46

by Melissa Burke

Melissa Burke is the author of three books prior to this one and now brings you her fourth book, 46, which consists of mostly poetry. Unlike two of her other books that try to bring you into the mind of someone with mental illness, this is simply poetry and a few stories for you to understand any way you want even though depression and mania do seep through the words. There’s love, there’s light, there’s darkness, there’s loss, there’s confusion, there’s pain, there’s the weird, there’s the crazy and everything in between. Enjoy.


**Trigger warning**
There is one poem/story/rant called "Rape: The Aftermath"
I would love for people to buy/read this book but if that might trigger you, please do NOT read this.

Genres: Poetry

118 pages, Paperback

First published January 30, 2015

About the author

Follow @MelissaBurke92

Melissa Burke (31) lives in Massachusetts with her family (including her four chickens). She is a shift captain at her local animal shelter, a volunteer at a local zoo and a pet sitter. Melissa likes to take care of animals, watch movies/TV shows, knit, read and write.

Melissa has been living with depression/bipolar disorder, ADHD, an on-and-off eating disorder, OCD and anxiety for most of her life, and now PTSD as well. With some of her books, she tries to shine light on mental illness to show not only what life is like for people suffering from it, but also to show that people with mental illness aren't crazy. She establishes these ideas most prominently in her third book "The Darkness And The Light" which consists of personal journal entries from 2010-2014 with a few poems in between. She's helped a few people so far and hopes to continue to do so. Though she is on the path to recovery, it's a slow and bumpy process with a few relapses along the way. But she tells people to stay strong and never lose hope, and she's trying to do so with herself.
Messages are always welcome if people need to talk, rant, or just need someone to listen.

You can add her as a friend and/or ask her questions!

Reviews

[Melissa Burke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Since it'd be really weird for me to review my own book, I'm just going to add the 5 star review I received from Gisela Dixon for Readers' Favorite:

"46 by Melissa Burke is a collection of poems written over a period of several years. Melissa is a young woman battling several mental illnesses including bipolar disorder, eating disorder, OCD, and depression. As may be imagined, her poems have a raw power and quality to them. The poems in this collection were written at various points in her life and reflect various moods and emotions, and give a glimpse into the mind of a person suffering from a mental illness. I felt that I could really empathize with Melissa and this book is an opportunity for people to read about and understand what it feels like to have an “invisible” illness, which is what most mental illnesses tend to be.

Melissa Burke is extremely gifted as a writer and her poems are some of the most lyrical and moving that I have read in a very long time. Her struggles and hopes clearly show through in her writing. This is one the most authentic, raw, and soul-searching piece of writing I have come across in a long time and full credit goes to Melissa for being brave enough and courageous enough to open up and bare her soul to the world. An absolutely enthralling read that will hopefully go a long way towards educating people on what mental illness feels like and create more awareness and compassion for the people suffering from one. This is one book that I will read over and over again that I would highly recommend to everyone."

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a combination of poetry and stories, totaling up to 46 shorts. My first thought, upon reading 46 by Melissa Burke is that it's very primal. There's a lot of raw emotion. In the introductions, the author makes comment on the fact deals with mental illness- bipolar, ADD, PTSD- and has dealt with many real life problems- drug abuse, suicide and rape. Personally, I have never experienced any of those things. I guess that's part of the reason why it feels so powerful to me. The author is incredibly blunt in many of the explanations and it's really hard not to find some sort of emotion in reply. In many cases, I feel like there's some sort of sadness within me for her, not pity but true upset that these things have happened to her. In another way, I can feel her anger at some of the things around her and the upset that the problems might cause her. I didn't like all of the poems, but that's just my personal taste. However, I thought a lot of them were well composed. That probably sounds like a compliment, but it doesn't really mean that much; I'm not brilliant at poetry, either reading it or writing it. I think that the only thing that didn't really belong in the book was the llampire story. I really did like it, but I didn't think that it fit in with the rest of the book.

Overall, I enjoyed it. It's not perfect, but well worth 4 stars. I appreciated that the book has so much life in it and you can feel the emotions from every single page.

I received a free copy of this from the First Reads program. Regardless, this is an honest review.

Edit: Upon further thought, I shared the llampire story with my little sister. I think it doesn't belong in this book, I think it belongs as its own series. I think that would be great! She could go around, converting other people to llampirism... no? I think it would be great!

[Casey Kiser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again, I am taken back by Melissa's bold confessions and wonderfully quirky stories. The llamas are back and look out ya'll cause they are now llampires! Yes, she has the tricky ability to make you almost cry and then turn the page and you're laughing. Melissa would say that is a product of being bipolar but I say it's just plain talent. I always enjoy Melissa's books but 46 is my favorite so far. Lots of poetry! I love how she included her devastatingly honest poem 'Rape:The Aftermath', from Darkness and the Light. This is such an epic piece that should be read by everyone! My favorites in this collection are 'I Said, I Said, I Said', 'Wasting Away', 'The Bipolar Cycle', and 'I Am'. But really, they are all great. This girl's got guts and she spills them out on the page for you. She also throws in this so-called 'dark heart' for you to dissect. I appreciate Melissa's work so much as I relate to it deeply. She is also honest and open about her many suicide attempts. We (her fans) have a duty to reach out to her and tell her how important it is for her to 'stay'. Her work is clearly helping others like her and sharing her dark world can lift others' spirits when they realize they are not alone. "I want to go home, I said, As I sit in my living room. How does that make any sense?" Melissa dear, you make more sense than you know.

[Ulla · Rating 3 out of 5]

My favourites: I can, It's not about rhymes, It's a manic lullaby and Dance

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Praise for 46 by Melissa Burke;

This book of a collected poems, and a few short stories is a quick read, in such that you could get through it in a single sitting enjoying the thoughts of someone stamped onto paper.

PROS:

Something Thoughtful, This Way Comes - Melissa Burke's writing, namely her poetry, are deep insights into the world of a young girl living with Bi-Polar disorder and a menagerie of other mental afflictions. Her poems, much like her mood in the real world, fluctuate from depressive, then manic, then seemingly level.

Aspiring to Inspire - Melissa Burke's writings also do something very important (in my opinion at least). They inspire EVERYONE who needs to vent about anything, to put pen to paper and vent it out in a meaningful and non-destructive way. With the added bonus of being a published author, encouraging readers that anything is possible!

CONS:

Organized Mess? - The only thing that may have bugged me a bit is that I am a stickler for organization, and I the writings were kinda all over the place. (Perhaps another metaphor?) What I mean by this, is that they writings are not sorted by date, by being poem or story, or any other form of organizing. Personally I think they should have been organized chronologically by date (oldest to most recent) so we can see her writings and feel her emotions in the order that she felt them.


All in all this was a 4 star publication. Praise to Melissa and Outskirts Press for this awesome new collection. I definitely recommend it for the poetry buffs out there!

[Cait S · Rating 1 out of 5]

Before I write this review I want to say two really important things.

1) You can have genuine empathy and sympathy and sadness for someone and the things they have experienced and still not think their work is good. These two things are entirely separate and unrelated. I did not like this book but I appreciate what the author went through that led to her writing it.

2) Poetry is so, so, so subjective that I actually feel guilty about what I'm about to write. Example: I fucking love every word Tyler Knott Gregson has ever written. I have friends who think he spews absolutely pointless garbage. So keep that in mind as you read what I'm about to say:

This was awful. I'm sorry. But this is a roughly 100 page book of poetry, something that I should be able to get through in a couple hours no matter how bad it is. But I couldn't. I got 60% in and I had to stop. I know the author is young but everything in here reads like a sixth grader who just discovered creative writing. Which is cool!.......If she were a sixth grader.

I read snippets to my best friend, who then responded, "Is that really a poem? Am I being punked?" No. It's just actually that bad. It is quite honestly the most awful poetry I have ever read and I've read my own writing so that's saying quite a lot because I suck.

Maybe if I was in high school I would have enjoyed this? I don't know. Probably not.

Sorry?

[UnControlled Pen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of poems are not full of metaphors; nor will it pull you deep so you can find yourself. With the subject being as it is, nor should it.

Melissa gives it to you straight, sometimes feels as though in real time. Her poems are about Mental Illness which challenges her in a wide range of emotional obstacles. She also speaks on cutting in her poem “Cut”, this one was very interesting to say the least. I found her poems to be heartfelt, honest and gravitating. Also, although she said she’s not humorous; I found some of them to have a humorous undertone, as well as that of a storyteller.

Melissa, if she continues to write, she will be able to bring her scattered thoughts, and calculated thoughts together in a way that will blow our minds. This collection was indeed a nice read, and I ‘m looking forward to reading more of her work.

[Piper · Rating 5 out of 5]

The short visit to Melissa's world, inside her head, is horrifying, exciting, tiring and intriguing...but above all, relatable if you know someone with bi-polar disorder and/ ocd. I love her honest writing style. I would recommend any of her books.

[Dani · Rating 3 out of 5]

enjoyed the poetry, but if you deal with depression, anxiety, self-harm, and or have been raped you might have a hard time reading it. Although most of the poetry was well written, I had a hard time getting through them due to these reasons.