Wednesday 6 December 2017

Anthology imitations of Rupi Kaur's Milk and Honey

Now, I am a huge fan of Milk and Honey, but for me, no-one does the controversially honest style as well as Rupi Kaur. Recently I have read a few other anthologies recommended to me as similar in terms of style and content but none have really reached the bar set.


The Last Time I'll Write About You by Dawn Lanuza


I had high hopes for this book as the publishing house, Andrews McMeel, also recognised Milk and Honey and subsequently published Kaur. Unfortunately, much of the poetry in this anthology lacked the emotive language and read much like an unending whine. The only point that I actually enjoyed and connected with Lanuza was in the final two lines of 'Migratory Birds'.
"Never quite knowing,
How to be with yourself?" 

For me, this brought about a feeling of not belonging to yourself and the uncertainty of not understanding or knowing yourself. This is familiar to every person at some point in their lives.

I also wish that the anthology had ended on a slightly lighter note. It began with a shallow, fanciful first love and then slowly drooped into a depressing whine in which the speaker struggles to get over him. I would have liked perhaps a second love or a sense of contentment to be alone for now.

I wouldn't personally recommend it, but if you are tempted by this its expected publication date is the 30th January 2018.

The Princess Saves Herself in This One Amanda Lovelace

Image result for the princess saves herself in this one

This anthology has been incredibly popular among fans of Rupi Kaur as Amanda Lovelace seems to very much share the feminist ideology of Kaur. It was even recommended by one of my favourite book bloggers, Hannah at Fables and Tea for our collaborative genre bookmark project. Alas, I also thought it was a slightly paler imitation of Milk and Honey.

It's a bit more badass and sweary that Kaur but in my opinion didn't contain half as much depth of feeling. The princess saves herself quite easily as she hadn't fallen too far from her throne in the first place.
Image result for the princess saves herself in this one
Kudos there, as a lot of the time that is the case. Sometimes you may feel as though you've fallen a great height when in reality it was just a trip in the journey, but for a poetry anthology, I found it slightly anticlimactic.


So there you have it! If you think there is something I missed in these reviews please let me know.

You can get 'The Princess Saves Herself in This One' online here.

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