Thank you to Andrews McMeel Publishing and Netgalley for the eBook.

As the author's note at the end of the book says, "the course of this book has many ups and downs, much like the healing journey itself," and I'm inclined to agree. While some parts of this collection seemed ever so slightly too long and some poems seemed a bit too similar to other poems when discussing the same subject, it didn't damper my love at all. I feel seen, and I love this poetry collection, as it's exactly what I needed to read right now.

This poetry collection is a beautiful compilation that demonstrates a range of emotions related to loss and love. It offers hope and support to those going through similar experiences.

I think I’m too old for this one. It was sweet but maybe old isn’t the right word. Maybe jaded? Idk I just didn’t connect with it. It felt more like a string of consciousness more than poetry to me.

I want to be fair to this poetry collection. It is sweet, and it is truthful to the pain and growth we experience as we love and lose. However, this book is very much along the realms of Instagram poetry where it tells us instead of shows us. It doesn't utilize the range of poetic tools throughout the many poems. It fully feels like something someone will read and relate to, but it will not move them. In the ways that matter, it fell flat for me. I think some of the poems were more complex and layered than the majority of the collection that really stood out,

I don't fully recommend picking this up if you are more mature, and look for something complex. This is perfect however, for a younger person (teens to mid 20s) who wants to read poems that are reminiscent of Tumblr and Instagram poem text images. This doesn't invalidate the value it does have for someone deeply needing these words to express their experiences. This type of work does help, but as someone who is more mature and experienced, this doesn't bring the same impact in relation to my lived experiences.

There are books that when we first start reading them, we feel like the author has reached into our souls and pulled out our innermost thoughts and feelings. Glass Hearts & Broken Promises is one of those books. Anyone who has had their heart shattered by someone (who in hindsight didn't deserve it in the first place), can relate to Kayla McCullough work.

Though slightly repetitive, this is a good guide to understanding heartbreak and how to move past it. The Break section of the book details how heartbreak feels and how you were put into a situation where you would suffer heartbreak. In the Mend section, we learn how to heal from heartbreak. It's a thought-provoking and insightful set of poems revolving around everything to do with heartbreak.

This was my first time ever reading something by Kayla McCullough and I was thoroughly impressed. The cover really draws the reader in because it is absolutely stunning and the poetry throughout is quite heartbreaking, but a truth to what reality has come to these days.

If you liked Rupi Kaur's writing or Tumblr poetry between 2014-2018, this book is for you. The cover and handlettering throughout the book is gorgeous! Ultimately the poetry fell a bit flat for me, though. Perhaps I'm too far removed from great heartbreak or my Tumblr kid era, though. I know that for someone actively going through heartbreak and the healing process, this book will connect with them! It just unfortunately wasn't the greatest match for me personally.

Unfortunatley I just found this to be okay. I have read a bit of poetry and I feel this collection is very reminiscent of other collections I've read. Modern poetry just feels very similiar and repetitive nowadays so I was really hoping for something more unique.

On the positive side this collection did have some very beautiful poems that I enjoyed. And there is no denying that this cover is fantastic!

Kayla McCullough's Glass Hearts & Broken Promises fell a little flat for me; it is not the worst poetry collection I've read, nor is it the best, just somewhere in the middle. I was hoping for longer poems and perhaps an integration of another art form. I really wanted to like this one but it missed the mark.

I love this. It’s thoughtful, intentional, and hits home. I was brought back to things I’ve experienced throughout my life. Definitely a book I want on my bookshelf for the times when I’m feeling like wallowing, or just want to appreciate good writing!

This is a really sweet book of poetry that deals with love and heartbreak. Some of these poems resonate so much that I want to buy the book so I can revisit them as I feel the need.

Thank you Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

you were never mine to keep
never mine to love
but I've still got a little bit of you
tucked away in the deepest corners
of my heart

Just the perfect time I get to read this poetry collection about heartbreak, grief and healing. It truly made me emotional and I cried while reading some of the poems. I'm going through the pain and each of them feels genuine and heartfelt. I needed to feel everything at the moment. I was vulnerable. It's an everyday struggle to pretend you're okay when you're not. One day, I'll be fully healed an okay. Many thanks to this book because I find comfort as I go through a heartbreaking journey. Keep it up, Ms. Kayla.

Hugs to everyone going through a tough breakup.

Glass Hearts and Broken Promises by Kayla McCullough is a collection of poems split into “The Break” and “The Mend” where readers are bared to the soul of McCullough as she tells the story of heartbreak, love, etc. It was very obviously a work of her soul, and you can tell from the emotion that seeps from many of the poems.

“I have a bad habit of imagining endings
I close my eyes and cling to happiness
I think it’s because I grew up watching love stories
and wishing on stars
but with how many scars line my heart
you’d think by now I’d know that
not every story has a happy ending
and not every princess finds true love…” (170)

I found some of the poems to be extremely beautiful, and in general, some of the writing to be thought-evoking, especially as a person who has never experienced heartbreak before. But my accolades can’t run far as there were a lot of structural errors that made it difficult for me to enjoy the collection.

The lack of punctuation, titles and addition of odd breaks made it often difficult to decipher between poems, leaving my head spinning, trying to figure out if we had moved on. I also did feel like it was quite repetitive at times which became a bit tiresome especially considering it was about 300 pages. I did sense though, that this may be part of it; that a part of grief and love and loss is this repetition, this look of never ending feelings that continue. Because of that, while it may have been a bit redundant, I felt like maybe I could understand the exhaustion that comes with this cycle.

As someone who does like free-verse, it was hard to even justify this as such. At times, the writing seemed clunky and full of cliches; an amalgamation of what I hate calling “instapoetry”. Perhaps it may have been my inability to connect with some of the topics such as that of heartbreak, but it didn’t necessarily seem profound, and something out of a cheesy romcom or a friend grasping at straws trying to convince you to get over your ex.

Admittedly, if you are new to poetry and looking for something easily digestible, this may be for you! It’s not too convoluted and honestly has at least one thing you can relate to, whether that is hope, heartbreak, self-care, the healing cycle, etc.

“every time I have broken
and I have let love go
love has held my hand on the way out
she’s pointed to the stars
and has wished for me to understand
that just because certain love does not last
it does not mean that it was not a love
worth experiencing” (244)

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC copy.

Although I usually enjoy poem books about healing and finding yourself after a break up, I couldn't relate to this one. The author seems to be very heart broken and after a few pages, the poems seemed repetitive.

I could definitely see potential to the author, and I understand going through a breakup is a very sensitive thing. I hope she is doing okay and I hope everyone reading can take this poem book and heal.

The poems are easily read and discernable, but overall this collection was very long and wordy. I felt like each poem was similar to the next. There needed to be some editing to cut down on the repetition.

There were a few gems but I couldn't reference them because none of them had titles :0

This was just not good. Someone must have broken the author's heart really badly and they must have put all their feelings into these poems, but in sense of poetry and literature this this book gave me nothing. I'm sorry your heart broke and I'm sure that someone who also got their heart broken could find some comfort from this book and reading about someone who relates, but other than that I don't have much positive to say.
Love is the most common topic to write about. Whatever you are feeling, millions of people have felt the same thing over and over and worse. Which is why it's important to find that red string in your writing. The thing that makes your words stand out. Maybe it's the extremely descriptive writing or raw emotions making the reader cry or maybe you have an interesting point of view. This book had nothing. It looked like a Pinterest timeline when you search up "heartbreak poem". Nothing new, nothing interesting. If you write about the most common subject I expect it to have that little something that makes it stand out. I do not need over 300 pages of a random person dwelling about a situation we all have gone through multiple times. As a reader I was bored and I feel like my time was wasted.

Beautiful. Tragic. Brilliant.

This collection of poems details every feeling you have, and she has, going through a breakup and recovering from that heartache. It is gut wrenching how the words flow on the page, and spot on with every stage of grief. If you’ve recently gone through a breakup, keep tissues handy when reading. It’ll not only help you vocalize your grief, but help you heal.

Truly beautiful. Amazingly written.

lately I’ve been feeling like
I'm here but I'm not
like life is moving way too fast
and I can't catch up
like people love me for a second
and the next they don't
it feels like I wasn't made
to exist in this world
like I was made to exist
anywhere but here

loved this book! the poems spoke to the pain and heartbreak I carry in my heart from various life experiences.