I don't know where to begin. Listen, as a brown woman of course I gave Rupi a try - that's what we brown girls do, we hold each other up and support each other like crazy because who else will? However, I think we should also be able to speak up when the work just doesn't cut it. Being critical is simply tough love - so don't be so quick to dismiss my negative feeback.First of all, half of this book are one-liners from her first book, and most of her longer pieces felt lazy and ill-thought out. I found myself skipping/ losing interest through most of them. Furthermore, I just can't ignore the more popular pieces she has claimed as her own when any avid reader can tell you they are not. Example 1 : "you must see no worth in yourselfif you find me worth lessafter you've touched meas if your hands on my bodymagnify youand reduce me to nothing" - rupi kaursounds awfully familiar to my favorite quote by Kaija Sabbah:“If you consider a woman less pure after you’ve touched hermaybe you should take a looks at your hands.”Example 2: (This is from her first book) "She was music, but he had his ears cut off" - Rupi Kaur"She was like a piano in a country where everyone has had their hands cut off." - Angela CarterExample 3:"a manwho cries"- rupi kaur"i want more men with flowers falling from their skinmore water in their eyesmore tremble in their handsmore women in their heartsthan on their bodiesmore softness in their height more honesty in their voice more wonder more humility in their eyes."- Nayyirah WaheedExample 4:"Your voice does to mewhat autumn does to treesyou call to say helloand my clothes fall naturally"- rupi kaur(Okay aside from this just being hilarious, here's who she tried to copy)"I want to do with you what spring does with the cherry trees."- Pablo Nerudaand"You wonder why I don'tanswer your 3 a.m. phone calls.When you say "I miss you"I begin to undress myself out of habit." -Sierra DemulderExample 5:"If you got any more beautifulthe sun would leave its placeand come for you"- rupi kaur“Had I told the seaWhat I felt for you,It would have left its shores,Its shells,Its fish,And followed me.”― Nizar Qabbani(Many of you have messaged be about the difference between plagiarism and inspiration, and this is my take on it:If ms. kaur is attempting to give a voice to women through her work, which she claims she is doing, then she should also acknowledge everyone who has "inspired" her. The debate her isn't whether she's a good poet or not, but if she has any integrity....which she clearly doesn't. Many women of color writers, specifically black women writers, have been silenced by her. This is the same woman who "wrote" the following:"I am the product of all the ancestorsgetting together and deciding these stories need to be told"???? How??? By erasing them? By taking their words and signing your name underneath them?and my favorite,"never trade honesty for relatability"Congrats y'all, she played you.)The pieces speaking about some of the hardest topics seem so surface level, I felt wrong reading it. I would never give this to my daughter. Not to mention the randomly sprinkled poems talking about her being an immigrant, all of them felt so out of place and awkward next to her other pieces. Anyways, I could go on and on about how much her work mirrors the work of lesser-known authors, but I think most readers already know this. I feel let down and embarrassed by this author and would never recommend it to anyone. I can only hope she grows up one day and finally finds her voice.