About Jessica Ciencin Henriquez
Jessica Ciencin Henriquez is a Colombian-American writer, editor, and educator. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, Teen Vogue, Time, Marie Claire, Oprah, and more. She holds an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from Columbia University, with a focus in Literary Translation. She lives in Southern California with her son.
About The Book
In her powerful debut, Burn After Reading, Jessica Ciencin Henriquez unveils the hidden layers of grief, shame, suffering, and love. Through a blend of traditional verse and striking erasure poetry, Henriquez explores shared human experiences—from our deepest fears to the courage it takes to reclaim what we’ve lost.
Available for pre-order in English, Spanish, and French, this collection offers an unflinching meditation on what it means to be human. Henriquez extends a hand to her readers, inviting them into the stillness before awakening—a tender space where the ashes of our past selves are held and honored, no longer hidden.
Source: Rev-Publishing
My Thoughts About Burn After Reading By Jessica Ciencin Henriquez
Disclaimer
Before I share my thoughts about Burn After Reading by Jessica Ciencin Henriquez I want to let you guys know that I did receive a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. However, this did not influence my final thoughts in any way and I was actually encouraged to share an honest review which is what I’ll try my best to do.
My Thoughts
I want to start out by saying Burn After Reading by Jessica Ciencin Henriquez was very well written. If you’ve read my interview with Jessica Ciencin Henriquez that I shared a couple of days ago, you know that she is well spoken. Her answers were precise, intelligent, honest and well thought out. Expect nothing less from her poetry.
When I tell you I was blown away by her poetry, I mean it. Her poems were wise, beautiful, touching, honest and raw. I could tell that her words flowed from her heart and she highlighted certain themes that I believe many can relate to such as body insecurities and learning to love oneself. Her poem, Before, literally brought tears to my eyes. How many women have experienced what she has, how many have woken up like that, how many will continue to do so. It breaks my heart. She is so strong and brave to share her experiences and give these women a voice.
Some of the poems are much darker like the one I mentioned. They explore womanhood, violence, abuse, heartbreak and so much more. And others are more hopeful and allow the reader to understand that there really is a light at the end of the tunnel no matter how dark it may seem at this moment.
Structure
The poems are free verse and I think this works very well for the type of poetry that is in the book. It gives both the reader and the writer more freedom with the poems which enhances the experience. Some of the poems are also structured and formatted non-traditionally which I genuinely enjoyed. It really helped make the poems more immersive while maintaining the readers attention and emphasising the feeling they brought out.
Overall
Overall, I very much enjoyed Burn After Reading by Jessica Ciencin Henriquez. In fact, this is officially one of my most favourite poetry collections I’ve read recently and that’s saying something because I’ve read some fantastic ones in the last few months.
It is so clear that a lot of work went into writing, editing and even designing this book. There are so many small details and structural elements that make the book even more special and unique in its own way. Things like this don’t go unnoticed by readers. It’s what tells this book apart from the many other poetry collections out there.
If you enjoy poetry books or are a fan of poetry even in general, I would highly recommend this book. Even if you don’t like poetry, check it out this may make you change your mind. I will add that if darker themes in poetry is triggering to you, this book does discuss some heavy and potentially triggering topics.
You can purchase Burn After Reading by Jessica Ciencin Henriquez here or on Amazon.
You can also find her website here.
Did you enjoy this review? Do you plan to read Burn After Reading By Jessica Ciencin Henriquez? Let me know in the comments located below. Or simply stop by and say hi!
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