I appreciate the reason the author wrote this collection of "poetry," but it feels like a slap in the face to all of the poets who have actually taken years to hone their craft and put out quality work. This collection is essentially someone who started writing to deal with their grief and loss and then decided that they wanted to put it out into the world. Like a high schooler who writes poetry in their journal but has the money to get it published, and who also thinks it's good without learning the art of poetry.

Skip this and read Amanda Gorman or Gillian Sze instead.

Thank you to NetGalley and the collective book studio for the ARC copy.

Unfortunately, I didn’t really enjoy this book. I honestly thought the introduction was more powerful than the poems. With a topic like grief, I thought the poetry would be more raw. The metaphors didn’t work for me for this particular topic, but they seemed to have helped the author process her feelings. I am happy that this book helped her understand her feelings, but it did not help me.

This collection is poetry feels like wearing your coziest, well worn sweater on a cold day. Accompanied with beautiful illustrations, I found myself taking deep breaths in between each section of poetry.
Ideal for any person experiencing grief or loss as well as looking for a light and airy pause in typical reading material.

Thank you, NetGalley for providing me with this collection is poetry to read and review.

The illustrations in this book are absolutely gorgeous. I want prints of them on my walls.

The idea of poetry centered on nature is nothing new, but still difficult to accomplish. I don’t know if this really touches on grief and loss the way the author intended, but I applaud her for jumping in on something new during an extremely difficult time in her life.

I expected a lot more out of this after dealing with my own loss and grief in 2019. I wish it would have done more. Themes could have been more prevalent, ideas expanded upon, and overall just more could have been done with each poem. They felt like little half thoughts written down quickly and forgotten.

My favorite line though was “My heart is an avocado pit pierced with toothpicks, hanging in my chest.” It’s so strange, but also fully speaks to how you feel after losing someone so loved.

Short and sweet, Morning Leaves packs a punch directly the heart. Written during the pandemic, the longing, loneliness, loss, and reaffirmation of strength is palpable on the pages. With beautiful artwork accompanying each poem, the nature presented throughout this collection makes the reader pause in its beauty, feeling the heartbeat of the wild through Rikkers’ use of senses. It was such a touching read and an important one for anyone dealing with a sense of loss or grief.

Oof. There’s a tragic story and a beautiful intention behind this book, so it’s hard to crit without feeling rude but here’s my best try: The best poems are those not in first person. Unfortunately the majority of the poems are in first person. Basing an entire chapbook around nature metaphors is a very bold move for someone new to poetry given how hard it is to come up with something poetic to say about plants that hasn’t been said before. The botanical illustrations are beautiful and compliment the poems nicely but wherever there’s a background environment the perspective feels off. Ultimately this is very clearly an indie debut, but it shows promise.

I really enjoyed this book. I've been looking for something similar to help expand my relationship with God and this was absolutely perfect to achieve my goals.

This book has some seriously beautiful words, I totally recommend for anyone going through grief after loss.

If you need quiet moments with your thoughts, this is the book for you. It offers a quiet respite from the world. Besides the prose, the illustrations offer beauty that touches the heart. The author wrote this book while working through her grief from losing her sister. But this is not a sad book. It is a hopeful book. I thank NetGalley and The Collective Book Studio for this peaceful look into a tranquil place.