Review of Hold Your Breath

[Justine Ocsebio]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Hold Your Breath" by Rana Bitar.]

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5 out of 5 stars

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During a peaceful vacation in Nova Scotia, Canada, in 2020, Rana Bitar created a collection of poetry that speaks of the melancholy and tranquility that come with isolation under the threat of the COVID virus. Hold Your Breath is a poetry book that contains the author's sentiments during the time of COVID-19, a mirror of a world that seemed to have slowed down for everyone.

Rana Bitar is an excellent poet. Using long sentences written in free verse style, Bitar tells a narrative through her poetry. It's like she's illustrating a story, which is an aspect that I like the most about the book. Each poem has a title and a date for when it was written. 

Bitar's poetry is laced primarily with sadness and frustration. Like an empathetic artist, she echoes all our grievances and sentiments during the chaos brought by the COVID pandemic, especially at its height in 2020. She also shares some of her inner thoughts about living with her husband and kids. The author has a remarkable way of painting a picture in your mind and making you feel all sorts of sympathetic feelings. I don't have anything to dislike about this poetry book. It is short, making it the perfect material to read when you just want to pass the time. The text is free of any objective errors, so I assume the book has excellent editing quality. 

I commend the narrative-like style of poetry, and I find the sentiments all relatable. I don't have any reasons to deduct a star, so I'm giving it a perfect rating of 5 out of 5 stars. Poetry enthusiasts who are into melancholic pieces that speak of modern-day conflicts should pick up Hold Your Breath and give it a shot. If you're into simple and short poetry collections, this is the right book for you.

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Hold Your Breath
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