Sea Glass Secrets

by Julia Reesor

Sea Glass Secrets is an excavation of the past that explores themes of Childhood Trauma, Grief, and Healing, in three parts known as Shatter, Sorrow, and Shift. It follows the metaphorical journey of shattered glass through the sea of Childhood Trauma and Grief. It taps into themes of generational trauma, mental health, growing up with addiction, being a parent to your siblings at a young age, absent parents, experiencing grief and loss, and ultimately finding your way to the shore known as Healing.

Genres: Poetry, Nonfiction, Grief

139 pages, Paperback

Published July 2, 2023

Reviews

[.･ﾟﾟ･celine ･ﾟﾟ･. · Rating 4 out of 5]

[4/5✰]

Is it this book or do I really have that many family issues?

[Stillbelieveinnightmares (busy) · Rating 2 out of 5]

this collection talks about grief, neglect, healing, but unfortunately it just wasn't for me. for me poetry is all about how it makes me feel and this did not. the words didn't connect and felt hollow as I read.

[Jessi ❤️ H. Vojsk [if villain, why hot?] · Rating 5 out of 5]

When the shattering broke my spirit.
When the bruising broke my hope.
When the damage broke my trust.

I picked up a mirror to wipe my tears.

And staring back at me,
was my soulmate.

[m ✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. What to say ?
This felt like reading my own life. It feels so strange.
This was beautiful and tragic all at once. This one is gonna stick with me, no doubt.

—

« I forgive you for not knowing how to love me.
I forgive you for me. »

[س · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thank you to Julia Reesor

I discovered Sea Glass Secrets through your tiktok a few days ago. I stumbled upon a poem about grief that I connected with deeply, more than I ever have to a poem before. I then found more of your work, thanks to the tiktok algorithm, before going through every one you posted on your account.

I wanted to thank you for being the first person to write about grief in such a raw, honest way. Often, I find that any discourse surrounding grief is romanticized where the bad is masked and the complexity of it and the feelings one experiences are dismissed. I lost my mother almost 7 years ago now and everyday since then, I have been trying to understand the complexities of my feelings, the hurt, the anger, and the raw unimaginable pain that comes out of nowhere then just consumes me whole.

Reading your work made me realize that I am not alone in how I feel, and the bitterness I hold is not necessarily a bad thing.
The one about graduating after a loved one has died hit especially hard for me. I graduated a month ago and had to hold back tears as I waited for my turn to walk across the stage knowing that she wouldn’t be sat with the rest of my family to cheer me on. It hurts, and I know it will for the rest of my life, but with work like yours, it makes it a little easier and I owe you my gratitude for that.

Even if you never read this, I hope in some way you know that you have helped me, and likely countless others, come to terms with the complexities of grief and all the feelings that follow it. It means to me more than you could imagine.

[Ester · Rating 3 out of 5]

"When I left,
I kept the door open a crack.

A pre-emptive measure for when I return.
I knew I would return.

Return to the stained checks.
Return to the poisonous words.
Return to the neglect.
Return to the war.

Return to the family that never made me feel loved.

Mucho dolor plasmado en este poemario. Sin embargo no he podido conectar del todo con muchos de los poemas.

Reto PopSugar 2024:
10. Un libro escrito por un autor independiente (que autopublique sus libros) ✅

[Sarah Heitkemper · Rating 5 out of 5]

heavy and deep and validating and needed ❤️‍🩹💔

[mareea 🍓 · Rating 4 out of 5]

gut-wrenching.

[Emily Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
Read this because of tiktok, I think I read the best ones on tiktok. Wasn't entirely for me, but a decent read none the less.

[isu ✮ · Rating 4 out of 5]

★ 4
«And yet they sat there,
with the piece in their hands.
Handing me forgiveness.
What if I don’t want to forgive?»

[౨ৎ lucy. · Rating 4 out of 5]

★ 4 | ❛ You can’t break something that is already broken. ❜

[McKinley Nix · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are many excellent passages in here. I feel the authors journey through grief and coping with loss and a difficult family. I felt like someone understood how I felt and captured it with really beautiful writing.

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a beautifully written, soul crushing book. My heart breaks with the fact that I, along with so many have experienced life similar to this. No one should feel this way about childhood and family. Quick and powerful read

[Hannah Munford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really needed quite a few of these poems today.

[Dalinja Linnvstheworld · Rating 5 out of 5]

This poetry is so beautiful

[Caitlin Bramwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐ rounded up!

"You are not what happened to you. You are so much more than that.

You are a multitude of stories and journeys that have shaped you to be you. But they have done just that. And only that. Shaped you. They are not you.

You are more than what happened to you."

[Krishna Jayaraj · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was sad😢

[hyazinthsoul · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was made with love. I was not made to be loved.

[nayezi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually found the poems very profound. However, at some point I got annoyed that the author kept on repeating sentences and only replaced a single word in them.

[Ellis · Rating 4 out of 5]

my first poetry book 🥹

very very moving and relatable, ouch

[Hayley McQueary · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Feel the hurt to feel the heal.”

[Gauri · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5 ⭐️
This book rly tugged at my heartstrings

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️ 2.75 - 3

Read:
May 12, 2024

[Ally · Rating 3 out of 5]

Continuing on with my spree of poetry for this week, I saw a quote from this collection on TikTok and while I don't have the best opinion of TikTok reading recommendations any longer I thought to just give it a try.

The start of Sea Glass Secrets was strong and more the traditional long stanza that I have known poetry to be. Within the first 30 pages, I had found three strong quotes that hit me:

I was made with love.
I was not made to be loved.

--

I grew to learn that love was transactional.
I grew to learn that communication is a flaw.
I grew to learn that hugs were uncomfortable.

--

Yet I understand I was too hard to love.
Yet I understand that I was too much of a burden.

However I found that after the first 30 pages, it seemed to taper off for me. I still enjoyed reading about it but I couldn't find the connection that I had during the beginning.

I hope that other people who read this collection can find something they enjoyed, that sang to them.

[Faith Painter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Related to this book so much. I loved every page

[Breeanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written! You might cry a touch whilst reading— I definitely did.

[Sarah ⭐ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love poetry, I love poetry I can relate to and this one broke me.

[Jamie Wyman · Rating 1 out of 5]

Let me start with a strong DO NOT BUY! Or at least DO NOT EXPECT THIS TO BE SERIOUS LITERATURE.

The style and even the cover is a juvenile version of Rupi Kaur. The book has no page numbers and the poems have no titles so good luck finding something that resonated with you without marking up or folding the book. There was only one line in the whole book that made me feel something and it was forgettable.

The flow was very jerky. The vocabulary was basic and misused.

I am editing my review in order to provide examples!

"I picked up a mirror to wipe my tears." Is the mirror what you wipe your tears with? Are you required to have a mirror in order to wipe your tears? "... and saw my soulmate." Okay so you found your soulmate in the mirror, but do you need it TO wipe your tears? Should you wipe your tears and THEN look in the mirror?

The author also repeatedly said things were "shattered" into "two pieces", for example, "my heart shattered into two pieces". I was reading this with my 13 year old daughter in the room watching SpongeBob and I burst out laughing. She asked why and I advised of the author's many errors and explained that the very definition of "shattered" is "broken into MANY pieces", but two pieces would be incorrect. SpongeBob then struggled to get something into a garbage can at Krusty Krab on the tv and said "I shattered it into bits!" and my 13 year old said "SpongeBob can write better poems than this girl." Yes. Correct. The 13 year old understands. Who edited this??

There was a lot of repetition that honestly became mind numbing. I don't feel this captured the essence of what poetry is for. I don't think the author actually knows how she feels about her trauma as this comes across as an exploratory first draft and the theme slips away. This reads like a middle school journal. If my family member wrote this I would tell them not to publish. I'm sorry. I was excited to read about this topic but the writing quality is not there.

I discussed this book with a cousin who studied literature and she had a novel suggestion! Keep this book next to your bedside and edit one poem a night as a writing exercise. This is the only way your purchase won't go to waste.

[Dara Sandy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a very quick read that I picked up to reach my goal for the year. I was about to give it only 1 star, but there were maybe 3 poems that actually made me feel.. something. But, it could have just been gas that I was feeling.

The majority of this book reads like a teen diary while their parents get divorced and the guy they were dating from third period held hands with someone else (what a cheater!). Granted, I didn’t do any research on the author and only picked this on a whim because someone mentioned it in a Facebook group, so maybe that’s on me.

If you want something boring and riddled with angsty emotion, or if you have an hour to kill and need a quick book to catch up on your reading goal, then this is an alright choice.

As callous as this is going to sound, parents get divorced, people die, relationships don’t always work out. Life goes on and you have to figure out how to keep moving. Go to therapy, keep a journal, touch some grass.

[Eve L-A Witherington · Rating 4 out of 5]

This poetry collection looks at the effects of childhood trauma and grief all while being the youngest, yet the strongest kid having to look after the siblings. How family and a house doesn't make a home that's stable or happy and we see how you can be masking your life and feelings away from the house to try cover up the fact that nothing is ok.

The poetry also talks how over time you can come to realise being your own best friend first matters because in life, you will always have yourself despite others, they can come and go and be unreliable.

The collection title and plot talking of the beauty in sea glass on the shore, literally and relating to life, being mishapen and shattered over time, a great play in tying the theme and nature's effect.

The collection was written in lovely flowing stanza's, easy to read and more impactful to the flow of the serious nature of the poetry telling the story of Julia's experience growing up.