From TikTok phenomenon Whitney Hanson, a brand-new collection of poems exploring the progression of a life through the elements of music
In this collection of all new poems, Whitney Hanson explores the progression of a life through the lens of music. We each begin with a simple note, but as life progresses, we're led to the next note, and the next - all of which combine to form the melody of a song and the cadence of a life. As life becomes more complicated and complex, we find that loss, grief, and heartache can muffle our music, making the world go silent. But as Whitney's poems show, all of these rests and pauses in the music are part of the magnificent composition of life.
Broken into four sections - melody, rest, crescendo, and harmony - the poems in Harmony explore childhood, friendship, grief, acceptance, and peace. The result is a collection that emphasizes the beauty of living a life at peace with all its musical variations.
Dealing with alot of life stuff right now and some days it's harder t0 get out of bed when all I want to do is hide from the world 🌎 (some days I wish could teleport away for awhile).
My concentration and motivation on reading hasn't been great and there were days I just didn't have the energy to read at all. It's not always easy to fight your mind and life sh*t ✨️ when you just feel lost and heavy.
Whitney hanson's poetry has a been a balm and a light for me, I felt calmer knowing her poems were waiting for me when I was ready and didn't mind taking my time with it.
This just really touches me deeply and I can’t say enough that you should check out this book 📖.
I‘m no expert when it comes to poetry. I always thought it to be boring or complicated… not with these young poets like Whitney Hanson, Christi Steyn or Nikita Gill.
Whitney Hanson‘s poems hit very close to home. Luckily I never lost somebody… yet. But I had to and still am fighting depression which is in some ways very similar in my opinion. There were and are some dark days and some bright days. Sometimes I can easily get on with my life and other times I have difficulties eating, showering or basically living.
I loved these poems and I love to see that I‘m not alone! I can easily recommend that book and hope you love it as much as I did! 😁😍👍🏻
Regarding literature, I strongly like poetry, particularly those that capture emotions and experiences that many can relate to. What particularly caught my interest in Author Whitney Hanson's book was her insightful exploration of themes such as love, loss, grief, and healing.
I developed an appreciation for this book while reading it and after finishing it. Despite its ability to be completed in an hour or less, I prolonged my reading experience as much as possible. The added aspect of this book is that the poems are written in the form of a story, depicting a young woman's journey experiencing love, loss, grief, and eventual healing. ❤️🩹
It is impossible for anyone, except a machine, to read this without feeling emotionally moved. In my case, it transformed into a book that unexpectedly became a crucial treatment for my well-being.
As I read this poetry story, I was profoundly moved and had to pause and contemplate various parts of the book. It caused me to reveal myself and compelled me to begin jotting down my emotions and thoughts that I had not realized were still lodged within me.
Through this surprising therapy of journaling, I started gaining a deeper comprehension of what I was clinging to and ultimately comprehending that even though I will always long for my departed loved ones, I must embrace life while I am still alive.
I felt as if the author, Whitney Hanson, was personally speaking to me when she wrote. I quote, “I am here, as long as your fingers can turn the pages, as long as it takes for paper to crumble to dust, I am here hidden in this book waiting for you to come back any time you need to be reminded that you are loved.” End quote.
There is still so much life left to experience, filled with affection, contentment, tranquility, and delight. The moment has arrived for me to begin living it.
I can’t say it enough: Whitney Hanson knows how to write and touch her readers deeply and make them think. I cannot wait to read all her previous books.
A moving collection that's both bittersweet and hopeful. I enjoyed how it navigates love, loss, grief and healing. The book is split in 4 parts and I loved the third (Crescendo) the best, as well as the introduction.
Most of the poems are beautifully written and full of heart, but a handful were too basic for my liking. There were also some one-liners that felt like mere fillers. Still, the author's grief as she talks about the death of her best friend is palpable and I believe this is a book that will help readers feel less alone.
Harmony is a moving and resonant read, especially in its raw, honest portrayal of grief. The pacing drags a bit in the middle, but the collection succeeds in capturing the storms and silences of the heart. A solid, worthwhile read for anyone looking for poetry that honors the full range of emotions.
This volume follows a grief trajectory, in poems that are heartfelt and honest. I can imagine some moods that would be just meant for paging through this collection. I really like the free verse style and the vulnerable lower-case letters. -------------------------------- i know more than anyone that nothing i can say will mend the hole in your heart so first forgive me for trying ---------------------------------
they call it letting go but truthfully, it's nothing like letting go. you don't get to dangle your heartbreak over a cliff and then release it when you feel you're ready. you don't suddenly get to drop your pain into a void and never speak to it again.
instead you learn to carry your hurt more comfortably. you sew pockets in your soul that you can tuck your grief away in. and little by little it gets easier to hold it all. ---------------------------------
sometimes i wonder if atlas was never really holding up the sky, he just believed that he was, and that belief was crushing enough. ---------------------------------
when your world becomes light, do not neglect the person you used to be. i hope you harbor no hate for the girl crying silently in her bed.
she was only doing the best she could with the cards in her hand.
Wie wundervoll können Worte sein? Dieses Buch war für mich ein absolutes Highlight und alle Poems einfach nur eine dicke Umarmung für mich und mein gebrochenes Herz, welches auch nach 12 Jahren nach dem Tod meiner Mama nie ganz geheilt sein wird.
„For they know more about love because they know what it costs.“ 🤍
-There's something about TikTok poetry that sort of irks me. I'm a poet and I'm still experiencing a learning curve as I hone my craft. There's so much about formatting that I've yet to learn, and that's something that I believe these TikTok poets lack.
-My complaints: -----TikTok poets rarely title their poems. My view may just seem cynical but I think that makes these poems feel cheap. -----TikTok poets often write 2 sentences and call it "poetry." It feels lazy and not well done to me. -----TikTok poets rarely capitalize their poetry. it's always like this no matter what. I realize that may be a style choice, but it feels sort of, again, lazy.
-Note: please don't read this and think I'm hating. I'm just critiquing. There's a lot of better poetry than this but because this is what's popular, it's often overlooked. My advice? Research other poets other than TikTok poets like Rupi Kuar or Whitney Hanson and read some of their work.
-Another note: There were a few poems in this book that I rather enjoyed. This type of poetry just isn't my kind of thing.
you don’t get to add a break in the line take out the capitals and throw in “you” when you mean i and call it good poetry ~*that is essentially the definition of tik tok poetry*
3,5 ⭐️ I always relate to Whitney’s words, this one a little less than the two previous books, but I never seem to have enough of her work.
Some poems - thoughts - were maybe ”weaker” in the way they did not make me feel as much as the others. But one thing for sure, her words always are welcome and help me process difficult emotions.
stanza poetry is really not my thing lmao. in my opinion if this were written as a novel and not 2-10 lines per page, it would’ve had the added depth of the message(s) and been much better. i liked how it was organized with musical references to sheet music (crescendo, decrescendo, etc), symbolizing the feelings of heartbrokenness and conveying the emotional turmoil of lifelong grieving.
Some beautiful thoughts, but it gives Rupi vibes. This is not poetry, and I’m not sure why we’ve let the industry convince us that it is. I don’t want to trash the book because, obviously, some people love it, felt seen by it, and I can appreciate her vulnerability regarding grief. That’s always valuable. I know that depoliticized ‘get outside and see the sky’-type books aren’t for me, sooo that’s on me. But come on… this is our modern poetry?
4stars! I rarely read poems because I have a hard time interpreting but this book is very relatable and written for someone grieving, like me at this moment in time!
3,5⭐️ I admired her previous books “Home” and “Climate”. I cried all the time and felt so understood through the whole book. This one was a bit disappointing for me. I love Whitney and I love her books and some quotes really touched my heart but some didn’t at all. This book is more about her experience of grief and for putting her grief into words she gets a 5/5 but the other books were so much more speaking about my experiences too. I still like this book and I’m really looking forward to upcoming books from her. ✨
Rarely do I read a poetry book in one sitting. Even more rarely do I get so thoroughly ripped into shreds and sewn delicately back together all in one sitting.
Can we stop glamorizing basic art with minimal effort and detail? I was gifted this after a close friend of mine died and I read it about 9 months later, when I had moved on. These reviews disappoint me; did we read the same thing? It is so dry and absolutely revolting to me as a dedicated classics reader. I’m so sick of these uneducated TikTok influencers thinking they’re different because they can read and spell: that does not mean you are a talented writer. All they write is artificial “literature” like this filled with intentional grammatical errors for aestheticism’s sake. Genuinely a waste of paper and time. Poets like Dickinson, Byron, Plath and Wilde did NOT die for this.
i read this book not with the grief and loss of a friend/loved one, but i read this with the feeling of the death of my childhood as i grow up. no matter what type of grief you deal with, at all forms and levels, whitney hanson knows how to speak to you in the most eloquent style of connection and love. out of her 3 currently published books, each one speaks to a different theme. altho this one wasn't the book that spoke to me the most, i enjoyed each poem just as much as i did the last. 4.5⭐️!
For everyone who experienced love and loss. That was a process. Seeing the stages of grief transformed into pages was a process. I love how it did not just end with acceptance, but with healing as well.