Name: Shannon O’Connor 's review of A Strangely Wrapped Gift by Emily Byrnes
Item: A Strangely Wrapped Gift
Rating: 5
Author: Shannon O’Connor

Emily Byrnes

In these pages, you will find journeys from childhood to today, from mental illness to recovery, from heartbreak to heart growth, from hopelessness to empowerment, and from the ocean to the stars.

A Strangely Wrapped Gift

Shannon O’Connor 

Emily Juniper

In A Strangely Wrapped Gift, you will find journeys from mental illness to recovery, from heartbreak to heart growth, from hopelessness to empowerment, and from the ocean to the stars. In these pages, Juniper takes heavy, emotional raw material and weaves it into stunning, relatable poetry you'll long to share with friends and loved ones. This collection is a reminder that broken pieces make the most beautiful mosaics, and that all of us possess the power to bloom even after a harsh winter.

Gabriel Noel 

ARC given by NetGalley for Honest Review

"A Strangely Wrapped Gift" is a collection of what most would call "instagram poetry" about love, life, and mental illness. The book fell flat due to the lack of basic poetic tools that could have created some imagery and life but instead felt repetitive and banal. The more personal poems on OCD were obviously written from heart and have merit while others preaching feminism and social justice felt overdone and forced. Two poems "Bliss" and "My Fault" had such an overabundance of trying to be "The Woke White Person" that I was uncomfortable reading them. 

Some poems such as "1 AM", "Autumn", and "On Mental Illness" boasted colorful imagery, heartfelt words, and rich tones that I WISHED the rest of this book did.

In A Strangely Wrapped Gift, you will find journeys from mental illness to recovery, from heartbreak to heart growth, from hopelessness to empowerment, and from the ocean to the stars. Juniper takes heavy, emotional raw material and weaves it into stunning, relatable poetry you'll long to share with friends and loved ones. This collection is a reminder that broken pieces make the most beautiful mosaics, and that all of us possess the power to bloom even after a harsh winter.

Lena

Thank you to Central Avenue Publishing for providing me with this ARC for review!

This was enjoyable and healing which is what I want poetry to be for me but I did find myself wanting more poems related to mental health. That's what I was expecting when I started but there was a lot more on relationships than I expected. 

Some lovely poems though and was overall a good read!

I had really high hopes for this collection. While this is the first content I have read from Byrnes, I absolutely jumped at the chance to pick up a poetry book that discussed living with mental health. 

But I'll be honest, I was let down. This collection just didn't feel like it had a lot of thought or craft put into it. 


  "I believe in not knowing what you want until you see it and people too beautiful to absorb and the possibility of forever."


I am not someone who disregards modern poetry, because it "sounds like a Tumblr post" (I was personally a reckoning on Tumblr), however this collection just didn't elicit any of the emotion that I would have expected from a topic so close to home. 

Overall, I think this reads a lot like an unedited journal-entry, style of prose. But even in saying that - it just felt too muted and dialed back for something written off the cuff. 


  "She plants
her feet
and
mountains
rise
for her."



Maybe it will work for someone else, but not for me. 



  Note: Review copy received via NetGalley. This does not impact opinions within this review.


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Happy reading! ❤

**I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review***

I was happily surprised by this collection. I had started it when it was self published and I don't think I ever finished it because it didnt capture my attention. Re-reading it I recall a few poems but it was like a fresh experience with this collection. I found myself turning page by page because I was so captured in Junipers words. Definitely on my lookout for when it is published.

Geneviève Rouleau

I've been exploring poetry more and more this year, but I realize I have trouble with actual poetry books (especially in e-copies). What's best for me is definitely the occasional poetry I stumble upon on the internet, or spoken poetry videos (I LOVE those). So it was very hard for me to get into this book and reflect on what I was reading.

Shannon O’Connor &
A Strangely Wrapped Gift by Emily Byrnes

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Shannon O’Connor &A Strangely Wrapped Gift by Emily Byrnes

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Shannon O’Connor &
A Strangely Wrapped Gift by Emily Byrnes