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Cracked Open: A Poetry Collection
Cracked Open is a down to earth and vulnerable journey following the human heart as it searches for love. This collection cracks the reader's chest wide open and nourishes the heart it touches. Rising author Megan O'Keeffe offers a raw and open narrative to pull you into every poem and emotion. Divided into five chapters, this debut book also features twenty never before seen poems as well as fresh illustrations to create a complete experience for its audience.
108 pages, Paperback
Published April 16, 2018
About the author
Megan O'Keeffe
6 books16 followersMegan's sophomore collection Where I Ache out June 10th!! Megan OKeeffe is an up and coming poet with her debut collection Cracked Open. She has been writing poetry for over a decade before publishing her work on her blog Debatably Dateable. A romantic at heart, Megan can’t help but draw inspiration from the love and relationships around her. Always developing her art though, Megan touches on mental illnesses, self love, and life’s journey. When she isn’t writing, Megan can be found spending time with her dog and two sisters.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
October 8, 2018
The topic of love and betrayal is one much written about. It's difficult to write about heartbreak and make it uniquely your voice - and I think that's what I really craved reading this collection. I wanted to know the specifics of the love and the relationship, what made Megan uniquely fall in love with this person, and why?
For example:
'LOST LOVE
We lost the love we once had
and I don’t think we can get it back. It was beautiful and magical, something I had never felt before.
But I don’t feel it anymore.'
The poetic style is general, which will be great for some readers because they will be able to transpose their own experiences onto these poems. For myself, I wanted imagery - if something is pure magic, I wanted to know how to picture that magic in my head, and be able to conjure images of the narrative Megan is weaving throughout this collection. It's worth saying that I love the illustrations within this book, and the formatting.
For example:
'LOST LOVE
We lost the love we once had
and I don’t think we can get it back. It was beautiful and magical, something I had never felt before.
But I don’t feel it anymore.'
The poetic style is general, which will be great for some readers because they will be able to transpose their own experiences onto these poems. For myself, I wanted imagery - if something is pure magic, I wanted to know how to picture that magic in my head, and be able to conjure images of the narrative Megan is weaving throughout this collection. It's worth saying that I love the illustrations within this book, and the formatting.
September 21, 2018
A brutally honest and conflicting story of love and heartbreak and healing told through poetry and beautiful illustrations. I’m very thankful that I got to read this and the author personally gifted this to me in exchange for a review. I really enjoyed this book! I hardly ever get to read a poetry book that measures up to Milk and Honey or The Princess Saves Herself in this One and both could be compared to this because the stories seemed of similar tone. Very quick and worth the read.
November 17, 2018
Check out this review and others on my blog: https://thriftybibliophile.com
Cracked Open by Megan O'Keeffe is an emotional journey through heart break and love. It takes you through highs and lows as the author progresses from loss to love.
Admittedly, I don't read a ton of poetry books. It's not that I don't like them, it's just that I never think to pick them up! When the author of Cracked Open reached out to me, I was instantly intrigued by her book. I'm happy I accepted, because I thought this poetry book was beautifully written and structured to perfection.
The book is divided into five chapters: The Bleeding Heart, Stitching it up, The Recovery, Hot-Blooded Desire, and A Strong Pulse. As you can imagine, the poems are centered around the strong emotions of the heart. I really enjoyed the structure of poetry book! Each poem fit with the theme and helped the progress the storyline of the book. The illustrations also aided the book's structure, complimenting the poems nicely.
My favorite poem from the book was "Do You Even Know What You Want?" I liked the playful cadence and how it sounded when read out loud. My second favorite poem was "Love the Artist Not the Art." I really liked the attitude of the poem--it's a very take charge, take me as I am anthem.
My only negative about Cracked Open is that some of the poems' rhyming felt forced and/or slightly elementary. This wasn't the norm though, and for the most part, I loved how the poems flowed. You could feel the emotion behind the words, which is always neat in poetry.
If you enjoy poetry, I highly recommend you check out Cracked Open! It's a short book, easily consumed in a single sitting.
Thank you to the author for providing the Kindle version of this poetry book in exchange for an honest review.
Cracked Open by Megan O'Keeffe is an emotional journey through heart break and love. It takes you through highs and lows as the author progresses from loss to love.
Admittedly, I don't read a ton of poetry books. It's not that I don't like them, it's just that I never think to pick them up! When the author of Cracked Open reached out to me, I was instantly intrigued by her book. I'm happy I accepted, because I thought this poetry book was beautifully written and structured to perfection.
The book is divided into five chapters: The Bleeding Heart, Stitching it up, The Recovery, Hot-Blooded Desire, and A Strong Pulse. As you can imagine, the poems are centered around the strong emotions of the heart. I really enjoyed the structure of poetry book! Each poem fit with the theme and helped the progress the storyline of the book. The illustrations also aided the book's structure, complimenting the poems nicely.
My favorite poem from the book was "Do You Even Know What You Want?" I liked the playful cadence and how it sounded when read out loud. My second favorite poem was "Love the Artist Not the Art." I really liked the attitude of the poem--it's a very take charge, take me as I am anthem.
My only negative about Cracked Open is that some of the poems' rhyming felt forced and/or slightly elementary. This wasn't the norm though, and for the most part, I loved how the poems flowed. You could feel the emotion behind the words, which is always neat in poetry.
If you enjoy poetry, I highly recommend you check out Cracked Open! It's a short book, easily consumed in a single sitting.
Thank you to the author for providing the Kindle version of this poetry book in exchange for an honest review.
December 28, 2018
*I received a review copy from the author. All opinions are my own. This review was originally posted on RachelPoli.com.
Book Cover
I think the book cover is very pretty. I like the colors and it certainly looks like exactly what the title suggests – something is cracked open.
First Thoughts
I’ve read my fair share of poetry collections so I was more than happy to give this one a try.
Plot
Cracked Open is about the narrator getting over her lover. And… that’s pretty much it. There is a happy ending but it took a while to get there. This collection tells a story through its poetry from start to finish yet I didn’t feel as though there was a beginning, middle, and end.
Characters
I don’t have much to say about the characters. There are no names and not many gender pronouns used either. I could relate with the narrator since I’ve been through a break up before. I have to say, that part was captured nicely and accurately despite each of us going through it in our own way.
Writing Style
The poems in this collection were just okay for me. They were free verse – most of them not really having much rhyme or rhythm. With that said, the poems didn’t seem to flow well for me. I felt as though I was reading a letter written by the narrator to her ex instead of poetry. The words felt a little flat rather than poetic and while the emotion was well captured, it felt as though the narrator was just complaining to her ex rather than fully letting go of her emotions in a rhythmic poem.
Overall
Cracked Open wasn’t a bad read. It’s short and sweet. I couldn’t connect with the poems that much though I did sympathize with the main character, whoever she may be. With that said, this was just an okay read for me.
Favorite Quote:
“We are not a love story
and we are not a lesson.
We were just two people wasting time
Comfortable in the in-between
hiding from our truths.”
-Megan O’Keeffe, Cracked Open
Book Cover
I think the book cover is very pretty. I like the colors and it certainly looks like exactly what the title suggests – something is cracked open.
First Thoughts
I’ve read my fair share of poetry collections so I was more than happy to give this one a try.
Plot
Cracked Open is about the narrator getting over her lover. And… that’s pretty much it. There is a happy ending but it took a while to get there. This collection tells a story through its poetry from start to finish yet I didn’t feel as though there was a beginning, middle, and end.
Characters
I don’t have much to say about the characters. There are no names and not many gender pronouns used either. I could relate with the narrator since I’ve been through a break up before. I have to say, that part was captured nicely and accurately despite each of us going through it in our own way.
Writing Style
The poems in this collection were just okay for me. They were free verse – most of them not really having much rhyme or rhythm. With that said, the poems didn’t seem to flow well for me. I felt as though I was reading a letter written by the narrator to her ex instead of poetry. The words felt a little flat rather than poetic and while the emotion was well captured, it felt as though the narrator was just complaining to her ex rather than fully letting go of her emotions in a rhythmic poem.
Overall
Cracked Open wasn’t a bad read. It’s short and sweet. I couldn’t connect with the poems that much though I did sympathize with the main character, whoever she may be. With that said, this was just an okay read for me.
Favorite Quote:
“We are not a love story
and we are not a lesson.
We were just two people wasting time
Comfortable in the in-between
hiding from our truths.”
-Megan O’Keeffe, Cracked Open
October 22, 2018
I was sent a copy of this collection in exchange for an honest review.
I don't usually read poetry, it's not a genre I would usually reach for. However, the book sounded interesting and I thought I'd give it a go.
I really enjoyed reading some of these poems. Some of them hit home with me, but I think they were beautifully written and very nicely presented with illustrations every few pages.
My favourite poems were:
I'm a book worth reading
Did you ever love me?
Conversations we should be having but I wish we didn't have to
I outgrew you
Self worth - this was my personal favourite out of all of them!
The type of girl
Love the artist not the art
I don't usually read poetry, it's not a genre I would usually reach for. However, the book sounded interesting and I thought I'd give it a go.
I really enjoyed reading some of these poems. Some of them hit home with me, but I think they were beautifully written and very nicely presented with illustrations every few pages.
My favourite poems were:
I'm a book worth reading
Did you ever love me?
Conversations we should be having but I wish we didn't have to
I outgrew you
Self worth - this was my personal favourite out of all of them!
The type of girl
Love the artist not the art
July 3, 2018
I was sent this poetry collection by the author for an honest review and so here it is. I enjoyed it, but it wasn't something that made me cry because I felt a connection. Maybe I'm finally healing, who knows. I definitely recommend giving it a shot if you're going through a break up and whatnot because you might just find your own feelings within. I also really appreciated the artwork. It really matched the tone throughout. I think my favorite was of a dagger through the heart. Something I'm sure we've all felt metaphorically at some point.
September 28, 2018
This is a very late review, but here it is! The book is beautifully written and I do enjoy every word of it. It’s a little bit emotional too as I could feel a lot of feelings in that book. It should be a real quick read but I was busy for the past weeks, but still manage to read this! I don’t really read poetry but this book got me into read more! If you’re a poetry lover then, this book is the one!
July 17, 2018
I wish I could give this a higher rating but I just couldn’t connect with the poetry; the words fell flat for me personally. Felt more like lyrics. There also wasn’t enough variety in the romantic conflict theme (is there a word for that?) as I felt some of the poems were repetitive.
July 24, 2018
This is a must read! Very very relatable for anyone who's been in a relationship and gone through a breakup. Really makes you feel the emotions and could be very cathartic for anyone going through a breakup. This author is going to do big things!
March 8, 2019
The cover and the artwork are the standouts here. I liked how the book was broken up into sections that were headed in a story-telling direction, but the poems themselves could've been a lot stronger. They're really general and don't use strong vocabulary or imagery.
August 31, 2019
A series of lovely and heartfelt vignettes.
Megan O'Keeffe's debut collection is a very readable mix of the sweet and the sour of love and relationships. There are some really resonant lines and phrases that had me going back and poring over them again, savouring them.
Megan O'Keeffe's debut collection is a very readable mix of the sweet and the sour of love and relationships. There are some really resonant lines and phrases that had me going back and poring over them again, savouring them.
August 11, 2018
Great.
Excellent read. Great collection of poetry from a true romantic. Thanks for sharing with the world. Can't wait for your next one.
Excellent read. Great collection of poetry from a true romantic. Thanks for sharing with the world. Can't wait for your next one.
November 26, 2019
*I received a copy of Megan O’Keeffe’s Cracked Open for review purposes. As always, this review reflects only my honest thoughts on the book.*
When I first received my copy of Cracked Open, I was immediately struck by the beauty of the cover–the image here really doesn’t do it full justice! I’ve tried to explain the impact this had on my reading of the poems within but, so far, I’ve failed: It’s as though the earth has cracked open beneath you like the speaker’s heart and you’re wallowing in an ocean beneath. It’s reminiscent of water, space, and emotion simultaneously. It’s haunting and beautiful and sets the tone perfectly for this collection.
I mention this in part because the poems in this book are accompanied by illustrations by Noor Moiz. I haven’t come across much poetry accompanied by art, at least outside of a literary magazine. Having experienced this, though, I truly hope to do so more often (in fact, I’m contemplating whether I can make it happen for one of my manuscripts in progress!).
At the only writing conference I’ve ever attended, a speaker instructed us that love poems were largely overdone and overrated–and rarely done well. I’ve long suspected that to be untrue and Megan O’Keeffe proves that in Cracked Open. The book is split into five sections: The Bleeding Heart, Stitching it up, The Recovery, Hot-Blooded Desire, and A Strong Pulse. The poems follow their speaker through love, heartbreak, and recovery in a beautiful collection of words and images.
*full review on Pencils & Pages*
https://juliettesebock.com/cracked-op...
When I first received my copy of Cracked Open, I was immediately struck by the beauty of the cover–the image here really doesn’t do it full justice! I’ve tried to explain the impact this had on my reading of the poems within but, so far, I’ve failed: It’s as though the earth has cracked open beneath you like the speaker’s heart and you’re wallowing in an ocean beneath. It’s reminiscent of water, space, and emotion simultaneously. It’s haunting and beautiful and sets the tone perfectly for this collection.
I mention this in part because the poems in this book are accompanied by illustrations by Noor Moiz. I haven’t come across much poetry accompanied by art, at least outside of a literary magazine. Having experienced this, though, I truly hope to do so more often (in fact, I’m contemplating whether I can make it happen for one of my manuscripts in progress!).
At the only writing conference I’ve ever attended, a speaker instructed us that love poems were largely overdone and overrated–and rarely done well. I’ve long suspected that to be untrue and Megan O’Keeffe proves that in Cracked Open. The book is split into five sections: The Bleeding Heart, Stitching it up, The Recovery, Hot-Blooded Desire, and A Strong Pulse. The poems follow their speaker through love, heartbreak, and recovery in a beautiful collection of words and images.
*full review on Pencils & Pages*
https://juliettesebock.com/cracked-op...
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews