Official Review: Black Sheep's Soul by XVE

Yvonne Monique · Post by **Yvonne Monique** » 26 Sep 2020, 11:42

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Black Sheep's Soul" by XVE.]

4 out of 4 stars

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Black Sheep’s Soul is a collection of poems, consisting of 214 pages and an appendix of another 21 pages, which is fairly long for a poetry book. The author, XVE, makes us participant of the thoughts, dreams, love stories, and disillusions of a ‘black sheep’, presumably the author himself (as it is mentioned a couple of times to be ‘a book of self’).

The author cleverly plays with different fonts, bold, cursive, underlined, and italic texts. This makes the reading of the book interesting and not monotonous at all. I found the book well edited with hardly any mistakes. Although this book falls into the poetry and drama category, the free verse poetry is not always recognizable as such and can easily be enjoyed by readers who normally would not read poetry.

I believe that this book is a very personal one for the author. The poems go deep into the mind and soul of the ‘black sheep’, talking about his doubts, confessions, worries, and anger. Black Sheep’s Soul probably took a long time to complete as one poem even has a footnote in it, 15 years post writing, which shows that the author goes over and over his poems to achieve perfection. The entire book feels like a good friend who takes us into his confidence in his most difficult times. Life has not been easy for this black sheep, and as a result the poems are quite raw and depressing. I could feel his pain.

I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. The reason to do so is because I usually find poetry hard to read, but this book really managed to captivate me. The author’s writing style appeals to me and the message he brings across matches my own point of view. Being an optimistic person myself, I did find some poems a bit too negative though. They made me feel like giving the author a hug and telling him to cheer up.

When life does not go as expected, one tends to look for something or someone to blame. The author occasionally blames God, so Christians might not feel comfortable with some of the poems, although the feelings expressed are completely understandable. The author himself recommends this book for an older, more mature reader. This is probably a good advice as older readers will be able to identify themselves better with the life issues that the black sheep faces. However, for younger readers, this book might be inspirational to understand how older generations see the world. I would not recommend this book for someone who is looking for joyful, optimistic stories. These poems are based on reality, on the difficult life lessons that many of us will learn on the way, and not on a cheerful utopia (and I quote from the book: “…expecting something happy? C’mon, this is me…”).

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Black Sheep's Soul
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Post by **Bertha Jackson** » 30 Sep 2020, 09:21

Does life ever go as expected? I don't think so, and I have seen many instances where people blame others for their life events. Thank you for your review.

Yvonne Monique · Post by **Yvonne Monique** » 30 Sep 2020, 10:51

Bertha Jackson wrote: ↑30 Sep 2020, 09:21 Does life ever go as expected? I don't think so, and I have seen many instances where people blame others for their life events. Thank you for your review.

Very true Bertha, I personally try to take responsability for my own life and actions but not everybody does. Thank you for your comment.

Olabode Joshua · Post by **Olabode Joshua** » 01 Oct 2020, 14:40

Hey Yvonne, there was a book I read a while back that changed my view of poems. I think the author has found a special niche -- people who are the black sheep of their familie. Hahaha...
This is a lovely review!

Saint Bruno · Post by **Saint Bruno** » 01 Oct 2020, 16:50

I am into poems, but I enjoyed reading your reviews. Thanks for the great review and recommendation.

Yvonne Monique · Post by **Yvonne Monique** » 02 Oct 2020, 02:55

Saint Bruno wrote: ↑01 Oct 2020, 16:50 I am into poems, but I enjoyed reading your reviews. Thanks for the great review and recommendation.

Thank you for your kind comment!

Yvonne Monique · Post by **Yvonne Monique** » 02 Oct 2020, 02:57

Olabode Joshua wrote: ↑01 Oct 2020, 14:40 Hey Yvonne, there was a book I read a while back that changed my view of poems. I think the author has found a special niche -- people who are the black sheep of their familie. Hahaha...
This is a lovely review!

Well yes, don't we all feel ourselves like a black sheep now and then (at work, with the family..). That's probably why it's easy to identify oneself with these poems. Thank you for commenting.