Letters, To The Men I Have Loved

by Mirtha Michelle Castro Mármol

When people part ways where does the LOVE go? Mirtha Michelle Castro Marmol is a Dominican born actress and contemporary poet. At the age of five her family migrated to Miami, Florida. She wrote her first poem at the age of six and since then cultivated a passion for poetry. "Letters, To The Men I Have Loved" is her debut as an author. In it she expresses her feelings through distinct letters and poems to various men whom she considers motivated personal growth and her transition from young adult to womanhood. With words she paints a vivid picture of feelings such as passion, forgiveness, lust, and hope. Gracefully playing with the universal theme of the pursuit of love and the desire for change that can resonate with women all around the world.

Genres: Poetry, Nonfiction, Romance, Memoir

130 pages, Paperback

First published June 9, 2014

About the author

Mirtha Michelle Castro Mármol is a Dominican born actress and poet. At the age of five her family migrated to Miami, Florida. She wrote her first poem at the age of six and since then cultivated a passion for poetry. She currently resides in Los Angeles, California. “Letters, To The Men I Have Loved” is her debut as an author. It consists of profound letters and poems directed to various men during different milestones in her life. Her work expresses loss, love, pain, growth and hope.

Reviews

[Scarlet Cameo]

¡Dios! Es que esa portada grita ¡Leeme!

[India · Rating 3 out of 5]

I often have a difficult time reading about romantic love because I can get so cynical about the subject. While some of these poems and words were very opposite of how I feel about romance and romantic love, I did think that this book was very vulnerable and an honest insight into the authors life, which I really liked.

[Shima · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable and relatable! Reading a love story after a long time, made me remember my ridiculous younger hopeless self in such a lovely way.

[Ash · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not a very mushy person. I hate overly romantic books and movies. I believe that Love or "wuv" is weakness and ruins everything. Mirtha Michelle Castro Mármol's Letters, To The Men I Have Loved is a very realistic experience to the roller coaster of emotions of being in love through letters and poetry

This compilation doesn't focus solely on romantic love but segues into paternal and maternal love. Love as a tool for forgiveness and hope and expectations. I thought Castro Mármol, through her letters and poetry, was incredibly effective and relatable. I may not have gone through her exact experiences but I can empathize and understand.

I did enjoy her letters more because they were more in depth in contrast to her poetry that were akin to snapshots. The poems I really enjoyed were To Dream in English. This stanza in particular:

To dream in English,
Is what they did.
Sacrificed the beat of their hearts,
For Yankee Possibilities.

Also, as someone who is a novice in the dating world and wants to avoid having my heart broken, this part from Castro Mármol's I'm Never Good at First Dates was like looking into a mirror:

I'm never good at first dates,
I must keep these walls up,
Until he fights enough,
For me to let him in.
I have issues this I know,
But these issues make me strong.
They protect my mind and soul,
From the corruption of a shallow world.

I can appreciate Castro Mármol and Letters, To The Men I Have Loved for its painful, unflinching, and satisfying look at love. I will definitely read more from her in the future.

[Veronica · Rating 2 out of 5]

I started off really enjoying Castro Marmol's writing style but after maybe 4 poems/letters, it got too repetitive for me. Also, I didn't like any of her rhyming work- it seemed too juvenile, like forced rhymes.

I really liked the letter to her nephew-it was a perfect display of how an (childless) aunt feels towards nieces/nephews.

[Nicky Enriquez · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't intend to the impugn the work of a woman who has courageous bared her soul, but this is drivel. Really horrible sentences strung together to attempt emotionally evocative art.

Mármol is physically stunning, but her poetry is drab, and while I admire her attempt to set herself apart from her Instagram-famous contemporaries, this cannot be the new standard for literature.

The letters read as though an 8 year old with intense notions of love and sex has created a stream-of-consciousness journal detailing her feelings.

The experiences Mármol has are also not commonplace, and therefore, not particularly relatable. For instance, none of my friends has ever experienced love at first sight on a yacht (I mean, if I were on a yacht, I probably I would definitely fall in love immediately), or run into an ex while in a small bistro in Paris, but what can I say, I guess my life isn't as glamorous or filled with such angst and heartbreak.

[Daisma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing

I have had this book for about a good 2 years now and I finally took the time to sit and read it. Im going through one of the hardest things in my life with the man that I love and that I thought loved me, and this book gave me so much insight and clarity to the feelings and thoughts that I've had daily through this new and tough journey of my life. I definitely recommend this book to anyone woman who is currently going through or who has been through something in not so good relationships. Definitely well written.

[Catherine Caparas · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Life is all about full circles. When things are unfinished, one must be confident that time will bring the correct closure."

Review to come.

[Genessis Herrera · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like this book because its completely based off of the authors life and perspectives. Also its written off in sections and every little section has poems that relate to the title. It's based off of her heartaches, past relationships, how she got over them, all love. Its not all fully based on the past love that she had for men which is nice because she also describes the love for her grandfather and nephew. So the book also has different types of loves that she has felt which is great so you don't get bored. I like how her stories or the way she feels can relate to many other woman and how she chooses her words wisely in the introduction. In the introduction she says she isn't try to teach anyone how to love just simply how to feel. I think anyone that just wants to read a love story or love life of someone else would really enjoy this book. It's as if you're reading someone's journal and finding out more about a person. It's really eye opening especially if there are moments that you can relate, the author is really true with her words. If you really want to read something off love perspectives this is the book. The author was originally going to name her book "Becoming a Woman" and now I understand why because you can tell she has grown through every section of the book. She herself describes that she was naive and didn't know much. I'm really in love with this book I've read it countless times and the same day I bought it I went through it all you can't stop reading once you start.

[Michelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

Gosh. This was pretty bad.

I'm not sure how it has such a high rating on Goodreads?

Sometimes I cringed so hard, I think my face is now permanently looking like one of those funny naked cats.

Also, I think maybe even the editors couldn't take it anymore by the last third of the book. It's like they just gave up and left it a mess.

It gets two stars instead of one though. Because AT LEAST SHE TRIED. That's more than I did.

[Silvia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Relatable, makes you remember your ridiculous younger hopeless self...in such a lovely way!

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this more for research-- to look at the sort of pieces that gain one Instagram writer fame. It was not really my cup of tea but it is very raw and I see what it appeals to so many.

[Bree · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book took me a long time to read. Mostly just because I was really breaking apart every single page. I highlighted and underlined the crap out of this book. There was so much in this book to digest. Each letter bringing a new feeling to the front of your mind and heart. I am a true letter lover. I have been since I was little. I use to have this fairy book that was just like envelopes glued on pages that you opened with letters in different handwriting and colors. I remember just being obsessed with that book. So this book was really right up my alley. I feel like this must have brought so much closure to her. It's like her way of saying everything she's felt she needed to say and putting it out in the universe. Sometimes you needed to just tell someone what's been bugging you. But you don't really need them to know you just need to say it. I feel like that's when you start to move on. You take what you learned and you keep going. That's what this book was to me. In someways a goodbye, or a remembering, or a way of taking what you need to and leaving what you don't. I really loved it. I learned a lot about love in general and a lot about myself.

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I gave you the sun, But you wanted the moon.
When I gave you the moon, You wanted the stars.
So I reached blindly, For the most infinite stars,
And wrapped myself Around each one of them
Just for you." (From "There, I Still Will Be p.60).

I've had this poetry collection in my bookshelf for eight whole years. Throughout this time, I have picked it up, but then put it down, thinking I would finish it later. Now that I can finally say that I have completed it, I will say that I admire the author's honesty and her views on her love for her partners, family, friends and parents. It's the same honesty I read in Eighteen Inches.
Furthermore, her ability to see her flaws as a young adult. The poems and letters are relatable and written in such a manner that are both easy and enjoyable. I believe we all can relate to being confused and sometimes acting too forgiving, but that's also what shapes us for the future.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I typically do not enjoy poetry, but I found Letters, To The Men I Have Loved engaging. Mirtha Michelle Castro Marmol really pours her heart out and I have to respect that. Her journeys are not uncommon and I found myself relating on more that one occasion. My favorite letter she wrote was "Wisdom" and my favorite poems were "There, I Still Will Be", "Tears" and "Addiction".

[Colleen Mozinski · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are some really good quotes in here, and the poems are written very well. They follow a great rhythm. The letters she writes also have a lot of meaning behind them. However, despite the poems and letters being well written with a lot of meaning behind them, they’re extremely cliche. I didn’t read anything groundbreaking, nor did I read anything that I already haven’t read before.

[Camille · Rating 2 out of 5]

A lot of what Mirtha Michelle Castro Mármol writes in this book of letters & poems is beautiful, but I thought that some things sounded corny, too. I also thought that some of the words that she used were used in the incorrect context, like as if she just tried to use a thesaurus & switch some of the words out to sound like she has a more extensive vocabulary when she really doesn’t, lmfao.

[Tricia Dempsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspiring and relatable

I found myself highlighting a lot throughout this book. The depth of her emotional intelligence is beautifully portrayed throughout and has inspired some of the topics of my own personal journal entries.

[Aleksandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite poetry books. A must read for lovers with broken hearts.

[Astre Hernandez · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favorite book of all 3. It hold a special place in my heart because it helped me brought so much. She has an amazing talent ✨

[Dee Dee · Rating 5 out of 5]

It just hits the feels and I highly recommend it

[Sierra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really admired how honest she was with her readers and how we get to see all of the levels of relationships from intimacy to family.

[Justine Aguiluz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book.

[merlin lledias · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned to love

Through loving myself again , through believing everything happens for a reason & you helped me with that MM ♥️

[Olivia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy read. Mid way through the book it gets repetitive but the beginning and ending are good. Shares are phases of love through family and lovers.

[Sally Rejas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Poetry mixed in the middle of story telling wasn't my thing. Quick read..

[Nicole Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book, filled with poems and short stories obviously pertaining to the men she wants loved hence the title! Must read

[yordana. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really into poetry books but this one was the one for me. All the other poetry books I've read fall short. This one was it. I had to support my Dominican sister Mirtha<3

[Victoria Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great insight on self love & self awareness in an relationship. Great read for “after breakup”

[kendra · Rating 4 out of 5]

relatable