Review: These Are the Words: Fearless Verse to Find Your Voice by Nikita Gill

 

Focusing on themes of girlhood, feminism, and adolescence, These Are the Words is a poetry collection that feels like being let in on a secret. It is separated into four distinct sections based on the astrological signs in every season and discusses everything the world doesn’t tell you about the truths, triumphs, and struggles of being a teenage girl.

Throughout the book, Gill places herself as the metaphorical older sibling of each reader, offering advice and wisdom to the younger generation. As a result, there is an almost overbearing sense of familiarity in Gill’s words, one that makes the collection feel like a warm hug on a cold winter day. In each section, she gives voice to the realities of first love, heartbreak, friendship, and family, and provides insight into how to cope with these often mercurial aspects of life.

Gill also validates the anger and outrage that comes along with being a girl today, noting how teenage girls are often exploited, undermined, or disempowered in a patriarchal society. To remedy these feelings, she encourages readers to become active agents, to know their worth, and to strive towards being their truest selves.

However, this collection does not come without its fair share of heavier topics, such as homophobia, racism, misogyny, body image issues, mental health issues, and trauma. Though readers should take care when consuming this collection, these issues are handled with great sensitivity and respect. Furthermore, though the collection targets the female experience, the messages within its pages are not limited to them and would resonate with anyone who stands on the precipice of adulthood.

Aoife Connolly