soft thorns

Soft Thorns #1

by bridgett devoue

the poetry living within these pages tells stories of love, heartbreak, freedom, oppression, sexual assault, sexism, hope and humanity. our darkest times are where we grow the most, so in this book, i share mine, and together, we learn how to heal.

Genres: Poetry, Nonfiction, Adult, Feminism, Romance, Mental Health, Ebooks

202 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 31, 2017

About the author

i've always had the urge to write for as long as i can remember. my earliest writing memory is from middle school, when we had to write a poem for a class assignment. naturally, i was drawn to writing about my darkest, most vulnerable experiences. my poem was voted best in the class, and i got to read in front of the entire school. i recieved a standing ovation, and realized that my words could make others cry, not out of sadness, but out of connection.

as life went on, i eventually stopped writing, spending the next few years making mistakes & learning, on repeat. after a breakup, job change and a sudden onset of chronic pain, i found myself overwhelmed by life. writing became more than an escape: it was healing me. i began sharing my work on instagram, and the feedback i received was life changing. knowing that others not only appreciated my work, but also related to it, inspired me to continue to write, finally culminating in my first book, soft thorns.

Reviews

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Soft Thorns is a poetry collection that takes the reader on a journey through a young woman’s life—from reckoning with her looks and sexuality to dealing with the trauma of sexual assault, and finally through the highs and lows of young love found and lost. Bridgett Devoue shares her raw, human story and the lessons learned from living a life fully.

I've so missed breezing through a typical poetry collection, in particular, the feelings evoked after, packing short impactful punches to carry you through, similar to Flux by Orion Carloto and The Princess Saves Herself in This One by Amanda Lovelace.

Time to share the ones that stirred my heart from Soft Thorns :

Starts off promising with this eye-opening poem on how you have to open up, as well, to connect with someone’s vulnerable writing.

This is one made me want to dive head-first into this poetry collection.






























If anything, Soft Thorns was a wakeup call for me to make sure to frequent into the poetry section more often. It felt so good to tear through this in one sitting.

Note: I’m an Amazon Affiliate. If you’re interested in buying Exquisite Corpse, just click on the image below to go through my link. I’ll make a small commission!



Expected publication: October 2nd, 2018

Note: I’m an Amazon Affiliate. If you’re interested in buying Soft Thorns , just click on the image below to go through my link. I’ll make a small commission!



This review and more can be found on my blog.

[Schizanthus Nerd · Rating 2 out of 5]

Content warnings include sexual assault and anorexia.

This collection of poems is divided into sections: bleed, love, scar, learn, heal. I was interested because a few of the themes interested me, especially when I learned the author has experienced chronic pain. I wanted to see how a poet would describe the experience of chronic pain but I never found out as, unless I missed something along the way, it was only mentioned in my letter to you.

I began to think this book wasn’t for me before I even read the first poem. During my letter to you I found

if i hadn’t hit my proverbial rock bottom, i would not have been able to plant my roots and grow upward.

Besides the lack of capitalisation, which is a huge turn off for me regardless of how incredible the writing is, I have a problem with the whole ‘rock bottom’ thing. I know it’s already reached maximum cliché level at this point but that’s not my concern. It’s the concept itself. Do we really need to fall as low as we possibly can in order to grow? Can’t we attempt to catch ourselves as we’re falling instead? Once I had my internal rant about that I moved on, hoping to be wowed by the poetry.

I wasn’t and I’m really disappointed. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Poetry is such a personal experience; what you hate I may love and vice versa. Whenever I begin any book I fully intend to adore it and word vomit to everyone who will listen to me about why they should read it and hopefully love it too. I hate it when that doesn’t happen.

I want to acknowledge that this author has explored some really painful experiences in writing these poems. It takes courage and resilience to excavate these and then share them with the world. Just because I didn’t find a connection with these poems doesn’t mean you won’t.

I did connect a little to some of the first group of poems but as soon as the love story and ultimate heartbreak began it was all over for me. If you’re in the midst of your own devastating breakup you may find these poems resonate with you but my icy heart wasn’t warmed and I certainly wasn’t keen to go looking for love after reading so much about the devastation of its demise. I think if I was going through a breakup a lot of these poems would actually make me feel worse about my situation.

Some of the shorter poems read to me like sentences, not poetry. A significant amount felt like matter of fact statements. I don’t want to be able to read one poem after another without having to pause and take in the beauty of the specific combination of words I’ve just experienced. I want something revolutionary. I want to experience at least one ‘wow, I’ve never thought of it that way!’ moment.

Granted I probably want too much from poetry but ultimately it boils down to wanting poetry to make me feel. I want to feel the poet’s joy, heartache, rage, passion, hope. I want to take the experience (if not the specific words) of the poetry with me when I close the book. I read this book straight through and I hate to say it but the only thing I’m taking away from it is gratitude that I’m happily single.

Thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the opportunity to read this book. I need to research whether a book of poetry is really for me rather than getting excited and jumping straight in without doing my homework.

[Beatrice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked soft thorns. Bridgett Devoue explores heartbreak, abuse, healing and women empowerment. Her poems are unbridled, frank and powerful. It was enlightening and something I would reread if I'm in the mood for an edgy and fast-paced poetry collection. If you love Rupi Kaur's milk and honey, you might enjoy this book.

My favorite poems in this collection are:

sometimes
we fall in love with ideas
not people

------------------------

you've already fallen
in love with my angels
so how could you ever
love my demons?

------------------------

do not get comfortable
in your storyline

you have more power
than you know

[Emily · Rating 1 out of 5]

Kaur copycat

It's just another carbon copy of milk and honey - it lacks originality and poetic merit. Line breaks should be carefully considered, not just thrown in to make a "poem"

[Hirdesh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review later.

[검스마 · Rating 1 out of 5]

-.-
i miss reading good poetry

[aro · Rating 1 out of 5]

i read this in 10 minutes i am okay

[theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

short & bittersweet.

" i am lonely
but i don't want company

i want to lay in bed alone
knowing someone else
is thinking of me "

•••

" sometimes
we fall in love with ideas
n o t p e o p l e "

•••

" love blossoms
no matter the soil "

[Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

"maybe we fall in love with sad eyes because we see our souls reflected in them"
Sadly, I am very disappointed with this book. I read the first three poems and just had to buy it. I thought it would be a collection of the same style, but sadly there were only a few poems dedicated to the theme of sexism. (Even though these - I think 4 - poems were really good)
The most of them were about love which I just can't relate to and honestly don't care for.
This collection would probably be nice after a break up, but sadly, was nothing for me.

[Arushi Singh · Rating 1 out of 5]

Imitation of Rupi Kaur's work.

[jess.manora · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mein hundertstes Buch dieses Jahr. 💕
Es war bewegend, ausdrucksstark und absolut berührend. Finde den Aufbau auch unglaublich gewählt. Erst wird dir das Herz zerrissen, zusammen geklebt und wieder zerrissen. Am Ende ist man ein kleines Stück stärker und das tat wirklich gut!

[Katy · Rating 1 out of 5]

The only poems I truly enjoyed in this collection were the ones so bad they became hilarious. At least it was short!

[♡ Dakota ♡ (Sarcasm is my middle name) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This poetry collection was relatable a few times and touched my soul a few times more. Four Stars.

[Autumn Aurelia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I devoured this book in little under an hour. Gorgeous poetry on very relatable life experiences. To those complaining that this is a copy of Rupi Kaur's work, I don't agree. Is it similar? Of course. She is using the same style, but it doesn't make her work any less worthy.

[Mila Reads Alot ☕ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the collection of different types of poems inside this book. <3

[ida johanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

and that’s the thing about illicit affairs

[leila ⋆.˚౨ৎ · Rating 5 out of 5]

5✩

Beautiful. Soft thorns really told a story about heartbreak and acceptance it was so touching because people who have experienced a heartbreak could really connect with the poet's feelings and the words automatically have a stronger meaning.

Some of my favourites were:

"eyes are the windows to the soul they say but to a narcissist they're just another mirror"
"we're only haunted by the things we refuse to accept"
"roses are proof that you can protect yourself while remaining soft"

[Veronika · Rating 3 out of 5]

The soft thorns is a collection of short stories dealing mainly with love and heartbreak, but also with rape, sexism and coping in this messy ugly world as a woman.

I really liked author’s My letter to you at the beginning of the book. It was very personal and made me feel like she was right there, sitting next to me reading her poetry. The book is divided into five sections: bleed, love, scar, learn and heal. My favourite was the heal part. It made me feel sure about myself and proud of being a woman.

once learned
that being pretty
was not a talent
i got my power back

Overall, I think the book is ideal for people going through breakup and not being ok. I think that it would really help me if I was in that stage of my life. Now I didn’t really connected to those poems, but I really liked the ones about love and dealing with sexism. I wish there were more of them, but this wasn’t that kind of book. The poems could be longer, many times there were three or four in a row which could easily be one put together instead.

i lost love with you
but found love within me

[nikolai · Rating 1 out of 5]

i’m all for coping with trauma anyway you can and i’ve also written poetry in times of crisis. however, don’t publish this.

“he was having sex while i was making love”

okay, trees died for this

[سهى · Rating 3 out of 5]

My heart is much too big for my body
And maybe this is why it always hurts

[Jessi ❤️ H. Vojsk [if villain, why hot?] · Rating 4 out of 5]

your appearance
is simply the cover
to your inner memoir

[Mery ✨ · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5

“But a fantasy in real life is also known as a lie”

Soft Thorns is a collection of poetry that deals with the related themes of love, pain, heartbreak as well as the theme of “self”. The book is divided into five sections: bleed, love, scar, learn and heal, and all these sections carefully amalgamate romantic themes with the peripheral theme of the self. While many of these poems are beautiful and incisively aphoristic, the most beautiful theme explored in this poetry collection is definitely the one of "the self" or “selfhood”.

"Scars may fade but they last forever"

I think I had too high expectations in this. The poetry wasn't bad, I’d just consider it straight people's poetry, that they would find on Pinterest on a Wednesday afternoon. It lacks meaning and the ability to really get into deep thought. Nothing too special, except for the ones where she talks about her bad experiences.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not quite sure how to review poetry, but personally I loved this poetry book. I felt connected to nearly every poem. I have so many sticky tabs on my physical copy that I look through sometimes just to remember how much I adored it. If you enjoy reading poetry, this is definitely a very well worth read.

[Viola · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, just wow.
This was so beautiful and it made me emotional as hell. I just loved every single poem. They are simple but have such an intense depth to it! I fully recommend this one

[m ✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

lets keep the lights on
I trust you to still love me

—


Love is a necessary tragedy-

[Arybo ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

i wish we lived in a world
where it was safe to keep
our hearts unlocked
🥀


Wow, this book is Powerful.
I’m not usually a poetry-reader, even if I like it sometimes. When the author says that she is better writing in poems, I thought I was more a “prose” person. But I cannot deny that this book is very good. I felt everything. I felt the damages, the bad things, the assaults, the anger, the loneliness. I felt everything. So, I think that less words can work as much as lot of phrases, sometimes.

I liked every section of the book. This is one of my first poetry book and I’m glad I find a well written and deeply interesting story. We are human, we are like roses with thorns, but we can also be gentle and positive about ourselves.

This book talks about a lot of subjects: assault, abuse, anorexia, mental health, broken hearts, self confidence and self esteem. The most powerful theme is Self care, I think. This part was so important in my eyes and I cannot stop thinking about it. Love is the biggest theme: not only love for someone else, but love for ourselves. Ant this is so Important.

Every line can be meaningful to someone, in every time of their life people can find inspiration and new power to embrace their worlds and built something better.


we feel so alone
because there is a
whole universe
inside each of our minds
that we will never
get to experience
together


So, I recommend this book because it’s powerful, relatable, truth and has beautiful but simple images (which I liked a lot).

*I received a free digital Arc from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review - the opinions are mine and only mine*

[readsandteas · Rating 2 out of 5]

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Another imitation of Milk and Honey...



I did enjoy Rupi Kaur's poetry collection, but this... well, this was filled with the same stuff. Same thoughts, and some of them were written just too similarly to Milk and Honey. I mean... it was like the author used "Copy and Paste" and then published it.
However, I have to say that i did enjoy some parts... but the overall feeling I had while reading this book was nothing but boredom. And joy... when i finally finished it.

[Mel · Rating 3 out of 5]

"roses are proof that
you can protect yourself
while remaining soft"

Well, I've only read a handful of poetry books so I'm not 100% sure how to evaluate this one, but I will say, that I really liked Devoue's intention and overall message. She thanks the people in her life who knocked her down and made her stronger and the resiliency she clearly shows is lovely. Anyone looking for words to help cope with personal devastation might turn to this small volume for some solace. Because of the subject and the illustrations, it will surely be compared to Rupi Kaur but I don't think it's beneficial to say that one did it better because each of these voices matter.

[Amaya Cooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not one of my favorites, but still a good read.

[Steph · Rating 5 out of 5]

poignant and a must read for all women, and men, and basically everyone.