Unfortunately I didn't connect with this latest collection of poetry as much as I did the Indigenous New Zealand author's debut book. That said, the poem structures were very creative, had a strong voice and were sprinkled with colloquialisms that left me a bit puzzled. Personally this one wasn't for me but it was still a beautiful collection with a stunning cover to match! Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf Books for this advanced copy.

This collection rocks. The poems are insightful, funny, and heartbreaking all at once, encompassing the complicated feelings of growing up, womanhood, and maturity in the face of despair and hardship. This collection will strike a chord with almost everyone.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of this title.

This book of poems has many beautiful moments and imagery. I did not love all of the poems (which I think is nearly impossible for any poetry book) but the ones that I love sung to me. Her reflection of her childhood and the identity with her Māori heritage made this collection so special. I felt connected with her coming of age and being a woman while enjoying the love of her heritage. She brings you into her world the way she sees it and leaves places where you can see yourself.

This collection by New Zealander, Tayi Tibble, consists of free verse and prose poetry of an autobiographical nature (or presented as such.) It is playful in its use of language, especially in its use of slang and Maori language words, as it deals with a broad emotional landscape.

It has bursts of creative brilliance and evocativeness, but also periods where it's like reading a teenager's diary.

All in all, I enjoyed the collection and would recommend it for poetry readers.

Rangikura by TAYI TIBBLE (Te Whānau ā Apanui/ Ngāti Porou)

The poets know. I treasured this book of poems. I have so many highlights from the book. My favorites are
Tohunga
Hot Hine Summer
Hine-nui-te-pō
Te Araroa
My Ancestors Send Me Screenshots
A Karakia 4 a Humble Skux
My Ancestors Ride wit Me

This is my fourth book for The Diverse Baseline Challenge, the first for the January prompt of a Collection of Poetry.

I received an advance review copy for free from NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This book of poetry was so fun and transported me back to my early twenties when I was young enough to remember my high school days but old enough to make my own way as an adult. There was so much fun in these poems but a lot of hurt as well. I would recommend this to anyone interested in a fresh voice talking about making mistakes, exploring your identity/identities, being a woman and living in a world made by others (while carving out your own path). I really loved it! Going to go back and read Poūkahangatus immediately.
Thanks you NetGalley and Knopf for the ARC.

Although it may take some a moment to engage with the outline of poetry, it is worth sticking around from start to finish.

Tibble is inspiring, authentic, and soft in her own grace as she expresses ancestral love to herself and the reader. Rangikura was a highlighted read through. If you are unfamiliar with Māori culture, then taking the time to search words unknown helps to capture Tibble’s full breakthrough of Rangikra. Her words are engaging, relatable with one’s own life, and provide comfort in distant moments. You understand not only Māori culture, feminine and masculine emotions, but also the history of people and who they are as individuals how each person helps create a new world as a whole.

Page 22, 27, 40, 41, and 44 really hit the feels.

Thank you for the arc copy of Rangikura. This review is not sponsored and contains my own words.

This collection of poetry is BEAUTIFUL, and I was captivated from the opening lines. There's a lyricism to Tibble's work that invokes the reader's raw emotions and it seems as if you were the one experiencing the situations Tibble writes about. The language was lyrical and propelled you forward into the next poem while still paving a way to tell the entire story.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Knopf, Pantheon, and Vintage via NetGalley for providing me with this ARC! Unsurprisingly I truly enjoyed Tayi Tibble’s second collection of poetry. She has a way with words that makes you feel teleported into her world. The writing style is very unique to her, melding not only homages to her culture but also grounding the reader in contemporary issues.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I really enjoyed this collection. While there were a lot of unique experiences tied to Maori culture referenced in the poems, there are also a lot of themes that I think anyone could relate to. The prose was magnificent. I felt that even as I was reading it the words just flowed off the page. I look forward to reading more from this author!

THIS WAS EVERYTHING and I'm so gracious to Knopf Books for granting me advanced digital access to this bright and shiny gem, before publication day (April 9, 2024).

Tayi Tibble has a way with words and in Rangikura, we read about the destination one MC goes on to explore and love oneself better and harder. We're there for scraped knees and drug-infused trips gone wrong, and the generational ancestral traumas that follow closely behind the racist Karens of their cut-out world.

This entire book was badass and heartfelt, and had me chuckling at the creativity of it all. I yearn to fill my head with more prose such as this.

Thank you to Net Galley and Knopf for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. I very much enjoyed the author's collection of poems and this one didn't disappoint. The poems are powerful and filled with so much emotion. The poems are vivid and conjure the feeling of place, being in that moment. The poem ranges from the land/New Zealand, being Maori, politics, pop culture, life of the younger self, exploitation, beauty and loss. There is something magical about these poems of the everyday ordinary which couldn't further from the truth.

Very unique and packs quite the punch. This poetry collection reads like rap songs, which a lot of people will adore, but it wasn't for me. I still highly recommend—I know this will be a favorite among many poetry lovers.

This poetry collection emanates a sort of raw power that I could feel within the first few pages. It’s rage, it’s violence, it’s grief and above all it’s truth. There were so many times that I had to read a poem multiple times to feel like I fully understood the depth that it was portraying.

I enjoyed the cadence of the writing very much and there were so many words (especially slang) that I had to google. It was really cool to learn some of the Māori language and culture through this work.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book

Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf for the ARC!

With hip-hop bravado and an attention for the tail end of youth, Tayi Tibble’s "Rangikura" comes out the gate swinging and never relents. This book is awesome.

Tibble is both a child of the internet and Māori culture, and her parentage pulses through every single poem. There’s so much fun language play here, whether that’s the near-constant slang, multilingualism, or phonological flips. The book feels like it’s meant to be performed.

I understand that this was originally published in 2021, and I don’t know whether it was being written during COVID, but it feels like a book made for lockdown's brand of reflection. All the references to pop culture and bar hopping and texting are framed through the nostalgic lens of realization—so many of the things that seem unimportant are what shape us into who we are.

These are rambling poems in which the narrator “yes, ands” herself at every turn, and the result is a kind of fist-pumping energy that invites readers to participate. That momentum might seem like it would inhibit interiority, but instead it enables it, highlighting a precision in even the most “disposable” word. For example, consider the following lines from “Homewrecker”:

"Even my mother said I had a talent
for extracting things from people
and so I had to be careful.
No one was going to light up violently and tell me
that I was taking something from them.
Life’s not a game of Operation.
Stop playing with people."

This section reflects how so much of the book wrestles with the millennial impulse to be both ironic and earnest. The poet speaks with her tongue in her cheek, but she means it. This approach also allows for use of an occasionally elevated register as Tibble is able to reappropriate language and ideas that might feel tired in lesser poems. The mastery of all this poetry feels gymnastic, as readers are able to find lines like "I desire mystery” within a page of “Fed my ass fat / with slutty foods: pineapple and cranberry juice.”

I’ve long felt like poetry and comedy originate from the same impulse, and Tibble’s penchant for gut punches and punchlines in equal measure suggests there is some merit to the idea. This is a book that is heartbreaking and hilarious, and one that will definitely reward multiple readings due to the poet's singular voice. I mean, where else will you find the line “I’m current like I’m water” and have it land as a total mic drop? Seriously, read this book.

Gorgeous poetry that feels like a coming-of-age and the end. The poetry explores the colonization of New Zealand, the violence of the indigenous women, and the discrimination of the Maori but you feel like it is happening to you or your best friend.

The language flows beautiful causing a feeling of quiet desperation at times and unequalled freedom at other times.

My favorite poem was A Karakia 4 a Humble Skux but they were all amazing.

Completely genius and all-consuming. While Tayi Tibble is speaking about another culture, lifestyle, tradition I don't know anything about - I can still relate to the words on the page. A massive accomplishment, especially for poetry which has the ability to alienate the reader so easily.

You can feel Tibble’s rage and grief and cynicism and humor and hurt and betrayal. You can sense the tribute she is paying to Māori culture.

Again, since there were a lot of words/references to the Māori culture, there was a lot I had to Google/look up. It would be nice to have an appendix or glossary in the final version of this book. I think keeping the reader inside the pages of a singular entity (whether on kindle or in print) will really add to the power of the collection. It will also do the added bonus of teaching culture to the readers (some of which may just gloss over it and continue on).

This collection is raw and vibrant, and at turns joyful and heartbreaking. Tibble writes in style reminiscent of spoken-word poetry, heavy on internal rhythms and rhyme. “Hōmiromiro, “Takakino,” and “My Mother Meets My Father in an Alternate Koru,” resonated the most with me, and the prose poems in Section 2 the least, but that’s on me for not caring for that style. Overall, I appreciated Rangikura, and would like to read more of Tibble’s work in the future. I am looking forward to adding some of her poems into the choice units I share with students.

Rangikura by Tayi Tibble is a masterful collection full of poems that dutifully explore Maori culture, womanhood, intimacy, and toxic masculinity. My favorite lines were “All men think they’re Gods gift” and “I come from a line of wyling women.” The only thing about this book I didn’t like was that sometimes words were spelled wrong on purpose, like when someone is texting. I have seen it before in poetry and I understand the reasoning behind it. I still heavily recommend this book to people. It is full of loss and anger and wisdom. My review will be on Amazon, Instagram, and goodreads.

This really smartly brings together her Maori identity and 21st century life in a really fascinating way. She blends in Maori language and slang with English which will challenge the reader to connect and play with ideas she's discussing. Favorites included My Ancestors Ride wit Me, Tohunga, My Ancestors Send Me Screenshots, and Mahuika. A total delight of a collection!