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More Salt than Diamond: Poems
An unflinching, heartbreaking collection of poetry about life in the U.S. as a Brazilian immigrant, Aline Mello’s debut poetry collection, More Salt Than Diamond , is a true testament to the power of finding a home.
Born in Brazil, Aline Mello immigrated to the United States in 1997. Using her experience as an undocumented woman during a time of incredible flux and tension, Mello’s debut collection of poetry, More Salt than Diamond , speaks to her struggles while also addressing the larger cultural issues on an inclusive and global scale.
Lyrical, moving, deeply emotional, and sometimes painful to read, Mello uses exquisitely sharp yet widely accessible language to crack open a life in multitudes. She shines a rare light on what it means to be a Brazilian immigrant in diaspora, stretched thin between borders and fraught family tension yet belonging nowhere. Aline is poised to not only change the face of Latinx poetry in years to come but to redefine the power of undocumented creators and artists.
Born in Brazil, Aline Mello immigrated to the United States in 1997. Using her experience as an undocumented woman during a time of incredible flux and tension, Mello’s debut collection of poetry, More Salt than Diamond , speaks to her struggles while also addressing the larger cultural issues on an inclusive and global scale.
Lyrical, moving, deeply emotional, and sometimes painful to read, Mello uses exquisitely sharp yet widely accessible language to crack open a life in multitudes. She shines a rare light on what it means to be a Brazilian immigrant in diaspora, stretched thin between borders and fraught family tension yet belonging nowhere. Aline is poised to not only change the face of Latinx poetry in years to come but to redefine the power of undocumented creators and artists.
- GenresPoetryNonfiction
96 pages, Paperback
First published March 15, 2022
6 people are currently reading
1680 people want to read
About the author
Aline Mello
1 book4 followersAline Mello’s debut book of poetry MORE SALT THAN DIAMOND was published in March 1st, 2022 by Andrews McMeel.
She was born in Brazil and emigrated with her family as a child in 1997. Her work often centers on themes of identity, religion, the body, family, and the experience of the self living in diaspora. Her immigrant and undocumented identity have influenced her writing and her art. She is an Undocupoet fellow, a graduate fellow at The Ohio State University’s MFA in Creative Writing program.
Her handle for all things social is @thealinemello
She was born in Brazil and emigrated with her family as a child in 1997. Her work often centers on themes of identity, religion, the body, family, and the experience of the self living in diaspora. Her immigrant and undocumented identity have influenced her writing and her art. She is an Undocupoet fellow, a graduate fellow at The Ohio State University’s MFA in Creative Writing program.
Her handle for all things social is @thealinemello
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews
January 18, 2022
Thank you, Andrews McMeel, for the advance reading copy.
This poetry collection is more of a personal one reflecting an immigrant family told from the perspective of a young person.
I find the writing really easy to get into and I find it thoughtful.
I find this collection rather short. I was expecting more from the blurb.
However, it's a good collection.
This poetry collection is more of a personal one reflecting an immigrant family told from the perspective of a young person.
I find the writing really easy to get into and I find it thoughtful.
I find this collection rather short. I was expecting more from the blurb.
However, it's a good collection.
January 10, 2022
I was thrilled to get the chance to review Aline Mello's debut book of poetry ‘More Salt Than Diamond' via Netgalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing. It centers around the author’s experience as an immigrant from Brazil, as a woman, and the way those things intersect.
Racism, objectification, eating disorders, misogyny, and the mistreatment of immigrants are stitched together seamlessly, illustrating intersectionality with words. These complicated topics are sewn with one common thread: vulnerability. Good art is always vulnerable, and Mello peels back the layers of her resiliency with grace.
In the poem about her mother, the author's last line is, "I'm selfish. I want to die first." I got chills throughout my entire body, as I do when another artist or writer captures an emotion I haven't been able to put into words prior.
When talking about her father, she writes, "a father's lack stains like oil." Mello reaches deep into her roots, not just her country of origin, but her parents, their parents, and the ancestors before them. It's a meditation on generational trauma, bonds, and heartbreak.
I'll finish my review with a few lines from "Salt Water,"
Squinting in the sunlight, you will wonder
what part ocean, what part sweat, and
what part tears is the salt on your tongue
This is a beautiful debut collection, I highly recommend it.
Racism, objectification, eating disorders, misogyny, and the mistreatment of immigrants are stitched together seamlessly, illustrating intersectionality with words. These complicated topics are sewn with one common thread: vulnerability. Good art is always vulnerable, and Mello peels back the layers of her resiliency with grace.
In the poem about her mother, the author's last line is, "I'm selfish. I want to die first." I got chills throughout my entire body, as I do when another artist or writer captures an emotion I haven't been able to put into words prior.
When talking about her father, she writes, "a father's lack stains like oil." Mello reaches deep into her roots, not just her country of origin, but her parents, their parents, and the ancestors before them. It's a meditation on generational trauma, bonds, and heartbreak.
I'll finish my review with a few lines from "Salt Water,"
Squinting in the sunlight, you will wonder
what part ocean, what part sweat, and
what part tears is the salt on your tongue
This is a beautiful debut collection, I highly recommend it.
February 18, 2022
I think the reason for such a high rating can be summed up from one of the many poems that I bookmarked from this collection; from salt water, to alien to mama I didn’t know I didn’t know, this collection is an unfolding story of one’s roots and place in the world.
Beautifully written, it paints love, loss, pain and hardship through beautiful and poignant imagery that not only allows you to empathize and relate, but drown in the world being built from circumstances that can seem very familiar to a lot of people.
As a first generation immigrant myself, a lot of the topics, which flowed well into the next in a web of a life unraveling on the pages, I understood. With the backdrop of the American dream, the problems never ring hollow, showing authenticity and cultural shift that has one turning to the next page to see how much more one can relate to each poem.
It is a beautiful debut piece, one in which I will go back to, relate to, and pour over again and again.
Thank you NetGalley and Andrews McMeel for the advanced copy.
Beautifully written, it paints love, loss, pain and hardship through beautiful and poignant imagery that not only allows you to empathize and relate, but drown in the world being built from circumstances that can seem very familiar to a lot of people.
As a first generation immigrant myself, a lot of the topics, which flowed well into the next in a web of a life unraveling on the pages, I understood. With the backdrop of the American dream, the problems never ring hollow, showing authenticity and cultural shift that has one turning to the next page to see how much more one can relate to each poem.
It is a beautiful debut piece, one in which I will go back to, relate to, and pour over again and again.
Thank you NetGalley and Andrews McMeel for the advanced copy.
January 21, 2022
This collection of poems were brilliant. I was left to about how I viewed immigrants and how might those views be a detriment to society at large. I definitely will be buying this for my poetry collection at home.
February 9, 2024
I snatched this book rather spontaneously while browsing a used bookstore last fall, liking what I read on the flip-through and knowing that generally speaking poetry collections about the immigrant experience work rather well for me. Having read it now, I would say those things still hold: I enjoyed the themes and the writing is pleasant to read with some interesting stand out lines here and there. But as a whole it was also a bit too uncomplicated.
When I review poetry I broken-record style talk about the perfect Goldilocks zone: not so difficult that I don't get it but also not so easy that there is nothing to grab my attention and pull me down with it. Every reader will have a different Goldilocks zone. Mello's collection sometimes entered this magical place for me: I know a poem works for me if I want to reread right away, likely read it a few times in a row, maybe ponder on some phrases, on the concept. That's what I am looking for when reading poetry (and might be an underlying reason while I am often not that fond of too long poems), that feeling of "woah, what is this? Interesting, beautiful, let me read that again and see if I can gather even more from this piece.". And I had that experience a few times but not as often as I hoped to.
Occasionally these could read a bit young, by no means consider I myself an expert but I still felt that this could be fantastic beginner (or a step up from the simplicities of Kaur and Lovelace) collection. I liked this but to love it wanted a bit more imagery, a bit more complexity, just a bit more of something that wasn't quite here. Doesn't mean I didn't like it and didn't take some good moments away from this because I did and let me share some of those:
"Can two languages
Live inside one person
without bumping into each other?"
"When does a child, waiting for her father,
come to know that when she pulls
the blossom's ten petals,
her counting will always start with 'he loves me'
and always end with 'loves me not'? "
"I am more water than oil, more salt,
than diamond, than quartz. When I am alone
I am a moon longing for collision".
My favorites: When I Say I Want to Go Back/ ESL/ High School/ Mamae Doesn't Remember the Dictatorship/ Responsibilities of the Immigrant/ What Was the Passion Fruit Named before the Europeans Renamed It?/ Self Portrait
When I review poetry I broken-record style talk about the perfect Goldilocks zone: not so difficult that I don't get it but also not so easy that there is nothing to grab my attention and pull me down with it. Every reader will have a different Goldilocks zone. Mello's collection sometimes entered this magical place for me: I know a poem works for me if I want to reread right away, likely read it a few times in a row, maybe ponder on some phrases, on the concept. That's what I am looking for when reading poetry (and might be an underlying reason while I am often not that fond of too long poems), that feeling of "woah, what is this? Interesting, beautiful, let me read that again and see if I can gather even more from this piece.". And I had that experience a few times but not as often as I hoped to.
Occasionally these could read a bit young, by no means consider I myself an expert but I still felt that this could be fantastic beginner (or a step up from the simplicities of Kaur and Lovelace) collection. I liked this but to love it wanted a bit more imagery, a bit more complexity, just a bit more of something that wasn't quite here. Doesn't mean I didn't like it and didn't take some good moments away from this because I did and let me share some of those:
"Can two languages
Live inside one person
without bumping into each other?"
"When does a child, waiting for her father,
come to know that when she pulls
the blossom's ten petals,
her counting will always start with 'he loves me'
and always end with 'loves me not'? "
"I am more water than oil, more salt,
than diamond, than quartz. When I am alone
I am a moon longing for collision".
My favorites: When I Say I Want to Go Back/ ESL/ High School/ Mamae Doesn't Remember the Dictatorship/ Responsibilities of the Immigrant/ What Was the Passion Fruit Named before the Europeans Renamed It?/ Self Portrait
March 13, 2022
I received an advanced reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley.
I could really relate to the author of this book because we speak the same language, Portuguese (although she speaks Brazilian Portuguese and I speak European Portuguese). I too sometimes get tired of speaking English and it feels great to have another language to turn to. I enjoyed reading about her journey and the cultural differences she felt, and the expressions in Portuguese gave it a nice touch. This books also speaks about the difficulties of being an immigrant. It's a book I recommend to any poetry lover out there. Rating: 4/5 stars.
I could really relate to the author of this book because we speak the same language, Portuguese (although she speaks Brazilian Portuguese and I speak European Portuguese). I too sometimes get tired of speaking English and it feels great to have another language to turn to. I enjoyed reading about her journey and the cultural differences she felt, and the expressions in Portuguese gave it a nice touch. This books also speaks about the difficulties of being an immigrant. It's a book I recommend to any poetry lover out there. Rating: 4/5 stars.
February 21, 2022
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!
More Salt than Diamond by Aline Mello is an intimate look into the life of the poet, who is an undocumented Brazilian immigrant in the U.S. From poems about Donald Trump to poems about English, this poetry collection illuminates her experience and should be must-read reading everywhere. According to the description, the book "shines a rare light on what it means to be a Brazilian immigrant in diaspora, stretched thin between borders and fraught family tension yet belonging nowhere."
Overall, More Salt than Diamond is a moving, captivating poetry collection that should be taught in classrooms everywhere. One highlight of this book was how relatable it is. As a teacher, I have often taught English learners, and I think it's so important for them to read texts to show them that what they're feeling is normal. I highly encourage all teachers of English learners to read this collection. If you're intrigued by the description or if you're a fan of poetry in general, you won't regret checking out this book when it comes out in March!
More Salt than Diamond by Aline Mello is an intimate look into the life of the poet, who is an undocumented Brazilian immigrant in the U.S. From poems about Donald Trump to poems about English, this poetry collection illuminates her experience and should be must-read reading everywhere. According to the description, the book "shines a rare light on what it means to be a Brazilian immigrant in diaspora, stretched thin between borders and fraught family tension yet belonging nowhere."
Overall, More Salt than Diamond is a moving, captivating poetry collection that should be taught in classrooms everywhere. One highlight of this book was how relatable it is. As a teacher, I have often taught English learners, and I think it's so important for them to read texts to show them that what they're feeling is normal. I highly encourage all teachers of English learners to read this collection. If you're intrigued by the description or if you're a fan of poetry in general, you won't regret checking out this book when it comes out in March!
April 24, 2022
Lovely, spare collection tackling immigration and identity, body image and body politics. In places I would have preferred longer poems, but these do add up—one poem picking up on threads left by earlier ones, nothing 'solved' in the span of a few lines.
January 22, 2022
This debut poetry collection tackled a lot of issues in just 96 pages. There are poems on eating disorders, immigration, parental relationships, language, religion, and the ways that culture and colonialism affect how we experience all of these. I found some of the metaphors to be a little cliche and clunky, but otherwise the language was really thoughtful and accessible. I’m grateful to have had access to this ARC through NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing!
March 24, 2022
Full disclosure: I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Aline Mello for years, and I am honored to call her my friend. I’ve read many of her poems, but this collection stunned me.
Each piece reveals an aspect of their creator, as all great poetry does. But Aline’s work also has a way of making a you want to explore your own edges and hidden places, to speak of your pain honestly, and to boldly claim what you love about yourself, your culture, your world.
Her story is uniquely her own, but you can’t help but feel—in some small way—she’s somehow telling your story too. Reading this collection is both an act of seeing and being seen, and I honestly cannot recommend it enough.
Each piece reveals an aspect of their creator, as all great poetry does. But Aline’s work also has a way of making a you want to explore your own edges and hidden places, to speak of your pain honestly, and to boldly claim what you love about yourself, your culture, your world.
Her story is uniquely her own, but you can’t help but feel—in some small way—she’s somehow telling your story too. Reading this collection is both an act of seeing and being seen, and I honestly cannot recommend it enough.
July 12, 2023
2.5/5 maybe 3 if I read it again
This was not for me and after reading two of the best works of poetry I have ever read this was underwhelming. There are some wonderful poems scattered through out but it wasn’t consistent and I found myself wanting more. This particular collection touches on immigration, motherhood, loss, body acceptance, struggles to love, childhood, finding home creating spaces to uplift etc. very very strong themes that I did find to be powerful in the way Mello constructs her works. The writing style was different from my own, and very different from what I’ve read. I shouldn’t and don’t expect everything I read to be exactly how I want it—that’s not up to me. I appreciate Mello sharing this collection, and I think I’ll revisit this later.
Of the collection my favorites:
Alien
“Solitude / comes like the sun in the East, the craving.”
Oh, Georgia
“Georgia, when I go south / I need to see your Spanish moss clinging / to the tree branches.”
“I am here for your wholeness.”
Self-Portrait
“I am more water than oil, more salt/ than diamond, than quartz. When I am alone / I am a moon longing for collision.”
This was not for me and after reading two of the best works of poetry I have ever read this was underwhelming. There are some wonderful poems scattered through out but it wasn’t consistent and I found myself wanting more. This particular collection touches on immigration, motherhood, loss, body acceptance, struggles to love, childhood, finding home creating spaces to uplift etc. very very strong themes that I did find to be powerful in the way Mello constructs her works. The writing style was different from my own, and very different from what I’ve read. I shouldn’t and don’t expect everything I read to be exactly how I want it—that’s not up to me. I appreciate Mello sharing this collection, and I think I’ll revisit this later.
Of the collection my favorites:
Alien
“Solitude / comes like the sun in the East, the craving.”
Oh, Georgia
“Georgia, when I go south / I need to see your Spanish moss clinging / to the tree branches.”
“I am here for your wholeness.”
Self-Portrait
“I am more water than oil, more salt/ than diamond, than quartz. When I am alone / I am a moon longing for collision.”
February 2, 2022
ARC given by NetGalley for Honest Review
More Salt than Diamond is a poetry collection for it's time. Mello writes about living as an immigrant from Brazil and the hardships that can come to those who are undocumented, specifically in a very anti-immigrant political climate. It's one thing to be an advocate for immigrants but reading more firsthand stories is a way to really stay in touch with the reality of it, and I believe this will be a wonderful book to recommend to anyone who is dealing with the same thing, or who wants to understand more about the people who live it.
Mello has a really lovely way with words and adds a sense of lyricism into her poems that I really enjoyed! Specifically this quote jumped out at me right away: " Can two languages live inside one person without bumping into each other?" Such a clever way to speak on the strangeness of thinking in one language and speaking in another.
My favorite poems are: "Salt Water", "What Was The Passion Fruit Named before the Europeans Renamed It?" and "It Is Not Easy To Stay Inside A Body."
More Salt than Diamond is a poetry collection for it's time. Mello writes about living as an immigrant from Brazil and the hardships that can come to those who are undocumented, specifically in a very anti-immigrant political climate. It's one thing to be an advocate for immigrants but reading more firsthand stories is a way to really stay in touch with the reality of it, and I believe this will be a wonderful book to recommend to anyone who is dealing with the same thing, or who wants to understand more about the people who live it.
Mello has a really lovely way with words and adds a sense of lyricism into her poems that I really enjoyed! Specifically this quote jumped out at me right away: " Can two languages live inside one person without bumping into each other?" Such a clever way to speak on the strangeness of thinking in one language and speaking in another.
My favorite poems are: "Salt Water", "What Was The Passion Fruit Named before the Europeans Renamed It?" and "It Is Not Easy To Stay Inside A Body."
February 26, 2022
In MORE SALT THAN DIAMOND, America is Mello's room, where "the painting of flying pigs / is the American Dream. The piles / and piles of books are the purple mountains." Here, Mello's mother studies for her citizenship test and "asks if it's a prayer." Mello says yes, but is it "prayer or blasphemy," not the "nourishment we need."
"Is this a prayer?" Mello asks. "If the ancestors can hear me, I ask you for company, / remind me this isn't all there is." Not citizenship, not borders, not more violence, but birds in flight, brown children "someplace among the stars."
"This room is my room," she tells us. "This room / is your room. But it's more mine / than yours." Good, because "it's easy for an alien / to forget that belonging doesn't have to mean place." On the page, Mello belongs: "a giant / a whale, and I count my progress in moans, / the space between / my eyes and tail." She sounds the depths. I would swim with her anywhere.
"Is this a prayer?" Mello asks. "If the ancestors can hear me, I ask you for company, / remind me this isn't all there is." Not citizenship, not borders, not more violence, but birds in flight, brown children "someplace among the stars."
"This room is my room," she tells us. "This room / is your room. But it's more mine / than yours." Good, because "it's easy for an alien / to forget that belonging doesn't have to mean place." On the page, Mello belongs: "a giant / a whale, and I count my progress in moans, / the space between / my eyes and tail." She sounds the depths. I would swim with her anywhere.
January 16, 2022
Thanks to Andrews McMeal publishing for the ARC of this book. The poems in this book were gut wrenching at times, beautiful at others, and seamlessly intertwined. Aline writes about immigration, love, family, and her body in a way that allows her reader to grasp and understand her struggle while also being able to deeply relate to her stories. I think we (Americans) have this misconception that America is the greatest country and everyone else would give anything to come here, but we forget that people who do come here have so much they have to give up, so much to miss when they get here. Aline doesn’t sugarcoat immigration into the “American Dream” - she is very real about her conflicted feelings which is refreshing. I also very much enjoyed the way in which she wrote about her struggles with her body. Loved this collection!
November 29, 2022
Mello is a really talented poet. She manages to pack so much meaning into so few words.
Predominantly about her experiences of immigrating from Brazil to America, but also about love, family, faith, and body image, these powerful poems made me stop and reflect on a life that has been so different from mine. Yet, as a British immigrant who has lived in America for more than a decade, there are also some feelings and experiences that I can also relate to.
This is a short, snappy and powerful little collection of poems with cheeky little observations that will make you smile and some heartfelt revelations that will tug on your own heartstrings. Well worth a read.
My favourite poems were: When I Say I Want to Go Back, Reluctant Love Poem #102, Excused Absences, My Grandmother, Salt Water, Pillar of Salt, Pāo de Queijo and Brasil #2.
Predominantly about her experiences of immigrating from Brazil to America, but also about love, family, faith, and body image, these powerful poems made me stop and reflect on a life that has been so different from mine. Yet, as a British immigrant who has lived in America for more than a decade, there are also some feelings and experiences that I can also relate to.
This is a short, snappy and powerful little collection of poems with cheeky little observations that will make you smile and some heartfelt revelations that will tug on your own heartstrings. Well worth a read.
My favourite poems were: When I Say I Want to Go Back, Reluctant Love Poem #102, Excused Absences, My Grandmother, Salt Water, Pillar of Salt, Pāo de Queijo and Brasil #2.
January 24, 2022
Em seu livro de estreia, Aline Mello, imigrante brasileira nos EUA, retrata sua experiência como imigrante, como latina, como mulher. Olha para trás e reflete sobre suas raízes e o que ficou no Brasil. Trata também, por vezes, de temas como transtorno alimentar, depressão, suicídio e a violência sofrida por minorias.
Não costumo ler muita poesia, é uma parte da literatura que entendo e me conecto um pouco menos. Mas, enquanto pessoa brasileira que lê em inglês, era importante conhecer (e me emocionar com) a história da Aline, que também é um pouco a nossa. Até os agradecimentos finais.
(Cópia digital antecipada cedida pelo NetGalley)
Não costumo ler muita poesia, é uma parte da literatura que entendo e me conecto um pouco menos. Mas, enquanto pessoa brasileira que lê em inglês, era importante conhecer (e me emocionar com) a história da Aline, que também é um pouco a nossa. Até os agradecimentos finais.
(Cópia digital antecipada cedida pelo NetGalley)
February 2, 2022
2.5/5 rounded up.
I'm honestly struggling a little bit with how to rate this collection. The message is very strong and language is beautiful. However, the poems themselves all feel incomplete. Like they don't fully round out the thought or even the emotion. I don't think that was intentional with all of them, and if was intentional, I'm sorry to say that it was not effective. I'm firmly in the middle on this one.
Thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for an Advanced Readers Copy.
I'm honestly struggling a little bit with how to rate this collection. The message is very strong and language is beautiful. However, the poems themselves all feel incomplete. Like they don't fully round out the thought or even the emotion. I don't think that was intentional with all of them, and if was intentional, I'm sorry to say that it was not effective. I'm firmly in the middle on this one.
Thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for an Advanced Readers Copy.
September 18, 2022
I'm one of those people that tends to "not get" a lot of poetry, but I read this for school and ended up really liking it. While I can't identify with being an immigrant, there are plenty of other themes that struck me and stuck with me: religion, self-identity, violence in modern times, family and family struggles, and more. There were several poems that struck me very deeply, and when I have more time, I'd love to come back to them and further dissect why they made me feel the way I did while reading them. Maybe I am now a poetry reader!
January 21, 2022
More Salt than Diamonds is a beautiful poetry collection. At times raw and gripping, other times soft and delicate. The treatment of immigrants, eating disorders, womanhood, and family are interwoven masterfully in these poems. Aline treated these poems with care and thoughtfulness, and they are accessible but not boring or “simple”. I highly recommend this book.
Thank you to Netgalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Thank you to Netgalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
January 24, 2022
More Salt than Diamonds is a beautiful poetry collection. At times raw and gripping, other times soft and delicate. The treatment of immigrants, eating disorders, womanhood, and family are interwoven masterfully in these poems. Aline treated these poems with care and thoughtfulness, and they are accessible but not boring or “simple”. I highly recommend this book.
Thank you to Netgalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Thank you to Netgalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
January 26, 2022
Thank you Netgalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for an arc in exchange for honest review.
This was a really beautiful collection of poems. I was able to relate to a lot in this book on coming from an immigrant, migraines and mental health. My favorite poem was "My eyes turn to God." I think this title was perfect for this book. Life has been unfair to the author, the poem on Trump calling people animals had me feeling rage, yet she's managed to take her pain and turn it into art.
This was a really beautiful collection of poems. I was able to relate to a lot in this book on coming from an immigrant, migraines and mental health. My favorite poem was "My eyes turn to God." I think this title was perfect for this book. Life has been unfair to the author, the poem on Trump calling people animals had me feeling rage, yet she's managed to take her pain and turn it into art.
February 15, 2022
3.75 Stars ( I received an e-are of this collection from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review)
First of all the cover of this book is so simple, yet so beautiful definitely that colour combination. At the same time I feel like this applies to the poetry as well. It combines the trauma of being an immigrant in the United States, mourning the loss of your country/culture and commentary on various racial/social injustices. I highly recommend this collection.
First of all the cover of this book is so simple, yet so beautiful definitely that colour combination. At the same time I feel like this applies to the poetry as well. It combines the trauma of being an immigrant in the United States, mourning the loss of your country/culture and commentary on various racial/social injustices. I highly recommend this collection.
March 8, 2022
Gods, this poetry collection is so good. Beautiful, lyrical, emotional, made me cry.
It threads together a narrative about identity, being an immigrant, religious searching.
ALSO it had several poems that use repetition, which is one of my favourite poetry devices, when used well.
I need to own this so I can underline favourite lines & dog-ear pages.
If you enjoy poetry, absolutely read this book.
It threads together a narrative about identity, being an immigrant, religious searching.
ALSO it had several poems that use repetition, which is one of my favourite poetry devices, when used well.
I need to own this so I can underline favourite lines & dog-ear pages.
If you enjoy poetry, absolutely read this book.
Read
December 5, 2023I wasn't wild about the poetic styling in this book, but wow, the underlying story is so powerful. This collection is so personal, I don't feel right rating it. Like a memoir, it isn't for me to decide where this falls on the scale of "better" or "worse." This is a story of trauma and immigration, so that should be centered above all other considerations. This is worth the read just for the subject matter alone.
January 9, 2022
An amazing debut collection of poetry. Powerful writing with a deeply personal perspective. Her experiences bring depth to the subject matter of immigration. Aline Mello’s poetry is beautiful yet heartbreaking. I recommend everyone to read More Salt Than Diamond. This book of poetry was a fantastic start to a new reading year.
January 31, 2022
More Salt than Diamond was a compelling expression of heartbreak, yearning, and personal discovery. My favorite thing about poetry is the raw emotion that is addressed. The author delivered in expressing her points and leaving readers with not just a beautiful read, but also a perspective that they may or may not understand. #NetGalley
March 15, 2022
This collection of poems explores the notions and themes of identity, otherness, nature and culture. The poet writes of her experience as a Brazilian immigrant to the USA.
The poems are written in an accessible style. I read the collection in one sitting.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for a honest review
The poems are written in an accessible style. I read the collection in one sitting.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for a honest review
January 15, 2022
Beautiful and heartbreaking poetry on life as an immigrant. Living a life of uncertainty in a new and foreign world. Sometimes a world you didn’t have a choice on coming to. Highly recommend. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
June 1, 2022
I was provided a copy of this collection of poetry in exchange for an honest review.
Aline provides readers with an enlightening immigrant experience. Her sparse language is nonetheless revealing about the struggles to fit in while retaining culture and history. This was a quick but good read.
Aline provides readers with an enlightening immigrant experience. Her sparse language is nonetheless revealing about the struggles to fit in while retaining culture and history. This was a quick but good read.
September 10, 2023
This book made me feel things! I loved so many of the poems, too many to list here. I can’t wait to read more by this author.
“—a country
is like a father on the phone asking
if you’ve forgotten you have a father.”
From Brazil #2
“—a country
is like a father on the phone asking
if you’ve forgotten you have a father.”
From Brazil #2
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