Forest of Noise is an absolutely stunning collection of poems about daily life in Gaza under siege. I would highly recommend everyone read it as soon as they can. The imagery Mosab Abu Toha evokes throughout is captivating. I couldn't put these poems down. Forest of Noise is not a collection to be embarked upon lightly, however. Readers should be ready to be profoundly shaken and deeply moved. There is such an urgency felt on every page, interwoven with a deep and timeless memory. These poems will be on my mind for a long time to come.

A remarkably powerful collection of poems about life in Gaza, past and present. A brutal and vivid portrait of war, violence, genocide, lives lost, and those who live on to tell their stories. A must-read collection.

This is a powerful, yet such a very painful read. Beautifully written poems evoke the suffering Mosab Abu Toha and many Palestinians endured and are still enduring. In this book, Mosab shares the poems he wrote while surviving in a horrific occupation. Reading these poems made my heart ache, filled my eyes with tears, and left a haunting mark on my soul.

“Will my bones find yours after I die?”

A depressingly beautiful collection. Will forever be reminded of Mosab and the children of Palestine whenever I see a “if you read books, you live more than one life” poster. I can’t wait to reread it and be moved by the powerful and haunting works of a poet that I hope everyone has a chance to read.

(Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy)

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC of this collection, however, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is a beautifully written, but absolutely heartbreaking collection of poems that can really hammer home some of the tragedies that those living in Palestine constantly face, but also for how long these things have been going on. Beautiful and tragic.

Thank you, NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor | Knopf books for this ARC. WOW, just wow. This was an emotional and powerful little book of poems about living and enduring the horrors of war the author experienced in Gaza. Beautiful yet tragically expressed. I could not put this book down and read it cover to cover in one sitting. This words in this book will live with me for a long time.

Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 out of 5 stars

My head is buzzing with the desire to scream at the horror in the words and lines and between the lines and all over the place. My nose is prickling and my eyes are red.

Devastating images of war and loss. Loss and war.

Much of the power of a poem is it’s ability to bring a reader into a shared experience. We experience things that the writer wants to share but also what it means to be an outsider looking in. I don’t think I’ve ever felt that more powerfully than while reading these poems. There is beauty and precious moments in this book, but there is also a numbness that comes from being surrounded by pain and injustice and being helpless to change it. It is not a pleasant feeling, and it should not be. The repetition of this theme over and over and over has created a depth of numbness in me that I don’t think was the author’s intent, however. In some ways, I feel guilty because I can simply close this book and never think about it again, but refugees can’t simply close the covers of their lives. Would that they could just walk away and find something pleasanter. None of these poems is bad. I just find them redundant when they’re all together, and it makes them less effective as poetry. I'd recommend it for folks who really want to read about Gaza, not so much for people who really want to read poems.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

An amazing poetry collection by Mosab Abu Toha. Each poem made me feel like I was experiencing what he was. Very timely and allows the reader to get a better glimpse into the life of a Palestinian.

A devastating collection of poetry about the horrors of the Israeli attacks on Gaza from renowned poet Mosab Abu Toha. Every piece in this collection oozes both life and death, creating a captivating collection filled to the brim with personal anecdotes from the poet's own life in Gaza and nature symbolism reminiscent of other renowned Palestinian writers of the past. My favorite pieces include "We Are Looking for Palestine," "On Your Knees," "A Request," and "This Is Not a Poem," but I truly believe that EVERYONE must read this collection in order to truly understand the necessity of calling for a free Palestine.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an ARC of this book !

"Sir, we are not welcome anywhere.
Only cemeteries don't mind our bodies."

Forest of Noise is a horrifying and brutally honest depiction of life in Gaza. Every page told a different, yet eerily similar tale of injustice and cruelty.

Although the book was short, it took me a while to get through it because of how uncomfortable it made me feel. That being said, Forest of Noise will not only disturb you, it will also enlighten those who still continue to turn a blind eye from the painstaking truth of the realities taking place in the land of Palestinian people.

This is not just a recommended read, but a necessary one.

This devasting collection of poetry shows the multi-generational struggle of those living in Gaza. Toha paints a horrific picture of the conditions in Gaza, describing the lack of food, being welcome nowhere, the need to travel for basic medical care, and how many mourn the births of their children, of the conditions they are being born into.

I lost count of how many times he said shrapnel, explosion, rubble, and bomb.

This poetry book is so important for understanding the conditions in Gaza, and everyone should read this book to learn and to support this poet and his family. It is not for the light of heart, but all should still read.

"No need for the radio: We are the news."

This collection of poetry was so powerful and moving that there was not a single page that didn't make me want to cry. It's one of the most important poetry books of our time, and I wish I could get everyone to read it.

Earlier this year, I read “Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear: Poems from Gaza” and was extremely moved by it. With that in mind, I was thrilled and grateful to have been given the opportunity to read an advanced copy of Forest of Noise by Mosab Abu Toha, his upcoming poetry collection, so thank you to Knopf and NetGalley!

Reviewing and rating a collection like this is challenging. It is a living, breathing narrative, unfolding in real time, reflecting current horrors. Both of Mosab’s books are unlike anything I've ever read. Mosab’s words are harrowing, deeply personal, and moving. I am in awe of this author and the vulnerability expressed on every page!

Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf for the ARC.

Mosab Abu Toha’s Forest of Noise is heartbreaking, vivid and poetic, demanding attention and forcing the reader to confront and understand the scale of the ongoing violence in Gaza, what erodes and what is left behind, if anything. Raw, honest prose and vivid language, the poetry collection demands attention and holds it, hoping the reader doesn't fade away with the pages.

Expected publication October 29, 2024

This collection of poetry really spoke to me on many levels most notably of truth. The horrors of war is palpable throughout yet it is much more than that. There is a tenderness and humanity in the poems that thankfully was not extinguished.. Mosab Abu Toha is a very talented writer and I look forward to reading more of his work.

Forest of Noise by Mosab Abu Toha is a powerful and evocative read. The imagery Mosab conjures in his writing, while dealing with heavy themes, makes this book profoundly impactful. Having previously enjoyed his work in The New Yorker, I was thrilled to receive an ARC of this book.

Mosab offers a poignant glimpse into a life in Gaza, sharing personal stories about his family and community. While writing poetry was his escape, he provided us a window into his world, allowing readers to experience the reality of Gaza's challenges.

This book is a must-read,a testament to the enduring power of literature to capture and convey the human experience. I believe it will resonate deeply with many readers and serve as a powerful reminder of the historical and personal struggles we face today. Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for the opportunity to read this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf for the ARC!

Mosab Abu Toha’s "Forest of Noise" is a blunt collection of documentary poetry that follows the ongoing violence in Gaza from its epicenter.

It’s a complicated project.

Poetry about violence often seems like an exercise in futility because bloodshed makes the world contract; a poem should do the opposite. In other words, it can feel like trying to turn something destructive into something generative, and the result can read as artifice. Thankfully, that isn’t the case here.

Instead, the poet uses the futility of the form to bring readers close to understanding.

Visual documentary tends to focus on loss of life, but Mosab Abu Toha uses poetry to focus on a loss of living. Maybe a better way to say it is that he foregrounds the lives unlived, rather than simply depicting death. For example, we read about cemeteries that have been destroyed, resulting in not only present destruction, but also the erasure of the past and a choking of the future—a kind of death after death. For readers who are unable to consume the barrage of violent photographs or videos online without feeling distanced—a dulling of the senses—"Forest of Noise" offers a thoughtful alternative.

These poems wearily contort themselves into comprehensible shapes, constrained by the violence surrounding and penetrating them. Almost every line lumbers bluntly into place, which feels like the only way they could possibly exist. They are conscious decisions to reorder the world’s ruptured syntax.


There’s little doubt that this is an excellent collection.

That said, while reading, I personally struggled with the mediation afforded by the poetic form. As these poems pile up, their specificity is slowly replaced with a kind of anonymity. In a way, this could be seen as a testament to the impact of violence—it gradually dehumanizes and detaches—but that seems antithetical to the book's apparent intention to memorialize. I can imagine some readers encountering these as “powerful” poems and immediately moving on with their lives, but perhaps that’s just a challenge implicit in the form.

Regardless, this collection is bitterly needed, and I admire Mosab Abu Toha’s courage and belief that poetry can mean something in the face of genocide.

We see stories about Gaza on the news every day and, although I wouldn't say we've become numb to the atrocities happening there, Mosab Abu Toha's poems bring a very personal, up-close realness to the situation that you don't get by watching news stories. His poems are stories of his family, of shattered lives and broken dreams, of living an entire life surrounded by war and loss. These poems are haunting and, personally, I feel like everyone needs to read them.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read the ARC of this book.