My Greenhouse

Anyone who has experienced heartbreak will relate to this book of poetry. It’s beautifully written, and I shared so many emotions with it.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publishers, and the author for giving me the opportunity to review this book. I have always struggled to get into poetry. I have followed the Robertson family since they came into the spotlight. Bella’s voice through her poetry is so beautiful! I can’t wait to see what all she accomplishes.

My Greenhouse is a captivating escape into Bella Mayo's loves. Through these poems, a beautiful inner voice shines bright.

Now, I don't normally gravitate towards poetry but as soon as I read the description I was instantly hooked. My Greenhouse is simple yet moving, classic yet fresh, and happy yet heartbreaking. Many of the poems felt like a warm hug or putting glasses on for the first time. It explored young love, heartbreaking love, deceitful love and real love.

The poems spoke and resonated in ways I didn't expect. Many seemed to tell me what I needed to hear. Little details jumped out of the page into my head. It was eye-opening. I felt seen and heard (despite how corny that sounds).

I loved the sections the book was broken into as well as the progression of the poems. A handful had multiple parts that reappeared later in the book. I loved seeing the story continue and the development, particularly in "my shape shifter pt.2."

Some of my favourite poems include my smart one, my indecisive one, my second chance, my great love, my earthquake and my bug. These poems in particular resonated greatly.

Overall, it was a joy to read and was the perfect poetry book to cozy up with.
4 Stars

This is a poetry collection exploring the author’s first romance and heartbreak. It is split into five parts, each explaining different aspects of the relationship.

These poems were very heartfelt and meaningful. I think this will be a great book for young girls who are new to romance to read.

The artwork is as captivating and minimalistic as the writer’s words, and rightfully so - emotionally resonant, and stark in their insights, Bella Robertson has hit a bullseye with “My Greenhouse.”

•A four part progression, this collection is so beautifully simple, and captures so many angles of the loves we experience in life.
•I found myself bookmarking almost every poem as one I’d want to revisit again.
•Reading these poems, I found myself thinking “been there” or “ugh yes, same” so many times. That recognition of self is something the author even points to as a goal within part 3, and I think she’s more than accomplished it.
•Love is an onion with many layers, and I’m glad I’m not the only one who remembers how each one felt.

I like how the front cover is very simple snd I loved Bello Mayo writing. She writes about love and heartbreak and as I was reading each poem made be think about my relationships and how they made me feel. Bello has real emotion in her writing and I read the book in one day.
Thank you NetGalley for letting me read this book. I really enjoyed reading these poems and I like how she related them to flowers , the weather and greenhouse.

True artists know how to make you feel something. No matter how many stories of heartbreak you hear or read, true artists will make the same story new again because it is so relatable and moving. Bella Mayo achieves this beauty and relatability in this book of poems. I was hesitant to read this book of poetry on heartbreak because I was afraid it would make me feel emotional but isn't that a sign of a good piece of artwork? Bella Mayo dedicates this book to the girls who have felt heartbreak, and not many haven't. I'll be buying this book of poetry once it's released to remind me of the journey of healing that comes with both love and heartbreak.

I first picked up this copy for the cover - I’m a sucker for line drawings! Love the simplicity.

My Greenhouse is a really digestible collection of poems inspired by the author’s first romance. I’ve been getting into poetry more recently, and enjoyed the way the work is broken into chapters - guiding you through the feelings of new love, relationships, parting ways, and moving forward.

4⭐️

Poetry is always a safe place for me to feel like I’m not alone and all of the poems in this book demonstrated my life in some aspects. It was well written and spoken.

This collection goes through the emotions the author, Bella Robertson, felt During her first love. She divides the book into five chapters symbolizing different stages of that relationship. I really enjoyed how the author described what if felt during different aspects of her relationship. There were a few that stood out to me, but one in particular, My Indecisive One, really hit home for me. I also liked how the author did not end with a typical 'happy ending.' It was realistic and described how much a first love can affect us afterward and leave us feeling a bit hollow before finding ourselves again. Overall, I really enjoyed this collection. Thank you, NetGalley for the digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

Recollections of first love, heartbreak, reconciliation, and new horizons as seen through the eyes of a fifteen-year old. A quick read that begs a re-read of some of the better poems. I will recommend this debut work to my High School students as a study in life lessons. They will likely find points of comparison and may learn some valuable home truths ...
Thanks to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

"the moment you are hurt by the hands of a man,
the thought of being in another's seems to reckless.
to fully love you i had to unlearn
the idea i had so strongly held on to-
that in a man's arms is a dangerous place"

This book is lovely. It's a brave thing to pour out your heart and history onto printed pages and share them with the world, for it to be absorbed and critiqued. And that's what I appreciate about poetry and this book.
I originally wanted to read this because of the title, but when I started reading, the emotions pulled me in. Poem after poem, I was wondering how Bella Mayo was going to describe something next, or what metaphor she was going to use. It was so intriguing due to the general theme/idea of a garden/greenhouse.

I've never been in love, so reading a lot of these, I couldn't really relate. But at the same time, I didn't have to imagine what it might be like, either,  because she explained it in such a way that I got a glimpse of what it was like for her. 

Other times, I could understand because I'd been in similar situations or had similar thoughts, and it was so interesting to see how a familiar feeling could be described by someone else in a way I'd never thought of before.

She tells a vivid story with her poetry, and when it comes to heartbreak, the imagery stands out. Wildflowers and sunshine. Neutral colors and dark clouds. With the little details she includes, I can practically see the moment/memory in my mind - two people in love dancing in a parking lot at night, hugging each other tight.

This book is about love, and her words convey that nicely. It's a very bittersweet book, but it makes me hopeful for my own future. Absolutely lovely.

Love has a unique and wonderful quality to it. The home we build in this person. We put a lot of love into decorating this house. It follows us around for the rest of our lives. My greenhouse focuses on the uniqueness of first love, shared moments and memories, and minor heartbreaks.

This was a beautiful book of poetry that made me pause, made me reflect, and made me feel seen.

It was an exploration of emotions that anyone can resonate with, because at the end of the day, these emotions- love, loss, happiness, sorrow, etc.- are what bind us all. No matter who were are or where we reside, we can find common ground in the sensations that are these emotions.

The author does an incredible job exploring these each in a way that makes you truly sit with your thoughts and find peace in the fact that you are not alone.

I would highly recommend for fans of Rupi Kaur and Nikita Gill.

My Greenhouse was a simplistically written but ever-so-lovely poetry collection to read.

The author articulately explores the many intricacies that come with going through the stages of heartbreak, loss and love. Poems such as "my secret heartbreaker" eloquently capture the power of nostalgia in memorializing - often with a rosy tint - past moments in a relationship. Although these poems are apparently written about the author's personal experiences, the feelings they evoke transcend through the page and feel universal. Something I, and I'm sure many other readers can relate to.

While the poetry collection about love and heartbreak in this style has been done before, the sheer honesty in the writing and the unique greenhouse metaphor provides a fresh feeling to this collection. I only wish that perhaps the symbolism of the greenhouse, sun, wildflowers, clouds etc. could have had a consistent meaning throughout all the poems to better add depth to the poems.

My Greenhouse was a relatable poetry collection with short, modern poems that made me pause and reflect on the meaning of the words. I quite enjoyed reading it and plan on gifting copies to friends in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

When I read that this was Bella Mayo's debut poetry book, I was astonished. I could honestly believe that this was a book from an accomplished poet. The poems were heartfelt and I could feel the emotion from each of them even if I had not personally experienced the type of love that was the subject.
The titling of each piece was something that really provided a new depth to the work. Starting each title off with the word 'my' already invokes a feeling of it being very personal to the reader.

I absolutely recommend this book and I will be purchasing it myself as well as soon as it publishes.
There is a more extensive review of this book available on my blog.