The Secret of You: Poetry About Shadows and Light

by Iain S. Thomas

In the long-awaited follow-up to his bestselling collection, The Truth of You, poet Iain Thomas explores the unseen forces that shape our inner experience.

A collection of over 200 pieces of poetry and prose, The Secret of You focuses on the thoughts and feelings that we might not share and have trouble expressing, the things that we need to let go in order to heal.
 
Enhanced by ink illustrations, Thomas’s newest volume asks and answers vulnerable questions on themes of love, loss, identity, shame, and more. 

Genres: Poetry

240 pages, Paperback

Published October 8, 2024

About the author

"Iain S. Thomas is the #1 bestselling author of I Wrote This For You and Intentional Dissonance. He wrote his first book, Ignite, at the age of 23 for the Markham clothing store. It won the Grand Prix at the First Paper House Art Of Design Awards and the only craft prize awarded that year, in the design category, at the national design/advertising awards (The Loeries).

As a creative director, he’s a champion for innovative design and communication for his clients which have included Nike, Levi’s, Johnny Walker, The Design Indaba, MTN, apple and many more, from Los Angeles, to Amsterdam, to Johannesburg, to Cape Town. His work has spanned everything from monuments to biodegradable posters.

In 2009, for his work as the author of the art/photography project “I Wrote This For You”, he was voted one of the top 5 finalists in the world in the “Best Blogger To Follow” category on mashable.com under his online pseudonym, pleasefindthis.

The project, which has proven incredibly popular across the world and gone on to become a best selling book, has also afforded him numerous exciting opportunities, including an invitation to dinner with the US Ambassador to South Africa, Donald Gipps as a consultant on digital development within South Africa, and a speaking spot at TEDx Johannesburg.

Through the project, he was also able to have skateboards delivered to The Uganda Skateboard Union on behalf of Stacy Peralta, director of Dogtown And Z-Boys and Riding Giants and he’s previously acted as a creative consultant to Brian Wayne Transeau or “BT” (whose previous collaborators include Peter Gabriel, Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake and David Bowie, amongst others) on his last album, If The Stars Are Eternal, So Are You And I.

His work has won numerous local and international awards and can be found in Communication Arts, Design Indaba Magazine, Ad Vantage Magazine, bestadsontv.com, Contagious Magazine, Archive, The University of Pretoria’s Permanent Design Collection, X-ings: Shaping Culture Through Design Exhibition, The United Nations Gallery of Sustainable Communication, TEDx, Heso Magazine (Japan) and http://www.inpursuitofelegance.com

Iain’s work focuses on non-traditional media in all its forms. He has never once really and truly enjoyed a long walk on a beach." - source

Reviews

[Kitty | MyCuriousReads · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a poetess myself, I love to expand my poetic vision through the lens of others. This was a challenging read for me due to the faith based tenor and disjointed flow or the book.

Personally, I enjoy the meditative quality that poetry gives me, so verses with abrupt shifts in mood, subject matter and intention kind of messes with me.

**I mean no disrespect to anyone’s religious belief system, it just makes me uncomfortable**

[Victoria Spagnola · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was fine until the last poem and immediately burst into tears

[Yuthika · Rating 3 out of 5]

My one complaint is that I could not quite figure out the 'theme' of this collection. It felt all over the place. Hope intertwined with grief? Perhaps. Feelings are not linear, anyway.

I may have answered my own question.

[Vanessa Genis · Rating 5 out of 5]

insanely profound. THIS is poetry

[Natalie]

Out of all the poetry collections I’ve read this one was the most confusing and the one I connected to the least. That being said, there were still a few amazing poems. I am not going to give this a star rating because I feel like poetry is very personal and I don’t want to leave a low star just because the poems didn’t resonate with me.

[Sandy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Coming from the authors previous book, I was expecting something similar but was very disappointed. This was definitely a miss for me. I think I might have enjoyed two poems out of all of them.

I’m still going to read the final book in the series, hopefully this was a one off and I’ll enjoy it as I did the first.

[Kenzie West · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first I thought the poems were a bit bland,
But then I got into some amazing, relatable poems that had me sharing them with my husband and sitting to soak in what I read. One of my favorite poetry collections so far.

[Serena · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not really what I was hoping for

[The_J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poetry and prose, some interesting artistic creations between the covers. worth the time to savor many of the pieces. A wonderful piece here

Everything is Temporary in Eternity

[Molly Kremer · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite poet! Iain S. Thomas has a way with words. This wasn’t my favorite book of his, however, it’s still a 5 star!

[Brianna Kinley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve always been a fan of Iain’s work, but this fell a bit flat for me. It was still good nonetheless and the imagery throughout really helps depict the poetry.

[Roza · Rating 5 out of 5]

piekne

[Maddie Lohrmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

absolutely beautiful. I loved this book <3

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing! Never buy books anymore, but I am glad I got this one!

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

some of these made me feel everything and some made me go ... overall enjoyed tho

[Kayla Costello · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best poetry books I have read.

[Alyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think every poem had a sad interpretation behind it and the final poem pulled the whole story together.

[Meriam Shams · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had to take my time with this one. It was beyond beautiful

[Kiara Graves · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was so beautiful. It actually made me cry. Best poem in this book: “Refrain from doing this.”

[Amy Lillian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Poetry books are a hit or miss. Although I’ve enjoyed the author’s previous work, this poetry book wasn’t it for me. 😕

[Sarah Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

This man had the best words

[Mallory · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.50

[Sara Leon]

Beautiful poems, tells some about the authors thoughts but still gives insight of learning about yourself

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful and Touching

As all of the book written by this author, this book feels like it speaks to you. The poems about grief especially make me feel less alone and is something I think everyone can relate to. Thank you Iain Thomas for another beautiful book that touched my heart.