Aija Mayrock

From a poet and celebrated spoken-word performer comes a debut poetry collection that takes readers on an empowering, lyrical journey exploring truth, silence, wounds, healing, and the resilience we all share. Dear Girl is a journey from girlhood to womanhood through poetry It is the search for truth in silence The freeing of the tongue It is deep wounds and deep healing And the resilience that lies within us It is a love letter To the sisterhood

Dear Girl

Valeria

Olivia McDaniel

The Story
This is a collection of poems illustrating femininity. I am not one to normally read or listen to poems so this was out of my comfort zone. I found this very interesting because it was so far outside of what I normally read. Overall, give this book a listen (or read) even if you disagree with the positions taken in the book. It is good to know what all sides believe and not just one or two. 

The Narration
I listened to this novel. With a dimly lit coffee shop, this could have easily been a slam poetry reading. I did enjoy the fact that Mayrock is the author and narrator. She is able to put emphasis on words that she wants to be emphasized. She sounded very passionate about this story. You can tell that through the novel her voice changes to fit the story which keeps readers interested. 

Flow
Mayrock’s flow started from the very beginning! Her voice flows well and easily goes from loud to quiet without any awkward pauses. There were some pauses for effect and it worked well -- giving the listeners time to think about what was just said. Most of the time these pauses were after a difficult section that needed breath. I do not know if there were chapters, but the book flowed so well it didn’t need chapters. Mayrock did amazing at using her voice to transition the listener from one section to another.

Unique Elements
There was some music involved, but mostly this audiobook was filled with Mayrock’s voice. She used her vocals to dictate most of the story. The music added to the story and helped the reader get into the mindset of the novel before listening in.

My Personal Recommendation
I personally am not a fan of this story itself. Mayrock’s positions do not overlap with my personal beliefs. So, if you are reading this from a Christian worldview -- be cautious. I do recommend this as a learning curve. Use a poetry novel like this to hear about what people think out of your worldview and pray for those people. It opened my eyes to what people believe and has made me more aware of what goes on around me. I would listen to this novel just because Mayrock does such a fantastic job at her narration.

Alexia

I can see and appreciate the message Aija wants to convey though this collection of poetry, but I also believe it needed to be a bit more cohesive thematically. However, it puzzles me that she is so young and yet manages to express such profound and powerful feelings that resonate through her voice. I have to say that having listened to it read by the author made the experience more personal and viscera, and I'd definitely recommend the audio version.

I'll be following her future work closely because I see great content coming from this emerging poet.

 Thank you Netgalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the advanced version in exchange for an honest review!

Maria 

This is a poetry book for women. It deals with a lot of different topics such as the #me-too movement, the right for a woman to decide who she wants to share her body with, as well as, a woman's right to be heard, just to name a few. I really liked that the book was narrated by the author because it made it feel more impactful coming from her the way she wanted it to come across.

There has been a lot of poetry collections released in 2020 that have attempted to be a powerful voice for women and feminism. Some have been incredible, others haven't quite met the mark.

I'll be blatant, I didn't go into this with high expectations - a debut collection from an author I was not familiar with. 

But this collection honestly blew me away. The voice is powerful and strong, insistent and unforgiving. It is something that I want to introduce to my future daughters and nieces. 

Take my word that this is a poet for you to check out.

Some poetry is incredibly delicate and weaves words in an elaborate way. Dear Girl, however, is something much more concise and fierce. This, paired with the overarching message of women taking what is theirs, works incredibly well. 

Mayrock has created a mantra for women from all walks of life.

Driven by emotion, the prose is sharp and unwavering, powerful but incredibly personal. Readers will find themselves nodding along. And it is impossible not to feel empowered by the author's declarations.

I very rarely pick up poetry in audiobook form. Often, it is not a format that works naturally with prose, feeling forced and haunting. 

But Dear Girl offered a different experience. Narrated by the author herself, this debut collection evolves into a war cry.

I am not going to lie, I have revisited this book several times since reading it the first time. As an audiobook, it is an uplifting mantra that resonates will nearly every mood. Whether I need a pep talk, motivation, something to continue a good mood, this book gives me something every time.

Thank you to Libro.FM and the publisher for providing me with a copy of the audiobook. This does not impact my opinions, whatsoever.

Ethel

I never read any poetry before and I used to think that it could be complex and difficult to understand but after reading Dear Girl, my opinion changed. It was so easy to read and so beautiful, I really enjoyed it. I picked it up on NetGalley because of the cover that I found really pretty and I did not regret it. The voice is powerful. It is about empowerment and it really is uplifting. I think every girl and woman can relate to most of the poems, they are just so simple and yet so full of truth. As said in this poetry collection, we need to support and help each other, so let’s do it; it’s about women everywhere. The poems are a call for women all around the world to rise up and be heard. This collection is not about reading something you have never heard before, but reading about something you have maybe not been able to formulate before, about something you may have not been told before. I don’t know what I was looking for when I started reading but I definitely feel like I got more strengths after.

Dear Girl

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