BLOG TOUR: Pillow Talk by Alyssa Cataluna
Monday, April 5, 2021
I am not very fond of reading poetry, and I've just divulged this information in my philmyth readathon tbr, but I have always enjoyed reading poems made by people that I may not know personally, but I know even on a surface level. This is, I guess, my very first review of a poetry book here on my blog so go easy on me.
Title: Pillow Talk
Author: Alyssa Cataluna
Published by: Self-Published
Published on: April 4, 2021
Format: E-book
Rating: 4.5 ✨ (5 stars on goodreads)
Synopsis:
A collection of poems carefully picked to describe my teenage years while suffering from Bipolar II Disorder.
When I first made this booklet, I initially had a more pessimistic theme in mind. I had wanted it to be the anti-thesis of the "Love Conquers All" idea that had gotten popular in the mainstream.
But as I got older, I realized that it described the vicious cycle that I was stuck in. I noticed this pattern while I curated my poems for my booklet--my strongest poems were often written at my best or at my worst.
But it's never one or the other, it's a slow transition. Like I said, a cycle.
The poems in this booklet were a manifestation of my symptoms. It's not perfect, and it's a whirlwind of emotions but I hope you grow to appreciate the vulnerability like I did.
Trigger Warning: Depression, suicide ideation, and self-harm
* * *
It's not easy having people know your innermost feelings and desires and I admired Ysa for putting her thoughts down and sharing it to the world, which, I think is important now more than ever. Pieces like Pillow Talk could find someone who shares the same emotion and find solace in Alyssa's writing.
This poetry booklet is heart-wrenching and raw. It feels as if a friend is pouring her heart out to me with nothing but her mind, her world, herself.
PILLOW TALK noun (n)
Private conversations, endearments, or confidences exchanged in bed or intimate circumstances between spouses or lovers.
Now, one might mistake, from the title alone that this poetry book is a conversation of love, but it's more of a one sided conversation, a one person letting you know her thoughts, not to the person she is talking to, but to her notes, on her paper, only on her mind.
One of my favorite poems in this collection is titled, AGAIN, because I feel like it's what every person falling in love feels like -- like they could do anything, be anything, and make something -- yet there's an overwhelming feeling of an ending looming...
As I went on to read this in one sitting, let me tell you how I felt, because that's what poems are for, right? For me this felt like a song that started mellow, trying to tell you who she is and baring to you how she is then you came and she came with her walls down and by this point the song picks up its pace along with my heart, which is now racing because her love is an overwhelming emotion and I can feel it. Now it's ending... it's ending and all her thoughts run free inside a cage she has no way of getting out, and then it ended. I really thought there was more and the abrupt end got me, like what? I thought there would be a few more pages. Well, I stared at the wall for a few more minutes after the fifth.
Lastly, this book is bared emotions and you'll feel like you're inside her heart and you'll be all her physical manifestations of what's happening inside her mind, so please heed the warnings that were thankfully included before the start.
Thank you, Ysa, for sharing your art and for sharing your heart. ♥️
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alyssa Cataluña, the author of PILLOW TALK, is a bookish content creator from Cebu, Philippines. She likes to illustrate portraits in her free time and aspires to be an Audiobook Narrator in the future. She also writes poetry, apparently.
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APRIL 4
Emman | | Emmzxiee_07
Elena | | TheQueenReads
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