A beautiful collection that gives a view into womanhood and the battle with everyday and extensive traumas and how society feels we as women should overcome them.

Gosh, I am so thankful to Sumaya Enyegue, Central Avenue Publishing, and Netgalley for granting me advanced digital access to this effortlessly beautiful and stoic collection of poetry.

I am speechless. Moved, powerfully impacted. I’m struggling to write a review that gives this writer credit deserved. My review followers know I don’t read or review poetry, so why did I read this? I was intrigued immensely by the subject matter and wanted to keep an open mind. This doesn’t read like poetry to me, not how many of us picture poetry to be. This is a book of the power of words to describe unimaginable pain and situations that millions of women feel and face, and have faced. It blew my freaking mind.

Blew my freaking mind. Just to repeat that truth.

Sumaya writes from the torn heart and shredded soul and holds nothing back. Each piece of writing is unique yet each message brutally honest and it tore me up. She writes of the truth of the struggles of being a black girl, a black woman. The centuries of pain of how people, especially men can be so cruel. This is NOT a BLM shout~out but the truth of a woman’s own journey in beautiful black skin that to her doesn’t feel beautiful at all. As a white woman I’ll not pretend to get it, but as a woman I did. I cried more than once.

Her outpourings should be lyrics to songs, seriously people. I was deeply impacted by her telling from the abuse of men and in particular how it feels to be raped and tossed aside. To be stripped of all innocence and precious, special things only a woman knows about. I was so moved as a sexual assault survivor. Sumaya expresses what millions of women cannot speak about in this incredible book.

She tackles lack of self~love, self~esteem, the inability to feel okay, to belong, to know and be your authentic self. Everyone could relate to something here. I was stunned from start to finish. Even shaken up. I want to meet this amazing writer who took her personal writings and let the world see into her heart and soul. It’s a must read folks. It’s not a long book and each story has its own style and story. This is powerful stuff and it impacted me deeply. I pray her words reach millions who need to read them and know they are not alone with the deep rips inside their souls, the wounds not yet healed, if ever.

Ten stars. Without question. I’ll be buying a hard copy of this ARC to read over and over and I rarely ever read anything twice. Bravo Sumaya. I heard you girl. I heard you.

**Thank you to Netgalley and Central Avenue Publishing for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.**

I was not emotionally prepared for the poetry that is Sumaya Enyegue, so this is me preparing you for it.

It took me 5 days to get through about 100 pages of poetry. Most poetry, I read within an hour or two. I could not do it with HEAVY IS THE HEAD. I related to half of it, every poem about broken and bruised women, and the other half I could only sympathize with, relying on my whiteness to spare me further pain from my womanhood that all non-white women face.

There are quite a few poems that I reread, namely "No one is looking, I promise" (we are most ourselves when we see the fear, anxiety, and trauma and validate our emotions by feeling as we need to), "Promise me" (accepting the break-up so long as we reserve that type of love for each other instead of repurposing it for another), "We are Owed" (everything women have lost because they are women, especially if they are black women, and how we forever wait for an apology that cannot speak), and "Bondage" (true love is never letting go because true love won't need to leave to know where it wants to come back to).

The style is conversational, but the voice is powerful. Each time the voice seeks asylum and apologies, the need for safety catapults into a fiery fist that even if safety is provided, they will create their own. They will no longer beg for protection, but they will not be the reason others need protection. They know they are worthy even if the world points out their skin and their genitals and their traumatic pasts as though that was anything a victim could control.

The writing will send you into a spiral of your own experiences and truths, and I cannot wait for more for Enyegue.

An instant 5 star read. The poignancy of Sumaya Enyegue's collection of poetry cannot be overstated. Each line of her work is filled with emotion, almost desperate to break free of the page and plead with the reader to understand just a glimpse of her soul.

I don't read poetry very often, but in this case I'm very glad that I did.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review.

Enyegue demonstrates her ability to be the next unstoppable voice of our generation. She shows immense talent and creativity throughout this collection, however these fantastic and creative poems are overshadowed by the many "instagram" style poems used to thicken the spine of this book. I think this collection does her beautiful writing voice no favours and wish that there were more poems that were unique and creative and seemed to actually mean something to the author, rather than quick thoughts that were jotted down and never expanded on every 10 pages or so to fill in the gaps of this collection. I don't think this collection needed to be this long, I think we could have cut out those pages that had one sentence with a half formed thought and had a book that was maybe 80-90 pages and it could have been so great.

While I found that some poems were half-formed, I did still manage to find some poems that I really liked. My favourite poems from this collection were:
-Girlhood
-Rearranging my traumas
-Confessions of a beast
-Am I next?
-African idioms I keep tucked under my tongue
-Girlhood, Pt. 3
-My anxiety keeps telling me that everyone I love is dead
-Just one of the boys
-A poem in which I replace the word bitch with sister, because the only time men respect women is when they're attracted or related to them

4.5⭐
I'm not a big fan of poetry, but this collection of poems was an experience on another level.
Poem after poem, the author exposes us to a part of her life (and I would dare to say that of the lives of many women) with which one goes from rage and anger, to sadness and the longing for a beautiful love.
I look forward to reading more from Sumaya.

Many thanks to NetGally for the ARC.

This is the most beautiful and heartbreaking book of poetry I’ve ever read.

Dealing with heavy — but massively important — topics is the forefront of the book and is what each poem is steeped in. Each poem is deeply emotive, even if you don’t relate to the subject matter.

I’d highly recommend this to anyone, but especially those who want to know that our stories are on our skin, and every skin is beautiful. Life is tumultuous and traumatic, but it doesn’t mean you deserve to miss when it isn’t.

"I am tired of being loved without the burden of proof, without a stitch of evidence."

As a lawyer, this line obviously stood out to me. It isn't often terms like this are used in poetry. Though, I guess it makes sense in the eyes of someone whom the law rarely favors. This collection of poetry is the absolute best I've read this year (and in a while). Sumaya Enyegue takes the rage, anger, defeat, rebirth, reality, resurrection, and survival of her life and turns it spectacularly into art. There is not a dull poem or phrase that is thrown out without meaning. Each verse and line stands to evoke feeling in the reader, which it certainly does.

A lot of modern poetry I've read lately tends to be preaching positivity even when the subject is dire. Sumaya Enyegue calls out the ugliness in her world with such a precise reality that jars the reader to attention.

"Rearranging my Traumas" was the most genius poem of them all. I am a sucker for wordplay, but to make it meaningful, as well, was amazing.

Thank you for writing this collection - I will be recommending it to everyone I know.

I am without words. My heart hurts and I am glad because I can have a deeper understanding now about the topics addressed in this book. I know a lot of us have gone through it or know someone personally that has also gone through it. One of my favorite things about poetry books is that we are able to get a glimpse of the mind of the author and boy oh boy did we get a glimpse here in this book. I think Sumaya's mind is incredible and I want to give her a hug for all that she endured.

Name: Heavy is the Head
Author: Sumaya Enyegue
Genre: Poetry &Prose
My Rating: 4.5/5

Trigger Warning: This book deals with topics of sexual assault, violence against bipoc, and struggles with mental health. please take care.

Review:
"Black girl must write poetry so other black girls can relate."

The poems speaks of crimes against women, slavery, racism, the pains and wounds that the people carry, the scars that remains in their body and brain.

"tell me about the bad blood and I will tell you that there’s no such thing as good blood. only thick blood. only blood that’s forced to stay—only gaping wounds."

Here, the poems are a form of passive agression, a rage originating from the pain and discrimination that generations of people carry within, in their bones, in their skin and in their blood.

"Why is everyone I love so fluid?
How do they slip through my fingers no matter how tightly I close my fists?
Admitting I’m sad feels like a betrayal to all the things I once survived, everything I once outlasted.
Everything I’ve ever called beautiful is now collateral damage."

This book found a special place in my heart. Each poetry is unique, each has a profound effect on my soul. I could hear her cried and her silence, her poems are relatable and they evoke the feeling of oneness through the same situations we have been through.

[WHEN A BLACK GIRL DIES, THE LAST THING TO DECOMPOSE IS HER HEART.]

The poet uses different styles of poetry to speak her mind. I think it is a book one should read, not because this is a intriguing book, but because i believe that the poet's words deserve to be heard, to be read and to be understood.

I would like to thank the publisher and Netgalley for an advance e-copy of this book. My review and opinion of this book is not biased in any way.

This book holds no punches back in the absolute best way. It is raw, honest, and unapologetic about it. While I’m not the intended audience for some of the poems, there were others I felt like I was seen in for the first time. I can’t wait to see what Enyegue does next.

Sumaya’s poetry is so beautiful and also so painful. These poems were impossible not to feel deeply.

So many of the poems in this book were deeply relatable and so many expressed an experience I will never know but that I’m grateful to learn about in such a vulnerable and emotional way. This book had the intimacy of reading someone’s diary but also felt like each poem was specifically placed there for you (the reader) to feel deeply.

Some of my favorites: “My Anxiety Keeps Telling Me That Everyone I Love Is Dead”, “Medusa”, and “The Trials and Tribulations of Having Frequent Panic Attacks During Black History Month.”

This collection was extremely invoking and strong. It made me feel something that I didn’t expect but deeply appreciated.

In Heavy Is The Head by Sumaya Enyegue, I delved into a powerful and unapologetic collection of poetry that bravely confronts the raw realities of life. Enyegue fearlessly tackles themes like trauma, sexual assault, racism, and mental health, shining a much-needed spotlight on the issues that often linger in the shadows of our society.

Each poem is a poignant exploration of the heaviness carried by individuals, particularly Black people, as they navigate through a world fraught with adversity. Enyegue's words resonate deeply, vividly capturing the painful truths of needless violence, objectification, and the blame placed on victims of sexual assault. Her verses shed light on the struggles of mental health, showing how sometimes all we need is acknowledgment, understanding, and compassion in the battle against anxiety and depression.

As I turned the pages, I couldn't help but feel the weight of these poems, the strength in their vulnerability, and the urgency in their message. Heavy Is The Head is not merely a collection; it is a call to action, urging readers to confront these issues head-on, to empathize, and to work collectively towards healing and change. Sumaya Enyegue's debut is a poetic force that leaves a lasting impact, and I commend her for fearlessly sharing these essential stories with the world.

Please check the trigger warnings (online or at the beginning of the book) before starting this book. Thank you NetGalley for the proof!

Profound and dark themes, such as sexual assault, violence, womanhood, and relationships, are covered in this collection. As I am new to the world of poetry, and I cannot pretend to understand it, this collection was so emotional and raw, vulnerable and open, it amazed me.

I do find poetry incredibly hard to get into, which is a personal thing because the medium speaks to me less than novels do. Some passages and poems naturally spoke to me more than others, but the overall heaviness of the collection made me take my time with them. I don't think I'll be reading a lot of poetry in the future, but I'm grateful to have been given a chance to read this.

This book is beautiful, I had to take a break in between poem’s because I was just tearing up. I have some many favourites poems from this book and I can’t wait to get the physical book. I felt seen in this poetry book, I don’t know how else to explain it.

A brutal and mesmerizing look at childhood trauma and growing up as a black girl. Enyegue's master of lyricism and prose is an incredible asset to her storytelling. Some of the unnamed poems in-between had an air of "unfinished" about them which interrupted the flow of the collection, but otherwise this was an impeccable debut.

My favorite poems are: "Rearranging My Traumas", "Chant", and "That Pit In Your Stomach Is Just The Hole I Carved When I Left."

This collection of poetry follows girlhood, trauma, sexual assault, mental health, people of colour. For a debut this was amazing. Sumaya’s writing was super powerful and hard hitting especially as a woman. I normally don’t pick up a lot of poetry collections but I’m so glad I did for this one because it was amazing! Such vulnerable writing done so well.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love and adore this poetry collection so much, it's one of the best ones i've read.
It deals with some heavy subject matter while simultaneously managing to be so beautiful.

I cannot wait to read more by this author.