Beautiful, lyrical, powerful. I love the way Stringfellow writes and this short collection of poems really illuminates her skills as a writer and a standout poet. I especially loved the author’s note which made this read even more impactful for me. An auto buy author for me.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Tara writes several poems that revolve around her life and the choices she and her ancestors have made. An emotional read.

“God can stay asleep/these women in my life are magic enuff”

Magic Enuff is a luminous book of poetry that is beautifully crafted and filled with poignant words that speak to tales of survival and existence despite systemically stacked odds. Author Tara M. Stringfellow leaves her soul on the page, and it felt like a gift to read her words.

Thanks to Dial Press and NetGalley for the ARC.

Tara Stringfellow is a formidable writer who is sure to be celebrated as a great voice of my generation. The generation that bore witness to horrific racial discrimination and modern lynching. This collection of works is full of dedications to those black boys and men that were killed. And black girls and women are honored for their resilience and courage particularly in the face of abuse. With a distinctly postmodern style, the poet embodies Black Girl Magic.

Thank you for your words, Tara, and to NetGalley for the ARC.

This was a very good read for me. I’m not much of a poetry reader but this book definitely did not disappoint. As I read through the pages I could feel the pain in the author’s words. The tears flowed as the pages turned. I loved it!!

I don’t usually gravitate towards poetry. I’ve always felt that I don’t get it, that it does not speak to me. I should’ve known that I just had never found the poems for me.

This spoke to me. As a Black Latina, this poetry collection described how I’ve felt many times. And that is all I look for when I pick up a book: A voice that speaks to me.

So I decided only to read books by Black Authors for Black History Month. When I got the widget for this book, I was excited. After reading this, I felt like I was enuff. Although the book didn't tell my story, I could see the stories of so many others that I knew in this collection. And the poems that were for members of the Black Community that the police had killed were just spot on. It was the pain that I felt, and I wasn't directly involved.

If you want to understand the Black experience more, this is a collection of poetry you need to read.

Very timely. I enjoyed the poetry because it was very relatable. I recommend this book and look forward to more from this author.


****Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review****

I really enjoyed this author's first novel, Memphis. I am not really a poetry fan but I decided to try this collection because I did like her book. The poetry did not disappoint. It gave a great perspective and I could really feel the pain and the struggles resonate through the words. It reads very quickly but the poetry will stay with me. The collection of poems are very eye opening and thought provoking.

I also really enjoyed reading the acknowledgments. I think what the author discussed is so important and needs to be talked about more. As a teacher myself, I agreed with everything she said.

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for this ARC.

4/5 stars,

Beautiful and emotional poems. I liked the contrast between writing about the world and writing about her personal life. Very emotional way to describe being Black in America. I enjoyed the author's debut novel Memphis, and this was a way to see inside the author's life.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the advance reader copy. This is my honest review.

Who can resist opening the bright, beautiful cover of “Magic Enuff.” It’s a collection of powerfully written poems by Tara M. Stringfellow to be read over and over again and cherished.

I enjoyed reading her novel, “Memphis,” and this book is another extension of her talents as a Black poet with words that cry out for attention to make us pause. She writes about personal reflections from her late ancestors, mother, father, and other family members – even her ex-husband. Her words are short and carries one into the great beyond which makes us think about our past and hope that someday we will learn to move down a more positive path.

In her acknowledgements, she says it’s discouraging to live in a time when popular and admired Black authors are banned from her home state of Tennessee. “We live in a time in which we’d rather give a teacher a 9mm handgun to defend her classroom than a copy of The Color Purple.”

She has carefully placed each piece together into the hands of readers – those who enjoy discovering special talents of poets. It’s a beautiful book and one that would also make a treasured gift.

My thanks to Dial Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read a copy of this advanced book with an expected release date of June 25, 2024.

really nice set of poems. tyssm for the recommended arc as this one worked gorgeously. would recommend.

This is a poetry book that honor Black Southern womanhood and the various ways that magic exists in the relationships between sisters, mothers, and daughters.

One of my goals for 2024 was to read more books by POC authors, so this is my third read written by a black woman in 2024, and let me tell you, it did not disappoint!!!

Alone the acknowledgement bought literally tears to my eyes!!🥲

Let me give u some quotes:

“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘢 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘰𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬, 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘦.”

“𝘞𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘨𝘰 𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘩.”

“𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘱𝘰𝘦𝘮, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘥. 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘪𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯' 𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦.”
—𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher. I always love reading poetry collections and this was excellent. I really loved the pacing of each poem and how atmospheric they were. The cover is gorgeous, too.

I’m not a big fan of poetry but some of these were beautiful, insightful and sad. The book is definitely go down in history as a literary classic

This was a beautiful collection of poems. Very quick to read through and easy to understand. The author tackles a variety of difficult topics but does it in a way that is incredibly impactful. I loved that underneath the heaviness of these poems was a sense of hope and strength.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Great poems! Emotional and real about the hard reality faced by many people but also with the message of love, hope and strength. I highly recommend this collection.

Like many folks who may be drawn to this title, I'm an incoming fan of Stringellow's _Memphis_. I've been burned before by novelists whose forays into poetry leave me less than enthusiastic, but this is not one of those times. Stringfellow DELIVERS here.

This collection is extremely accessible. I planned to read a couple of poems and then come back to the rest over a few days, but I instead read the entire batch in one sitting and bookmarked the release date so that I can come back then and figure out which of these I'll teach next semester in my college literature courses. If Stringfellow's goal is to - in part - expose more students to varied perspectives (see the fabulous author's note at the end of the collection), well, then this group of poems is going to help many educators (me included) work toward that aim.

Throughout, there's a strong sense of speaker/persona, characterization, setting, and theme, and while the poems stand out individually, I also really appreciate the messaging they reinforce as a group. I truly cannot wait to share these with my students, and I anticipate strong, positive reactions.

5 stars

Like many folks who may be drawn to this title, I'm an incoming fan of Stringellow's _Memphis_. I've been burned before by novelists whose forays into poetry leave me less than enthusiastic, but this is not one of those times. Stringfellow DELIVERS here.

This collection is extremely accessible. I planned to read a couple of poems and then come back to the rest over a few days, but I instead read the entire batch in one sitting and bookmarked the release date so that I can come back then and figure out which of these I'll teach next semester in my college literature courses. If Stringfellow's goal is to - in part - expose more students to varied perspectives (see the fabulous author's note at the end of the collection), well, then this group of poems is going to help many educators (me included) work toward that aim.

Throughout, there's a strong sense of speaker/persona, characterization, setting, and theme, and while the poems stand out individually, I also really appreciate the messaging they reinforce as a group. I truly cannot wait to share these with my students, and I anticipate strong, positive reactions.

3.5 stars — “Even a century of two later this world still needs proof a Black woman is the strongest compound God could ever forge”
That was such a verse! I enjoyed this poetry book. There were some parts that went over my head a bit but there were some that really made me think. Some instances were very relatable to me and others I know.