Book Review: love, and you by Gretchen Gomez #Poetry

By now I’m sure you’ve all heard that one of our own in the bookish blogosphere, Gretchen @ChicNerdReads, has written and published her first poetry book: love, and you.   Well I’ve read it, and now I’m here to talk about why you should too…

Author: Gretchen Gomez

Genre: Poetry

Version: Paperback (142 pages)

Publisher: CreateSpace (April 4th 2017)

Source: Purchased

one day i met a guy
who stole my heart,
we created a world
for ourselves.
and another day
he broke my heart
and shattered
my soul.

i took the tattered
pieces of this
broken soul and
became anew.

– here lies the hurting, the healing, and the learning

love, and you is a beautiful journey that takes you from the lows of a toxic relationship to the highs of discovering inner strength and self love.  In just 142 pages, Gretchen was able to evoke such strong emotions from me.   From sadness to joy (and everything in between), reading love, and you was a roller coaster of feelings. 

See all those flags?!  I had to force myself not to flag every page.

This is such a raw & honest account of what it’s like to be in the clutches of a toxic relationship.  I have never experienced this type of relationship personally, for which I am very thankful.  Even though I couldn’t relate to Gretchen’s situation from personal experience, I was able to gain a new perspective.  I feel I can now sympathize better with friends and family I’ve watched go through relationships like this.  I’m sure many of us have looked at a friend and questioned their relationship.  We may have even asked “why do you stay with him/her?  You need to just walk away!”  I know I have…  Gretchen really shows that inner turmoil of loving someone who is bringing them down.  At the end of the day, YOU have to be the one who accepts the fact that the relationship is harmful, and realize that you are strong enough to remove yourself from it.

my worth is

not beneath

the land you

walk on

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My favorite poems in love, and you were the ones that I referred to as the “realization” & “rebuilding” poems.  The “realization poems” were the ones where Gretchen begins to realize that the relationship was taking its toll on her mental health.  I found myself screaming at my book saying “Yes, Gretchen!  You deserve so much more.”  The “rebuilding poems” were the poems where Gretchen begins to “rebuild” her self image after all the damage that was done.  I felt so empowered reading Gretchen’s words; not only is she telling herself these things, she is also telling everyone out there who may find themselves in a similar situation.

my tears created an ocean

and one day i swam

through that ocean

and made it to shore

– on my own without you

I feel like I was given personal access into Gretchen’s soul.  I learned so much about her within these pages.  My heart hurt through the low points, and rejoiced during the discovery of her inner strength.   This collection of poetry starts in a dark place, but ends on such a beautiful and hope-filled note. 

My FAVORITE passage.

You should read this book if…

» If you enjoy poetry

» If you do NOT enjoy poetry ((Gretchen will change your mind))

» You have experienced a bad or “toxic” relationship

» You know someone in a toxic relationship ((So you can hand it over to them to read after))

» You are a human ((Just read the book already))

You deserve ALL the stars Gretchen, so here they are 🙂

*I do have to disclose that I have followed Gretchen’s blog for almost a year now, and would consider her a “blogger friend.”  Gretchen never asked me to purchase her book, nor review it.

Gretchen Gomez is a writer and blogger from Bronx, New York. First generation Puerto Rican. She’s been writing poetry since the age of 11 and although silenced for many years, she cut the ties with silence. “love, and you” is her first published poetry collection and she is working on other collections at the moment. Gretchen makes art out of all her past experiences.

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You can purchase love, and you at any of these retailers…

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Book Depository

CreateSpace