A Girl Is A Shapeshifter

by Jasmine S. Higgins

A Girl Is A Shapeshifter is the debut poetry collection by Jasmine S. Higgins, London-based writer and artist. A note from the 'These poems are about the anxious, sex-driven creatures of our planet, the people trying to impress each other on the internet, and those afraid of being forgotten. I wrote this book about me, but it’s probably about you, too.' ‘It made me cry.’ - John

Genres: Poetry

128 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 18, 2019

About the author

Jasmine S. Higgins is a British author. She has a BA in Fine Art and a MA in Publishing, both from Kingston University. Her first book A Girl is a Shapeshifter came out in 2019, and her second book Mermaid Lungs came out in 2022. Her poems have featured in Ripple (2022) from Kingston University Press and The Planets of the Men I've Loved (2020) from Sunday Mornings at the River. She hosts a writing challenge with daily prompts under the hashtag #PromptsByJasmine on Instagram.

Reviews

[Alice-Elizabeth (Prolific Reader Alice) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm new to Jasmine's poetry and after seeing the cover for this one on Kindle, I borrowed it since I was intrigued to give some new poets a try. This collection of poetry is a lot more mature than ones I've recently read. At times, it was erotic and sexual and sometimes, it's good to branch out with new topic and reads. Sadly this collection did fall a little flat for me overall.

[Jasmine Higgins · Rating 5 out of 5]

rating my own book because i can lol

[Stelariaa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just don’t think it resonated with me :/

[Farmina · Rating 1 out of 5]

absolute painful read! It took me a month to finish this flimsy book because of how underwhelming the poems were. If you’re not a middle class white women who complains about the unrealistic beauty standards that you so obviously fit into and contribute to then don’t read it.

I have read books/poems that itched the good part of my brain by many white women who are either mentally disturbed or express the substantial weight of women-hood. So maybe that says a lot about me 👀or what this book is lacking. Every poem felt superficial, flat and ignorant, giving nothing more than a feeling of a skinny friend complaining how “fat” she is to her clearly bigger friend.

It is obvious this book has triggered me in some sort of way (lol) and feel slightly bad by giving it only one star as it was a gift (sorry bestie ily 😚)

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is very erotic; full of sexual expression and story telling. I feel like if i read this book when i was a bit younger I would have loved it. But some of the ideas/concepts of love and sex no longer fit my perception.

Overall it is very poetic and has incredible storytelling throughout. I just wish I read it 2 to 4 years ago to be able to fully enjoy it.

Jasmine is a phenomenal writer and poet.

[Shahd Thani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jasmine S Higgins is a beautiful poet. This journey of self growth that she takes us on has so much longing, teeth, and whimsy.
I’m a long time fan of hers on Instagram and her book is free on Kindle unlimited.

[cami · Rating 4 out of 5]

Feels like reading a friend's diary. ♡

[Zali · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good very April Taurus very sad gworl hopeful

[Rhia :) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Took me an embarrassingly long time to read this

[Kristiana · Rating 5 out of 5]

A GIRL IS A SHAPESHIFTER is Higgins’ debut poetry collection - pieced together alone and across six months, it follows the voice of a young woman intent on loving herself fiercely and making a mark on the ever-widening world around her.

From the opening poem, ‘nice to meet you’, I was in love with Higgins’ words and the way she has told a story of growth but without an end. There is still so much room for her to blossom and bloom as both a woman and a poet.

Higgins is an expert when it comes to summing up feelings and experiences in ways we can relate to, yet have never heard of before:
“the skies come undone like loose braids
stars scatter like falling glitter
and the sea just watches from its living room.”

It was also refreshing to read a modern poetry collection which was indeed full of poetry. Too often collections nowadays are pages with lots of empty space with three or four lines of boiled down thoughts. Higgins’ words go beyond this and take you back and into places you have been before but she holds all of the pieces in her hands and shows you them in a new light - refracting rainbow rays everywhere.

She is not afraid either to say how it is:
“this clunky mashing of skin, sweat pouring off of
him and onto me, hair getting stuck to everything,
his greatest achievement,”

This tone in her voice reminds me of Yrsa Daley-Ward’s gut-punching and ruthless, yet poetic, storytelling. The way she de-robes all to reveal the flaws we have sunk deep into our pores.

Still, Higgins retains her own individual voice - especially when the speaker in ‘if we had grown up together’ put her baby teeth into her lover’s palm and asked:
“did you see us?
did you see us growing up?”

Thus, upon finishing A GIRL IS A SHAPESHIFTER I was left incredibly impressed, already desiring more of Higgins’ work and had several poems dog-eared for future re-reading.

[Maeve · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of poetry was refreshingly intelligent. I related very intensely to quite a number of the poems. I also love the cover. Much better than Rupi Kaur - it’s free with Kindle Unlimited (you can get a free trial for it), so go read it!

[Caitlin]

A raw and uncompromising debut collection that doesn’t shy away from concepts of lust, love, infatuation and the image of oneself in conjunction to each. I love that many of the pieces read like a story, a few that I particularly loved were “Nice to Meet You”, “August”, “2 Degrees Celsius”, “Animal Play”, and “The Ending I Hope For”. I can definitely see myself coming back to these poems time and time again.

While I loved that AGIASS read like a reminiscence, I found it hard to follow at times and thought it could have benefitted from being slightly shorter. Still, it was a really enjoyable read and very accessible making it a great collection for anyone looking to dip their toes into poetry more.

I’m v excited to see what Jasmine releases next!!

3.5 stars

[Charley Thomasin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I expected greatness, I didn't expect SUCH greatness.