THINGS WE DON’T TALK ABOUT

by Pandora Owl

"Things We Don't Talk About" is a short collection of thoughts, quotes and poetry highlighting some hardships of living with depression and mental illness and the effects it has on relationships with yourself and loved ones. It's a personal lens into the darkest places your mind can take you and the struggle of battling your own mind. It's a peak of what's underneath the surface that most people battle in silence, something you may or may not relate to. If you're reading this, it's not too late and you're not alone. In addition, I just wanted to say thank you for allowing me to share a part of me, whether it was specifically of value to you. I hope to make at least one person in this world to feel less alone. Communication and or expressing our feelings, it's one of the hardest things to do. Often we get discouraged to even try to express ourselves due to the fear of not being understood and or not doing it the "right" way. We are all human and the best thing we can do is to continue trying. Please keep an open mind and always lead with love. Originally published in January 2019, updated version published November 2020.

Genres: Poetry, Mental Health, Self Help, Nonfiction, Psychology, Philosophy, Contemporary

103 pages, Paperback

Published January 27, 2019

Reviews

[Katie Angelo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Things We Don't Talk About was written by Pandora Owl and published on January 28th, 2020. The pages of this book hold a collection of Owl's personal thoughts, poems, and words about anxiety, depression, and mental health. On the cover, it shows the word don't crossed off- meaning these are things that we don't talk about but we need to talk about. The point of view of this collection is from the author, Pandora Owl. The is no pacing, but all of the pages have a date on which the insert was written. There was no craft at all to this book; it seems chaotic and unorderly. Mental health is unique to each person experiencing it, and there is not one way to encapsulate how it makes someone feel. The back of the book says, "it can get a little too raw for some and a little too real for others." I completely disagree. I do not feel as though this book went deep enough. Mental health is such a "taboo" topic, and this is just an example of why it is seen as taboo. I was very excited when I found and ordered this book, and I was highly disappointed in what I got. I felt a glimpse of what the author was going for, but it did not give what was promised by the title and statement on the back. There was no craft to this collection, and my advice to the author would be to dig deeper and let it all out.

[Annija Spēka · Rating 1 out of 5]

Soooo plain. It reminds me of random thoughts an emo girls scribble on their math notebooks. It lacks complexity or cleverness or anything that would make it something worth reading. I hope that this wasn’t just a lazy money grab book in expense of depression. But just author’s first wobbly steps in the world of poetry..

[Andrei Vadan · Rating 1 out of 5]

The whole way through I was thinking to myself: “who green lit the publishing of this book? who allowed this atrocity to be placed in the poetry aisle of so many bookstores?”.
Unbearable.

[Eden · Rating 5 out of 5]

"it can get a little too raw for some and a little too real for others"

Yeah don't mind me just crying over here 😭

ETA: I'm reading the reviews of this book and I think a lot of people are missing the point of it. It's left very ambiguous but I got the feeling that it was a lot of random notes and musings left for only oneself until the author put it in a book.

I saw someone comment "anyone could write this" and yeah, that's the point.

"I'm opening up this part of me / hoping it will open others / If we continue to talk about the things we understand / the things we don't understand / will never be understood"

I sincerely don't think this was meant to be a polished piece of work, it's meant to be real. These thoughts and musings are relatable, a way of showing that we might not be alone in feelings that aren't generally talked about. Damn yall, lay off a bit.

[Valentina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book will make you think, but only if you allow it. It‘s definitely not for people who don‘t want to reflect on their own thoughts and do not think along while reading.

[Stef · Rating 2 out of 5]

the gramatical errors are not it

[Aude · Rating 2 out of 5]

J’ai voulu lire ce recueil de poésie à cause d’un mauvais review que j’ai vu ici sur Goodreads.

En gros, la personne disait que ça lui rappelait des pensées randoms qu’ont les filles Emo.

Je n’ai pas pu résister au mot Emo et j’ai acheté le livre sans hésiter.

J’te dirais que c’est une lecture avec une petite vibe "skyrock".

« Her heart was in a million pieces
so she took it and created a new one »

C’est le genre de pensée qu’on retrouvait sur ce site de blog. Ajoute à ça une photo prise dans un miroir sale et c’est le combo parfait !

Mais est-ce que c’était bon ? Pas tant..

J’ai corné 5 pages.

On dirait que j’aurais aimé que ce soit encore plus Emo !

J’aurais voulu faire couler mon mascara tu comprends. 🥀

[Shanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

merci léa❤️‍🩹

[dasfraeuleinliest · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ich habe keine 30 Minuten gebraucht, um das Buch durchzulesen. Die Texte darin waren für mich persönlich nichts Besonderes, bis auf 2-3 hat nichts mein Interesse geweckt. Ich hatte das Gefühl, die Hälfte der Gedichte schon mal irgendwo in einer anderen/ähnlichen Form gelesen zu haben, was bei englischer Poesie leider schnell passieren kann. Manche Texte hatten auch eher Abrisskalendersprüche-Charakter. Und während Poesie/Lyrik generell eher subjektiv zu betrachten ist, hat es mich als Lyrikschreibende einfach nicht abholen können. Ein Lyrikband braucht keine große Gestaltung, wenn die Worte darin für sich sprechen, aber die einzelnen Seiten waren mir dann doch zu lieblos. Cover und Titel finde ich dagegen sehr schön.

[Anaïss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful meaning!!!
just love every pages!!!!!!

[Chayton Cheers · Rating 1 out of 5]

Baby girl no

[Nicole Burke · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Conforming will never change you"

[evalovestoread · Rating 1 out of 5]

putting this up on my vinted tomorrow

[Han · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ich wollte eigentlich nur kurz reinlesen und habe es dann tatsächlich in einem durchgelesen. Diese kleinen Sätze und Texte, die manchmal nicht mehr als fünf Worte beinhaltet haben, waren wahnsinnig deep. Denn ich konnte jedes Wort nachfühlen und habe sogar mehr als einmal gedacht „omg wow, genau so fühlt es sich für mich an.“ Ehrliche, unbeschönigte Worte, die einem zeigen, dass man nicht allein ist 🤎 Genau das, was ich gerade gebraucht habe. Das Buch bekommt eine fette Empfehlung von mir und ist sogar sehr toll für Nicht-Leser, weil die Texte wirklich nicht lang sind. Aber sie tun so gut! 🤎

[Matt Bink · Rating 2 out of 5]

corny and bad i could have written it myself

[Nina's Reading List · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were some beautiful poems in this collection. On the back of the book it says ‘it can get a little too raw for some and a little too real for others’ however I missed depth, for me the poems could have been rawer.

[Katie McDonough · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was absolutely awful. Was it written by a 10 year old? I feel like I'm reading my old diaries from middle school. I'll be giving this one to Good Will.

[Thea S · Rating 1 out of 5]

this book itself should’ve listened to the title

[Kira · Rating 1 out of 5]

Probably the worst poetry book I've read. If I could give it less than 1 star I would.

[Shell Ballenger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Type of read: Evening relaxation

What made me pick it up: I'm a sucker for poetry. I also used it as my book for the TN R.E.A.D.'s January prompt of 'read a book you received as a gift.' Did I gift this to myself? Yes. Still counts.

Overall rating: I think when people pick up poetry, especially poetry that has such a title as 'Things We Don't Talk About' that describes itself as a look into the personal side of depression and anxiety, they expect something grand and groundbreaking. Something that will pull you out of your darkness and make you not feel so alone. 'Things We Don't Talk About' is not that. It's a recollection, a personal telling, a baby glimpse into someone's life and what their personal thoughts and feelings were at the time they put pen to page. Is this the perfect book and example of publishing? No. But neither is life. I'm thankful to Owl for sharing their thoughts and feelings with us.

[Flávia Nóbrega · Rating 5 out of 5]

vi muito comentários negativos sobre ele antes de começar a ler, mas achei muito, muito bom.
não senti que ele era "raso", acho que tocou muito porque li no momento certo pra me identificar.
o último texto 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯

[Isabell Charlotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5⭐️

This poetry book is highly rated, and it’s good but not amazing.
It has some great poems in it but the most are just average.

But still a good book to read and think about at one evening/night.

Would maybe recommend,
4/5⭐️

[Sanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars for trying. I was waiting for poetry but got random thoughts that even a 10 year old could scribble on their notes app… This just felt so plain and it didn’t go deep enough. After reading this I feel like even I could easily publish a poetry book someday.

[Cassandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.7

[Nici · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've read a few poetry books before but this one is unfortunately the worst one so far. There were max 5 "quotes" in here that made me feel something but the rest was random words and sentence that anyone could write.

[Brittany · Rating 5 out of 5]

Real, raw, and emotional quick read. So many of these pieces are relatable to my own life and mental health.

[Plus Size Bibliophile · Rating 4 out of 5]

I anointed several of the author's poems/thoughts. They were relatable. I think anyone that has lived with depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideologies would appreciate this.

[Lizzie · Rating 2 out of 5]

“People are like medicine. They either help you be the best version of yourself or they become poison to you”

2.5 stars ⭐️
Not the best poetry book I’ve read but it wasn’t horrible.

[Bo Verhoef · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very recognizable and not too heavy. Loved the little thoughts and poems.

[Tadeea Ernst · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m sorry but I just can’t it was so repetitive.