4.25 ⭐️
Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Group, and Whitney Hanson for the opportunity to read this ARC! This revised edition of Whitney’s bestselling poetry book, Climate, has a new introduction and more than a dozen new poems.

Surprisingly, this was my first time reading a poetry book by Whitney Hanson, and it was a fantastic first impression! I absolutely loved this book. I had almost 20 pages flagged on my Kindle and even more highlights. Most of her poems focused on mental health and past relationships. Due to my personal experiences and career path, I particularly loved the mental health poems. I love poetry because it creates connections and promotes emotional healing + feeling. I definitely think there is a disconnect of what people think poetry is like, but it has progressed so much. If you love modern poetry, or are curious about it, I definitely recommend checking this one out when it’s published on July 8th!

It was hard to choose just one, but here’s one of my favorites ✨

on the days
when the little things
become too much
and even the smallest movement
requires the greatest strength

you are not fragile
you are not weak
you are climbing mountains
that nobody sees

On a random day in 2024, I found a poet reciting one of her poems in an Instagram reel. Intrigued, I looked at her profile and found out she went by the name Whitney Hanson. I found her books on goodreads and added them, but I didn’t read any of her books, until today.
Climate has what I look for in a poetry book. Recently, I feel like I’ve been reading poetry books that feel… lifeless. The poems aren’t always necessary bad, but they just don’t have feeling. Climate, however, is the complete opposite of that kind of book. I found myself relating to the poet’s struggle, her feelings, and the way she treated herself. I liked what the poetry book was trying to teach the reader through all the poems. I feel like the poet was very vulnerable in this, which is always something I can appreciate. I really liked Climate and I would be interested in reading more of her poetry in the future.

This book had such amazing potential. The cover and topics reminded me of some really big names such as Lang Leav and Michael Faudet However, the actual writing fell flat. I absolutely enjoyed that the author took a chance and discussed mental illness and was vulnerable in their writing. This shows bravery. However, the formatting made it extremely difficult to follow. I could not tell when one poem started and when one finished. This made it extremely difficult to enjoy.

I was not in love with this title, and I think that was partly due to the formatting of the book on my reading device. Nothing flowed as it should have.

Thank you so much to the publishers for this arc. I have seen Whitney on Instagram, reciting her poetry and I liked those poems a lot. But wtf is this book.... If this is poetry than I'm Katrina Kaif....