Book Review: Fifteen by Amie Woleslagle

You’re not alone.

You’re not the only person who struggles with mental health issues, not the only person with
demons floating in your mind. Amie Woleslagle wrote Fifteen because she deals with them as
well. Not to fix your pain, but to reach out and hold your hand. 

To remind you that you are not
alone, to ask you to stay and make the world a better place. 

Because the world will never be the
same without you and your unique take on life. 

Fifteen is a book of poems crafted from one
teenager dealing with mental health issues to another teenager in the same place. 

It walks
through the battle of pretending to be okay, of having people you thought were trustworthy
shatter your heart, and the battle of not giving in when your brain has given up. 

Fifteen covers
true friendships, embracing joy, self acceptance, and living your faith while struggling with
mental illness, all the while showing that, in the end, flowers will bloom in the ashes of your pain.

My rating:

Sooooooo...I've never really been into poetry. Like, at all. It's not my thing. I memorized a poem or two when I was in school, and I was forced to read some out loud in front of the other students. (other students: aka my siblings #intimidating) So I haven't had a whole lot of experience with poetry (it never really grabbed my interest), and what little experience I did have wasn't the greatest.

All that to say, I actually really enjoyed Fifteen! The cover is the most adorable thing ever, I love the lil' illustrations in the book, it's colorful, and the author has tiny little notes of understanding and encouragement sprinkled throughout the whole book, and this made it so. much. better. Don't get me wrong, the poetry was super good! (though...with as little as I know about poetry, I couldn't really tell you if it's actually *good* or not, I can just tell you from personal experience, haha) But to make this book extra unique and personal, those notes were on point.

The poetry was fun to read. After reading a tiny bit on my friends' blogs, the free verse poetry didn't completely drive me insane like it would've a couple years ago, haha! Most of the poems were relatable and engaging, though there were one or two that I was just blinking at the pages going "...what in the world is this supposed to mean?" Again, I'm definitely not an expert on poetry, so it was probably just me, haha!

The themes in this book are...*chef's kiss* Depression. Anxiety. Mental illness in general. Suicide. Just...yes. So much yes. Y'all know that those are issues close to my heart, and Ms. Woleslagle nailed it.

So I know this review is shorter than normal, but I...seriously have no clue how to review a poetry book. *hides* Anyway, if you enjoy poetry, definitely check this one out!!

*I received an e-copy of this book from the author for promotional purposes. All thoughts are my own.

Are you a poetry fan? Grab your copy of Fifteen!