3.5 ⭐️ rounded up.

Everything that is here is great, there's just simply not enough of any of it to make intent, actions, or motivation truly compelling. It feels like a house without siding in its current state.

I think Amanda Gorman has a lot of talent and a voice that is authentic and genuine, but for a collection of poetry about such a historical time there was surprisingly little here that really impacted me or that I would feel the need to share with people.

I'm excited/curious to see how she develops as a poet, but this particular volume feels like the experimental but flavorless commentary of a young author.

A true humanitarian and someone I continue to resonate more with every item I read and reread of his oeuvre. The anger he expressed here has only gotten more relevant with the passing of the last 15ish years.

I, too, am a person without a country. But I am not without people and for them I have nothing but kindness.

You know when they say "don't judge a book by its cover"? This is why. It's so pretty.

As for the content of the book...Mel Brooks comedy works in part because of the nearly continuous barrage of jokes; sometimes an a new joke will have started before the previous has resolved. As a result, there's something for everyone's tastes most of the time. This book proves that the same does not apply to YA tropes.

The information-light visual/spectacle-based world building might lend itself well to a movie though.