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The Chaos Inside Me

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the Chaos inside Me, is a journey of self discovery. It is a story about owning the emotions that live inside the heart and the head. It is the cathartic experience of pain and loss but also the bittersweet feelings of joy and the complexity of beauty.
Elisabet expresses the unraveling of herself and the complexity of emotions that stemmed from heartache, her own mental health and the struggles of growing up and into a world with no precedence for a first generation child. This is the accumulation of three years of tears and long nights figuring out that chaos isn't always a bad thing.

157 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 7, 2018

78 people are currently reading
216 people want to read

About the author

Elisabet Salas

4 books21 followers
Elisabet Salas is a Mexican-American writer currently based out of Southern California, where she lives with her family and dog. When she’s not working on various novels and projects she’s up all night reading or marathoning a new tv show while consuming her weight in coffee and french fries.

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5 stars
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41 (24%)
3 stars
29 (17%)
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
Profile Image for Jessi ❤️ H. Vojsk [if villain, why hot?].
826 reviews1,024 followers
April 29, 2023
The chaos inside me
is a small universe
of untamed beauty,
full of stars and black holes
and undiscovered galaxies,
with the infinite possibility for hope.


What a wonderful collection of poems ✨

I am broken shards
put together
to make something beautiful,
collected from a pile of
broken dreams,
each piece is a shattered part of my soul
Profile Image for Grace Arango.
1,350 reviews675 followers
July 16, 2019
Today I got Kindle Unlimited and I jumped to the opportunity of reading this as soon as I could, and I recommend you do the same.

Elisabet is not only incredibly talented, but she is so authentic in this collection and many times this either had me reduced to tears and widely grinning with joy. This collection deals with relationships and self-worth in a amazing way and has left me in awe.

By the end of it, it made me appreciate the person I am.
I love it when poetry moves me, this collection did that :)
Profile Image for Harker.
503 reviews56 followers
September 9, 2018
Content Warnings: suicidal ideation, mentions of self harm (including bloody imagery), self deprecation, body dysphoria/weight, depression, abandonment, loneliness

Frequently reviewed as "raw", Elisabet Salas's debut poetry collection "the Chaos inside Me" truly lays bare some of our most intimate emotions. The pieces within and the collection as a whole do not rely on an overabundance of hyper-stylized words, instead focusing on getting to the reader with the sharp lines and curves of language, both literally and figuratively.

the Chaos inside Me has within it the power to make its readers feel seen. This is something achievable in standard books though it's hard to find because there are so many other aspects in longer form storytelling, but poetry strips all of that extraneous detail away. Elisabet's book offers the chance to really really feel like there are other people that have these thoughts.

Among the most poignant pieces was “mysteries & galaxies” because what is important to everyone, even as a subconscious thing? The need to know who we are. It might be simple to some, but for others, trying to figure out what our identity is can be a struggle on a daily basis. This particular poem early on encapsulates how identity can be as unfathomable as the distance between the stars.

“the voice of doubt” was a hard piece to read because it read very personally for someone with anxiety. As I was reading it, I felt a little sick to my stomach because it perfectly described what it was like to be inside my head, what it is that I fight against on a daily basis. It is so hard to describe that to people that are neurotypical because the words don't always make sense, stumbling out of my mouth, but Elisabet wrote them, like they spilled out of my own head.

Elisabet makes good use of contrasting imagery in “Always looking” to highlight the inherent difficulty in finding one's place. Typically harsh images clashing with typically soft, stereotypes of that nature, are one way, but there were also lines that pointed to other ways of finding solace, such as the clouds that allow sunlight to rest within. One doesn't always need to be “on”; being within yourself is possible too and okay.

“Pain and beauty” was another poem that I liked because it tackled a problem that crops up a lot in this world, people seeing suffering as something beautiful. When the media portrays mental illness or self harm in movies or television shows, a lot of the time it gets shown as something beautiful, the character a idealized portrait that we as the audience are meant to love; or the self harm is somehow to be interpreted as a noble form of coping. Salas's examination of this idealization of suffering, though brief, was strong and direct.

Chock full of words that reach out to readers and reveal the author's experience simultaneously, the Chaos inside Me is a volume of poetry perfect for fans of Gretchen Gomez, Amanda Lovelace, and of good literary works with the ability to allow you to feel seen.





I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.














I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
Profile Image for Romie.
1,197 reviews7 followers
February 18, 2019
i love it when i read a poetry collection and i immediately connect to the author, to the write style and the core of the collection. it was absolutely amazing, i just cannot not recommend this poetry collection to everybody — but know that there are some trigger warnings: suicidal ideation, mentions of self harm, self deprecation, body dysphoria/weight, depression, abandonment, loneliness, anxiety, sexual assault. (4.5)
Profile Image for Jay G.
1,648 reviews443 followers
December 28, 2018
Want to see more bookish things from me? Check out my youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfer...

This is Elizabet's debut poetry collection that covers a wide variety of topics from self hate to learning to love yourself. I loved how she included trigger warnings at the beginning and I think that will be very helpful for some as a lot of these poems are brutally honest.
Profile Image for SteffyJay (Little Booky Nook).
183 reviews10 followers
August 21, 2018
I absolutely loved this book. Elisabet's writing is so raw and honest, and so many times throughout the Chaos inside Me I felt like crying because I could really relate to her words. Topics range from love to self-image and I loved how there was a trigger warning at the start.

I honestly think this is such a wonderful, strong debut from Elisabet, and I absolutely cannot wait to see more from her 💖
Profile Image for JB.
178 reviews
August 20, 2018
I received an arc from the author in exchange for an honest review, this book comes out Nov. 2018

This collection was spellbinding, and relate-able in the most raw and painful of ways. Elisabet's poetry debut is good enough to be put along-side my experiences with Rupi Kaur and Amanda Lovelace, and I am so grateful that I was fortunate enough to receive an advanced copy. If you don't pick up this collection, you're missing out.
Profile Image for Gretchen Gomez.
Author 3 books148 followers
December 1, 2018
THIS IS THE BOOK I NEEDED!!! oh how much i loved this book and needed to read something so deep and raw like this collection. elisabet gives herself in such a gorgeous manner without a filter. themes of self, lost love, family, god, culture, etc. i loved them all, especially her honesty. ya need to read this right now.
Profile Image for Kelly (Ink & Illusion).
78 reviews3 followers
August 9, 2018
I was lucky enough to get to read this collection, and I can't say enough good things about it.

Elisabet Salas' debut is stunning. The poetry in here is a wonderful mix of strength, rediscovering power, self-love, and the struggle of hating yourself - all things many of us have experienced. And even where there are experiences you can't necessarily connect with, the emotions behind those poems are so powerful that you can feel everything Elisabet does. The poems that I could connect with directly made me feel transparent, as though the thoughts had been plucked directly from my mind.

You don't want to sleep on this collection, you really don't.
Profile Image for Alan D.D..
Author 39 books78 followers
March 27, 2023
Lo que más me gustó de este libro fue la facilidad con la que se lee. No es rebuscado, no es exagerado, no busca crear tormentas en donde hay algo pequeño, sino que explora cada faceta de la salud mental con la magnitud que se merece. Hay momentos fuertes, hay frases que te hacen tomar pausa, y hay otras que son más pasajeras.
Reseña completa (29 de marzo): https://tintanocturna.blogspot.com/20...

What I liked the most about this book was the ease with which it reads. It's not fancy, it's not exaggerated, it doesn't seek to create storms where there is something small, but instead explores every facet of mental health with the magnitude it deserves. There are strong moments, there are phrases that make you pause, and there are others that are more fleeting.
Full review (March 29th): https://tintanocturna.blogspot.com/20...
Profile Image for Arya Harris.
87 reviews3 followers
January 25, 2021
this collection took you deep inside and I feel like we got to understand her pain. Thank you for writing and sharing this! The cover is so magnificent too I love it a lot
815 reviews89 followers
November 8, 2018
Absolutely Magnificent

This book was magnificent chaos in literary form. It spoke to me and spoke for me. The thoughts I can't form into words were in this book. It was heartwarming, heartbreaking and everything in between
Profile Image for C.L. .
198 reviews18 followers
August 16, 2019
It was as if Elisabet dug through my brain and spilled my thoughts across this page.

I felt SO much while reading this. I suggest you all pick it up immediately.
166 reviews1 follower
November 14, 2018
Since Amazon wouldn't let me review, I'm doing it here!

I have never been a fan of poetry, so it takes a lot to get me interested. I really liked this collection; there were so many hard hitting lines that tugged at me. Poetry is super personal to the poet who writes them, yet I related to so many of Elisabet's words! Very beautiful, and I loved all the parallels to space and death (macabre, yes, but I love dark themes).

I want to read more of her poems, since the last one packed the best punch, wrapping it all up perfectly. I love when a book relates back to its title.

Overall, this book was beautiful, inside and out, and I highly recommend it.
Profile Image for Maryann Gestwicki.
Author 16 books16 followers
June 9, 2021
So many painful subjects and emotions. Poems that I liked: The Voice Of Doubt, La Llorona, I am a filed of lies, To the Flame, I want to be a flower, How strange, Battles, Remembering you, This yearning is killing me, But I do now, Pain and beauty, War Torn, Clusters, brush of death, Let it happen, Large defeats, Black Holes, I am more than that, What it resembles, Morbid thoughts, I am a mosaic, Don't want it, Can't forget it, Remember me in red, I wish it were that simple, Call me crazy, I'm taking the chance, maybe it will work, You lit me up, Just actions, Art, The chaos inside me.
Profile Image for Valen.
259 reviews
September 16, 2020
I absolutely loved this poetry collection. I don't think I have ever emotionally connected with a poetry collection as much as I did with this one. There were a few grammatical errors but it really didn't take away from the poetry at all. 5/5 Stars - I connected with this poetry & for once I feel comforted and seen.
7 reviews
December 29, 2019
The Perfect Title

I thought this book offered a very accurate look into the chaos that is life, but even more than that, the chaos that is inside of us. It turns out, maybe it isn't such a bad thing at all
Profile Image for D.C. Haroldsson.
184 reviews
February 1, 2021
This is one of those books that have a huge impact on you when you read a page and you just lay there thinking of those well written words that just enlightened your soul. Then you end up going back to re-read them again and just sigh in awe.
Profile Image for Laura.
908 reviews39 followers
September 9, 2025
The book I needed to read without even knowing I needed it. The words hit home in more ways than one. It was like reading my own journal, it felt like she read my mind, saw my heart and put my desires into words.

Absolutely beautiful.
26 reviews2 followers
Read
July 23, 2019
Beautiful!

Everyone can find something to relate to in this amazing collection of poetry that made me cry. When's the next book come out?
Profile Image for ryry ham.
10 reviews2 followers
October 11, 2020
Beautiful and relatable

This book had amazing pieces that were relatable and vulnerable. It helped me to understand that I am not alone. We all have chaos. Great work!!
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews

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