Milk and Honey
Emotional
Meaningful
Honest

Milk and Honey

Rupi Kaur β€” 2014
Collection of poetry.
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Reviews

Photo of Clara Gauthier
Clara Gauthier@cegauthier
0.5 stars
Apr 18, 2025

i deserve financial compensation for being made to read this in my senior literary capstone

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Megan Parrott@meganparrott
4 stars
Jul 5, 2024

I was especially fond of the last section, β€œthe healing,” on body positivity. The whole collection is worth reading a few times though.

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haewon@wontonbook
5 stars
Jun 13, 2024

she studied at waterloo!!

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Ier@irosqi
1 star
Jun 4, 2024

More tumbler post than poetry, It had way too long paragraphs in a few pages

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Tsamarah@luvinclr
2 stars
Jun 4, 2024

It was not ALL bad, but it was not ALL good either. Few bookmarks here and there but nothing really stays.

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anna@annagc
2 stars
May 5, 2024

I was expecting so much more... I liked a few of the poems, mostly the ones I already know and I appreciate the honesty of the author in some of them but really I am a bit disappointed. People always hype up this book so much and I really didn't enjoy it that much.

Photo of Ashlee
Ashlee @reverent-reader
5 stars
May 2, 2024

Relatable in every way is an understatement. Her words, pain, and deep connection for others and herself will forever make this my go-to book. Each piece takes you through the human experience of loving and losing and speaks to such profound feelings. Needless to say, I will always be a Rupi Kaur fan.

+2
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Julia@hsjdkdosso
3 stars
Mar 30, 2024

Wow. Just wow.

Photo of Vicky  NuΓ±ez
Vicky NuΓ±ez @vicky21
4 stars
Mar 25, 2024

The power of words is undeniable. And Rupi Kaur shows that in Milk and Honey. I don't think a single woman can't relate to at least one of her poems. They are hearbreaking and relatable and a book about the silent female struggle. Loved it!

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yel@ashuulinksu
3 stars
Feb 24, 2024

Date Read: October 13, 2019 Actual Rating: 3.00 STARS First attempt at reading poetry and I would say I have a few lines that I came to like. A pretty good first try for this kind of read. Maybe I'll be trying to read more poetry in the future.

Photo of Christine Frisbie
Christine Frisbie@frisbie
4 stars
Feb 24, 2024

More of a 3.5 stars. I really enjoyed the messages that came across to me on my first read through of this book, but I didn't feel like it really enthralled me as much as I had anticipated. This was probably because of the immense hype that has surrounded it and the fact that I walked in with fairly high expectations. However, I do think that it's quite topical and the topics it broaches are very important and should be discussed, and that to the right individual many of the messages will stick for years to come.

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chloe rae@heychloerae
5 stars
Feb 14, 2024

Damn. This was SO GOOD. It was sweet and sexy and raw and just gorgeously written. This book is split into four sections and I have to say that the first section didn't really grasp me. It wasn't until I started the second section that I was completely intrigued by her words. From there I had to keep stopping to take a moment to let her words sink in. Some of the poems were so profound I simply had to take a pause. Stunning words. I'm fairly new to the poetry world but I can't wait to see where all I go from here. I'm already planning on going back through this book today to bookmark specifics that I can find later on. I'm excited to continue on in this genre!

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Catarina Lopes @caat_reads
1 star
Jan 19, 2024

I had to do this I'm sorry 😭

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Annika Arguemore@arguemore
1 star
Jan 14, 2024

Not my type of poetry, but I can see how this could be cathartic for some people.

Photo of Julia Moran
Julia Moran @green_olives
2 stars
Jan 13, 2024

Nah just nah, for the most part this isn't poetry AT ALL but shower thoughts, don't try to sell it as poetry. Don't get me wrong there are "poems" that I liked a lot, but the majority of it was pretty bad. I think Rupi has a lot of potential and I praise her for sharing such personal things but she just has to learn to write actual poetry or not target it as such.

Photo of Kritika Narula
Kritika Narula@kitkatreads
4 stars
Jan 13, 2024

It is hard not to love words so pure!

Photo of azliana aziz
azliana aziz@heartinidleness
2 stars
Jan 13, 2024

certainly overrated. there's a few poems / lines?? that i like but the repetitive nature of her writing really did not go well with me. some of the poems basically were just an upgrade/downgrade version of another and they just failed to add any meaningful quality to them. kaur have potential. i mean i like her ideas but the execution here was pretty much subpar.

Photo of reg
reg@regsardothien
3 stars
Jan 10, 2024

Amazing. Some parts made me teary eyed. Some poems made my heart ache. Some just ~meh~. But the messages are very powerful especially to the women. I feel like all women should read this.

Photo of Lauren
Lauren@readwithlauren
4 stars
Jan 9, 2024

The artwork is absolutely beautiful. I loved this.

Photo of Selkie
Selkie@selkie
5 stars
Nov 23, 2023

This entire book. It resonated with my very soul, touched something fragile and delicate in my heart. It felt like hearing my thoughts, looking into a mirror. I shed tears but I was comforted at the same time. I will forever be grateful that I decided to pick this book up by curiosity, and that ended up being my most treasured book.

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Melissa Palmer@melissapalmer404
3 stars
Nov 5, 2023

Book #76 Read in 2017 milk and honey by rupi kaur This is a book of poetry that tackles tough issues such as sex, abuse and feminism. This book is garnering a lot of attention online and among my students. The risquΓ© drawings will definitely get the reader's attention. I borrowed this book from one of my students.

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surtifiedβ„’@heartrender081
2.5 stars
Sep 27, 2023

I'm not the biggest poetry fan to be honest, so reading this was a relief to be able to understand on the face of it, rather than having to read and keep reading until I understand.

I did read it in one sitting, and I think everyone would be able to do so as well.

I think the reason it's rated so low is, I don't relate to alot of this book, luckily. I can't really say i've been in senarios which relate to the main points of this book, but I think if you're someone who's been taken advantage of, who just feels kind of numb to love or anything along those lines, it would definatly hit hard.

Some quotes did stick out to me, and I interperated many of them in my own sort of way, changing the relationship focus to a friendship focus.

I did also skip poems which Ifound didn't really relate to me in any way, and any poems which were relatively suggestive, only because they didn't seem like something I really want to read.

This is just the start of my poetry journey, so it's interesting to see where i'll go from here.

Photo of Libertad Aguilar
Libertad Aguilar@li_bee
5 stars
Sep 27, 2023

I loved this book. I kept highlighting my favorite parts in the poems. It’s a must for ANY woman/young lady/girl in my opinion

Photo of Hannah Yang
Hannah Yang@hannahyang
3 stars
Sep 18, 2023

I love poetry - I love reading it, I love writing it, etc. and I've heard so many great things about milk and honey. After reading it, though, I feel extremely conflicted. All of these poems are very personal and I can tell the author put her heart into them. I can tell what I'm supposed to be feeling as I read these poems, from aching sadness to boiling anger to quiet healing... the problem is, I'm not feeling it. I think, for now, I may not have experienced enough to understand the words. Perhaps if I had a physical copy of the book, I would 'get it', but I believe if the poems were good enough, reading them on a Kindle or in a paperback wouldn't make a difference. It could be because I'm too young or too privileged or too something to relate to the kind of pain that tears through these pages. If I go back and read the same poems in five years, maybe I'll be crying over somebody. But for now, I just feel a bit numb. I did love some of the poems, though. Rupi Kaur places words exquisitely on a page, taking aim at the reader's heart. It is her honesty and her straightforwardness that sets these poems apart from others. The complementing illustrations were lovely, and the varying lengths of the poems were a nice touch. And the poems certainly deal with some triggering / tough topics. It is extremely raw writing, and I understand the hype around milk and honey. So, I will recommend milk and honey, but I would not go into it expecting poetry that will knock you out. I believe the poems will mean more to those who have experienced the feelings the author writes about. Some of my favorite excerpts: (view spoiler)[ i know small talk is the only way you know how to tell me you love me. cause it is the only way i know how to tell you. what am i to you he asks i put my hands in his lap and whisper you are every hope i've ever had in human form i know i should crumble for better reasons but have you seen that boy he brings the sun to its knees every night neither of us is happy but neither of us wants to leave so we keep breaking one another and calling it love people go but how they left always stays but that isn't romantic. it isn't sweet. the idea that they were so engulfed by your existence they had to risk breaking it for the sake of knowing they weren't the one missing out. your existence meant that little next to their curiosity of you. that is the thing about selfish people. they gamble entire beings. entire souls to please their own. the thing about writing is i can't tell if it's healing or destroying me loneliness is a sign you are in desperate need of yourself sometimes the apology never comes when it is wanted and when it comes it is neither wanted nor needed (hide spoiler)]

Highlights

Photo of nanafark
nanafark@nanafark

if you are not enough for yourself

you will never be enough

for someone else

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nanafark@nanafark

how you love yourself is

how you teach others

to love you

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nanafark@nanafark

sometimes

the apology never comes when it is wanted

and when it comes

it is neither wanted nor needed

β€” you are too late

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nanafark@nanafark

there is a difference between

someone telling you they love you

and them actually loving you

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nanafark@nanafark

it takes grace

to remain kind

in cruel situations

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nanafark@nanafark

you cannot leave

and have me too

i cannot exist in

two places at once

β€” when you ask if we can still be friends

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nanafark@nanafark

someone explain that. how even when the love leaves. it doesn’t leave. how even when i am so past you. i am so helplessly brought back to you.

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nanafark@nanafark

the night after you left

i woke up so broken

the only place to put the pieces

were the bags under my eyes

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nanafark@nanafark

people go

but how they left

always stays

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nanafark@nanafark

i don’t know why

i split myself open for others

knowing sewing myself up

hurts this much afterward

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nanafark@nanafark

neither of us is happy

but neither of us wants to leave

so we keep breaking one another

and calling it love

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nanafark@nanafark

you were not wrong for leaving

you were wrong for coming back and thinking

you could have me when it was convenient

and leave when it was not

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nanafark@nanafark

rivers fall from my mouth

tears my eyes can’t carry

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nanafark@nanafark

i don’t know what living a balanced life feels like

when i am sad

i don’t cry i pour

when i am happy

i don’t smile i glow

when i am angry

i don’t yell i burn


the good thing about feeling in extremes is

when i love i give them wings

but perhaps that isn’t

such a good thing cause

they always tend to leave

and you should see me

when my heart is broken

i don’t grieve

i shatter

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nanafark@nanafark

i had to leave

i was tired of allowing you to make me feel

anything less than whole

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nanafark@nanafark

when you are broken

and he has left you

do not question whether you were enough

the problem was

you were so enough he was not able to carry it

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nanafark@nanafark

i am a museum full of art

but you had your eyes shut

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nanafark@nanafark

you mustn’t have to

make them want you

they must want you themselves

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nanafark@nanafark

i didn’t leave because

i stopped loving you

i left because the longer i stayed

the less i loved myself

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nanafark@nanafark

you whisper

i love you

what you mean is

i don’t want you to leave

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nanafark@nanafark

the woman who comes after me will be a bootleg version of who i am.

she will try and write poems for you to erase the ones i’ve left memorized on your lips

but her lines could never punch you in the stomach the way mine did.

she will then try to make love to your body. but she will never lick, caress, or suck like me.

she will be a sad replacement of the woman you let slip.

nothing she does will excite you and this will break her.

when she is tired of falling apart for a man that doesn’t give back what he takes

she will recognize me in your eyelids staring at her with pity and it’ll hit her.

how can she love a man who is busy loving someone he can never get his hands on again.

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nanafark@nanafark

don’t mistake salt for sugar

if he wants to be with you

he will

it’s that simple

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nanafark@nanafark

you were so distant

i forgot you were there at all

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nanafark@nanafark

i need someone

who knows struggle as well as i do

someone

willing to hold my feet in their lap

on days it is too difficult to stand

the type of person who gives exactly what i need

before i even know i need it

the type of lover who hears me

even when i do not speak

is the type of understanding i demand

β€” the type of lover i need