Neon Soul – Alexandra Elle Book Review

 

Neon Soul – Alexandra Elle Book Review

Going into this book, I was extremely hesitant. I had no idea what it was about because it was gifted to me and a friend of mine just told me to read it with no explanation. So, I ran my bubble bath, settled into relaxation, and opened the book. Neon Soul was definitely not something I expected to read. All of the poetry books I’ve been reading lately have been about being broken-hearted and how sad or angry the author is. There hasn’t been a book of poems I’ve read necessarily about healing the broken heart or the progress of growth after love. Neon Soul made me hesitant because there was a notion of healing from the very beginning of the book. Why would I not want to read about healing….

….or moving on from a broken heart? Well, sometimes we cling to pain of a broken heart and honestly that may be the only thing we have left to keep holding. The sorrow becomes a familiar home and healing seems like an overpriced new house. Although, I was very stubborn in the beginning of the book, I kept reading.

I kept reading because I felt my skin crawl at the idea of  “what if” at each turn of the page. The poetry is well written and the illustrations remind me of Milk & Honey. It makes me sad that most of the newer poetry books are going to be compared to Milk & Honey just because of how popularized it became. I’m not sure if the illustrations in this book were inspired by Milk & Honey or if that was coincidental, but Neon Soul was published after Milk & Honey in 2017. That is probably one of the only cons about the book for me. If I was a writer and wanted to express a story, I would make sure nothing was similar or comparable to another. A book is a work of art just like a painting or a film. Why would anyone ever want something similar? Nonetheless, I recommend this to all my broken-hearted friends. I suggest this book to anyone who is going through some sort of pain. This was an easy read, but I promise I’m going to actually read a longer book soon! If you guys read this book, please tell me how you feel about it in the comments. I’d love to get your opinions on this one!

Quotes from Neon Soul that I found noteworthy: