Official Review: Ruffled Feathers African American Poetry...

[shannonkate8]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Ruffled Feathers African American Poetry and Prose" by Katie Woods writing under the name Hassana Ali.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Ruffled Feathers by Hassana Ali is a beautiful book filled with verse and prose. It mainly features the feat of African Americans. It starts in the Colonial Era when people were brought over from Africa to be used as slave labor. The author goes on from there and follows the plight of African Americans in the United States since their arrival.

The poems are separated into three different parts by the author. The separation highlights certain changes in the history of African Americans. For instance, the first part of the collection ends following the Civil War. It acknowledges the "gentleman's agreement" and the ending of slavery. We know that is not the end, as the author dives into more problems faced by African Americans - segregation.

Honestly, I cannot possibly say enough wonderful things about this collection of poetry and prose. The words seemed to come off the page and paint amazing, emotional pictures and scenes. While each poem was separate and powerful in its own way, I felt that they were all linked together. The way they were woven together made me feel like I was following an individual on their way to Goree Island and into slavery. I could feel the pain they suffered and the joy of freedom, even as it was hindered by the suffering many experienced. I loved this about the book.

That said, readers do need to be wary. This collection of poems is very graphic. At times, I felt myself becoming nauseous as I read. I had to put the book down at times too. I applaud the author for their use of imagery. That said, the author discusses slavery, rape, death, segregation, racism, and much more. I feel as though there should be additional trigger warnings in this book.

In addition, there were numerous grammatical errors. It is difficult to notice these in poetry, given its inherent nature. However, there were issues with punctuation and spacing. It can use another round of editing as it does not appear to be properly edited. Personally, this would be my least favorite aspect of the book.

Overall, I feel this book deserves 3 out of 4 stars. It was interesting, vivid, and details a history many try to forget. However, I had to take a star away for the number of grammatical errors found. Despite this, I would still highly recommend this book to others. Specifically, those who are fans of historical poetry would enjoy this. Given the content, I would not recommend it to younger readers.

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Ruffled Feathers African American Poetry and Prose
View: on Bookshelves

[K-A-Y]

I always feel like poems have a way of sticking with you far longer than you expect it to, so a poem collection like this is bound to have such an impact. This subject matter though might be triggering to some, so yes, warnings would be nice.
I enjoyed this review as well, thank you for that.