The Strength In Our Scars

by Bianca Sparacino

“The Strength In Our Scars” is Bianca Sparacino’s reminder to you: No matter what you’re going through, no matter where you are on your healing journey—you are strong.
Through poetry, prose, and compassionate encouragement you would expect from someone who knows exactly what you’re working through, Sparacino is here with the words you need. “The Strength In Our Scars” tackles the gut-wrenching but relatable experiences of moving on, self-love, and ultimately learning to heal. In this book you will find peace, you will find a rock, you will find understanding, and you will find hope.
Remember: Whatever is dark within you has also carved light into your soul. Whatever is lost within you has also brought you back home to yourself. Whatever is hurt within you is also healing you in ways you may not understand at that moment in time. This book hopes to show you that.

Genres: Poetry, Self Help, Nonfiction, Mental Health, Psychology, Personal Development, Audiobook

157 pages, Paperback

First published September 6, 2018

About the author

Bianca Sparacino is a writer from Toronto, Ontario who aims to write honestly about the beauty that arises from the contrasts of life. From love, and loss, to joy and regret, she has dedicated herself to turning the human condition into poetry.

Reviews

[Meriem · Rating 1 out of 5]

Am I the only one who found it boring and too repetitive ? Some passages are good but most of it is just about love and heartbreaks as if they are the center of the universe. No hate but I just couldn't enjoy it

[stefiereads · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book that I wish I read during my heart break moments back then. This book is encouraging, it strengthen you, it make you feel less lonely. This book is like a friend that speaking right to your ears and tell you that even though everything look sucky at the moment, sooner or later you will be okay again, and you will get through it. And that healing take times, no matter how long that is, the important thing is to not punish ourselves :) To take all the time that we need to heal, to feel strength back again.

[shanayaa · Rating 4 out of 5]

➳ 𝟒.𝟓/𝟓 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙨

❞𝘽𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙮 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙪𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙗𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨.❞

The book presents amazing poetry that deeply resonates. Yet, it's fair to note that at times, a touch of repetition can be sensed throughout! 🐣🤍

[Natalie Romano · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the book I didn’t know I needed. Reading it is like getting a hug from a friend. Have you ever felt like you didn’t deserve the good things in your life? This entire book will remind you that you’re worthy of all the love and care that you give to other people. We cannot love others if we don’t love ourselves first.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is healing through a difficult season. Even as painful memories and experiences return to us on those bad days, there’s always hope and a chance for redemption, forgiveness, and love.

[Laura Noggle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I asked her what happiness felt like,
to which she replied,

“It feels like everything inside of you
has become light again,
like for the first time in years,
your heart has finally learned
how to float above water.”

❣️

Absolutely gorgeous, beautiful, and just what I needed. I did cry, but it was a cathartic, cleansing cry and I feel so much better now. I read it first, and I think I'm going to listen to it next.

@rainbowsalt on Instagram is a great follow too.

[johnny ♡ · Rating 1 out of 5]

maybe this is inspiring and profound if you A. are NOT severely mentally ill & have never attended therapy and B. a person who knows absolutely nothing about poetry (i.e. enjambment, line, form, structure, etc.)…

written for the normies i guess.

[emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

yet another contemporary poetry collection that created a conflict within me. the messages in so many of the poems featured here both hit beautifully and deeply resonated with me, and yet this still was not enough for me to forget what they read like - tumblr poetry that is regurgitated on instagram. some worked, some didn’t. some i wanted to share, others i hope to never think of again.

it’s unfortunately a tale as old as time with our modern poets. i cannot stress enough how important it is to lean into uniqueness as opposed to popularity, always.

"if you are ever going to survive, if you are ever going to come out of the chaos, you have to collect the moments that have inspired you deeply in life and fold them into yourself every night for safekeeping. when the sun seems to rise a little slower and your days are filled with darkened hope, reach into the core of you and remember the warmth. remind yourself that things will be light again.”

- 2.5 stars rounded down to 2.

[buchdate]

Ein wirklich herzerwärmendes Buch! 🫶🏼✨🤍
Poetisch, gefühlvoll und motivierend geschriebene Texte, die man sich immer und immer wieder durchlesen und zur Hand nehmen kann.

Ich würde definitiv weitere Bücher der Autorin lesen! 💖

(Rezensionsexemplar)

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

Be the person who cares.
Be the person who makes the effort,
the person who loves without hesitation.
Be the person who bares it all,
the person who never shies away from the depth of their feeling or the intensity of their hope.
Be the person who believes
-in the softness of the world,
in the goodness of other people,
in the beauty of being open and untethered and trusting.
Be the person who takes the chance,
who refuses to hide.
Be the person who makes people feel seen,
the person who shows up.

Trust me when I say-

be the person who cares.

[shi ❦ · Rating 4 out of 5]

“I am a firm believer in there being beauty in the contrast. In the light and the dark days. In the hope and the hurt. In the fire and in the ash. I am a firm believer in the fall and in the rise; in the sin and in the saving. I am a firm believer in the broken, the people who hold their pieces together with belief, who bandage their fear in faith. I am a firm believer in the souls who have always managed to protect their soft; who have always known, even when it ached the most, that their wounds were healing them, that the hardest parts of life were growing them from the inside. I am a firm believer in there being beauty in the contrast—you have not lived until you have died.”

This was such a lovely read.

I docked one star, because I found some pieces to be a bit contradicting (but that's what life is, I suppose). I wish I could list all my favourite pieces here, but there were no titles (which I actually found refreshing).

Side note: I would like to point out that this is not poetry, but prose. It reads a bit like a philosophical self-help book.

“It is all I have lost
that has set me free.”

“These places, they are not where you were born, but they will be where you are reborn.”

[P.D. Dawson · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book really wasn’t for me, so I apologise for the 1 Star, but it’s repetitiveness and inner contradictions drove me mad. At one point saying, you don’t need anyone else to live your life to the full, and then at another saying how love will make you whole. I’m sure some people will find comfort in this book, but I mistakingly read this thinking it would be a little deeper. If I hadn’t bought it, then I probably wouldn’t have read it all. Reading a couple pages pretty much is all you need, and I guess that works for some people who need the message driven home hard, but this book just wasn’t for me.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Lose yourself in books, in art, in the haze of new horizons. Lose yourself in curiousity, in knowledge, in passion ......... but never lose yourself in love; never lose yourself in another person. You are your own home - please don't ever forget that."

[Meags · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

This poetry book is full of pretty prose and positive affirmations, leaving me in a good spot emotionally and mentally in the aftermath.

At the core of these poems are messages of self-worth, how to let go of people and feelings that do not serve you (AKA, assholes and negativity/hate), and the importance of living your life with an open heart and open mind.

It’s a bit repetitive at times, and I felt like I could have stopped halfway and still experienced all that was on offer here, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

[Ri ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

“I hope you learn how to love yourself the way you love others—unconditionally and without hesitation; deeply, and from the softest parts of who you are. Because isn’t it a shame that we are so quick to forgive the humanness in someone else's soul, but we often forget to forgive ourselves? Isn’t it a shame that we fight for others, we believe in them with such intensity, and such hope, but we often forget to fight for ourselves?”

Bianca has become my favourite author for poetry and self-help books. This was one of the most beautiful and comforting poetry book I've ever read.

“These places, they are not where you were born, but they will be where you are reborn.”

[beanwithasoul · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I could give it a million stars. 🤍

[luna_inthesouth · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's a No for me!
other authors already have said what's been written in this one, so nothing new!

It can be that kind of book to remind you what you already know, which is also great, but it wasn't what i was looking for.

[Pia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings: on the one hand, it reads like Tumblr posts from the 2014 sad girl era, while on the other hand, it has a few parts that really made me think.
I think I got tricked into reading this one because of a quote I saw on TikTok and the reviews here. Not particularly my cup of tea, but if you enjoy poetry (I do not even know whether this was poetry or not) you would probably like this book.

[Dee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful little reminder to help in hard times.
This talks of self love and healing. How to be strong and accepting of yourself and others. Life has many battles and these short quotes and ideas remind you of how strong you are and how far you have come already

[Nora (Grayson's version) · Rating 4 out of 5]

How do I even start??
Fantastically written. Loved every page of this book.
I read this because someone recommended it to me on the internet and I hope your next ten reads would be five stars!!!
If you're going through a hard time or feel lost in this journey called 'life' this book is for you. It'll make you rethink your life choices but will assure you that everything happened for a reason. You don't have to stick to the past that didn't turn out the way you wanted it but you could definitely learn from it.
Highly recommend.

[Wardibonlang Pakma · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5

I dived into this one without any expectations and I'm so happy I did because this is everything. The prose and poems are so beautiful, it's making me feel emotional over things I've never even experienced. I love the author's take on healing and it's definitely a must read.

[Lia Strange · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Every breakdown was just a step
forward into your becoming."

creo que lo encontré en el momento adecuado de mi vida. porque me siento perdida y sola y a veces es lindo leer sobre alguien que le paso lo mismo pero que te ayuda a mejorar.
aparte de eso tengo que decir que todo lo que escribió me gusto, todo me hacia decir si REINA SI, porque es como me siento aunque quizás no estuviéramos hablando de los mismos asuntos. this is me empezando los 22 leyendo un excelente poemario sobre como mejorar en mi vida para ser mas feliz.
tengo que decir que es un poemario que me recuerda mucho a evermore de taylor swift al mismo tiempo " See, you can’t unlove someone. You can’t get
their scent out of your pillowcases, can’t unlearn their
name and forget what it felt like to be immersed in
the hope and beauty of another human being. " eso es happiness de la taylor no me jodan



"At the end of the day, I just want to be proud of the
person I have become"

[kutingtin · Rating 3 out of 5]

“sometimes courage isn’t climbing Mount Everest or changing the world. Sometimes your mountain to climb is made up of weekdays and months, made up of pushing yourself forward even when you want to nestle into the past. Sometimes changing the world means changing your world as gradually as you need to, as gently as you heal, because sometimes courage isn’t made up of war and bloodshed; sometimes courage isn’t made of combat. Sometimes courage is a quiet fight, a dim softness within you, that flickers even on your darkest days and reminds you that you are strong, that you are growing—that there is hope.”

“Some of the kindest souls I know have lived in a world that was not so kind to them. Some of the best human beings I know, have been through so much at the hands of others, and they still love deeply, they still care. Sometimes, it's the people who have been hurt the most, who refuse to be hardened in this world, because they would never want to make another person feel the same way they themselves have felt. If that isn't something to be in awe of, I don't know what is.”

-Bianca Sparacino

[Ariail Heath · Rating 5 out of 5]

My review of this should actually be a love letter to Bianca Sparacino because THANK YOU for writing this book. This book felt like it was made for me, every word I drank up like the best cup of coffee in the world. I cried, I laughed, my heart felt every single piece.

This is a collective poetry book focused on healing. It will push you to understand that you must heal yourself and you must understand that the love that is right for you will find you. It really shows you how to fill your own life instead of living with a void.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for this book!

[Sofia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone should read this. If you're experiencing a breakup or you've been having a hard time lately, read this. I'll recomend this to anyone really, hurt or not, because it feels like a warm hug from your favorite friend you know? It makes you believe in yourself again.

[Lee Abesamis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good reads :)

Remember this, repeat it every single day: You cannot love someone into loving you if they do not.
For your information

[Sundus · Rating 3 out of 5]

'Never stop elbowing your damn way into this big world. Because you belong here. You matter'

[kia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes, the greatest act of self-love is simply allowing yourself to be loved by others. Sometimes, the greatest act of self-love is simply allowing youself to be seen in all that you are.

A very moving book. This is one of those that I wish I read when I was younger. It was like I was being given an advice by an older and wiser woman. The book mostly talked about healing and moving forward from any situation that causes heartbreak. There is such passion and sincerity in her words, and there were tears in my eyes the most of the time I was reading them. Recommending 10/10.

[Khrystyna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Тепер я знаю звідки люди беруть фрази на картинки в пінтересті. Такий собі коротенький збірник думок щодо пережиття heartbreak — нічого нового, проте деякі з них таки запали в душу.

See, sometimes courage isn't climbing Mount Everest or changing the world. Sometimes your mountain to climb is made up of weekdays and months, made up of pushing yourself forward even when you want to nestle into the past.

Please, whatever you do - just feel what you are feeling right now. Be thankful for the morning light and how it hits that one spot on your bed that holds the ghosted memory of someone who was once your favorite thing.

[m ✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

« You will know because your heart will recognize itself in the heart of someone else. You will know. »

—

I loved this book so much.
I wish I read it 2-3 years ago, when I was so heartbroken I thought I was dying. It would’ve destroyed me and repaired me all at once.

—

« And other days
I can feel my heart breaking
For all of the past versions of myself
I let down
When I chose not to protect all that they were
When I chose to tell them that they were not good enough »

[Angela Boord · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think books sometimes show up in your life when you need them. I had this on my shelf and forgot it was there until last night when I was feeling discouraged about life and the state of the world in general, and somehow I noticed it on the bottom of the stack.

I didn’t know it was supposed to be “poetry” when I started reading, and I think that was good. Mostly these read like little snippets of inspiration. They’re written mostly from the pov of someone who has lost a romantic relationship recently and for the reader who has endured other kinds of trauma or the loss of other kinds of relationships, there’s some translating involved.

But they were comforting to read in the moment when I needed a pep talk, and that’s all I wanted, really.