Review of It's Always Darkest Before the Dawn

[Mozi Ken]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "It's Always Darkest Before the Dawn" by Hali Thomas.]

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4 out of 5 stars

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Drug addiction is a very destructive behavior. It affects everything about you. It affects your physical health, your mental health, and your emotions. It changes you into an entirely different person. Sadly, it also affects the people around you. It makes your relationship with them unsteady. This emotional poem, It's Always Darkest Before the Dawn, was written by Hali Thomas. It told the story of the life of a woman addicted to methamphetamine.

This poem started with the character expressing her feelings of heartbreak. Her lover had cheated on her with her best friend. This hurt her so much because she felt betrayed. As much as she hated him for cheating on her, she still loved and longed for him. It also seemed like her lost relationship was physically abusive. So I wondered why she still wanted him. Then, in one of the poems, she divulged her addiction to meth. Interestingly, each time she talked about it, she warned readers strictly against it. She affirmed its devastating effects and what it was doing to her. However, it seemed she couldn't break free from it. Would she remain chained to this addiction forever? What changed her life?

I usually avoid poems when selecting books to read. But when I read the description of this one, I was intrigued. So I picked it up, hoping it would be a good experience. I wasn't disappointed. I understood most parts of the poem. I often thought that poems were written in tasteless words with a monotonous tone. I was proved very much wrong by this book. This was because it took me through a ride of many emotions. I felt anger, jealousy, regret, deep sadness, happiness, satisfaction, and so many other emotions. I was surprised at the way a few words were used to pass strong messages. I had a good mental image of several of the descriptions in the poem.

As much as I liked a lot of things about this book, there were some things that I disliked. The arrangement of the poems in it seemed haphazard. It was a collection of connected poems that weren't arranged in any particular order. The ending of one did not follow the beginning of another. The end of some of the poems left me with questions. When I began reading the next one, it did not answer my questions but rather left me with more questions. Aside from these, I was touched by the character's love for her son, Zaiden. I agreed with her about what a mother's love can be like. I also felt sad for her about the abuse she experienced from someone she trusted the most.

I rate this collection of poems 4 out of 5 stars. I found some errors. It was professionally edited. I removed a star because of the way the poems were arranged. Some readers might find it confusing. The poems eliciting too many questions in a reader's mind can cause some to become frustrated and give up reading the book. It might also make them skip some parts of the poem. I recommend this book to the heartbroken. I also recommend it to those fighting to break free from drug addiction and to those who might have experienced sexual abuse sometime in their lives.

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It's Always Darkest Before the Dawn
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[Favour Ugwu Chidinma]

Addiction to negative vibes is very bad and not encouraging. I might consider reading the book. Thanks for the beautiful review.

[Victory Okpe]

This must be a good read. I could relate to your experience because I've been in the company of drug users and how it wasted the lives of many. Good review!

[Zillionaire_me]

I really do not like reading books with poems in them. Since this book talks about drug abuse and I'm interested in knowing more about how to handle victims of addiction,then I think this is the kind of book I find interesting.

[Charles Babbage]

Drug addiction is a major problem on many countries of the world today. Its not something that is to be joked about. Many youth die because of it.

[Mhiz Vyi Vyan]

This book will be helpful for the public who are guilty of drug addiction. Nice review, well done.

[Malthide Jones]

This sounds like an interesting poem that will explore a lot of emotions. Thanks for the summary I can't wait to read it.

[Temi Book]

Addiction to drugs is very bad, especially when uncontrollable. Life will always hit us hard, it’s left to us to find a way to deal with it without destroying ourselves.

[John Aburzzi]

Addiction is a course to be studied on its own its vast and broad. The society should be enlightened about the consequence of addiction and also on how to treat and addict.

[Oluwa Tomisin]

Drug addiction is really terrible and seeing that this is a book of poems that is about a woman addicted to methamphetamine this will bring awareness to the evil effects of drugs. Great review.

[Ogechi Okonkwo]

This is an interesting and a fascinating review. I loved how you captured every aspect of the book. I did enjoy reading your review. This is an interesting one.