Ol’ Brown Eyes Is Back Book Review!

Hi everyone ❤️ Welcome back to my blog or if you’re new here, welcome in a whole other way! 💃😂 I’m so grateful and excited to be given the opportunity to review a poetry collection today! (“Ol’ Brown Eyes Is Back” by Jennifer Juan to be precise!). It’s my first ever time doing this so this should be interesting 😂

When I was asked to review this book I underestimated how different and difficult it is to review a poetry collection in comparison to a lone story! There is so much you have to fit into the one review and despite the want to go into detail about each poem featured, that would go on forever so I had to compromise and figure out a way to do this semi correctly 😂 Here goes everything!

About the author (An excerpt taken from the advanced copy given)

Jennifer Juan is a cultural melting pot of an artist. She is a writer, a musician, a producer, a film maker and a podcast host, currently residing in the Kent countryside, but dreaming of the ocean. A tornado of darkness and delicacy, Juan creates engaging and powerful projects, using a variety of mediums and platforms, each dripping with her signature playful, yet powerful style of writing. Juan shares her work on her personal website JenniferJuan.com.

Summary (Taken from the advanced copy given)

Jennifer Juan’s poetry collection, Ol’ Brown Eyes Is Back is a triumphant cry of freedom, and an emancipation from the old insecurities and ideals that so many find themselves trapped by.

Filled with honest, healing verses that tell a story of self discovery, healing and the road to self acceptance, Ol’ Brown Eyes Is Back is witty but heartfelt, giving fresh perspectives on millennial life, the perils of romance, mental health and the modern world, finding beauty in life’s hardest moments, and celebrating the joy in the finest.

For everyone travelling through life who needs to hear that they’re not alone, this volume will be a breath of fresh air and a comforting friend, for the good times and the bad.

Review

This collection of poetry was a journey and a half. I always like to feel I have taken something away from whatever I am reading and I definitely did with Ol’ Brown Eyes Is Back! Each poem was it’s own world and in that way it was worth much more than a book with a singular story.

Every word was so well thought out and just fitted and flowed. It was hard-hitting, truthful and insightful encompassing mental health, Juan’s LGBT identity, relationships and existence in general (navigating through life and noting each pivotal moment). I often write poetry myself as well as reading it on other blogs so it was refreshing to take a step back from doing that and connect to it in another form.

Truth be told, there was a lot I didn’t understand or couldn’t comprehend because at the end of the day this is someone else’s experiences and life you’re being let in on but I was occasionally able to relate and I felt that raw emotion the whole way through. The various messages were clear and precise and there were definitely moments when it completely changed my viewpoint on certain situations.

It was so beautifully written that it was hard not to have favourites popping back into my mind when I had finished it. “Do Babies Know That Life Is A Scam?”, “Car Parks” and “Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Obituary” are my top three!

Jennifer Juan is surely a force to be reckoned with and her writing speaks volumes. I look forward to following her journey and seeing where it takes her! “Ol’ Brown Eyes Is Back” is available from the 31st of May in eBook and paperback form through Amazon or JenniferJuan.com. Be sure to get yourself a copy, you won’t regret it!

Disclaimer: I was gifted this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you for reading my review 😉 have a lovely day! 💖

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