Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear, Toha’s first book of poetry, blew me away. I was so so grateful to receive an ARC of his new poetry collection to read. It is a gut punch and breath takingly written. As we are almost one entire year into a genocide of Palestinians, these words are so necessary to read to hear to absorb. Toha writes as a father - poems of fear for his children, as a son and grandson - dreaming of his grandfather’s orange trees that have long been razed by Israel, and as a brother - thinking of his dead brother whose grave has also been razed by Israel. I felt so much on each page.

Don’t look away. May Toha, his family, and all Palestinians know safety.

Thank you to Knopf and NetGalley for the ARC. Forest of Noise comes out October 15, 2024 - you absolutely should read it.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

What a powerful collection of poetry, told from the perspective of Gaza.

In Under the Rubble
"A group of mute people
were talking sign.
When a bomb fell,
they fell silent."

Each poem within this book moved me, much like hearing and seeing the stories of Gazans in the war move me.

I am grateful to NetGalley and the author for allowing me the chance to read this.

Wow. PLEASE add this book to your TBR when it’s published. This broke my heart and I feel guilty for even having the ability to comfortably read these in my non war-torn country. I don’t know how to rate someone’s grief but this deserves more than five stars. I cried over so many of these raw poems that describe the tragic and horrific events happening in and to Gaza. Thank you, Mosab Abu Toha, for writing such gripping and emotional poems and sharing them with the world. And thank you to Netgally for the ARC of this one. Immensely grateful to have read this even if I feel utterly helpless in a world filled with so much hatred.

“Sir, we are not welcome anywhere.
Only cemeteries don’t mind our bodies.”

This is a beautiful book full of raw honesty and emotional imagery. I couldn't stop until I finished. Although brief, it's powerful and effective in its celebration of Palestinian culture, heritage, and resilience. I can't wait to read another book from the author!

Rating: 5/5
[Gifted a copy on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review]

You may have encountered Mosab Abu Toha’s previous poetry collection, 2022’s Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear: Poems from Gaza recently. Returning now with Forest of Noise, few poetry collections have felt so much like direct sequels. Again Thoa returns to Palestine, to his family, to the past, to life under constant bombardment. And yet, here he revises his thoughts and puts those same topics, same scenes under new lens.

Whereas in the previous collection, in an included interview Mosab Abu Toha expressed the value and conflict over poetry he’s spent his life reading (poetry written by the people whose countries send the bombs), here he directly addresses poets. Forces the reality of Palestine into the canon. If art is a way of resistance, of imagining a free Palestine (as in “Palestinian Village”), it is crucial to never let it be a copout. “Mothers and Mulberry Tree” a beat later reminds the reader even the most serene view is impossible today. And what is the value, this collection wonders, of being able to leave on academic trips? When your loved ones are missing, how can such a feeling be expressed? Perhaps, at least to me, was his return to his late brother, a frequent subject last time around.

Forest of Noise is not an easy read. I would argue it is a much harder one than Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear: Poems from Gaza. But it is important. Important to read, to witness, to engage with the complications and impossibilities Mosab Abu Toha is living through.

Stunning and absolutely heartbreaking. I was at a loss for words while reading these absolutely soul shattering poems about the terrible things happening to Palestinians. I felt even more grief and sadness and overwhelm from these poems than from those in THINGS YOU MAY FIND HIDDEN IN MY EAR, which was still a very moving and heartbreaking collection of poems itself. I wish for a free Palestine and for the people of Palestine to have peace and a home, as they have every right to as human beings.

Mosab Abu is a Palestinian poet, short story writer, and essayist from Gaza.
He won the National Book Critics Circle Award for poetry — the Palestinian Book Award, the American Book Award, and the Walcott Poetry Prize.
He also hopes to re-build a library that had been attacked.

I read the blurb before and after reading this these poems ….
[devastating/horrifying/heartbreaking…. beautifully written]….
I could say it better, write a review more clear- more truthful than the blurb itself. Kudos to the blurb-writer.
We “are invited into an experience that defies the imagination—even as we watch live”.

A personal share:
I knew it would be painful to read these poems. … unbelievably sad…. but I felt a draw - a responsibility to try to face the incredible uncomfortableness in doing so.
I draw my inspiration from my Jewish daughter and her husband. They live in Canada.
My husband and I in the states.
My daughter and her husband are strong - highly participating advocates for justice, human rights, and educating others.
They started organizing and running protests groups to end the war in Gaza almost from the start of the war between Israel and Hamas. They raise money to send to the victims in Gaza…
… for the children and babies who need medical care, food, water … etc.
I am reminded that although I am Jewish - lived in Israel for a year (before during and after the Yom Kippur war) … still have relatives living in Israel today — this war has been the worse atrocity …horrific … gone on too long.
The massive ongoing retaliation from the attack on Israel since Oct. 7th has been a nightmare. Tooter many innocent civilians in Gaza have been killed, displaced from family members, had their homes bombed … and more!!
The updates we learn and continue to witness is so beyond catastrophic — I’ve felt numb, small, hopeless, to the issues at hand.
It’s also been very uncomfortable being a Jew since this war … divides among Jews are complicated and painful.

I couldn’t possibly say enough thankful words to our author Mosab Abu Toha for so brilliantly putting his words - the collection of these poems … into a book for all of us to read.

While reading these poems….
Masterly written ….
memories from before war — family love, details during the war - instructions what to do in an air raid—crushing stories about death, amputated legs, parents talking to their children about war, the bombings and explosions, the destruction, smells of oranges, hunger, shivering cold, bleeding, rubble, rubble, and more rubble…..etc….
I was/am so very sad …..
such a nightmare human tragedy…
These poems make a difference…
The history is complicated… but there is nothing complicated about the wrongful act of attacking innocent babies, being killed, and or brutally injured from adults fighting each other …
It’s just all very very sad.
May this war finally end already!!!

The bravery and talent seen in these poems is phenomenal.

It seems utterly wrong to “review” this poetry collection, written by a Palestinian poet, about life in Gaza while under siege. Each poem is beautiful and heartbreaking and feels so very personal to the poet. I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to read these words from someone currently living through war and occupation. “No Art” is the poem I found to most affect me, but every one made me pause and think.

These poems read like diary entries to give the reader personal accounts of life in Gaza. Beautiful prose and unflinching honesty. Mosab Abu Toha has created another important collection of poems to open our eyes to the experiences of Palestinians.

I’ve taught high school English for nearly twenty-five years, so I know how well reading fiction builds empathy. I’ve used studies to spark discussion and reflection among my students, and I’ve seen the power of certain texts to move them toward a deeper understanding of what those with whom they don’t have much in common endure. For me, however, poetry has been more powerful than fiction, especially when it comes to understanding what Palestinians have been enduring for decades. Forest of Noise, Mosab Abu Toha’s second collection of poetry, depicts what life is like for the people of Gaza clearly and poetically, drawing readers into the devastation they have been experiencing. While reading these poems, it’s hard not to question many of the narratives readers in the West may have encountered. Moving toward peace requires understanding, empathy, and compassion. These poems powerfully, and at times heartbreakingly, encourage readers to see a more vivid picture of what is happening in the daily lives of those living in Gaza and are a vital contribution to understanding the situation that continues to unfold.

Forest of Noise is fascinating verse and imagining of the universe through written work and creative flair. As a reader who enjoys poetry, but is very very picky with the poetry that I read, I found this collection to be well worth experiencing.

Forest of Noise by Mosab Abu Toha is a powerful and resonant collection that transforms the chaos of conflict into a symphony of words. Each poem is a raw, unfiltered glimpse into life under siege, where beauty and pain intertwine. Abu Toha’s writing is deeply rooted in his experiences, yet his voice speaks universally to the resilience of the human spirit. This collection is a testament to the power of poetry to capture the echoes of struggle and hope in a world filled with noise.

This is one of the most timely and heartrending collections of poetry that I've ever had the honor of reading. The author's description of life in G@z@ and how from one second to another you don't know if you'll make it was very heartbreaking and devastating. The poem about his brother visiting him in a dream has stayed with me hauntingly. Also the poem titled A Blank Postcard was beautifully and tragically vivid. If you are looking for a collection of poetry that speaks to humanity, read this. If you enjoy poetry, read this. If you care about the plight of your fellow man, read this. If you want a world where these things don't happen to good people anymore, read this. If you want an end to the g3nøcid3, read this.



Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for a copy of this ARC!

Mini review✨ At the end of last year I read the authors other Poetry Collection (Things you May Find Hidden in My Ear) and it was amazing. When I saw there were ARCs for his new book coming out in October I immediately downloaded it (I’m not sure if it’s the same now but at the time it was available for instant download on Netgalley. Thank you for my copy X !Definitely go check it out if you’re interested!)

This set of poems was just as moving as the first. I could only read a couple at a time and it had me tearing up on multiple occasions. It’s full of emotions that are hard to express. The whole collection is beyond moving. Mosab has written so many beautiful and gut wrenching things, his books are truly works from the heart. I highly recommend picking them up.

This book showed the reader the brutal, harsh truth of the life people are living in Palestine. It is dark and at times extremely sad, but it is definitely an important read. Although it is short, it left me feeling numb reading about bombs and shrapnel and death, over and over. I don't think that the author wrote this with that intention, however, when you read something like this over and over, it is hard for it to keep it's "shock" on you. All you can do is feel horrible and cry.
I would recommend this to anyone who wants to know about what's going on in Gaza, but not really people who read poetry for the "fun" of it.

Devastating and beautifully written. I feel honored to be able to read Mosab Abu Toha’s works. This is my second poetry collection and I am blown away.

Free free Palestine 🇵🇸 I’m very excited that this collection is going to be out in the world. Some of my favorite poems are:

- We Are Looking for Palestine
- Mothers and Mulberry Tree
- My Library
- Daughter
- What a Gazan Should Do During an Israeli Air Strike
- Forest of Noise
- Rescue Plane
- For a Moment
- Ash
- This Is Not a Poem

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for a copy of this ARC.

Talk about devastating. In his second collected work, Mosab Abu Toha writes from the heart, from the eyes, from the soul. Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear was powerful, and Forest of Noise is an emotional gut punch. For people who have continuously followed the ravaging in and of Palestine, these poems add even more nuanced emotions to the already depressing news. It is one thing to see a photo of a man carrying a dead child out of the rubble, it is another to read about the raw depressiveness of moments like that. Mosab Abu Toha is an artist, and his work has left a big impression on me. The poem, "After Allen Ginsberg," though short, was probably the biggest punch to my heart.

This work is important, and everyone should read it if able. You may have to take breaks to be able to handle it all (I sure did), but it is important to remember that the things in these poems are etched in stone inside the memories of Palestinians.

Thank you to Netgalley and Knopf for the e-ARC.

The poetry collection "Forest of Noise," by Mosab Abu Toha, is comprised of poems written during the current fighting in Gaza, from the point of view of a Gaza resident who later escapes with his wife and children to Egypt. Whatever your politics, this collection feels immediate and urgent. Toha's eyewitness account of the tragedy and devastation war has brought to the Palestinian people is difficult but vital reading. In particular, the poems "Request Letter," "To My Mother, Staying in an UNRWA School Shelter in the Jabalia Camp," "After Allen Ginsberg," "Rescue Plane," and "Icarus Falling" have stayed with me, as well as these words from "We Are Looking for Palestine": "Sir, we are not welcome anywhere. Only cemeteries don't mind our bodies. We no longer look for Palestine. Our time is spent dying. Soon, Palestine will search for us, for our whispers, for our footsteps, our fading pictures fallen from blown-up walls."

Thank you to NetGalley and to Alfred A. Knopf for providing me with an ARC of this book in return for my honest review.

Thank you to Net Galley and Knopf for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. These poems are beautiful, visual, emotional and heartbreaking. The author writes about life in Gaza and his family fleeing and being refugees after is house is bombed by the Israelis and destroyed. As I understand from reading reviews, this author was well-known even at a young age and was writing poems before this happened. The poems are filled with remembrances of a time before, grief for all that is lost and a first person perspective of how this war and injustices Palestinians face at the hands of the Israelis. There are the high level stories but these poems give you the perspective of one Palestinian who was part of community where he raised his children with his family and who's life has been upended and changed forever. I highly recommend this book.

in the street of money in the city of money in the country of money,
our great country of money, we (forgive us)

lived happily during the war.

-Ilya Kaminsky

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the greatest tragedies of history. There is so much about it that invites despair of there ever being a resolution. Whether there will ever be a solution that satisfies even the most basic needs of both peoples is unclear to me. But what is clear is that those who suffer, as in all wars, are the civilians, who have nowhere to go.

This collection is a raw description of what the people of Gaza, the civilians, are experiencing during the current conflict. There is confusion and powerlessness. There is resignation and there is anger. And there is so, so much tragedy. There are several poems in which the deaths of children are centered, and these are particularly devastating. I didn’t discern any deep philosophical insights in these poems. They are cries to the heavens.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this collection.