This is Me

by Anastasia Bell

This is Me is a collection of raw, tangled volatile poems splashed with reality and laced with fantasy that flow into two directions:
One circling the theme of the book, a puzzle set of fictional characters who are regarded to be the closest to the author's heart, and another girding the sentiment of the lost, wandering and torn souls, which is also based on the contributed words from the poetry prompt.

80 pages, Paperback

Published September 25, 2022

About the author

Anastasia is an alien in disguise who writes poems and stories. She has a great love for books and films. There is nothing she would love more than to inspire and change the world to a better place through her art.

Reviews

[E-Lynn Kok · Rating 4 out of 5]

"My existence seems to fade,
I don't recognise my face,
fading along with my fingerprints;
dust covering my footprints." 👣

#elysianreviews 🤎

"This is Me" features a collection of poems from the perspective of fictional characters and the author herself. @anastasiabell stepped into the shoes of her favourite fictional characters and wrote a poem depicting the personality and journey the character had undergone. Many characters were foreign to me, reading the poems made me curious about their story. Some poems felt far-reaching, I couldn't connect with them and some reading the poems may will feel the same. Or opposite, they may find some similarities between the fictional character and themselves, furthermore finding a slice of comfort in the poem.I was ✧⁠◝⁠(⁠⁰⁠▿⁠⁰⁠)⁠◜⁠✧DELIGHTED to find that she wrote a poem for Neil and Todd from 📜Dead Poets Society!🤎 I had watch the movie before reading the book. The movie was fresh on my mind as I read the poems.😭 I can't help but feel sorrow for my sweet Hufflepuff and moody Ravenclaw.🥺 As per Anastasia's love for Tolkien, there are two poems about Tolkien's characters in the book! Some of the fictional characters are from Grimm's fairy tale, Star Wars and mythology.

I love that the author arranged her poems about her experience last, it's as though she is the long awaited appearance in this finale. Her poems are quite dark and heavy to read, I felt her grief for what she had lost - herself or someone else. There are some poems about self harm so proceed with caution and prepare yourself mentally. 🙏

This collection of poems is a brilliant showcase of the poet's maturity since her debut "lullabies of the universe", there are wisp of the younger version of her intertwined between verses, ultimately setting the sentence for her growth to shine. This is a great book for readers that want to venture out of short versed pop poetry into something slightly advanced yet not intimidating.

Thank you to @untitledbc for organising this book tour.

[Tian En · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pleasant to read, and i was surprised by the many pop culture references, a heartwork work from the author :)

[Faye · Rating 4 out of 5]

devoured this collection in one sitting. though my favourite still remain to be her debut, lullaby of the universe, this new collection captured my heart with the ode to some of my favourite fictional characters that has made a perpetual dent in my little heart just as it did the author 🤍

anastasia bell indeed has the utmost control and power in each and every one of her poems. you can feel the emotions tugging on your heartstrings and my oh my, she never fails to paint a vivid imagery in each and every one of them. it was truly a ride.

i’ve been in quite a slump lately due to some issues i have to deal with life wise so this is indeed a good pick-up to dive into and i’m glad i did.

keep inspiring with your words, anastasia 💌

[Amelia Vegan · Rating 5 out of 5]

"What's there to offer to this world,
this unrelenting hunger
for satisfaction?"
I devoured this poetry collection in an hour, I was in a bit of a reading slump because of another book and once I picked up "this is me" and saw how much I related to some of the thoughts Anastasia wrote down, I knew I would be okay. Despite most of the poems being melancholic, there's still hope in the end, maybe not the kind most people are used to seeing, but after all the tears I had while reading this book, in the end, I had smile on my face.
"My heart is beating
but am I living?"
I know I keep choosing not the most pessimistic quotes, but they are the ines that hit deep, and when it all ends, you don't feel pessimistic at all.

[Anastasia Bell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Embracing the chaos of my own uncertainties, where defining what I want feels like piecing together an incomplete puzzle, I dedicate this book with characters I've grown to empathize with – their struggles and pain echoing mine. Am I a mishmash of pieces, or am I everything and nothing at once? It doesn't really matter. In my second book, I invite you to witness my vulnerability and perhaps discern a more altruistic hue emerging with age. We, after all, are only human. Join me for a ride through these pages, where it can serve as a reflection of your own unique journey.

Love,
Anastasia

[MelanismPsyche · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can feel different types of feeling of Anatasia through her poetry, and below are few poetry that make me feel vibrate:
(1) Mulan, the definition of reputation made me feel resonated
(2) Arthur, I can feel feeling switched from helpless to fearless through the poetry
(3) Dinah. the stress of being someone under one roof give me quite an impact
(4) Nameless bird, I can get the feelings of sadness through this poetry
(5) This is Me, doubt of own-self made me feel resonated

[Azura Chan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is delivering the voices of sorrow and pain in every fictional characters including us. They are sad thoughts in our heart that needed to be heard of. I hope everyone can reached someone in needed (to lend their shoulders).

[Ariel Voorhees · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the concept of this poetry! It’s so unique. I could feel the author pouring her heart into this. 10/10 would recommend!

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review's coming soon.

[Anibal Morbo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Her poetry remembers me J. L. Borges and also haiku poems.

[Isabelle Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book give the audience a deep dive into the author’s thoughts. Highly recommended

[Shaun Yap · Rating 4 out of 5]

With such a unique take on characters of different universes to bind it with the author’s own soul.

There’s not much out there that felt this relatable.
4 star coz there just weren’t more .

[Jasmine Tan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved Anastasia's poem book. The writing is stunning, beautiful and deeply personal. It's clear that the poet poured their heart and soul into every word. Highly Recommend!

[Khai Kiat · Rating 5 out of 5]

You should read this book. You will be surprised how good it is!!!

[Carol Chu · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was the first book of year 2024 that I read. It got me out of a reading slump. It was easy reading and it got me up and running in reading books again.

There were many poems that I love from this collection. The ones that I fancy were from ones that I know the background story to.

I wish for the others there were explanations from where the author got her inspiration from because I did not know some of the characters. It did not hinder me from enjoying the words from the poems though and I was curious enough to sometimes google some clues that I got from the poems and find out more of the characters. But that is only sometimes, I don't do that for all characters that I am unfamiliar with.

The poems that I mostly like were ones that are the melancholic type and there were many in this collection. The flow of the poems and the words used I feel were pleasing when I read them, like it was so apt the placement of the words. Therefore this was an awesome poetry book for my students and I to treasure!

Will share about this poetry book and the author's other book with my English classes!

This book is truly worth a read, at least once! I read this book twice already and I found my second perspective more in depth and understood more of what the characters were feeling.

For more poetry book recommendations, I recommend the author's debut book Lullaby of the Universe.

Definitely looking forward to her next book!