“I promise.
She was
somebody’s light.”
- Title: We Want Our Bodies Back
- Author: Jessica Care Moore
- Genre: Poetry
- Pages: 224 pages
- Publication date: March 31, 2020
Fun fact: I saw Jessica, the author, about the week this book came out at the 2020 AWP conference. The virus was still small at the time, and many panelists canceled at the last minute. A bunch of us showed up to a panel with no panelists, and Jessica ended up joining the improv panelists.
Toward the end of the panel, she mentioned We Want Our Bodies Back. I wrote the name down and put it on my to-read list. Took a while to get the book, but I finally did!
This collection of poems has heart and soul. They empower women, especially Black women. It does not shy away from the abuse and racism that Black women still face in America today.
The book is split up into four different sections, and my favorite is “I Put a Spell on You.” A lot of the poems are dedicated to others, which was cool to see. Some also feel like they should be spoken at a slam poetry session instead of read.
My only critique would be that some of the poems seemed like they just needed one more pass before publication. In a sea of great verses, they stuck out a bit.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It has important poems for everyone to read.
Score: 8.3
Average rating on Goodreads: 4.32/5
Robin LeeAnn 