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Uncaged Wallflower

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Uncaged Wallflower is for those who feel trapped in the thoughts their minds produce, unable to express them with the rest of the world out of fear of critique or disagreement. For the people who need an extra dose of positivity in their day. This is not a poetry book for you to read and relate to in a sorrow filled way. It is for you to read and say yes, I can be better, and I will.

71 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 6, 2016

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7913 people want to read

About the author

Jennae Cecelia

17 books641 followers
Jennae Cecelia is a bestselling author and poet, recognized for her books The Sun Will Rise and So Will We and Healing For No One But Me and the viral “I met my younger self for coffee” poem. Starting in 2016, she self-published her debut book which became a #1 bestseller on Amazon. Her mission is to write words that comfort and resonate deeply with her audience. Jennae spends her time creating custom poetry for readers, turning her poems into illustrated pieces, and teaching other authors how to share their writing with the world.

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 299 reviews
Profile Image for Jessica (Odd and Bookish).
713 reviews854 followers
September 8, 2018
I received this book for free through a complimentary Pressed Poet box. Pressed Poet is a poetry subscription box.

This collection of poems was so on point. I related to so many of the poems especially since many of them spoke to how my life currently is. I’m at this transition point in my life and a lot of these poems have definitely helped me with my outlook on life. They inspired me to be more bold and to step out of my comfort zone.

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Some of my favorite poems were, “No More Tomorrow,” “The Best,” “Change,” “Comfort Zone,” and “Change is Inevitable.”

I loved the way the poems were written. They are written in that Instagram poet style that some people love and some people hate (I happen to love it). They kind of reminded me of the poems I write (which aren’t nearly as good as Jennae’s) so they felt very familiar.

Overall, this is an inspiring collection of contemporary poems.
Profile Image for Jo .
931 reviews
April 26, 2019
Poetry for me, is always a difficult genre to review, as I feel like I'm rating the author's most personal feelings. That aside, I just cannot give this collection more than two stars, as I liked it, but I definitely didn't love it.

I finished this collection earlier on and I'm forgetting about it already. It hasn't had any sort of lasting effect on me, and I feel exactly the same as I did before I read it. The poetry seems like it is coming from the right place, and it obviously has a personal message in it, but, I felt like I was reading a self help manual. There was nothing lyrical about the poems, and in a way, they seemed abrupt. When a book makes me feel absolutely nothing, my alarm bells start ringing. There were a select few that were okay, but overall, this collection didn't satisfy me at all.
Profile Image for Gabby.
112 reviews11 followers
March 19, 2017
If you love poetry, do yourself a favor and pick this up. It was absolutely incredible, beautifully written and meaningful. I am blown away by this beautiful work. The author is incredibly kind as well and took the time to message me regarding my opinion of her book. I look forward to reading more from her in the near future!
Profile Image for Chelsea (thepageprincess).
661 reviews76 followers
February 16, 2017
The author was trying and I appreciate many of the messages the poems were delivering.

But don't go into this thinking it's good poetry. It's bad.

I'm not wanting to be negative, but sometimes you have to say the truth. Lots of people say they want to spread positivity in the book community and not say anything bad and move on if they don't like a book.

Me? That's a disservice to the author and the readers. We MUST have critics. We must share our thoughts for the good and the bad. Some people will be huge fans of a work and others won't. But if we ignore our bad feelings that is the same as saying they aren't important. Negative re-actions ARE important and should be shared.

So, here is mine:

The author is not a good poet at all. It's as simple as that.
I think she should try her hand at something else, like short fiction. Personally, I don't think she is very good at writing, but she wasn't HORRIBLE. So, with lots of practice she could come out good with short stories or something.

Now, I'll spread good vibes and say something great. I really enjoyed certain lines. Out of this entire poetry book, she had a few lines that I thought were kinda beautiful and not cliche. Most of this was SOOOOOOO cliche, though.

Anyway, it was okay. I didn't hate it. I appreciate it, but for me it wasn't good.

I do hope, as always, that you still give it a try if it sounds good to you and please don't be upset if you liked this and I didn't. Everyone has their own tastes, just like with movies and music. We won't all love the same things.
Profile Image for alice.
270 reviews377 followers
December 24, 2017
This one was pretty cute and feminist. However, many of the poems towards the end felt like lectures, telling me to do this, to do that, and while the underlying themes and messages were helpful and definitely something to keep in mind, it wasn't what I expected in terms of a quasi-autobiographical poetry book.

Overall, I love the cover and this poetry collection holds some significantly emotional and pertinent messages for readers in the 21st century. Do pick this one up if you enjoy feminism, poetry, and something that reminds you to improve yourself once in a while. Definitely useful towards the end of the year.
Profile Image for Rachel Nicole Wagner.
Author 2 books90 followers
November 28, 2016
A HUGE shoutout and thank you to Jennae Cecelia for choosing me as the winner of her Instagram giveaway last month of her new poetry book, "Uncaged Wallflower." I received it in the mail a few days ago and I read the entire book last night! I really like the message that Jennae is putting out there about being yourself and not being afraid to chase your dreams! I love your work, girl! Keep writing and chasing your beautiful dreams!

xo,
Rach
Profile Image for Neil Franz.
1,095 reviews852 followers
March 4, 2018
We made it my friend.
Now it’s time for your breakthrough.

Profile Image for Mery ✨.
683 reviews40 followers
January 14, 2025
2/5

This was not poetry. I felt like I was reviewing/reading someone's personal thoughts and emotions.
15 reviews1 follower
December 22, 2023
DNF. I believe in honest reviews. I purchased it after it was suggested to me as similar to Rupi Kaur and Nayyirah Waheed; I saw high ratings and rave reviews.

In truth, this collection lacks imagination, style, and depth. It could also use help grammatically. Each poem presents a cliché and then continues to completely spell out the message. To me, there is no poem. The author is simply stating an obvious concept, some of which I don’t even jibe with.
Profile Image for theresa.
529 reviews30 followers
August 12, 2017
" No dream is a fantasy until you let yourself settle with the thought that it is. "
Profile Image for Lashaan Balasingam.
1,486 reviews4,623 followers
September 28, 2020
The interesting part of this collection is that it mostly tries to motivate the reader into spreading their wings and flying off, to not get locked down in doubts and fears.

Otherwise, many of these "poems" tend to struggle to be inspiring and remain mundane in their conception.

Yours truly,

Lashaan | Blogger and Book Reviewer
Official blog: https://bookidote.com/
Profile Image for Grace Arango.
1,350 reviews673 followers
July 16, 2019
I like the concept of this collection.
Yes, there were poems I could relate to, however it wasn't necessarily a stand out. I liked a few poems and the message behind them but it hasn't left a long lasting impact on me to be completely honest. Still, wouldn't mind reading more from this author.
Profile Image for Gretchen Gomez.
Author 3 books148 followers
March 6, 2017
You can find my full review here with some of the poems I liked =)

I firstly want to thank the author Jennae Cecelia for sending me this book to review. Now let’s get to this short mini review =)

A collection of poems for people who need some positivity in their life. This was definitely a heart warming read with only 63 pages and I would recommend it to people who need motivation and some light.

Uncaged Wallflower discusses themes of being yourself, going after what you want, and being kind to others. Jennae also has some poems that talk about love, taking risk, and life all around. Freeing yourself from yourself in a way.

I enjoyed the simplicity of the poems because the message definitely is clear throughout each poem. You don’t have to think your way through to decipher the poems which I feel scares most people away from reading poetry.
Profile Image for Karima chermiti.
921 reviews160 followers
May 19, 2018
Rating and review to come once i wrap up my mind around what i just read. I'll be posting a full review in a day or two to talk about this collection in more depth. but right now i'll leave you with this quote that I absolutely loved:

She grew up thinking strength meant not being vulnerable


Full review now posted

And that’s the thing about people.
You can wrap them up in
kindness & love,
and
they will still have something
cold
to say about you.


I keep thinking a lot about this collection and how to review it because poetry is the hardest thing to review cause it feels like it’s a translation of that author’s life and journey and not liking it feel is like a personal feeling toward the person who wrote it which make me feel reserved about my opinions and worried that I may offend someone by the things that I write so let me just say that whatever things I’m going to say about this collection, it’s only for the poems that I read and my personal reading experience with the collection.

I’m feeling guilty about not liking this poetry collection. I wish that I had loved it, I really do but that’s not the truth and I’m not in the business of lying to myself so I’m going to say what I absolutely think is true for me : Uncaged Wallflower was a forgettable book that didn't leave its mark on me and i'm bitter about it.

The collection feels like it’s coming from a good place, like I really felt like there’s good intentions that led to this poetry being written but for me it lacked many things that I search for in poetry and that sucks because there’s a good message behind the poems and I’m all for that positivity. The problem is that for me, I like for poetry to be as subtle as possible, maybe even mysterious. I wanted to be left contemplating, conflicted and torn. I’d like to keep guessing about what I read after reading it. And I’d like to feel like there’s a secret inside those poems and that it will take me time and processing to figure out. But this collection unfortunately, it had no subtlety whatsoever. Every time I’m finished with a poem, I’d be like I know what you’re saying, I’ve been hearing this my entire life from people that care about me and wish me fulfilled life. it didn’t feel like anything new or though provoking. My feelings weren’t tested, my thoughts lied dormant. I wasn’t affected or touched or provoked. I felt nothing and feeling nothing when you’re reading poetry is a very a glaring sign that you’re reading something that has no hold on you.

I’d like to talk in depth about the themes this collection explores but I’d be lying if I say that I remember much of it. The simple truth is that it wasn’t for me and I didn’t care much for it. But please, don’t let my personnel opinions drive away from this book, Go read it, maybe you’ll love it and find something good between its words. I hope you do.

I know this review is not that all cheerful but let’s end it on a good note with this beautiful quote that kind of captured my attention:

Run fast my friend.
Don’t let darkness catch you today.
Don’t let darkness overtake. .

Profile Image for Nicole Field.
Author 19 books155 followers
December 22, 2017
I liked this collection, but I didn't love it.

In this book, I found a pet peeve that I didn't realise I had until reading these poems: full stops that seem (to me) as if they're overused. They make me feel like I need to pause, like I have to pause in my reading, which mostly ruined the flow.

But I've also read a lot of poetry collections that have gaslighting or other abuse narratives strongly woven through them, and this was not one of those. The first half of it especially seemed filled with light. I appreciate that in poetry I read.

In this collection, you will find poetry about being true to yourself, about the body vs the soul, about body image, and the stupid societal norms we are given about 'being pretty' or 'talking too much'. About social anxiety, about change and moving on, about looking back, looking forward, and stopping to force yourself to live in the moment.

Oh, how I felt those poems particularly were aimed at me.
Profile Image for Cash.
487 reviews8 followers
May 8, 2019
Unbelievable words. If you’re having a tough time, a collection of poetry like this might be just what you need to shine a little positive light on yourself
Profile Image for lindsey .
38 reviews11 followers
February 8, 2017
I loved Uncaged Wallflower so so much!! It's so sweet and meaningful, and just all around lovely. Some of the poems were a more in the simpler side, but the message still came through! If you love poetry, do yourself a favor and check out this book.

A huge thank you to Jennae for sending me a copy!!
Author 16 books100 followers
October 17, 2021
I was skeptical about this one because the marketing is slightly pretentious. But I was pleasantly surprised but this one. It was both encouraging and challenging

It was a little...pushy? at times. Not everyone is born to travel or lead some big life. And a few of the poems seemed to pushed the reader not just outside their comfort zone but into a specific lifestyle. But, that aside, the majority of these were beautiful and really gave me things to mull over

All in all, this one was really good and I'd love to read the expanded edition at some point (and to add this to my collection someday)
Profile Image for Amnie ༊*·˚.
90 reviews
March 14, 2022
A solid 4 🌟🌟🌟🌟. The feelings when you read the right poems that is how i feel about Uncaged Wallflower by Jennae Cecelia. It's beautifuly written & i couldn't wait to read more of her books 💌

☞︎︎︎ "It isn’t about waiting for life to get better. It is about believing that life is the best it is right now. That is when you see the transformation in your life."
Profile Image for Lexie.
2,066 reviews357 followers
April 23, 2017
This is the second book in Jennae's poetry collection and while I didn't connect with as many poems as I did in "Bright Minds Empty Souls", I still found a certain level of resonance with the words.

Jennae's theme behind this book was taking negative words and transforming them into positive encouragement. Many of the poems are longer, taking up well over half the page, and this doesn't follow the same narrative path "Bright Minds" seem to.

'Change' (pg. 17) and 'Path' (pg. 26) spoke the loudest to me. I hate change. I resist it. My structure, my routines, are what keep me grounded, but they also 'cage' me, force me to view successes I have as accidents or useless because they don't ascribe to the path I saw for myself.

These two poems however urge you to look beyond that outline, look beyond that need for sameness as comfort, because something I didn't know I needed could be staring me in the face.
Profile Image for Faith.
429 reviews55 followers
July 9, 2023
I hope one day you realize
the only enemy you should
give attention to
is the one inside your head.
  -you are your own worst enemy
Profile Image for Maddly Peculiar.
662 reviews3 followers
March 7, 2021
Each poem was like a horoscope: generic and could just as easily been a tumblr post. There was no heart. No depth. No art. Just empty words filling up blank pages.
Profile Image for Nicole Craswell.
352 reviews55 followers
November 1, 2016
This was a lovely little book of poetry. My personal favorite poem was No More Silence, that one just spoke to me the most. This is full of very uplifting reminders to stay positive, love yourself, and spread joy throughout your life, all communicated through pretty words. It's a read for when you need a little bit of cheering up. It's a early spring, flowers are just starting to poke through the rain, kind of read. It's quick, light, and pretty.

Is it the most profound, reach into your heart and speak directly into your soul book of poetry I've ever read? No, but that's okay! That's not what this book's job is. I mean in the "Dear Reader" section she says "This is not a book of poetry for you to read and relate to in a sorrow filled way. It is for you to read and say yes, I can be better, and I will." I think this book accomplishes that goal very well. It's quite uplifting and full of reminders to be the best YOU that you can be.

Especially considering it's under $6 on Amazon I'd say it's well worth picking up.
Profile Image for Jay.
371 reviews21 followers
November 17, 2016
Once again Jennea Cecilia has managed to create a book of poetry which I did not want to put down! I'm generally not a huge poetry fan, and a few of the things I dislike about it did show up here but I found it so much easier to overlook them because the poems really are lovely!

My main reasons for not giving this 5 stars is that I found a couple typos (nothing too surprising as this is self published rather than going through tons of editors and publishers), and I was a bit disappointed it was so much shorter than her first poetry book! But overall I really did love Uncaged Wallflower! The poems were well written and had more variety of topic than her last book which I really liked. I am excited to read her next book when it is published!
Profile Image for Jennifer.
1,592 reviews57 followers
January 6, 2017
4.5 stars. Some of the entries were harder to read than others. I found myself rereading the same thing a few times before I could really grasp it. Others were really amazing and I have a few that I related to. I recommend this to anyone who enjoys poetry and empowering women.
Profile Image for Shae.
3,221 reviews354 followers
July 24, 2017
3.5 stars. This poetry collection was nice. I enjoyed it, but didnt connect to as many of the poems as I hoped I would!
Profile Image for Dani N.
445 reviews63 followers
November 17, 2017
You may also find this review on Books, Vertigo and Tea.

Reviewing poetry is something that I continue to struggle with greatly. After all, it is a very emotional and personal experience. How does one sum that up in a manner that others can comprehend to the point of feeling? It is practically impossible for myself, so my poetry reviews continue to remain relatively limited in length though they are not so in heart, I assure you.

Uncaged Wallflower immediately presented itself in unique manner when compared to some of my recent encounters with poetry (I have been exploring of late). There were no outbursts of anger or sorrow that begged to be understood, heard or released. Instead there was a much simpler, and none the less powerful theme occurring within; Positivity.

“Surround yourself with people who don’t just ask how you are doing. Surround yourself with people who make an effort to make sure they are part of the reason you are doing so well.”

Broken into small and delicate doses of inspiration, Jennae Cecilia delivers reminders of hope and empowerment through uplifting words and wisdom. Lending a voice to those of us who often struggle with expression and our own fears of being heard or misunderstood, she offers promises of better things to come and the gentle reminder that we must live in the now.

“Because those are present moments and I need to exist there more.”

This is a beautiful collection that reads with magnificent ease and still manages to provide something profound. I could not have picked this book up at a better point in my life. While my time with the book with brief, my experience will be ongoing. Sometimes we just need to be able to step outside of our own head and be. Uncaged Wallflower makes the first steps into that journey feel incredibly possible.

Enjoyed with a cup of Jasmine Oolong tea.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 299 reviews

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