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A Life Cycle: A Guide to Healing and Rediscovering Yourself
A Life Cycle, Nicole Asherah's debut book, follows the introspective process of transformation after emotional hardship through poetic language. Asherah serves as a guide through the sections of her book while also allowing the readers to see the words as their own. A Life Cycle is broken into sections after a traumatic event that represents the final tipping point. What follows is The Shattering: a deep dive into the suffering of fully losing one's sense of self and safety, The Healing: a journey through processing layers of trauma to reach the root hurts of childhood, Light Shines Through: an exploration of reigniting hope and learning to find joy, and The Loving: a discovery of what love is and how the act of loving has much more to do with one's self than the person receiving the love.
This book transcends the genre of poetry because of its ability to universally help people process and name feelings that often elude words. This book is for anyone developing, hurting, healing, or becoming new versions of themselves. She knows this because that is exactly what she was doing when she wrote it: healing childhood trauma, processing a sexual assault, and learning how to experience joy.
This book transcends the genre of poetry because of its ability to universally help people process and name feelings that often elude words. This book is for anyone developing, hurting, healing, or becoming new versions of themselves. She knows this because that is exactly what she was doing when she wrote it: healing childhood trauma, processing a sexual assault, and learning how to experience joy.
150 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2022
1 person is currently reading
1751 people want to read
About the author
Nicole Asherah
1 book11 followersArtist and photographer Nicole Asherah focuses on the gritty and conflicting emotional process involved with healing in her powerful and moving Best-Selling poetry book, A Life Cycle: A Guide to Healing and Rediscovering Yourself (March 14, 2022).
Normalizing emotional processing, Nicole expertly knows how and when to dive into heavy topics and emotions. Her insight and perception come through clearly in the instances of hope and joy she interweaves throughout the narrative, a reminder that life is never just one thing. A Life Cycle strikingly champions the idea that life always holds the propensity for change.
The daughter of a psychologist, Nicole has always been fascinated by understanding deep mental health problems to bring light and empathy to their situation. Between the ages of 11 and 16, she worked as a peer counselor for teenagers struggling with depression, anxiety, abuse, suicidal ideation, self-harm, and eating disorders. She learned through responding to individuals’ pain what connects people's experiences and uses that in her artistic analogies and vivid descriptions.
Normalizing emotional processing, Nicole expertly knows how and when to dive into heavy topics and emotions. Her insight and perception come through clearly in the instances of hope and joy she interweaves throughout the narrative, a reminder that life is never just one thing. A Life Cycle strikingly champions the idea that life always holds the propensity for change.
The daughter of a psychologist, Nicole has always been fascinated by understanding deep mental health problems to bring light and empathy to their situation. Between the ages of 11 and 16, she worked as a peer counselor for teenagers struggling with depression, anxiety, abuse, suicidal ideation, self-harm, and eating disorders. She learned through responding to individuals’ pain what connects people's experiences and uses that in her artistic analogies and vivid descriptions.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
April 8, 2022
“sometimes losing yourself really means letting go of who you used to be.”
first off, i would like to start by saying thank you to the author for letting me read an arc of this book! i am truly grateful that i got to read something so beautiful and captivating.
as someone who doesn't usually read books in this genre, i can say that this book is a great introduction to it. the poetry has so many layers and such a deep story to it and with each line, i got to know more about the narrator and their life. a life cycle got me to reflect on my own life because this book just provides you with a timeline that i, personally, related to a lot. the book being divided into sections truly enhanced how i understood the story that was told. i was captivated and hooked just by the first chapter and up 'till the end. thank you to the author for sharing your story in this amazing piece!
first off, i would like to start by saying thank you to the author for letting me read an arc of this book! i am truly grateful that i got to read something so beautiful and captivating.
as someone who doesn't usually read books in this genre, i can say that this book is a great introduction to it. the poetry has so many layers and such a deep story to it and with each line, i got to know more about the narrator and their life. a life cycle got me to reflect on my own life because this book just provides you with a timeline that i, personally, related to a lot. the book being divided into sections truly enhanced how i understood the story that was told. i was captivated and hooked just by the first chapter and up 'till the end. thank you to the author for sharing your story in this amazing piece!
Read
August 7, 2025"Listen to me when I tell you
All I can give is myself.
But myself holds no love,
Not for you,
Not for me,
Truly not for anything.
Love is a currency
I ran out of
Way before I ever understood its worth.
I’ve tried to replicate it with kindness and intimacy
But when you hold it up to the light,
It never seems quite right."
I received a free copy of the ebook from BookSprout in exchange for my honest review.
A big huge thank you to the author, Nicole Asherah, for allowing me the chance to read this collection. Poetry is something I hold very close to my heart, a deep dive into human emotions that are too complex to ever truly comprehend. I've always been fascinated by those who are able to take words and shape art out of them, and Asherah's debut is art. A beautiful collection that explores grief and healing, I have grown so used to approaching poetry with caution out of the fear that it won't resonate with me, that I was not only caught off guard by the impact some of these poems had on me but also struck by the talent shown here.
As with most collections, some poems hit harder than others and I think the beauty of that is you can always revisit different sections according to whatever you're going through in your life. This collection is meant to connect, to reach out and say I understand. I know. I'm here. The finished product is a culmination of grief and hope and love made up of Asherah's talent with words and her understanding of the need for human connection.
All I can give is myself.
But myself holds no love,
Not for you,
Not for me,
Truly not for anything.
Love is a currency
I ran out of
Way before I ever understood its worth.
I’ve tried to replicate it with kindness and intimacy
But when you hold it up to the light,
It never seems quite right."
I received a free copy of the ebook from BookSprout in exchange for my honest review.
A big huge thank you to the author, Nicole Asherah, for allowing me the chance to read this collection. Poetry is something I hold very close to my heart, a deep dive into human emotions that are too complex to ever truly comprehend. I've always been fascinated by those who are able to take words and shape art out of them, and Asherah's debut is art. A beautiful collection that explores grief and healing, I have grown so used to approaching poetry with caution out of the fear that it won't resonate with me, that I was not only caught off guard by the impact some of these poems had on me but also struck by the talent shown here.
As with most collections, some poems hit harder than others and I think the beauty of that is you can always revisit different sections according to whatever you're going through in your life. This collection is meant to connect, to reach out and say I understand. I know. I'm here. The finished product is a culmination of grief and hope and love made up of Asherah's talent with words and her understanding of the need for human connection.
March 10, 2022
When I first got the ARC of this book through Booksprout I had no idea how much it would resonate to me, this book was definitely a page-turner for me, it came to me in a moment I was really needing to hear a lot of these things, and made me feel a little less alone. I found the poetry so beautifully written, and I tend to hate a lot of contemporary poetry so this must say something about the book. The book itself is really short, so it's an easy and quick read, I would recommend it to anyone looking for great poetry and a quick read.
March 6, 2022
I've been trying to read more poetry ever since I realized poetry is much more than just what I read in high school textbooks. I really loved the language used in A Life Cycle. It felt very genuine and entrancing. A Life Cycle contained really interesting analogies that felt like they captured pieces of life that are hard to explain. It made me feel more connected to the quiet moments in life and all the beautiful things that we often take for granted. I think if this kind of poetry was read to us in school more people would fall in love with it.
March 13, 2022
“A Life Cycle”
“Remember how people always say it’s the journey,
Not the destination,
We learn to enjoy things
Because of the struggle it took to get there.
It’s beautiful and it’s tragic
And it’s the only thing we have.
It’s life”
“A Life Cycle” is the debut book by American poet and photographer Nicole Asherah.
It follows the introspective process of transformation after emotional hardship through poetic language.
Divided into four sections, The Shattering (a deep dive into the suffering of fully losing one’s sense of self and safety), The Healing (a journey through processing layers of trauma to reach the root hurts of childhood), Light Shines Through (an exploration of reigniting hope and learning to find joy) and The Loving (a discovery of what love is and how the act of loving has much more to do with one’s self than the person receiving the love), this book is for anyone who is changing healing or finding themselves.
Asherah’s writing is magnificent and somehow describes some feelings I had during my darkest times, or even feelings now. It felt refreshing and confronting in a way to see that I wasn’t alone in this process. I would definitely love to read it again, as we heal through time and I know that these poems will always be there to reassure me.
Though each part becomes more and more lighter, this does not mean that the darkest parts can have happy poems and vice versa. This is a reminder of what life is about. Sometimes, in our hopeless moments, there’s a merry occasion or the other way around; in our happiest memories, there could be some melancholy. Nicole’s personal experience with SA and childhood trauma can be seen here, so as to help herself and others to process this and heal.
In conclusion, I believe that Nicole Asherah is a writer whom I hope will publish more books and I’ll certainly read more of her poems on her page. Her writing style is something so individual and beautiful. If you can, please go buy this book which is out on March 14th!
Rating: 10/10
“Remember how people always say it’s the journey,
Not the destination,
We learn to enjoy things
Because of the struggle it took to get there.
It’s beautiful and it’s tragic
And it’s the only thing we have.
It’s life”
“A Life Cycle” is the debut book by American poet and photographer Nicole Asherah.
It follows the introspective process of transformation after emotional hardship through poetic language.
Divided into four sections, The Shattering (a deep dive into the suffering of fully losing one’s sense of self and safety), The Healing (a journey through processing layers of trauma to reach the root hurts of childhood), Light Shines Through (an exploration of reigniting hope and learning to find joy) and The Loving (a discovery of what love is and how the act of loving has much more to do with one’s self than the person receiving the love), this book is for anyone who is changing healing or finding themselves.
Asherah’s writing is magnificent and somehow describes some feelings I had during my darkest times, or even feelings now. It felt refreshing and confronting in a way to see that I wasn’t alone in this process. I would definitely love to read it again, as we heal through time and I know that these poems will always be there to reassure me.
Though each part becomes more and more lighter, this does not mean that the darkest parts can have happy poems and vice versa. This is a reminder of what life is about. Sometimes, in our hopeless moments, there’s a merry occasion or the other way around; in our happiest memories, there could be some melancholy. Nicole’s personal experience with SA and childhood trauma can be seen here, so as to help herself and others to process this and heal.
In conclusion, I believe that Nicole Asherah is a writer whom I hope will publish more books and I’ll certainly read more of her poems on her page. Her writing style is something so individual and beautiful. If you can, please go buy this book which is out on March 14th!
Rating: 10/10
February 28, 2022
I was expecting some beautiful words and imagery that transports me and while I definitely got that, it would be doing this book an injustice to make my review all about that. This book is so much more than I was expecting. It made me cry but in a therapeutic way which I am not sure I have ever done before from a book. It took experiences I have had and put them into words but even that doesn't do it justice. I am not a writer so it's hard to put how I feel about it in words. It is complex but not in a way that excludes people from learning from it. Maybe the easiest way to explain it is once I finished it, I immediately started rereading it again. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND
April 6, 2022
4.25⭐️
Not usually my type of book but the writing was gorgeous and captivating. Made me view life a little differently. I definitely recommend.
•to the author- thank you so much for letting me read this ARC. It was amazing and I loved your writing so much x
Not usually my type of book but the writing was gorgeous and captivating. Made me view life a little differently. I definitely recommend.
•to the author- thank you so much for letting me read this ARC. It was amazing and I loved your writing so much x
March 9, 2022
Saying this book changed my life feels like an understatement, because what it did I feel was so much more meaningful. It made me face emotions and trauma that I hadn't even noticed I had. It helped me rediscover myself; but in the most gentle and shepherding of ways. It guides you through the very real process of "Healing", and all its phases. With the way this book is organized, it allows you to see where you are in your healing journey and supply you with thought provoking questions of "Where do I go from here?" Afterwards. This isn't your ordinary poetry book, as titled, it truly is a self-help book as well. Asherah has a way of writing that truly feels like they are your own words, but from a self that has already lived what you're going through and letting you know that you'll make it out alright. It's a gift. This book isn't one that you can finish in one go, this is a book that you sit and take your time with, you move at your own pace as you go through the pages, uncovering new things about yourself as you let Asherah's words overtake you in a time of reflection. I am so so happy with this purchase and will gladly recommend it to anyone and everyone I know; it is truly a masterpiece.
March 23, 2022
Tenderly written, this debut poetry collection explores “a life cycle” divided into five parts: an unnamed section, The Shattering, The Healing, Light Shines Through, and The Loving.
Despite the seemingly “chronological” order to these sections though, Asherah’s poems do not strictly exude only emotions associated with the words in her titles. Hopeful feelings arise in some of the darker sections. Tinges of sadness and despair speckle some of the lighter ones. All to show that healing is not linear; that the encountering of new wounds does not erase how far we’ve come, but merely shows us how much deeper love needs to yet penetrate.
More importantly, that contrary to how we define a life cycle as the journey we go through from birth to death, human beings actually experience several ones between these two endpoints. To quote the author, we are like “perennials; we bloom more than once.”
Though I am new to reading poetry, no poem in this collection feels like a filler. I even found myself making mental notes of specific people in my life who would appreciate specific poems. The language is accessible yet gorgeous, capturing emotions in an almost cathartic manner.
They say that the first step towards healing is to identify what you’re feeling, so I thank Asherah for a book that articulates the push and pull of transformation, naming emotions that often elude words. I have no doubt that this will serve as a gentle nudge to its readers to see their own journeys through.
Despite the seemingly “chronological” order to these sections though, Asherah’s poems do not strictly exude only emotions associated with the words in her titles. Hopeful feelings arise in some of the darker sections. Tinges of sadness and despair speckle some of the lighter ones. All to show that healing is not linear; that the encountering of new wounds does not erase how far we’ve come, but merely shows us how much deeper love needs to yet penetrate.
More importantly, that contrary to how we define a life cycle as the journey we go through from birth to death, human beings actually experience several ones between these two endpoints. To quote the author, we are like “perennials; we bloom more than once.”
Though I am new to reading poetry, no poem in this collection feels like a filler. I even found myself making mental notes of specific people in my life who would appreciate specific poems. The language is accessible yet gorgeous, capturing emotions in an almost cathartic manner.
They say that the first step towards healing is to identify what you’re feeling, so I thank Asherah for a book that articulates the push and pull of transformation, naming emotions that often elude words. I have no doubt that this will serve as a gentle nudge to its readers to see their own journeys through.
March 31, 2022
I really loved this book! Nicole Asherah’s collection of beautifully written and deeply felt poems is a moving chronicle of pain, growth, resilience and self-discovery. It’s both intensely personal and completely universal. It’s opened my eyes and my heart. Highly recommended!
April 14, 2022
This book is a collection of poetry but it’s more than that. It’s about processing trauma and healing and so much more. It's a short read, but one that packs a powerful emotional punch. It felt like therapy inside of a book if that’s possible. Nicole works through childhood trauma and also sexual assault and so it hit home for me in a personal way. As with most poetry, I think it’s a book that needs to be experienced more than once and so I plan to go back and re-read again and again. The poems feel tender and hopeful all while dealing with darkness and pain. If you know me, you know these poems are right up my alley and remind me very much of the style of poetry that I also like to write. Her use of language and imagery is masterful and I highly recommend this book!
April 3, 2022
A life cycle was an incredibly soothing read, despite it encapsulating author’s very own traumatic experience derived from sexual assault. We’re presented with abstract, yet eloquent chapters that highlight her healing processes and journey of overcoming her trauma.
Asherah discloses that recovery is not easy for any victims of sexual assault, but that it is possible with having faith and love in oneself. This book was definitely a one-of-a-kind recount from Asherah, filled with poetic passages that have the ability to uplift your soul. I’m not a victim myself, but I certainly felt soothed and at peace upon finishing this book. I highly recommend to all!
Asherah discloses that recovery is not easy for any victims of sexual assault, but that it is possible with having faith and love in oneself. This book was definitely a one-of-a-kind recount from Asherah, filled with poetic passages that have the ability to uplift your soul. I’m not a victim myself, but I certainly felt soothed and at peace upon finishing this book. I highly recommend to all!
March 31, 2022
I just finished reading A Life Cycle by Nicole Asherah and highly recommend it. Although the book is to help heal trauma, I enjoyed each poem on its own and feel it is some of the best poetry I have ever read. Nicole Asherah has an amazing command of words. Her poetry gets inside of you in such a riveting way; I can't stop thinking about her poems. I am not aware of struggling with trauma but found myself unable to put the book down. Nicole describes feelings that I didn't even know I was having yet when she says it I am right there with her. This is a book to be re-read. The book is beautifully written and really inspiring.
July 23, 2022
"I don't know when i became something other than what I used to be. It didn't happen all at once, but I never really noticed a shift until I woke up one day to a new person looking back at me."
if that quote didn't convince you to read this book, then i don't know what will.
first and foremost, thank you so so much to the incredible Nicole Asherah for letting me read an arc of this amazing book! i'm just now getting into poetry, so this was a real treat :)
i feel as though anyone in any stage of life can find something to relate to in this book. i found myself in tears because of the way the author is diving into topics of heartbreak and healing in such a raw way that i can relate to, yet making them so incredibly beautiful.
this is by far a 5/5 for me!! congratulations on such an incredible book, i can't wait to read more!
if that quote didn't convince you to read this book, then i don't know what will.
first and foremost, thank you so so much to the incredible Nicole Asherah for letting me read an arc of this amazing book! i'm just now getting into poetry, so this was a real treat :)
i feel as though anyone in any stage of life can find something to relate to in this book. i found myself in tears because of the way the author is diving into topics of heartbreak and healing in such a raw way that i can relate to, yet making them so incredibly beautiful.
this is by far a 5/5 for me!! congratulations on such an incredible book, i can't wait to read more!
August 26, 2022
I don't normally read poetry because I am not the biggest fan of it but I actually really liked this one. I think because it sort of told a story, it was easier to follow. Also, I had an easier time understanding it than I do with most poetry. I especially enjoyed the beginning part of the book.
(Also I appreciated the handwritten note that came with this book since I got it through a giveaway)
(Also I appreciated the handwritten note that came with this book since I got it through a giveaway)
July 1, 2022
A Life Cycle is a well-written, inspiring collection of poetry geared towards healing and growth! A very therapeutic read! A now permanent member of my bookshelf that will help keep my mental health in check for years to come! Highly recommend!
March 2, 2023
I thought the poetry was beautiful. I could relate to almost all of it. It definitely made me feel deeper within myself. I want to read more by her.
August 27, 2022
I absolutely loved this. Stunning style of poetry, great subject matter.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews