We Might As Well Be Galaxies

by Layla S. Tanjutco

sometimes
all it takes
is one word
to end it all
or begin again.

Genres: Poetry

199 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 15, 2017

Reviews

[Jay Tria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely. Hits you right where it hurts and holds you up right when you need it. Excited for the next from this author! <3

[Kate (The Bookaholic Blurbs) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full review tk.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes to a thicker book of poetry! There’s so much in store in Layla’s second book, and I could tell they were coming from someplace that’s really personal. It takes a lot of courage to bare yourself like that—and that’s what I felt like—it was similar to reading Layla’s life like an open book (pun intended). There were some poems that hit super close to home and it’s crazyyyy! Looking forward to reading more and feeling all the feels.

[Hazel (Stay Bookish) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual rating: 3.75

I mistook you for someone worthy of me.

[Elena ( The Queen Reads ) · Rating 4 out of 5]

You say you want me—
how can you stand being apart
when every second is
a stake through my heart?

[H. Bentham · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you’ve been personally attacked by Layla’s first collection of poems, Before I Lose My Nerve (Idle Hands review here) prepare yourself for a second whopping! It actually took me longer to finish this one because I deliberately wanted to pace myself and slowly enjoy the poems, and because I don’t know if my heart will make it out fine had I breezed through it the way I did with her first book.

This time, the themes of Layla’s poems are more defined (i.e. long distance relationships) yet more obscured with stellar metaphors, making it even more beautiful. The Moons part, the part I took most time digesting, spoke to me and told me sometimes love, like the Moon, was pretty from miles away, but is actually complicated and rocky when seen up close.

I got a PDF ARC from Layla and I guess I should get poetry books in this format (or in print!) because the beautiful layout is easier to appreciate this way than on the Kindle version. The page breaks, centering, even the spacing of words add to the drama and artfulness of the collection. The point of poems, basically.

And speaking of artfulness, the art inserts in this are awesome! They are simple and minimalist, but also profound (and at times hottt!) perfect for the poems that went with it.

My favorite pieces include:

“what I would do” – all of those things were exactly what I would do in that position

“daydreams” – again, it’s like Layla wrote from the mirror of my very being

“quantum physics” – this is what I found to be the strongest sucker-punch to the gut. The page break between the first and second verses allowed me to breathe a little after the impact of the first lines. I had to lie down for a while and stare at the ceiling before I turned the page.

“a love letter” – this is Layla making-up for everything she did to the reader, haha. The salve to the wounds she re-opened.

5 of 5 Stars. Superb! I especially love the part where I believed it wouldn’t hurt so much. I interpreted the book title to be something that will talk of how we are all made of stardust, magical and sparkly, on the inside. But once you get to “the truth about us”, the poem where the title is from, ugh, you realized Layla has played you well. :)

**this review first appeared on my personal blog: bentchcreates.tumblr.com

[Shelby Leigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

this collection made my heart ache. it's so beautiful.