Will I feel like this forever? Why can’t I just heal? If you have ever asked yourself these two questions, this book is for you.
Behind Glass Shadows is a powerful poetry collection that uncovers how the pain experienced in childhood leaves a profound impact on the human soul.
Divided into three sections, Behind Glass Shadows delves into the lifelong struggle of confronting childhood wounds, learning to coexist with unhealed scars, and finding comfort in embracing them as an inseparable part of who you are.
Each page is a step closer to understanding that healing is not a mandatory destination but a complex, evolving process. There is comfort in being stuck in your healing, finding relief in the ache of your past experiences, and embracing the shadows that shape who you are.
Got 40% into the book before I had to give up on it, which is a shame because there were actually a couple of good poems at the beginning of the book.
I appreciate the subject matter presented in the book and the topic is important, but the poems were incredibly formulaic and felt more like a school project than a published book.
The formula seemed to be:
[Noun] [Auxiliary verb or preposition] [Adjective] Repeat 4 times Random sentence
For example:
Years of neglect. Years of sorrow. Years of pain. Years of agony. Yet I didn't live a day of it.
Or:
Two sights are harrowing. Two sights are tormenting. Two sights are distressing. Two sights I've grown to know.
It’s okay to read a couple of times, but my eyes started to glaze over when every other poem followed this formula. It’s tiring to read.
I think the author has potential, but ultimately, this collection needed a lot of work and it didn’t get the editing it deserved.
The poems are written emotionally and capturing. I personally recommend reading them. However, I have to admit that they are mostly written with the same “formula”, as another reviewer on here already expressed, so if you aren’t a fan of that, I assume you won’t like the book.
It seemed quite poetic that I start and end this month with a poetry book. This one was okay. Not my favorite poetry book that I've read, but it was definitely still a good one. I loved the message. It is usually the poetry books that I relate to the most that are my favorites. While I can relate to her father leaving and abandoning her, my mother was amazing! I still enjoyed reading about her healing process though. Here are my favorite quotes.
"As a child, I was told to cry for help. Cry for help when you feel unsafe. Cry for help when you feel scared. Cry for help when you feel weak. Cry for help when you feel defenceless. As a child, I cried for help. And in return, I was told to stop crying. A child’s cry is deafened when it’s a cry against their family."
"The shadows of my childhood dance into my adulthood. They appear when I raise my voice out of anger. They appear when I hide from moments of uncertainty. They appear when I sit in moments of sadness. They appear when I hold onto meaningless grudges. They appear when I push away supportive hands. They appear when I mirror the people I spent my childhood fearing I’d turn into."
I’m honestly not sure how i feel about this book. It was haunting, sad poetry about the trauma people can experience yes, but it also talked about how it’s okay to accept that you’ll never heal, when in reality, we will heal. Not like we were before, but we will. It’s a morbid thought that we don’t want to, and should accept our not healing. I reccomend this book, but please make sure you are in the right mindset to read it ~
It's a good book I guess.. not the best but I feel like if you stop and focus on every page it would be better because I read it fast i couldn't grasp it well. This author is good but not straightforward I guess
Everything was very repetitive the writing the words the same story it was like there's no enough content
it’s a depressing read and I wanted it to be over. It was the same concept and the same subject repeated in every pages. I enjoyed a couple of the poems but I didn’t enjoy reading this. It’s repetitive and incredibly depressing..
Devastating. So much pain. I cannot even begin to imagine the pain she went through. Incredible poetry…. Some pieces connected with me but most did not and that’s okay. I hope Julia found peace and healing in writing this.
I discovered Julia Reesor’s work through my FYP on TikTok. Let me tell you, that TikTok algorithm really knows what’s up! I made the decision to go no contact with the majority of my family about three years ago. It's been a journey filled with complex emotions: the guilt society imposes with phrases like 'but that’s your mom,' the struggle with feeling undeserving because my wants weren't met and my boundaries weren't respected, and the challenge of distinguishing my own voice from the one in my head (among many other things). All of this to say, Julia Reesor's poetry collection resonated deeply with me. I found it incredibly relatable, to the point where I highlighted entire poems and multiple lines from others.