God Themselves by Jae Nichelle was stunningly beautiful! I was truly thankful to have gotten to read this before most people! I would like to purchase this one for my physical library!

What an empowering, disruptive and mesmerizing poetry collection. This was one of my all time favorite books. It talks about roots, faith and relationships in a way that it really makes you think and rethink everything. I loved it with my all heart.

Phenomenal! This perfectly captures what it’s like to be a young woman who grew up religious. Even when I couldn’t personally relate to the content, I still found myself eagerly anticipating the beautiful prose I was going to hear next.

After I finished this, I immediately bought a hard copy! I enjoyed the audiobook, and can’t wait to see what these poems look like on paper.

Thank you NetGalley, Andrews McMeele Audio, and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the ALC. A special thanks for Jaw Nichelle. All opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for this reader's copy of the audio book for review consideration.

Disclaimer
This review expresses my own personal opinion. I have not been asked to post it by the author, their publishing company or anyone connected with the book or author.

Review
Jae Nichelle is a poet first, an author second and the combination is powerful as she reveals her thoughts of growing up in the South as a queer black woman, which is no easy journey. She shares heartache, pain, love, religion, and most of all wisdom. Her poems strike the soul and are a dialogue with God.

She does a nice job of narrating her own work, which a lot of authors can’t do. You feel her joy, pain, the tears and the triumph. Stay on the lookout for this rising star.

Thank you soooooo much netgalley, the author and the publisher for the advanced review copy if this book💗
"I voluntarily listened and reviewed the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”


Gorgeous cover, nice book

An emotionally gripping listen; this audiobook, narrated by the author, is filled with passionate poems drizzled with acute honesty. They find ways to resonate with listeners, regardless of connection to the source material. I would recommend this audiobook for anyone who enjoys poetry slams or even the poetic flow of the genre of rap.

It wasn’t meant to be an audio book and I just couldn’t get into it. I gave it a really good shot but ended up DNFing.

Content/Trigger Warnings (cw / tw) listed in the audiobook: blood, death, mental health, self-harm, sex, suicide, and violence.
I would also add: abuse, divorce, drugs (weed), eating disorders, gun violence, police brutality, racism, and religious (Christian) themes

Jae Nichelle navigates the intersections of being Black and queer while living in the Christian-dominated southern US. She mourns Black trauma while unapologetically standing for moments of Black joy. There's not much else I know how to say., but it was comforting like soup.

I am so happy I decided to request the audio version of this collection. I really enjoyed the print but the audio took it to another level.

Hearing the pieces performed really highlighted Nichelle's writing genius.

If you are into Spoken Word or Poetry Slams type of narration/literature style, then this is for you. Its not my go to genre and this style of expression is perhaps for a younger audience. There are a few potential trigger warnings around #MentalHealth #Abuse #Suicide #SexualEscapades
#GodThemselves #NetGalley

God Themselves is a series of emotionally charged and power poetry that speaks to being black and queer.
Throught the collection you can feel the struggles and surge of emotions that plague our speaker.
The narrator for this audiobook truly brought to life the cadence and rythmn of each poem and it truly brought the words to life. While listening you'll find yourself lulled on the waves of the voice as they recount the struggles the author has faced.
This book is an eye opening experience that should be felt by as many people as possible, it is sometimes messy and painful but that is life growing up black and queer in the South, the passion and emotions truly bring you into their coiragous life.

What a powerful collection.

God Themselves really spoke to me as an examination of religion through a lens I can personally only view through someone else's words.

Nichelle has a powerful perspective, and listening to her read her words was incredible.

This was such a good, quick read.
I have never listened to a poetry book and I greatly enjoyed this one. I loved the succinct verses and the passion of the poems that Nichelle wrote.

‘God Themselves’ is a collection of 72 poems that discuss existing in a Queer, Black, Female body within a religious space. It discusses themes of reverence, contemplation, celebration of spirit and mental illness.

I read this as an audiobook as an ARC from NetGalley. Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me this ARC. I appreciate that the author includes a non-exhaustive list of trigger warnings at the beginning of the recording.

I have been trying my best to get into poetry for a couple of months now and have found audiobook versions so much better for me personally to consume. I love the tone of the author’s voice and the pace that she was speaking in was great too. Due to my own negative experiences with religion as a queer person, I was a bit wary of that aspect of the book but I actually didn’t mind it so much.

Personally, my favourite poems were number 7 “What To Do When There’s Nothing You Can Do”, and number 57 “This Is About Nakedness”. I took note of quite a lot of strong lines that really spoke to me while reading this. This is definitely a book I would have on my shelves and I’d love to check out more of the author’s work.

Overall, I had a good time reading this and I devoured it in one sitting. I highly recommend this if you’re getting into or already into poetry. And I always recommend reading audiobooks that are narrated by the author themselves, I love it when they do that!

Representation - Black; Mental Illness; Sapphic

TWs/CWs - Blood; Cussing; Death; Divorce; Drugs (Weed; mentioned); Eating Disorder; Gun Violence; Mental Illness; Police Brutality; Racism; Self-harm; Sex; Suicide; Suicide Ideation; Violence

4.5 stars

this is a stunning poetry collection that works extremely well in audio form and is performed beautifully by the author! i loved the sound effects and music in the background and feel quite inspired to read more poetry in audio form. the poems themselves are very accessible yet beautifully crafted and full of feeling. as someone who feels quite disconnected from religion, i didn’t expect this to resonate with me so much but the words truly spoke to me regardless of my own beliefs. highly recommend!

Beautiful verses, raw emotions, and an unflinchingly honest declaration of what it means to grow up a queer black woman while grappling with forced religion and mental health.

I listened to the audiobook which was narrated by the author, which I highly recommend. Listening to spoken word poetry is always a delightful experience. This book covers strong religious themes, as the name suggests. I devoured it in one sitting and loved every moment. This will be a poet I read more of, and a book I plan to buy for my shelves.

I was absolutely in love with this book. When you get to listen to the beautiful mind that is behind the poems narrate as well, it just makes it that much better.

I love poetry slams. And that is exactly what we get from this audiobook. It’s beautifully written and beautifully performed. You have a series of poems that voice being queer, a black woman, childhood, religion, And more. I highly recommend this audiobook. Thank you NetGalley for the chance to experience and review this audiobook.

3.75/5

i caught a lot of strong lines, but it was really hard to fully take in without the pdf that was supposed to come with it. the narration was done well and the writing was beautiful, but it's something that you have to meditatively sit with and contemplate at the pace it sets. it deserves that, and my rating would be higher if I'd slowed down.