ŷ������

Loved the unapologetic blackness and queerness of this poetry collection. I appreciate Danez Smith’s centering of friendship in this collection and their confident, sensitive approach to addressing issues of racism, femmephobia, and other forms of social injustice. The caring and connection they have with their friends and their loved ones radiates with warmth and eloquence. I only give it three stars because I did not find this collection as powerful as their work Don’t Call Us Dead , on top of my general difficulty in fully grasping poetry. Still, definitely recommend for those interested in poetry about relationships, race, queerness, etc. I also recognize that as a non-black person of color, this book was not necessarily written with me as the target audience, so I may have been unable to appreciate the collection’s richness as much as a black person or black queer person.