Official Review: Heart Of Light by Lisa Levine

[shannonkate8]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Heart Of Light" by Lisa Levine.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Heart Of Light by Lisa Levine is a beautifully written collection of poems interspersed with watercolor illustrations. The author discussed a variety of topics in numerous poems. Lisa Levine shared feelings related to change, life and death, love and pain, sadness and hope, and perseverance, among other things. In some poems, the readers are given a glimpse into her life and you can see the past that shaped her.

She also touched on some rather controversial topics. For example, the author discusses religious events and themes, such as Heaven, the Jewish people, and Passover. She even had some words in another language, directly related to the Jewish faith. I had some difficulty with this as I didn't understand and had to pause reading through a poem to look everything up. This may be the only thing I disliked about the book.

In addition, her poems shined a light onto the social injustices seen all over the world, but specifically in Cuba. Most notably, she wrote in one poem that Fidel Castro was "the Moses of the Cuban people."

While I was a little thrown off by the above, it did not deter me from reading the remainder of the collection. That said, this could be a potential downfall for some people, so beware when you begin reading.

However, I found many poems that I liked. I particularly enjoyed "Aloneness." While this may have been the shortest of the collection, it really touched me. To be honest, many of the poems touched me. They portrayed emotions that I believe every person can relate to and encouraged readers to love themselves.

Perhaps my favorite addition to the book was the illustrations. They related to each poem specifically and helped set the mood. I really couldn't get enough of the combination of the words and illustrations.

Overall, I have to give this collection of poems 3 out of 4 stars. Each poem was different. They were not organized in a story-like format which means you can pick up the book, read a few, and move on for the day. I had to deduct a star given grammatical errors I found and the fact that I did have some difficulty reading words at times. Now this may not put off some people, but it did affect the reading experience for me.

That said, I would recommend this to lovers of poetry, with the caveat that if you are not a fan of religious and spiritual material, you may like to move on.

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Heart Of Light
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

[LuciusM]

Great review which is well detailed.

[Dayodiola]

Thanks for the detailed review of an insightful book.

[Doziesixtus]

It's nice you connected with the poems especially Aloneness. I'd equally like to read this. Maybe I could find my muse there.