I devoured this book in a weekend and can’t wait to dive back in. Burn After Reading is a collection that reached deep into my soul, stirring up everything that had gone stagnant. Jessica Ciencin Henriquez effortlessly crafts moments of intimacy without making the reader feel like they've been involved in a drive-by oversharing. Instead, she creates an emotional landscape that left me both gutted and profoundly seen.

The way Henriquez captures both the intensity of starting life with excitement and wonder, as well as the quiet resignation of loss, failure, and death, feels deeply visceral. This collection pulls at every emotion and invites you to sit with them.

Her use of erasure poetry reveals layers of meaning hidden in the unsaid. I’ve never seen erasure done with such elegance—it’s seamless, though I imagine so much careful consideration went into each 'burnt' poem.

Henriquez’s work feels like a deep meditation. It’s as if she’s asking you to sit with her through both her life, her grief and her healing. Her straightforward writing reminds me of poets like Sharon Olds, but her fearless bluntness—especially in the poem Before—creates a rare bond between reader and writer that reminds me of the comfort of Mary Oliver.

This collection isn’t just a read—it’s an experience. Henriquez keeps you tethered to her with every page. Many of these poems will stay with me for a long time.