These Are the Words: Fearless Verse to Find Your Voice

by Nikita Gill

From international poetry sensation Nikita Gill comes her highly anticipated YA debut These Are the Words: an empowering, feminist and beautifully illustrated poetry collection exploring all the things Nikita wished someone had told her when she was younger.

Reclaim your agency. Discover your power. Find the words.

Taking you on a journey through the seasons of the soul, in this collection Nikita gives you the words to help heal from your first breakup, to celebrate finding your family, to understand first love, to express your anger and your joy, to fight for what you believe in and to help you break some rules to be your truest self.

Gorgeously illustrated throughout by Nikita herself and featuring seasonal astrological poetry, this collection is an achingly beautiful, stunningly warm and fearless expression of truth from one of the most influential and well-known voices in modern poetry.

REMINDER FOR HEALING
You do not owe anyone your forgiveness.
The trees do not apologize to the wind that uproots them.
The rocks do not apologize to the erosion by the sea.
The stars do not apologize to the universe
when they are writhing and dying out.
And you are not obligated to forgive anyone
but yourself.

Genres: Poetry, Young Adult, Feminism, Mental Health, Audiobook, Coming Of Age, LGBT

192 pages, Paperback

First published August 18, 2022

About the author

Nikita Gill is a Kashmiri Sikh writer born in Belfast, Northern Ireland and brought up in Gurugram, Haryana in India. In her mid twenties, she immigrated to the South of England and worked as a carer for many years. She enjoys creating paintings, poems, stories, photos, illustrations and other soft, positive things. Her work has appeared in Literary Orphans, Agave Magazine, Gravel Literary Journal, Monkeybicycle, Foliate Oak, MusePiePress, Dying Dahlia Review, The Rising Phoenix Review, Eunoia Review, Corvus Review, After The Pause and elsewhere.

Reviews

[Cherlynn | cherreading · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tender but empowering collection ❤️ This book is like a balm to the soul. I love how it's split into seasons and the astrology-themed affirmations. As always, the author writes unflinchingly about very relevant issues that allow females everywhere to feel seen.

I've been a fan of Nikita Gill since her debut with Your Soul Is A River way back in 2012 and she's truly one of my favourite modern poets of all time. Her work is always so full of beautiful imagery, raw feminine rage, power and comfort.

Poetry collections, especially instapoetry, tend to have both hits and misses for me, but Nikita Gill nails it every time.

[grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

good poems, but probably best to read when you are in need of a single poem that fits a theme, rather than read the full book start to finish. theres a poem for everything in there and so if you read it in one go its a bit of a rollercoaster of emotions

[Jasmine · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5

I'm still waiting on the day where Nikita Gill produces something less than amazing. I could read her poetry all day, every day. These are the words had tears in my eyes by the end - I never felt more seen than when I read Gill's collections! The stories of friendship and sisterhood were just so beautiful, but also examining toxic families and learning to love yourself, learning that you don't have to be strong all the time or fall into the trap of toxic positivity. I just love this collection with my whole heart.

TWs: anxiety, depression, ref to rape, ref to sexual harassment, homophobia, biphobia, racism, misogyny, trauma, grief

[Sonali Dabade · Rating 5 out of 5]

Emotional. Wreck.

Vlog coming soon on my YouTube channel!

[*ੈ✩‧₊˚ megan ˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆ · Rating 4 out of 5]

if i could give half stars i would give it 4.5 stars !! this took me longer than expected only bc i (again) “lost” it and found it hiding under the seat of my car. anyways i loved this so much and the poems were beautiful. the entire section about friendships reminded me of my best friend (who will probably see this review, i love you and miss you so much grace !!!) 🖤

[Becs · Rating 3 out of 5]

I adore Nikita Gill and she accomplishes something special yet again with this poetry collection. It’s not her usual stuff - less imaginative and more raw - but it is better in its gentleness.

I really had the feeling she was guiding me through the book, holding my hand along the way. It was a really NICE feeling. That’s ostensibly what this collection is - nice, supportive, encouraging, familiar. But it isn’t unique, imaginative or different to others of its kind (just of her typical style really).

So, I liked it - I enjoyed travelling through time with her. But it wasn’t my favourite so far. Regardless, I’ll read anything she writes because when she gets it right, she is magic.

ARC provided from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[isaac⁷ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5*

in an extremely fucked up and disastrous trip with too many humans chattering and making noise around me and with me not getting an iota of privacy, this book was much needed.

nikita gill, you're a blessing 🌻

[E-Lynn Kok · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I hope you remember the quiet of the trees.
How they stand there,
tall and listening,
home to everything that sings
and grows, a beacon of loss in winter
and lush hope in the summer."

This is a love letter to girls who will grow into women and women who were once girls until their youth was stolen away from them. This book snatched my breath away. I highly recommend every teenage girl to read it and adult ones too because we demand an apology for growing up without a warning of what's to come.

This book is that. It is everything that you could want. A hug, a dagger, an arrow shot to your heart, a scream from the hills, it is an adventure of growing up from girlhood to womanhood. These are the words written for women by a woman. It is packed with love and hope and sadness of growing up unprepared for the horrors society has in store. It is for those who grew up too quickly and too stuck in their past of pure innocent daydreams. This is the hug needed for those who are healing from their childhood scars while battling adulthood every single damn day. Just go read it, you'll thank yourself and Nikita Gill. It is warm from the summer rays, filled with delicate flower-petal-like words to brush against your face and wake to an autumnal forest of change in motion. Winter will come but it won't be cold nor harsh, it will be warm with a blanket of words from Nikita Gill. 5 stars out of 5 for this sensational debut. I tabbed so many poems, I love them all. I will reread the book soon to annotate it in detail. The poems in the book are about girlhood, womanhood and sisterhood, love, family, feminism, body love, healing and friendship.

This book will be out in all bookstores on August 18th 2022, which is to say, it is definitely an "August" book for "August girls". Thank you to @definitely.books for the ARC.

"August" song by Taylor Swift.

[the_nerd_cafephile · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cried!! Isn't that enough😭! Many thanks to Netgalley, Macmillan UK Audio, and the author, for the ALC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I have always loved Nikita Gill's poetry, because of how she guides us through the raw emotions, the parts of us we have shut off to protect ourselves. This poetry collection made me ugly cry. It made me homesick, while telling me its okay to feel that. It made me realize the tensions I hold in my body, the words I don't tell myself! I never told myself growing up! This book is for teenagers who grew up quickly, yet it was so impactful on me as an adult, I hope it reached every young adult who needs to hear these words.

This was my first audiobook by Nikita Gill and now I want to go back and listen to every book of hers I have ever read and listen to it.

TW: anxiety, depression, non-graphic sexual assault and abuse, heartbreak, homophobia, biphobia, racism, misogyny, trauma and grief

[🌶 peppersocks 🧦 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reflections and lessons learned:
“Before we begin, I cannot tell you I have all the answers. There are still skeletons in my closet I haven’t learned the names of yet. Which is to say, I’m here for you but that I’m a work in progress just like you…”

So comforting… just beautiful and honest and warm whilst still acknowledging the rough edges to life affect us all at different points

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved all of these poems. Many of them hit me right in the feels.

[Karan Kapoor · Rating 1 out of 5]

Alas, I wish these weren’t the words.

[Aarushi · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a poetry book, it's not that good.
But individually all the poems are great!!

Also Even though I don't believe in astrology stuff, it was rather comforting to read the astrology themed affirmations, it feels like it was written especially for you.

One word I would use to describe this- comforting

[Abbey · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[11th_book · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars - I just love Nikita Gill’s writing and this was an honest book about girlhood, what it feels like to be us, about love, grief, friendship and just… trying to be.

Not every text resonated with me - of course not - but between chapters, it gave small horoscope sections and the ones for my sign fit perfectly.

My favorite of her poetry releases so far! <3

[Kate Henderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

**Listened to the audiobook, narrated by Nikita Gill herself**

I say this all the time, and love it when an author narrates their own audiobook - especially with something so personal and heartfelt like this poetry collection.

I have had a bit of a 'hit and miss' relationship with Gill in the past, but I really loved this book.
The entire thing felt like a 'pep talk' from a friend.
It was so inspiring, empowering and up lifting, and was made all the more special with it being an audiobook. Feel like this would be a great book to listen to before a big event - like an interview, or presentation or something.

[Fleur Hingstman · Rating 1 out of 5]

Most of the time I was absolutely bored reading this book. There are only a few poems that did something to me and that I liked.
Most of the poems have very specific topics which makes it hard to reach a big audience.

[Fabulous Book Fiend · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't think I enjoy this author's YA work as much as their adult work but I still tabbed plenty of favourites in this one. Full review to come...

[Georgie Fay · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought a lot of the subject matter and ideas were really special, they hit hard and were strangely personal despite their universality, but the poems themselves fell flat for me.

[Felicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is probably the 4th or 5th Nikita Gill book of poetry that I've read. It's been over a year since the last one and I can tell that I've changed. Once, I could relate to her poetry on every page but this one I couldn't get my teeth into. While still very good, it just didn't hit for me like some of her other ones. The book is divided into sections and further divided into seasons. My favorite poem is probably "Your Own Skin," which talks about loving your skin and more so loving the color of your skin.
"It's as if our people have forgotten
that our most powerful goddess
is midnight-skinned."
That poem was just so powerful. The other poem that stood out is "The Word Is Girl" which tells of what it means to be a girl in relation to being catcalled, chased, blamed, who to watch out for etc. What it means to grow up at the prey.
Overall I really enjoyed a lot of the poems but collectively I just didn't relate the whole time but this is structured as a poem book to come back to when you need to feel "____" or when you are "___."

[Pat-z · Rating 4 out of 5]

Technical Rating: 4.5

Aries: you don't have to be friends with anyone who hurt you; remember your matchstick mouth was meant for burning bridges that you will never cross again.

Once again, I enjoyed a Nikita Gill book. I am a fan of poetry so of course I liked this one, too.
I was pleasantly surprised by the "signs at the beginning of" sections because I am also a big fan of astrology. (Let's go, Aries!)

I think the only drawback from reading this was of my own error. I have read so many poetry books that some of the poems, while obviously unique and different, had a familiar feel to them like I've read them before. Not the author's fault, obviously! But it is the reasoning for my rating.
I don't even question whether I should read a book of hers- I just grab them and read them. Powerful words always.

[Aina · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this book,the author deals with diverse topics in its poems such as the passage of time (seasons more like), traumas, racism, homophobia, social media, society beauty standars...
Again, like I said in another review from another book of hers, I love how in some poems she uses astronomy facts and uses it to make a really good advice; Idk it makes those poems even prettier.

I'd give it 3.5 stars ⭐⭐⭐✨

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book slowly over a few months, making so many connections with Nikita Gill's words. This poetry collection has been categorized as YA, but since the experiences we have as our younger selves remain with us and shape who we are, this collection reminds us of who we've been along the way.

[Janina Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really lovely collection of poetry x

[Jade · Rating 5 out of 5]

This poetry book is beautiful. I wish I had read it as a teen but I still needed it now in my 30s

[Bree · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful poems with themes including feminism, friendship, love, climate change and racism.

[Risha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nikita is soooo good with her poetry!! Every time I end up crying from a few of her poems and this was no different! Her poetry makes me feel seen and heard :,)

[Moi Legent · Rating 5 out of 5]

The exact words on the exact emotions.

[Dax · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll be sharing lines that impacted me since Nikita Gill always comes out swinging.

[zee · Rating 4 out of 5]

this hit harddd