What do you think?
Rate this book
Naked: The Rhythm and Groove of It. the Depth and Length to It.
In this poetic memoir, Nastashia Minto strips herself of who she used to be and gives readers permission to see her naked. Exploring topics of family, faith, race, sexuality, abuse, love, and identity, Minto's words dig up rootbound emotions in need of better soil. This collection welcomes difficult conversations and allows space for unboxing uncertainties. By making herself transparent on the page, Minto inspires readers to become naked too.
118 pages, Paperback
First published February 28, 2019
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 15, 2019
Nastashia Minto’s “Naked” is sensual, generous, and strong. Touching on themes of poverty, faith, family, race, queer identity, love, and friendship, these pieces illustrate the hard work of caring for ourselves while also caring for one another. With each vulnerable line, the speaker in these pieces seems to reach out, while simultaneously looking within. Wonderfully rhythmic narratives, written with edginess and verve, this collection speaks like open arms. The radical acceptance in these pieces is contagious.
March 13, 2019
Nastashia's book is phenomenal! Not only does she play with words in beautiful ways, toying with the reader's imagination and expectations, she also evokes such strong emotions. Heartache, love, loneliness, fear, doubt, courage, and belonging are just a few of the themes woven throughout these pages. She touches on family, gender, sexuality, religion, and points the reader towards what it means to be human, and what it means to be fully, utterly, transparent. A stunning collection!
June 10, 2019
Minto’s arresting debut covers a lot of ground in one hundred pages. From Georgia to Oregon, from child to adult—this collection asks readers to consider ideas about race, trauma, love, sexuality, friendship, family. Her voice is rich with a poetic cadence you might swear you can hear as you read it.
June 16, 2019
This book. This book left me breathless in such a raw and beautiful way. I was fortunate to hear Nastashia Minto, the author, read at an event in Portland recently and came home and devoured her book the next day. Her unique voice carries us along as if we were right next to her. I look forward to more from her!
April 30, 2019
Minto flays open her wound for the whole world to see in this stark and searing work; examining every feeling for nuance and meaning. First, there's pain, but with love, healing and redemption can catch fire and explode. Beautiful.
June 14, 2019
Nastashia Minto's Naked is for me an unfolding. A growing understanding. An embodiment. An incarnation of love. I am glad she has shared her work, which is to say, herself, with the world. We are better for it.
May 1, 2026
Powerful and empowering!
February 19, 2025
What does it mean to be someone? How do the labels and expectations others place upon us define us? When are those roles supposed upon us by others, and when are we assuming them ourselves because we think we have to?
Through the story of her own life, woven in a whorl of passionate poetry and often painful passages of her struggles to live beyond the life handed to her, Nastashia answers these questions, examining her feelings and convictions honestly, even when she must challenge her own preconceptions and preferences. Reality often clashes with anticipation and assumption, and she realizes the truth through both struggle and acceptance.
Never bashful, often distressing, always meditative, Naked is an examination of many ideas and ideals and so many expectations, both of ourselves and of others, shining the bright light of honesty upon the hidden impact such conceptions often have on real life.
This is a story of a life lived beyond the bare basics we are born with, of honesty with both those you love and yourself, of loving beyond reason, and of learning to love yourself for what you are and what you want to be.
Through the story of her own life, woven in a whorl of passionate poetry and often painful passages of her struggles to live beyond the life handed to her, Nastashia answers these questions, examining her feelings and convictions honestly, even when she must challenge her own preconceptions and preferences. Reality often clashes with anticipation and assumption, and she realizes the truth through both struggle and acceptance.
Never bashful, often distressing, always meditative, Naked is an examination of many ideas and ideals and so many expectations, both of ourselves and of others, shining the bright light of honesty upon the hidden impact such conceptions often have on real life.
This is a story of a life lived beyond the bare basics we are born with, of honesty with both those you love and yourself, of loving beyond reason, and of learning to love yourself for what you are and what you want to be.
February 28, 2024
I'm super late with leaving this review, but I read this collection of poetry when it first came out. It is beautifully written and well put together. Not only was this a relatable read, but a read that helped put you in her shoes a little. This is truly a must buy!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews