I Love You, Call Me Back: Poems

“I Love You, Call Me Back” by Sabrina Benaim is the 2nd collection of poetry by said author.This was a wonderful 2nd collection that deals with loneliness, mental health, anxiety, & the relationship between a mother & daughter. The author is both getting used to living on her own, dealing with medication & therapy, owning a new dog, & dealing with her mother being diagnosed with a life threatening prognosis. All of this also occurring during lockdown.I enjoyed this collection… but I think I need to let it sit with me & possibly read it again before I compare it to the first collection or decide ultimately how I feel about it. I heartily recommend it, however I also know the heavy emphasis on family can sometimes be alienating to me.That said, I did recently re-read “Depression & Other Magic Tricks” (Sabrina’s first collection) for the third time, & I still find said collection so impactful. I do feel like this 2nd collection needs to be read again without being read quote so close to the first.I adore the cover & how it thematically goes along with the first collection’s cover. Also, what a great title, especially in a book focused a lot of conversations.

I love Sabrina Benaim, she is such a great poet. This book focuses a lot on her mom and it was really beautiful to see that relationship put into her writing since her previous work had a lot of poems about her father. Honestly, in a totally non stalker way, I feel like I know Sabrina and I really appreciate her work.There are poems about preparing to lose someome you love, about being alone, loving yourself and poems simply about how she lives and sees the world.I hope she comes back to Louisville soon!

It was a gift to my daughter-in-law who is a poet and she loved it.

This is the second book of Sabrina Benaim I have purchased and it did not disappoint!

Great bath read!

Sabrina does it again, an excellent second poem collection

I found it hard to read, not because it was bad but because the author's agony and grief is so raw, it's almost unbearable. This is a sad collection, but it's beautiful at what it does.

In 2020, a year of loneliness, illness ,and lockdowns, Sabrina Behaim’s poems explore the month of July. Fighting the problems of mental illness, she has the additional burden of her mother’s diagnosis of an aortic aneurysm when she is far away and can only be reached by the phone. She also has the sorrow of the end of a relationship and the need to move past grief.The poems are a testament to resilience. Even when things are dark, Sabrina finds delight in eating ice cream for dinner and singing loudly. It’s good to remember that in darkness there can be light and moments to remember.I thought the poet did a good job making mental illness relate-able. We all face the same sort of problems and the loneliness of the lockdowns made it worse for everyone, but for someone struggling with mental illness it takes even more courage to find the bright spots.The poems are formatted in different ways. Some are formatted in lines of different lengths to emphasize words and feelings, others are great blocks of text. I admit I prefer the ones that are formatted. Dense block of text are off-putting, but they do convey a message.This is a book I think many of us can relate to after the trials of 2020. It’s good to have more freedom.I received this book from Dutton for this review.

This book is so good, I think Sabrina's poetry is getting even better with time. The book is filled with heartbreak and is so relatable, even to those who aren't going through a breakup. You will hurt for your past self, or hurt for her. Highly recommend.

Love this book, easy to read but so insightful it jus resonates at every page. Have read it a few times already

Beautiful poetry. Sabrina Benaim is excellent as always.