Shaking the Trees Paperback – June 25, 2014

I've followed Azra on tumblr for a long time now so when she announced her book I was super excited. And it definitely didn't disappoint. It's a short read, but it's one you can reread over and over again without ever getting tired of it. Her writing is amazingly vivid and real; it gets right to the core of the emotion and drags it out of you. There's a lot more prose than poetry but honestly, it doesn't even matter what form the words are presented; the way she phrases everything, every single word has a meaning behind it, a story. It's beautiful yet painful sort of catharsis reading this, but it's going down as one of my favourite collections ever.

Azra's words have always inspired me, and I will never grow tired of reading her works. This book was beautiful and I would highly recommend it to anybody, especially any of Azra's followers on tumblr. I enjoyed the different perspectives that she used to make this sort of story throughout the book. It was very intriguing and insightful.

leaves me breathless

Very lovely read. Short, but powerful. Loved it. Can't wait for Tabassum's next work.

Big fan of Tabassum. Even following her on tumblr. She writes beautifully.

I honestly haven’t read a collection like this before, or at least I can’t remember having read one.It is sort of split into months and at the beginning of each one there is this one page short story that tells the events of two people getting to know each other in this heartbreaking manner that only Azra Tabassum can put into words.After which it goes on with poems that are all.. teeth with words that are just violent in the sense that they’re uninhibited.I spent that Monday morning having my heart wrecked by Azra. It’s like that opening line in Fahrenheit 451 when Bradbury says “It was a pleasure to burn”. It really was a pleasure being wrecked by it. Thank you for your words.With that being said I now need a physical copy of this book to hug, sniff and highlight.

I bought this after a friend posted a quote from it on Facebook. In this slim volume, Azra Tabassum perfectly conveys the anger, fear and violence of passionate love, as well as the romance, tenderness and joy, without falling into cliché or cheese. Her words grip you, caress you, devour you and spit you back out. I've never read anything more beautiful. I've had a relationship like the one the book describes and every page rang true. I was stunned that she wrote it at the age of nineteen. I can't wait to read more of her work.Thank you for reigniting my love of poetry and validating my (admittedly slightly unhinged at times) feelings. I'm glad it's not just me. Thank you for writing an honest book about love. Thank you especially for the power in Lessons and Ruin Does Not Look Like You. All women need reminding sometimes, and to be reminded in such a beautiful way is a special jewel to be stashed away carefully and opened in times of need.

Unfortunately, it really wasn't to my liking!.. So I gave it away to charity 😅