Posted April 17, 2017

“Born to Love, Cursed to Feel”
Samantha King

By HANYA ALKHAMIS

Samantha King’s “Born to Love, Cursed to Feel” is unlike any other book that I have ever read. The title of the poetry conveys the main message in it, that love is a natural, beautiful and perhaps even a preordained thing, but the feelings that come with it sometimes feel like a curse.

The book is a true celebration of love; it celebrates the good, the bad and even the confusing elements of this mysterious phenomenon that we call love.

The book is filled with poems that talk about love, loss, regret, redemption and moving on. The poems are truly captivating. The author uses modern prose in her poetry, that is easily understandable to readers.

As one continues reading the sequence of the poems, they become even more understandable and relatable. One is able to think more about the ideas that are contained in them.

There are poems in the book that are relatively short; these ones get straight to the point and are characterized by sharp statements. There are however others that are longer. These ones are more personal and one can the great lengths that the author went to develop.

The book is a representation of the many struggles that lovers and love seekers go through. For anyone who has ever been in love or who is looking for love, most of the assertions made by the author will be well too familiar. The book is relatable to so many people, myself included.

As many inspirational and uplifting quotes as there are in the book, there are also many heartbreaking quotes. The author does not sugarcoat anything and is therefore very real and authentic. Anyone who reads the book will be confronted with a reality check, but at the end, one is likely to emerge feeling inspired and uplifted. Even in admonishing her readers, King does this with subtlety.

For example, in one poem, she talks about how people often desire what others have. She uses the “grass is greener on the other side” anecdote and mentions that the grass in indeed greener on the side when one individual stops watering his or her own. This is a cheeky statement that is supposed to jolt the reader into reality and educate him or her about only concentrating on his or her own life and that one is always in control of his or her desires.

The poems are also written with a lot of sympathy. Although the author is candid, a sympathetic tone is observable in her words. This is perhaps because she has gone through some of the things that she is describing in her poems. This includes bad relationships where she explores things such as frustration and pain.

Even in exploring these aspects, King does not fail to include little nuggets of hope in between. It’s like confronting the reader with the harsh realities of life but, at the same time, assuring him or her that there is hope.

Perhaps the greatest lesson from all these poems is that we are all unique characters. The struggles and tribulations we go through including those ones related to love are what builds our unique characters. Therefore, we should not be fazed by these struggles, rather we should strive for redemption and move on where necessary as this is part of development and growth.

Another aspect of the book that I loved and that I found truly inspiring and uplifting is the many affirmations contained in the poems. Throughout the book, King provides subtle affirmations that anyone can use for guidance and to find strength and hope in the face of adversities of love including painful break-ups.

For example, King writes, “I will no longer mourn the inches of me that loved you.”This is an affirmation that anyone who has been heartbroken and who is having a hard time moving on can use. I found these affirmations very inspiring and uplifting and, when reading the book, I always made sure to highlight them.

Overall, “Born to Love, Cursed to Feel” is truly a one of a kind book that I personally loved reading. I was, in fact, speechless after reading this book mainly because of how relatable to my life I found it to be. The book provided me with some crucial life lessons and left me feeling inspired as well as uplifted. I would recommend this book to any lover of poetry and people who are generally going through love related issues in their lives.

• Title: “Born to Love, Cursed to Feel”
• Author : Samantha King
• Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing, New York
• Price: $10.61 through Barnes and Noble. Paperback form on Amazon, $9.27, on Prime with free shipping. $9.99; an e- book version costs. $16.99 paper back on Amazon.
• Length: 160 pages
• Language: English
• Released: Sept. 27, 2016
• Rating: 3.5/5