written in a self-help, self-love, healing diary. So although the subject is touching and deeply personal and I can appreciate the way the author shares the wisdom of her journey, it did feel a bit overdone to me.
I did find a few nuggets of poetry that I really loved, but overall, I could not always connect with the love letter the author wrote to her younger self and to her readers, even though all the themes tackled by the collection echoed some point of my own history. I wish I could have appreciated it more, but this was probably not what I was looking for at this moment.
Although this book wasn’t a perfect match for me, if you’re looking for an inspiring journey about change, about taking care of yourself, trusting yourself and loving yourself, it will probably be exactly what you hoped it would.

"the weight of desire drapes heavily across your shoulders. / the desire for what, exactly, you are not yet sure of."

I Gave Myself The World is a poetry collection packed to the brim with self-assuredness and powerful reminders that to find happiness, we must make it for ourselves.

What drew me into this collection was the idea that all the poems corresponded with a major arcana card from Tarot! I'm mildly familiar with the cards and their meanings and it was so nice to go through the book with an understanding of the cards and to read the little details Hancock chose to weave into each poem. My favorite sections, by far, were the High Priestess, the Empress, and the Star!

I think this collection struggled a bit in regards to the content. I love a mix of poetry and prose in collections, but some of the prose felt like it needed some editing and ideas narrowed down. I also found that some lines felt very similar in poems within the same sections. I would have enjoyed seeing some variety to the concepts inside each section while keeping the general theme of the card. I loved the premise by using the major arcana, but I also think each section needed an illustration of the card and a "card description" that explained the upright and reversed meanings to help ground what each section was about and introduce the pieces that came after.

Overall, I enjoyed I Gave Myself The World! I think it's a unique concept for a poetry collection and a fun way to introduce readers to tarot through poems. I think with a couple changes to the manuscript before publishing, it could really be a stand-out piece for poetry and tarot fans alike.

Thank you to NetGalley and Central Avenue Publishing for providing me with a copy for an honest review.