Review by Toni - Sticks and Stones by Chelsea DeVries

They tell you about the dangers of riptide but no one warns you that you could be swept down into the riptide of who someone else is. 

-Drowning In An Ocean of No Tomorrows

Hello!  It has been a while since I reviewed some poetry and checked in.   I am excited to be writing and talking about books.  I am finally really more again and I feel myself and inspired.  This reading was  such a good way to get back in the groove.  

 I am starting it off with Sticks and Stones by Chelsea DeVries. Available at Amazon.

Here is my review: 

I have never read a book like this before.  For me it was a journal of prose and honesty that was completely relatable.   I love the current theme in the book.  Applicable to our work places, and social media.   I read it in two sittings.  My favorite piece is an Angel in a Red Dress.   It is what I do and how I think when I no longer care who is watching me.  My vice is the red lipstick and I will forever hear that when I go in and put on my red lips ... for me it is how I do me and how I have learned to love me.   (goosebumps)

Mostly through out the book I was amazed at the trauma and the resilience.  How could one go through so much and still write it all down and face it?  How could they use all this trauma and continued pain to share and to inspire.  

It is one of the best collections I have read in a long time.  I have to say because it is on my level of comprehension and as a whole I was able to sink in the lyrical symbol parts of the poetry that sometimes escapes me in other poetry. 

I will say this as praise that the poetry that sometimes seemed obsessive is how I write in private and I found kinship in the obsessions and coping of the writing.

I  have journals and journals and poems.  I feel when my writing gets to honest, I start a new journal.   I haven't been able to write it all down and keep it flowing in my life's work because I am not brave enough.  I want to start it over and I want new pages, I am not like this author that could put it together and keep going one after the other.

This is a brave piece of work.  I truly recommend reading it and sharing it.    I truly recommend thinking of the things  (paraphrase) ...you want to say to someone and saying to yourself in the mirror also.

Thank you Chelsea DeVries.   I believe your poetry makes a difference in the world and I am so grateful beyond all things that it came to me at the precise right time.  And I do have faith the size of a mustard seed so I grapple and fail a lot.   And the scripture references were very comforting to me as this is what I am familiar.

Mostly I am sorry for the things you had to endure to write that beautiful book.  

Epic, powerful, painful and inspiration.

More about the book:

In Sticks and Stones, DeVries paints a poetic picture of rising above toxicity, love found and love lost, and delves into what it means to find strength in the human spirit. Through poetry, the reader finds a voice of strength and the rebuilding of one's heart a home with all the sticks and stones thrown upon it. Newly expanded with more full color photos, 41 new poems, and a rewrite of Drowning in An Ocean of No Tomorrows, DeVries shows a full poetic picture of turning pain into poetry in order so you can rise above whatever is pulling you under.

About the Author:

Chelsea DeVries wanted to be a writer at the age of 7. Her first publishing credit came at the age of 14 with a poem in a student anthology. She then wrote nonstop while doing IB classes in high school. She published two YA novels while still in high school which after over 10 years she rewrote as a NA romance that she looks to put out as her next publication. She is a seeker of justice and uses her words to free this world’s outcasted, peculiar, and underdogs from the chains that bind them. When not writing she runs and does PR for authors and musicians with her bookish brand The  Smart Cookie Philes. Though she’s Florida born and raised, she has New Jersey in her veins. She currently lives in Port Richey, FL with her squad of two dogs. In October 2020, DeVries was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome which is a form of Autism.

Thank you to Serena at Poetic Book Tours for inviting me to be part of the really awesome tour.

For more information and great posts please follow along with the Blog Tour.

Follow the online tour with hashtag #sticksandstonespoetry

Advance Praise:

“This collection of poetry and innovative thinking by Chelsea DeVries is a remarkable work of words. Sticks and Stones: Full Story Edition is a definite read, and please, read the dedication at the beginning of the book, and then you know the set stage for this book. It is personal. The words almost float across the pages, bringing different situations and emotions to light, in a very toxic world. After reading this, I realized what the title actually alludes to, and how it just fit this unputdownable collection. Such a wonderful read. My favorite was Perks of Being a Wallflower which starts with ‘I’m just a girl, Really strong, like petals on a flower, I wilt.’ I liked this so much, I read many of the poems twice. I look forward to reading more by this poet. Sticks and Stones is a definite recommendation.” –Amy’s Bookshelf Reviews.