Pieces of Me by Shaun Allan

Today I'm sharing my review of Pieces of Me, a collection of poetry by Shaun Allan. I love poetry and it's been a welcome change for me to read some amidst all the crime fiction (which I also love, of course!). Huge thanks to Zoé O'Farrell at Zooloo's Book Tours and to the publisher for my review copy.

 

The Blurb

Poetry is not just words. It’s emotion given form.

A place where grief, hope, love, and uncertainty intertwine. In this collection, we explore the depths of mortality, loss, and mental health, weaving personal experiences into universal reflections.

Each poem speaks to the struggles we carry, the quiet moments of solace, and the truths we wrestle with, offering recognition to those who have felt the same weight.

These words do not seek to provide answers but to remind readers that they are not alone. If you have ever searched for meaning in sorrow or comfort in shared experience, this book stands as an open hand, reaching out.

My Review

The thing I really love about poetry is how it can speak to you, sing to you, make you feel,  make you laugh, make you cry, often within the space of a few lines. Pieces of Me is a collection of poems about the individual, our feelings and emotions, our relationships, our actions, our place in the world, how we perceive ourselves and how others might perceive us. I didn't love every poem in this book, nor did I relate to all of them, and that's OK, I wasn't expecting to. But there are plenty that I liked, and several that spoke to me. And others where I appreciated the message behind the words. 

The opening poem A Song of Angels is heartbreaking, written after the sudden death of the author's mother, and there are other poems with darker themes, touching on mental health issues, loneliness, lack of self worth, although usually with a vein of hope or positivity running through them - Candle, As Time Goes, Introspection, Inside the Inside' to name a few. And if there aren't hopeful words in the poems themselves, then there are in the wee bit of text that follows each poem - the inspiration for it, the reason, the message. One of the most powerful for me was The Face of the Storm with its shocking final line, and interesting accompanying comments and questions. 

Several poems resonated with me particularly - I agreed with the author about the Sea, I breathe differently close to water. The Light, i see you, Lunar Loss, and The Chaos of Me all touched me in different ways. But I think my favourite in the collection is Icarus Wings, about the beauty and agony of love. 

Pieces of Me is a lovely collection which feels personal to the author, but with something for everyone. 

The Author

Shaun Allan is a bestselling, award winning author writing multiple genres, including psychological horror, introspective and emotive poetry, young adult and children’s. He has appeared on Sky TV to debate publishing, is a Wattpad Creator and Adim Founding Creator, and been commissioned to write companion stories for such movies as The Purge: Anarchy, Sinister II, The Boy, A Quiet Place, IT and Amazon Prime’s Panic series. He also holds writing workshops at local schools. Many of his personal experiences are woven into the points of view and senses of humour of his characters, along with the places in and around his home town. His novel Sin has been adapted into a Chapters mobile game titled Straitjacket Lover, and was optioned for television.

Shaun lives with his manic dog, Ripley (believe it or not). He works full time and, though his life feels as hyper as his dog, it probably isn't.