Senior Literary – Page 24 – Literary Arts Blogspace

White Flag – Bishop Briggs

White Flag by Bishop Briggs is currently my fight song. The song personalizes what it’s like to have a person or people in your life determined to bring you down, but deciding for yourself that no one can you back. It’s a very sharp-edged song, but it is so impactful and I am honestly in love with it.

Take a hit, shoot me down, shoot me down

I won’t ever hit the ground, hit the ground

Playing dead, I’ll never do

Gotta keep an eye on you

Patience is wearing thin, paper thin

Promises broke again, what a sin

But it only feeds my energy

So don’t expect no sympathy

Smoke, fire, it’s all going up

Don’t you know I ain’t afraid to shed a little blood?

Smoke, fire, flares are going up, flares are going up

The mood is set. You are preparing for war, and all the misfires are only making you stronger. There is no mercy. You’re fed up and red-eyed. There will be no surrender from you, this is do or die.

Oh, won’t wave my white flag, no

This time I won’t let go

I’d rather die

Than give up the fight, give up the fight, give up the fight, give up the fight

Won’t wave my white flag, no

Oh, I won’t go down slow

I’d rather die

Than give up the fight, give up the fight, give up the fight, give up the fight.

You are fully aware that you may not win this battle, but you refuse to be coward anymore. It’s time to be ruthless, there is no way for the enemy to break you.

I love the determination this song brings to life. It truly captures the breaking point, when you can’t take being pushed around anymore. That adrenaline kicks in and it feels like nothing can stop you.

Put an X on my chest, on my chest

But I’m still standing ’cause I won’t forget

The hell on earth you put me through

I’ll save myself in spite of you.

They won’t target? Fine, you will be a target, plain as day. Good luck hitting the bulls-eye because you are fueled up, and there is nothing they can throw at you that you haven’t swallowed before.

The last line hits really hard. It really approaches the “what doesn’t kill me will make me stronger” ideology in a different way. To me, this line is saying that she is going to prove to the enemy that she is not as small as they have tried to make her believe. She will be better, and that is the best revenge.

The song continues the repeat the chorus a couple times, but the entire song just puts you in the mood to exceed expectation. We all have been belittled and pushed around at some point in our lives, and this song, for me at least, is a big IN YOUR FACE to those people. “I’ll prove you wrong. I want give up until I have established that I am great.” It’s very impactful and empowering, and because of the way it gets you kind of angry, but in a good way, and makes you believe in yourself and your abilities, I find it very inspiring.

I Wish – Tom MacDonald

I wish I wasn’t fat, I wish I wasn’t gay
I wish I was’t black, I wish that I was brave
I wish, I wish, I wish with every candle on the cake
That I could quit doin’ these drugs, but I can’t and I’m afraid
I wish that I was smart, I wish that I was rich
I wish it wasn’t hard for me to grow up and forgive
I wish that I could help, I wish I wasn’t sick
I wish that I was Tom MacDonald, I’d be just like him.

The song begins by going through many types of people who wish they could change something about themselves. This intro instantly makes the song relatable. The last line is a child wishing he could be like the Artist, Tom MacDonald. This is a big moment for the song, as we enter the rap and learn more about Tom MacDonald and how even he has things he wishes he could change about himself.

I wish I wasn’t sober, I miss it when the party wasn’t over
Happiness was right around the corner
Every single night was like the best one of our lives, now we’re older
The good ol’ days are out of reach, I wish that they were closer
I wish I wasn’t anxious, and I wish I could fast forward
And I wish that I could rewind but they don’t make that controller
I wish the nights were longer, and I wish the days were shorter
And I wish that I could sleep enough to maintain my composure
I feel crazy, I wish that I was normal
I wish that I could **** but also be immortal
Take me to the oracle, I heard that time is borrowed
Can you give me back my yesterdays, I’ll give you tomorrows?
Forget all of my morals and just live like I cannot remember sorrow
Before all of the tattoos and the cornrows
I was different, I was happy
I was calmer, I was young and full of hormones
Now I’m wishin’ for a time machine
I’d step into that portal and be gone

The first verse allows us to enter his life, and all the ways he suffers. It is a very vulnerable moment for the Artist, as he opens up about how even he wishes he could be a kid again and not as broken.

I wish on shooting stars, or were they satellites?
Maybe they were too far, hey-oh-nah-nah
I must have blown apart a million dandelions
Now they don’t grow in my yard, hey-oh-nah-nah

The chorus has a cry-for-help vibe to it. He talks about wishing on shooting stars, but there must be a problem because it’s not working. Maybe they were to far away, or perhaps not stars at all. He has wished on so many dandelions that he has used them all up. The chorus really shows how hopeless things can feel, no matter how hard you try, there is sometimes just not enough wishes to wish on, or not a possibility of getting what it is you desire most; your childhood back.

I wish I didn’t care about the day that I’d be buried
Used to live like I was ready for it, always in a hurry
Now I’m worried, all my memories are blurry
I’m just barely turnin’ 30 and the voices in my head are tryna hurt me
The choices that I made make me feel dirty, I was 25 at 13
I was smokin’ with the seniors, drinkin’ beer and gettin’ flirty
Now the **** ain’t workin’ I need somethin’ even stronger
Give me childhood, my mother and my father and my sister
And a Christmas to make up for all the recent ones I’m missin’
While I’m tourin’ the country for a livin’
Give me a hug and a Nintendo and a toy box in the closet
Give me everything I wish I had, oh wait I think I got it
I’m a rapper like I always promised them I would accomplish
This is awesome man, I wish I had a friend to tell, I’d call ’em
And I wonder if I jumped from here if I’d survive the bottom
And would everyone believe me if I told ’em I had fallen?
I’ma jump

This verse hits really hard, as it discusses his fear of dying, how he grew up too fast and never got to enjoy the simple childlike pleasures, and then goes into how part of him doesn’t see the point of living.. even if he is terrified of what is on the other side. He has no friends, his life is just about his career. He feels like he has nothing, and he wishes more than anything, he could just have another chance at being a kid.

I wish we were kids again
Before everything was on Instagram, hey-oh
Things were so simple then
Me, my tree fort, all of my friends
Way back when, on Beaver Drive
When the floor was lava, I could fly, hey-oh
Wished I was big like them
Never thought I’d wanna be a kid again

The bridge adds more to the nostalgic feeling of the song. We all remember having a club house with our friends, and feeling invincible. We all also remember wanting nothing more than to grow up. Now that we have, can we just go back?

the stars are lines that were too vivid and were taken out for respectability.

O R A N G E – Takano Ichigo

“An epic love story across time.”

Over the years, there has been on-going excitement in the anime community. On March 13, 2012, a well written and illustrated manga – Orange – debuted in Japan by mangaka Takano Ichigo. The manga is illustrating the story of a group of friends, Naho, Azusa, Hagita, Suwa, and Takako, sending letters to themselves in the past – their junior year – in order to prevent the suicide of their short friend, Kakeru. When Naho, the main character, receives her letter, she takes it lightly. The letter entails what she should and shouldn’t do on that day. She disregards the letter as a prank and goes to school. However, she notices that everything the letter said would happen that school day, happened – including that Kakeru’s mom would commit suicide if he were to hang out with them after school. Naho begins to take the letters seriously and reads them. The letters give her a daily task to do in order to stop the future that had already occurred once. As the story goes on, Naho and her friends – who also received letters – fight to make Kakeru’s life bearable. They want to take his burdens off of his shoulders. All the while they help him, Naho’s love for Kakeru grows stronger by the day and vice versa. It becomes an emotional roller coaster for the audience, for they don’t know what will happen next or if Kakeru’s life could be on the line at any moment. It’s a balance between personal needs/wants and sacrifice to help friends.

The writing style is amazing and the art helps the reader become more invested in the story line. Instead of writing generic endings and conflict, Takano Ichigo allows the story to stray from the cliche situations as needed. It makes the reader become addicted to the story and want to know what comes next. The story fits under the “slice of life” genre of writing. It gives realistic situations somewhat unrealistic qualities and sends the audience on a journey of feeling as if we were actually in both Naho and Kakeru’s shoes. The manga does, however, deal with some very touchy topics that can be very difficult to write about. One topic is time travel. Science fiction is already a difficult topic to touch on. Although the genre wasn’t the main type of genre the author was trying to go for, the entire plot line evolved around it. They didn’t elaborate on the specifics of how the letter got to the past, which some were fairly disappointed in, but if the author were to elaborate, it would take away from the story. It also emphasizes the effects of depression and how those around a person suffering from poor mental health are affected. Mental health is taken fairly lightly in Asian countries, which is why Orange has become such an iconic manga. The only issue with the story was that the ending was very abrupt. It wasn’t satisfying. There were a lot of things said and planned in the story that seemed to guarantee and longer ending filled with what happened throughout the years. However, right after the climax, there wasn’t much of a falling action or a definite resolution. It was rushed and seemed to be thrown at the end almost as if the author didn’t know how to end it.

Despite such, the manga is a very good read and is very intriguing. It definitely paved the way to a different type of manga genre.

The Yellow Wallpaper

My review this month will be on The Yellow Wallpaper.

We read this story last week and watched a screen adaption of the story. It initially stuck with me because it gave me a glimpse of some of the natural traumatic things that women experience, especially after birthing children. Throughout my life, I have heard a lot of stories about women who have emotional and mental spirals after giving birth, but I think putting that feeling into words and having a visible representation gave me a much better understanding. I do recommend this piece for males who need a better understanding of what women go through, and for women who are mature enough to handle the truth about the aftermath of bringing another human into this world. I think it is also important for women to know and understand that they are not alone.

The way that the author described not only the feeling but give examples of some of the events that take place during this time period was essential to the development of the story. She gave us the freedom of being able to visualize the trauma for ourselves. It was almost like she provided the outline and foundation to build from and it is up to you to form your own vision of the pain.

The screen adaption though got me to look at it from a different perspective but gave the same message. It evoked a different set of emotions. The written piece gave me room to imagine the pain, but the screen adaption gave me the pain and gave me permission to feel for the woman. The actions that added to the pain she was already enduring were clearer and hit a lot harder.

Overall, the story was a perfect way to evoke feelings that would get people to understand women. I already respected women a lot, but the more I learn about what they deal with and the things their bodies go through, I respect and think higher of them. Read this story, your heart will melt, but it’ll also make you appreciate the strength of a woman!

The Adventure of the German Student

As you all may know by now, I love October. It’s an amazing month to me because the temperature goes down, the leaves change from green to golds and reds, and Halloween is right around the corner. Halloween is, by far, my favorite holiday. Christmas and Thanksgiving are awesome in their own ways, but they aren’t on the same level as Halloween. You can dress up as anything you’d like, so if there’s a dream you never got to fulfill, for just one night out of the year, you can live out that fantasy. Kids get to run around and go to strangers’ homes to get free candy, and adults, ranging from 20 to 40, are most likely at a friend’s house or a club drinking the night away. October and Halloween are a time for horror and things that go bump in the night, which brings me to the topic of this post: “The Adventure of the German Student” by Washington Irving. I thought it would be more appropriate to review a ghost/scary story for this spook-takular part of the year.

“The Adventure of the German Student” is about a young man named Gottfried Wolfgang who is likely suffering from depression, and his friends send him to Paris during the French Revolution. Not really the greatest time or place for a person who has a “melancholy temperament” to be, but kudos to his friends for trying to help. To be quite honest, the story really isn’t scary. In fact, it doesn’t even border on creepy – the baby version of scary. It’s more like a funny ghost story. I don’t know what was Irving’s purpose in creating the story, but I still enjoyed it in some way. While I didn’t like how Wolfgang’s story ended, I like the actual end of the work. It kind of left me with the questions: Who the man was talking to? and Who was the narrator of the story?

I think Irving’s “The Adventure of the German Student” is a perfect story to tell to kids because it’s not meant to be scary in my opinion. It’s given a dark history and backdrop, but when you actually get into the story, the atmosphere lightens up. Wolfgang has become so melancholic that he’s become fascinated by this strange beauty that haunts his dreams, and suddenly he meets her. Absolutely nothing about would scare a child unless they were still in that stage where they think girls or guys are icky. But besides that, it’s perfect to read to a group of kids around a little fire while they roast marshmallows and make smores. As an official rating, I give the story five jack o’lanterns out of five jack o’lanterns for children, and one rotten jack o’lantern out of five jack o’lanterns for anyone else who decides to read it. I do encourage you to read it though to find out what happens to Gottfried and his mysterious beauty!

Cats: The Review

Cats! The Musical; A Review

A few days back, I sat down and watched the 1998 production of Cats. With the upcoming film adaptation coming to theaters, I figured it would be a great piece to look at!

Cats is adapted by Andrew Lloyd Webber of T.S. Eliots “Old Possums Book Of Practical Cats.”

Almost all cats in the musical, singing “Jellicle songs for Jellicle Cats,” the opening song to cats that introduces the requirements to be in the cat gang

I’d like to start off by reviewing the plot. The plot of Cats is debatable. It is, essentially, a battle to cat heaven. The cats must convince their cat leader that they deserve to die and be reborn into their next life. or, that’s what I’ve gathered, anyway. The plot is not entirely clear. There is no dialogue between songs, and the songs are comprised of introductions and information about every single character. The music is still quite catchy though! Still, the plot could use a bit more content and/or explanation.

There are many characters, just a bit too many to keep up with. Certain characters are charmers, some make me want to cry, and some genuinely terrify me. In all the versions I’ve watched, the actor has done a wonderful job of portraying a strong personality in each cat. Many cats are even given their own introduction song, but I do feel bad that some characters are sort of left out.

the costumes are probably the BEST part of Cats. They are comprised of yarn-like wigs, and striped body suits that look like the different patterns of different types of cats. In some scenes, they will be seen with leg and arm warmers. The costumes look absolutely beautiful on stage, and help convey the look of a cat. different cats may have different items to convey their personality. For example, Rumpleteazer, a thief cat, wears a large pearl necklace (which is probably stolen). I wouldn’t change single thing about the costumes, they’re all wonderful.

The music of Cats is absolutely awesome. Most all song– with the exception of “Memory”, the most well known song– come directly from the original poems about each cat. There are a variety of songs, and type of song, so none of it ever gets boring or repetitive. The duets, trio’s, and solo’s are all wonderfully done. I especially like that most cats will sing a song about another cat which they admire.

the stage set of cats is very intriguing. There are many different entrances and exits, so that cats can enter and leave throughout large dance scene. I like how its almost like a junkyard of sorts, but still keeps a classy charm to it. The lighting is also quite nice for each scene, I really don’t have any complaints.

Overall, I think cats is a wonderful musical that is really only missing a plot line. Even then, that doesn’t bother me much. The music, costumes, dancing, and set make up for it.

Untitled Goose Game: Causing Havoc in the Best Way

You are a goose. Cause as many problems as you possibly can.

This seems like a strange focus for a game, doesn’t it? The main character is a goose? Your only goal is to interrupt the peaceful lives of those who live in the town you are invading? This sounds like something that wouldn’t be very enjoyable to play, isn’t it? However, if you were to play this game, you would find that it is one of the most pleasurable games that are out there on the market today.

This is you. You are a goose.

This game was created by a small team of developers named House House that is based in Australia. They first worked on a game called “Push Me Pull You,” which was a minor success. With this success, they began tossing around ideas for a new game. In a group chat, one of the developers sent a picture of a goose, jokingly suggesting that they base the game off the goose. They began to toss ideas around, and a small beta game was created. What they did not expect, however, was the joy people received the game with. Because they lived in Australia, they did not realize how intimidating geese really can be, and how they can terrorize innocent people. Now that they knew how successful this could be, they began to flesh out the game, and it released in September earlier this year.

Upon opening the game, you are greeted with a peaceful title screen with piano music playing in the background; the score of the game is completely original and was composed by one of the developers in lieu of using free domain music.

You learn the basic mechanics of being a goose: ducking, running, flapping your wings, and, of course, honking. Once you learn the basics, you are ready to ruin the day of your first foe: the gardener.

This is the gardener. He has a small garden. He does not like pesky geese.

Ruin his day.

The main gameplay consists of a list of simple tasks for you to complete and completing these tasks lets you see the hilarious outcome. There are multiple ways to carry out these tasks, and they all have different outcomes. For instance, one of your first tasks is to “get the gardener wet.” You can carry this tasks out in a multitude of ways: you can drag his tools in the lake, and he has to get into the lake to get them back, or you can wait for the gardener to lean down near the sprinkler and turn it on when he least expects it.

Eventually, your hijinks come to an end, and you move on to the next area, which is filled with more people whose lives you can ruin.

This is the shopkeeper. She really does not like geese; any time you get near her, she begins to bat at you with her broom. You have to be very stealthy to get past her.

This is Boy. He is possibly my favorite character (behind the goose of course). He is terrified of geese- any time you get near him, he begins to run away, and you can chase him all over town, leading him in many different directions to carry out your tasks.

This game’s central mechanics are based on stealth and trial-and-error problem-solving. Many of the tasks can be carried out in different ways, yes, but there are some character quirks that can put a damper on your plans (i.e. the shopkeeper with her broom). Many tasks require you to sneak around and to do actions behind peoples’ backs. You can make the Boy buy his own plane, but you have to make sure that neither he nor the shopkeeper notices you taking the plane and setting it within her shop. If she notices, she’ll chase you off, and if he notices, he’ll take the airplane away from you. Which I find odd because most of the time he’s scared to even get near to you, but I digress.

To move on to the next stage of the game, you have to manage to lock the shopkeeper into the garage nearby, which makes her have to use the gate to let herself back into her small outlet shop. Your next destination is a small upscale neighborhood, where you get to mess with two uppity homeowners.

The neighbors seem to have a strained relationship, which is only made worse when you barrel in.

If you played the game continuously without looking up solutions, it could take you maybe four hours to completely finish the main portion of the game. This is one of the simple joys of Untitled Goose Game: it really isn’t a very long game, at least if you want to go through the main story. Of course, there are extra things after you complete the game, but I don’t want to ruin the experience for anyone who wants to play the game completely through. I believe that it has a lot of replay value as well since you can find multiple solutions to many of the tasks given to you. I haven’t completed the main game myself, but I have watched other people play it (if you can’t buy the main game, which is around $20 in Steam or on the Nintendo App Store, it’s just as pleasant an experience to watch others play it too) and I have found that there are many, many ways to be able to finish certain levels and tasks.

Peace was never an option…

I won’t talk about the last few levels of the game, because I think that they’re what really make the game shine, but I will say that this game is probably one of the best games that I have seen this year. FNAF VR? Call of Duty: Modern Warfare? Sea of Thieves? None of them hold a candle to Untitled Goose Game. It is undoubtedly the closest thing to a perfect game that I have been able to find in the last few years. I can’t want to dive back in and cause more havoc on this small and unsuspecting town.

Vampire Academy

Before I even begin, I know you are thinking “Chloe, weren’t you reading the Gone series?” Why yes, I was, but I got bored and read a different book instead.

First of all, I absolutely despise this title. This is the stupidest title the author could have chosen. Seriously, it’s so awful and clingy it pains me to say it out loud. It sounds like a children’s book about vampires and it is NOT appropriate for children. The title could have been anything, ANYTHING, else and I would have preferred it.

Anyways, in great contrast to the title, I love this book. It’s so good. There is so much passion here, and so much love. I feel as if it displays such beautiful friendship. The main character, rose, is one of the few main characters I have adored entirely. She is this hardcore, determined teenage who will do anything to protect her friend Lisa. I also really enjoyed the authors views on vampires.

In this book there are living vampires, Moroi, who have control over the elements, and the dead vampires, Strigoi, who are cursed by the earth itself. Moroi are born, strigoi are made. Stigoi want to kill Moroi and so they need protectors. These protectors are called dhampires. Half human-half Moroi. They make great warriors, but can not reproduce together, kinda like mules. The only wya they can have children is if they have children with Moroi vampires. This means that if they don’t live, the dhampires die out too.

This is what causes them to want to protect the Moroi. If they die, so do they, so the protection of them is crucial. Strigoi want to kill Moroi, and they lurk in the shadows, waiting for their time to strike.

There is honestly so much going on in this book. So much is happening, so much foreshadowing and so many questions the reader begs to know the answer to. There is love and hate and war and violence and sweetness and super powers. It’s so cool and I enjoyed this book so much.

The way it ended made me. So. Mad. There is a love story in this book that is like forbidden because he isn’t older for her and they are both dhampires and guardians so that can’t be together. But you know , they really could. Come on. Guys, you know you won’t to.

That’s besides the point, but there was so many crazy up and down moments in this book and there are so many questions that have yet to be answered , and I cannot wait to read the next book. I’ve read reviews that it is even better than the first one. I know I promised I’d let you guys know what happened in the next book, and then I didn’t, but this time I think I May have some things to report on the next book: Frostbite

“Renegades” – Subverting the Hero Expectation

When I first heard that one of my favorite authors, Marissa Meyer, was writing a new series based on superheroes, I was enthralled to learn about what her book would do to the superhero scene. And when it finally came out, I was practically enthralled to get my hands on the first copy that I could. And as soon as I dived in, I knew that she had once again created a masterpiece.

“Renegades” is a book about a girl named Nova, who has been raised by a group of villains who all have extraordinary powers. Years ago, prodigies ruled the earth, and their powers led to a massive power shift- all of the strongest prodigies overthrew the government and began to rule the population. Years later, a group of prodigies rose up to overthrow this power structure; they killed the man in charge and began to rebuild society. The villains, including Nova, have a loathing for the hero prodigies, because they left the world without a main power structure and the normal people of society depended on them for everything that they needed. The villains create a plan to place Nova into the group of prodigies as a spy, working to usurp their power structure from the inside out.

Nova joins a smaller division of superheroes who work under the main governing heroes. The main heroes are Sketch, aka Adrian Everhart, who is the adopted sons of the two most powerful superheroes in the city, with his powers allowing him to bring life to whatever he draws; Smokescreen, aka Oscar Silva, who is able to keep up with the rest of the team even though he is slightly crippled in his leg; and Red Assassin, aka Ruby Tucker, a girl who bleeds rubies and can create her own weapons out of them. She takes up the persona under Insomnia, because her powers allow her to stay awake for hours on end with no side effects; she does keep secret the fact that she can channel her powers to make whoever is touching her fall to sleep, a power she uses under her villainous persona of Nightmare.

There are several things within the novel that I found very intriguing and interesting. First, I was very pleased to hear that two of the more important heroes in the book are in a homosexual relationship. I was extremely happy when I discovered the relationship between the two and how it was treated. They’ve even adopted the child of one of the deceased members of the original superhero team. I was also extremely glad that homophobia wasn’t a main plot point or an antagonistic force- no one treats them any differently than anyone else. This sort of treatment is very refreshing within the literary sphere, and it was definitely something that strengthened the overall story and made it feel more believable.

Secondly, while reading, I was afraid that this book would take to the tropes that many works of fiction would take: that she would fall in love with one of the main heroes and become reformed to the good side. But (as far as the first book is concerned) this doesn’t seem to be the case. Nova continues to work for the villains, and never seems to forget the goal that she has. She appreciates the team, of course, but she doesn’t particularly care if they are hurt while she is acting out a more villainous role. I appreciate that Meyer didn’t take the stereotypical route with Nova’s story arch; if anything, her time with the heroes push her further to work against them.

Third, I very much enjoy how Adrian uses his powers. Because his drawings come to life, he decides to try something new: he gives himself tattoos that give him extra powers. His intentions matter when he creates the tattoos, and thus he is able to give himself new abilities. For instance, he has created tattoos that give him armor from his own body, springs on his feet for extra jumping strength. and the power to summon fire from his hands. He keeps all of these abilities secret from everyone, and begins to go on missions on his own.

This is another thing that impressed me: the superheroes didn’t always stick to the status quo. There are many times when the smaller teams of heroes who decide to do things their own way. Many of the heroes constantly harass the villains, or go against direct orders, especially Adrain when he begins to give himself his own powers. I find this concept intriguing, and it gives more depth to the overall story.

Right now, two of the three books in the trilogy are out on the market, with the third already taking pre-orders and is expected to come out in November. I still need to read the second book, but if anything can be taken out of this, I am extremely excited to read the second book to be ready for the third and final installment.

Milk and Honey: A Second Read

Most poetry fanatics know about this young adult poetry book, and if you’re on Pinterest or even Tumblr, you definitely know about this book. Even if you don’t know about it, you’ve probably stumbled upon one of its poems through an Instagram post. However, if you are one of the few who have no idea what I’m talking about, I will say it’s a relatable book filled with poetry and prose, written by Rupi Kaur.

The first time I read the book, I read it completely for enjoyment. I related to some of the pieces and then felt empathy for those who related to the others. I found myself wanting to savor it, but at the same time, I couldn’t put the book down. The poems are generally short as well, so it is very easy to fly through it without even knowing it. When I first read it for entertainment purposes, it was genius in my opinion. It evoked emotion in me. I would put post-it notes throughout the book, and even write and underline keywords. By the time I read the last page, I decided it would be only fitting for me to keep it on my shelf along with my other favorite books.

However, I did recently read it for a second time, and sadly, the experience was not as golden as my last. The first time I read her book, I was 15 and just coming out of a relationship to which I describe as my first love in today’s time. Automatically, my love for the book was amplified due to the fact that I was heartbroken and a sophomore in high school. That was a time in my life where I wanted to feel every feeling I possibly could, and that I did. Now, almost three years later, I read the book and find that it is beautiful and poetic; however, I wouldn’t write it off as the best poetry I’ve read.

In the last year, I’ve been exposed to a wide variety of amazing poets that are infamous in the writing world. Poets like, Liz Waldner and Ina Coolbrith (two of my personal favorite poets), who have phenomenal work. After reading the book a second time, I found that Kaur’s couldn’t compare. But then I thought about this for a moment and realized that Kaur’s goal was not to be like these amazing, award-winning poets. Her goal was to take her feelings and put them out to the world. Her goal was to take the situations she’s been through and give them to the reader so that they can relate and realize that they aren’t alone. Once I stepped away from the words on the paper and looked at the book as a whole, I realized that this wasn’t about writing amazing poetry. It was about helping others, and there is something so admirable about that.