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Isabelle Kenyon – Please Hear What I’m Not Saying | Review

Title: Please Hear What I’m Not Saying

Author: Isabelle Kenyon

Type: Poetry

Page Count/Review Word Count: 240

Rating: 4.5*/5

Isabelle Kenyon – Please Hear What I’m Not Saying

Disclaimer: While I aim to be unbiased, I received a copy of this for free.

I’m not really sure what it would take for a poetry book to get a five out of five for me, but this one was pretty damn close. It’s a stunning collection of dozens of different poets all writing about mental health issues, and proceeds from the anthology are put towards Mind, the mental health charity.

What I liked about this collection is that there’s such a diverse selection of poetry covering all kinds of different subjects. So while I could relate to the anxiety and depression poems, I also learned when reading poems about borderline personality disorder and Alzheimer’s. I also liked the fact that the different sections come without titles and invite you, as the reader, to come up with them.

All in all then, I don’t think this necessarily has breakthrough appeal if you’re not normally into poetry. But if you’re a fan of contemporary and indie poetry as I am then there’s a lot to love about this one, especially if you’re also interested in the mental health angle. Its diversity and the sheer number of poets included within its pages make it a pretty good way to meet your new favourite poets. Enjoy.

Isabelle Kenyon

Click here to buy Please Hear What I’m Not Saying.

John Green – Turtles All the Way Down | Review

Title: Turtles All the Way Down

Author: John Green

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 288

Rating: 4*/5

John Green – Turtles All the Way Down

To a certain extent, I already knew what I was getting into here. John Green’s writing feels a little more mature to me now, and that’s a good thing, but if you’ve read one of his books before then you’ll instantly slide back into his writing style. The characters are much the same as his characters usually are, too.

But we do get the anxiety and OCD representation from Aza which I found relatable, for the most part, although a lot of the things that she did annoyed me. But then that happens with most of his characters. I’m a little too old to fit the target market, but I do still think he’s a pretty good writer. He did a great job here of showing what it’s like to have intrusive thoughts, but I would have liked to have seen a little more of the murder mystery. Just like pretty much everyone else I’ve talked to.

On the whole, the dialogue and the narrative itself are pretty well handled here, and there are some great one-liners and intriguing ideas about life, the universe and everything. On the other hand, at one point he wrote “she said, askingly” and it made me want to vomit. I’m not sold on that even being a word but if it is, it’s a bad one. He could have just said “she asked”.

All in all though, this was a pretty good read. Overhyped perhaps, but that was always going to be the case. It’s certainly not a bad book, and I was impressed. I enjoyed it.