It’s a beautiful book full of brilliantly written poems that speak volumes to both your heart and soul.

The struggles she faced as a queer, young Muslim woman puts into focus the parallel strife of the everyday brown woman.I really hate being so judgmental about poetry because I’m sure this really means something to the poet, but it’s so disheartening to read poetry like this that has no understanding or appreciation of form or rhythm. Over the summer, I saw a few Bookstagram accounts raving about early review copies of Fariha Róisín’s How to Cure a Ghost.

The greatest scam is us believing that you’re better than us, when you stole all that we were and sold it back, convincing us of our inferiority, spitting on our graves. How to Cure a Ghost is a reminder that our bodies contain histories, and that every time an incident of flippant, casual racism/misogyny/queerphobia happens, it's an accumulation of war and abuse, rape and violence, that have been normalized intergenerationally. She seeks to re-educate throughout, such as in ‘what 9/11 did to us’ – 2,976 Americans died that day.I would highly recommend this collection to any fans of poetry , or just if you want a collection as a starting point i would recommend this one too. If you’re like me, and often quick to dismiss poetry as a result of terrible required reading at school, please be reassured that there is some fucking awesome modern poetry available.

A lot of it hit me really hard—Fariha Roisin is not afraid to pack a punch, but there are also some really beautiful poems about self-love and empowerment. I can't rate a life, and although I understood and resonated with some of the poems, or some bits of them, they don't speak about my own experiences. From ‘time means everything’ ( No therapy for him, years of body dysmorphia, depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, feelings of disgust, self-loathing, tears and hysteria every time I see a goddam fucking child that could’ve been ours) to ‘je ne suis pas folle’ ( why is it that as women we have to validate our stories?

I’m 50+ books into my Goodreads Challenge this year and this is easily the best thing I’ve read so far. I can't dive deeper into the meaning of the poems because they feel as a way to deal with her own trauma and feelings, and it feels wrong to rate them when I have not shared similar experiences.