First of all, I just have to mention the book cover. It’s absolutely gorgeous and definitely played a part in me picking up this book and reading it.

Now, as it usually happens to me when it comes to essay and/or poem collections, I find myself loving ones and then completely missing the point or just not caring much for the other ones. And that was the case with 'Survival Takes a Wild Imagination'.
Especially at the beginning, the poems had me gripped, eating up all the imagery and being mesmerized by the words Fariha chose to use. But as the book progressed I snapped out of it multiple times, particularly because so many themes were addressed in the collection and I tend to enjoy a more curated anthology. That’s just a personal preference. It also got a little bit repetitive by the end of it, but I enjoyed it overall!

‘Human Life Is Turbulent’, ‘My Body Is an Archive’, and ‘Manoosh Ki Bolbe?’ are some of my favorite poems out of this collection.
Thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.25 stars

There were some really beautiful moments in this poetry collection. Fariha Róisín explores religion, love, loss, crime against women's bodies, and despair. There were some poems that really struck a cord within me and I am very happy that I gave this poetry collection a read. This is quite different from what Andrews McMeel publishes in the poetry realm, but I am incredibly impressed and hope they are pivoting more in this direction.

Thank you, Netgalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing, for providing me with a copy of this collection in exchange for an honest review.

Poetry in itself is hard to review but make it a nonfiction on top of that and it gets even harder.


personally for me this wasn’t my type of poetry - i enjoy the lyrical rhythmic poetry that has this natural flow throughout one poem from start to finish that gives the entire poem this ebb and flow that i enjoy and makes me enjoy poetry.

this collection does not have that kind of prose in its poems.
but it never promised to.

it is the kind of poetry where the is are said short and compacted into small sections and tell the reader/audience about something specific.

this collection has a lot of topics but the overarching theme is defiantly connection especially to god.

another thing i personally don’t love to read about but again didn’t know before hand nor do i fault it for mentioning god as often as it happens because it’s a nonfiction collection.

the author shared their story and what they feel important to talk about and mention.


it’s overall a good collection and a nicely done little book.

if you enjoyed the author before or enjoy this style of poetry i am sure you will love it!

I enjoyed reading this poetry collection, but found some of the poems lacking a clear direction that made it hard for me to resonate with many them. I do love how raw and real Róisín was with her words and storytelling, and I'm glad she shared her truth, but it felt that this collection needed a little more cleanup before publication as it feels as though you have to read through five or six poems before you find one that really hits. A few of these poems also came off as regurgitated anger that has been said the same way so many times before. This does not mean the ideas or statements were wrong, only that some of the words could have used some more abstract ways of description. I do applaud Róisín in speaking her both personal and cultural truths while making efforts to help herself mentally and physically find the space and home that she so desperately needed when she was young.

I don't have too much to say about this collection and don't know if I would recommend going out of your way to read it, but it's not a bad read. If you do see a copy it might be worth checking out, especially if you are looking for diverse as well as LGBTQ+ voices. There were a few poems in here that I definitely really enjoyed reading, but I still don't think I will be picking up this author's previously published poetry collection. Or, at least won't go out of my way to find it, but if it finds it's way to me I'm sure I would give it a try. With a little more direction and digging a little deeper into some of these themes, I feel like Róisín could be a force to be reckoned with in the poetry niche, but one of my biggest issues with this collection is, I think, that the poems seem to bounce between extremes from page to page, making it hard to really connect deeply to any of them as it sort of feels like getting whiplash from moving quickly to different extremes in themes.

Overall, I did enjoy reading this one, but it wasn't spectacular. A very solid poetry collection, and I would be curious to see what Róisín has to offer in the future.

I received a free electronic download copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me a copy.

Poet and activist [author:Fariha Róisín|18389777] does generational trauma in this powerful collection of poems. She is an NYC based, Australian-Canadian multi-disciplinary artist with an interest in her wellness, Muslim identity, race, self-care pop culture.

The collection is divided into three parts:

I. The beginning, the body, the wound
II. Liberation, pleasure, joy
III. Finding Earth, god

Parts I and III were fascinating; enquiring, revelatory, and deeply touching. The mesmerising narrative felt as reading an open letter addressed to certain members of the poets family. Part II was not as good; it felt as a forced provocation to the senses but it lacked the sincerity of the other two parts.

"<b>What Is a Border?</b>" is probably my favourite part of this radical collection of poems.

Huge thanks to NetGalley for a digital ARC.

I enjoyed this collection. Beautiful writing, I am interested to read more by Fariha Róisín. This collection deals with complex themes like trauma, neglect, sense of belonging and feminism.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Poetry books are their own little orbit, but I didn't really connect with Fariha's latest.

Poems is wide range of topics are grouped into chapters, but nothing feels coherent or more than intimate enough for others to enjoy. Healing from trauma and fight for personal freedom and awakening shine throughout, but suffer from repetitiveness. When lyrical phrases are replaced with prose, the meaning of it all loses its magnitude and leaves the feeling of the final product being unevenly crafted.

I think at this moment in her life, the author needed a little selfishness to blossom and I root for her, but there isn't much wild imagination here to sustain my interest. It's more like chakras repeated to the peace for it to come. I truly hope it did.

** A copy of Survival Takes a Wild Imagination was provided by the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review **

Survival Takes a Wild Imagination is a bold, fierce and lyrical exploration of history, family, trauma, identity and healing.

Thanks to netgalley for a free copy of this ebook in exchange for a review.
I’ve been following Fariha on social media for a while now and was so excited to see this on netgalley, I immediately grabbed my chance!
Fariha’s words are so powerful and a joy to read.
I particularly liked the pieces where she wrote about her relationship with her mother and their history. I felt all the different emotions and shifts…
#netgalley #survivaltakesawildimagination

Thank you to Andrew McNeel and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy!

Available October 17th 2023

Reading Fariha Róisin's work is a perpetual delight. In turn reflective, bold, and revolutionary, this collection places as much value in inner pleasure as it does in outward contemplations of capitalism, genocide, and history. The personal is political and nowhere is this more exemplified than in Roisin's own struggles as a queer, Bangladeshi mixed media artist. I loved this collection and will be returning to it again and again for a place of solace, Hope, and healing.

I really enjoyed this collection of poetry. While reading I felt like I could distinctly hear the cadence of each poem and could envision them as spoken word pieces. It made me want to look into if it's an audiobook also narrated by the author.

This was not a hit for me :( There were a couple stanzas that stood out, some really clever word play and lyricism, but overall the collection felt a little disjointed and distant.

This collection of poems touch on all the things that hurt. From generational trauma to culture to trying learn how to love yourself as an adult. It's not a comfortable or easy read. It stings with honesty and personal history.
While some of the poems from this collection rang deep with me - leading me to read it over and over again and then once more to roommates nearby. Others didn’t leave as much as a mark. With many circulating themes mixed into this collection, it felt a little disjointed.
However the writing was a mix of lyrical and straight to the point. Every word on the page felt very intentional that conveys to the reader the intention of this collection.

This collection didn't work for me. This felt disjointed and not weird and suddenly a Canadian Australian author is using innit like she's from the UK?


I'm unbreakable like a tall banyan's
roots, children suckling at
my tits. Healing means healing
myself first, innit.

I was really in the mood for some poetry and I stumbled across this being available to read now on NetGalley. It seemed like something I'd normally be a fan of, but unfortunately it just mixed the mark.

This book of poems covers multiple themes from generational trauma to religion to self growth. Her words are filled with strength and its prose while decent, I just felt like some of it was overly lengthy - or maybe forced/repetitive trying to explain a feeling where it wasn't necessary too in such length. Also I think maybe how things had been grouped, in my opinion a bit all over the place played a factor in my inability to really connect as I normally would have.

"Love what holds you, your body, in place.
Move toward love you don't
have to ask for, to those kindred souls
who remind you
you're easy to love"

This collection of poetry is a highly accessible collection of poetry about generational trauma (and healing from it), queerness, and womanhood. It discusses a lot about femininity and womanhood, that I wasn't expecting based on the description and I wish that had been marketed more so I had a better idea of what I was going into.

Overall, it was a beautiful collection of poetry with some especially beautiful lines. I do wish at times things were slightly more complex, but that is a personal taste that I don't think the author was going for.
My favorite poems were:
~ This Is For Everyone Who Had to Make a Family out of Themselves
~ Amar Sonar Bangla
~ Memories Rewritten
~ Connecting With The Earth Is The Antidote To Oppression
~ Survival Takes a Wild Imagination

some of this poems, although i couldn't relate to all of them, really touched me...some of them were miss for me in terms of what it made me feel but i would still consider them well written

this was a sweet collection of poems, but i thought its scope was too broad and i ultimately felt a little lost, not quite knowing what the author wanted to say.

There are some intense and vividly uncomfortable poems in this collection. A couple poems were absolutely amazing and I reread many times. Some of the poems missed the mark for me. Overall this is a solid and well thought out collection of poems 📚

”Survival takes a wild imagination” is an ode to being female - to being held to such high standards whilst also being caged in our own body. A great and thought provoking read, but can often fall sort of hitting where it means to.