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Good news! You can now preorder the ebook version of Don't Let Me Go for only $0.99 (UDS) for a limited time! Those of you who are on my email list have already gotten this announcement delivered straight to their inbox, but it's time for me to share the good news with you guys as well! The regular list price for this title is $5.99 and this discount of $5 off will not last forever so if you'd like a Happy Meal on top of a book you might want to get this title right now. Preorders are currently available through Amazon Kindle, Smashwords, Apple iBooks, Kobo and Barnes & Noble. More retailers are currently being added too. This title officially comes out on August 1st in paperback, ebook and audiobook. Curious to read a preview or to give me some early feedback? You can read the first two chapters by clicking the button below! Please leave your comments in the form because I would definitely like to know what you guys are thinking so far! I'm sure that you've already seen it on the homepage, but I've also already started my next project called After Anderson. I'll post a formal announcement about it later because right now the spotlight is on my first young adult novel that is sure to be a great lighthearted read for both the young and old alike! On top of battling the normal teenage angst that everyone goes through, Joanie is also reeling from her parents’ bitter divorce and having to cope with her mother’s new boyfriend and father’s new family. Alone in a new town and without friends, she turns to passing the time by indulging in her longtime hobby of making toy models of soldiers and is both amazed and shocked when one of them comes to life.
Despite her millions of unanswered questions and having to make sense of new mysteries every day Joanie comes to find a loyal and trustworthy companion in Adler, a lieutenant in the Wehrmacht and a member of the German Resistance during World War II who must also find a way to handle living in modern times on top of being invisible to most of the population. The two of them will have to fight several battles on many fronts in both the physical world and unseen realms as they both try to comprehend Adler’s new existence and piece Joanie’s broken life back together. I'm proud to present you with my second book review from the team at Realistic Poetry International for my poetry book "Innermost" that is available in paperback, ebook and audiobook formats. Click here to read the original post on Realistic Poetry's website or read the copied text below! Don't forget to leave a comment as well! If there’s only two things I understand at a visceral level, those would be trauma and poetry. Innermost by Jamila Mikhail encapsulates both with an astounding breadth, depth, and respect, displaying both the cause and effects of PTSD while somehow managing not to instantly set off my own post-traumatic triggers even once. As a warning, if you do have PTSD, there’s an excellent chance that you will see at least one of your triggers in this book, and I strongly encourage any such reader to treat the foreword as a content warning for the entire volume. Even so, I give this a 5-star rating, without any doubt or hesitation.
With each poem I read, I found fragments of myself throughout. Even the first, “A Man Called Joachim”, reminded me of a man I had loved and lost, yet never had to begin with. “Broken Glass” brought me back to my childhood, even though I’m fairly sure it was about domestic abuse, but that sort of behavior transcends a single scenario. “Black Soul” perfectly records the self-delusions of depression and self-loathing, the relentless belief of one’s own worthlessness, even that one is an innate threat to others. It quietly captures the occasional death wish, the urge to suffer, the need to make the pain stop, regardless of how. Each poem is yet another window into the very nature of human suffering and the manifold ways in which it comes to linger as trauma and post-traumatic stress. While it definitely shows a world of monsters and demons, Innermost never forgets its humanity or compassion, and I’d consider it a must-read for anyone trying to better understand their own past traumas. Even if you don’t find answers, you’ll know you aren’t alone, that others have been where you are, and that death is not the only way out. I am very happy to present you all a recent five-star review for my poetry book "Innermost" that I received from Realistic Poetry International's Honest Book Reviews team. You can read the original post on their website or read the copied text below. I hope that this might motivate you to get your own copy if you've been thinking about it! Author Jamila Mikhail’s book “Innermost” is an emotional and mental poetry documentary that captures some of the author’s darkest hours and coldest moments of her life as she strives to fight against the devastation of depression, rejection, disappointment and a broken heart.
This book reverberates with a passionate, yet lethargic voice of pain that isn’t afraid to confront their imperfect reality, despite the heartache and mental anguish it may cause. The idea of true love is noticeable throughout the book with romantic poems that embody sentiment, compassion, empathy, desire and fantasy- others show us merely the fragments leftover after all has been shattered to pieces... just like broken glass. Poems such as "Broken Glass" remind us of a classic Lifetime movie drama, using the similia "broken glass" to represent the significant damage that has occurred between two hearts and lives due to the grueling effects of alcoholism. In this poem, as with several others, Mikhail's words are evocative and feel real, exposing some of her inner weaknesses and vulnerability to life, as she’s out on a thin limb clinging to the past and dear memories of when she once recalls her house truly being a home. Emotional-based, the author's style of writing is like prose poetry and uses the literary elements of symbolism, metaphors, and situational irony to compare and depict real-life circumstances to figurative scenarios; an example of this is the depiction and comparison of her own internal battle to the idea of being lost at sea. Mikhail uses the figurative depiction "lost at sea," (also the title of a poem) to embellish and emphasize the stormy rapture of turmoil and turbulence impacting her relationship with her partner, in which she is quickly plummeting saying, "…I'm drowning in the waters I know." We take this moment to truly imagine the depths of the author’s fear, lost without compass in a world that has the potential and power to swallow anyone and anything in its way, such as the mighty sea! The feeling is nothing less than devastating. And the fact that the author makes a point to use such a dramatic and intense illustration tells us she is more than overwhelmed, isolated and dubious- she is going under. Will she survive? Living miserably in the gloomy shadows of her own self-loathing and contempt, the narrator struggles greatly with finding inner-peace and finds it nearly impossible to gain any sense of contentment, severely discouraged by the tempestuous winds of adversity. She furthermore accentuates this unforgiving reality when she openly defines the color of her spirit as, “black.” Behind this thought is a poem entitled "Black Soul" that shares the author’s honest viewpoint on how she connects and relates to the color black while figuratively defining its emotional impact and obscurities. The poem is written as an extended metaphor and possesses an intriguing, cryptic vibe and is no coincidence, emotionally, as black as a day with no sun. We must add that from a technical perspective, Mikhail really shows off the usefulness of metaphors in this piece by means of multiple detailed comparisons that stem from her own personal pain, sadness and depression. Each depiction is intimate, and just like the color black, “lack hue and brightness,” ultimately drawing a shadowy portrait of her distressed spirit and consciousness. The poem takes an ironic turn towards the end when she says "Black makes me feel alive. Black is the color of my soul," attaching herself and her very existence to the bleak and mysterious nature of the darkness. Author Jamlila Mikhail’s poetry can speak to so many broken spirits and suffering hearts and I can definitely recommend this book to others. More than a presentation of conflict, adversity and pain, this book reads as a poetic testimony of perseverance, heart, love, courage and transition in which the author digs deep down into her soul and embraces her hearts innermost. |
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August 2021
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