I Love You, Call Me Back is perhaps the singular most depressing collection of poems I've ever read, and I think a part of me regrets reading it, honestly.

I more or less liked Sabrina Benaim's last poetry collection a while back, and I thought her writing had a lot of potential, so I decided to give it another try. I do think her writing itself improved since then, and these poems are well-written, but something about them didn't click with me. I'm not sure if it's because the subject matter was so miserable, and I wasn't in the right head-space for it, or what, but I actually originally DNFed this book at the halfway point a month ago before finally caving and deciding to finish it.

Topics covered in this collection include obvious things like grief, loss of a relationship, coping with life in the COVID-19 pandemic, and fear of her mother's health problems, but it also delves into eating disorders, self-harm, and emotional abuse.

One last note: let me be very clear and say that I'm no fan of toxic positivity and my less-than-stellar review has nothing to do with the topics, just with the writing itself. I'll probably call it quits here for my relationship with Sabrina Benaim's writing as I just don't think it's for me, but this collection will hold a lot of value for the right reader.

✨ Content warnings for:

Spoiler

grief, anxiety, depression, eating disorders, self-harm, emotional abuse from a parent, a family member (mother) with severe life-threatening medical problems, loss of a relationship, COVID-19, lockdown, loneliness

Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this review copy in exchange for an honest review!

———
twitter | booktok | bookstagram | blog