Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced copy of this book.

A very lovely and short poetry collection based in folklore. I loved that these were all short form poems that really packed a punch, each one tying in different fantastical elements with the real world. Definitely recommend this collection for people just getting into poetry or looking for a quick and beautiful read!

The Mermaid with Angel Wings is a beautifully written book of poetry that touches on social commentary wrapped in the blankets of fairy tales. It was a very clever writing style and i thoroughly enjoyed it. I definitely feel like it made me want to pick up more poetry books.

I received a copy of this book from netgalley in exchange for an honest and fair review.

A bit short to my taste,,but it was so good. I was expecting more tbh.
This is a great book for anyone wanting to start reading poetry and I highly recommend it.

The Mermaid With Angel Wings By: Betül Kelez is a collection of myth based poetry.

This was a very interesting poetry collection. It's fairytale esk and makes me want to read more poetry. The writing is fairly good and I recommend you give this a try. The social commentary is also an interesting aspect of this collection.

The poems feel like Melusina's workings of inner mind, her thoughts roaming around every words of the poems I read. Beautiful and profound. The short poems and the images binds well into the minds.

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

The Mermaid with Angel Wings is a short but beautifully written book of poetry about a mermaid called Melusina.
Melusina is said to have been born to a demon and a fairy. This book of poems is like a journal of her thoughts and feelings in a sense. Each poem is only short but is creatively written and has a simple but fit well with the simplicity of the poetry and the book itself.
This is a great book for anyone wanting to start reading poetry and I highly recommend it.
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Thank you, NetGalley, for an advanced and free copy of this collection of poetry.

The Mermaid with Angel Wings by Betül Kelez was underwhelming. I chose to read this based on the title and the premise - "The Mermaid with Angel Wings got inspired by the legend of Melusina who is a mythical creature of European folklore.This poetry collection represents her, but maybe also your inner thoughts and feelings every now and then. Did you ever feel like you do not belong anywhere and have to keep parts of your personality to yourself ?" Sounds great, right?

What actually unfolds within these pages are short (SHORT, I mean...SHORT) stanzas of poetry. Which is fine, if that is your thing. But I found myself just starting to enjoy what the author was intending, and then it moved on to the next page, which ended up being a drawing. This is a short collection, full of short stanzas, with a page of pictures in between each poem. It didn't invoke any real emotions in me because I wasn't given the opportunity to really feel anything. If short, fluffy, instagrammable poetry is your forte, by all means this book will be for you. (And hey, who am I to judge that? You do you!) I'm still finding out what kind of poetry I really enjoy, and now I know this just wasn't for me.

I couldn’t download this before it was archived! So sadly wasn’t able to read this as planned. I’d love to read it though!

(P.S. I really do support this person being brave enough to publish their work and hope they don't take my opinion personally.)

(P.P.S. The artwork was super nice!)

I feel bad having to be this person, but it is what it is.

This book just wasn't it for me.

It made NO sense to me and I really did try my best, just so we're clear. I was so intrigued by the beautiful cover, the title and the summary, so imagine my disappointment.

I read it once, but didn't get it.
I went back and read it very slowly, and still didn't get it.
I took a break, gave it some time, came back and guess what? I still didn't get it.

I even went online and looked up the story of Melusine, read a few articles about the lore and the different versions of the tale and what it symbolises etc, etc. I will say, knowing the lore made it easier to piece together some of the connections and understand a little more of what was written, but I still didn't really get what the author was trying to say with her words.

The writing was rather… amateur. As mean as it sounds, it was just very surface level for me. There was nothing hard-hitting, nothing that made me stop and highlight and basically nothing that made me feel.

It was kind of like the author just put some words together that either sounded nice, or thought would be appealing to the masses.

I would definitely like to read something else of theirs in the future, if only to see whether or not I'm actually a huge fan of theirs but this book was just a miss.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Bookleaf Publishing for the digital review copy!

SUMMARY (from Goodreads): The Mermaid with Angel Wings got inspired by the legend of Melusina who is a mythical creature of European folklore. This poetry collection represents her, but maybe also your inner thoughts and feelings every now and then. Did you ever feel like you do not belong anywhere and have to keep parts of your personality to yourself ?

RATING: 3⭐/5
There are NO spoilers in this review.

⭐ FULL REVIEW: This would probably be my shortest review to date. I’ll start with the things that I did like first: which was that I got a glimpse of folklore and mythology that I didn’t really know much about before. I love that I got to learn more about Melusina, and the fact that my introduction to her was through emotions & the supposed inner workings of her mind. I also like the length of most of the poems, and the fact that the book itself was a pretty quick read.

However, there was a lot more that I didn’t like. Unfortunately, I found myself cringing a couple of times with some of the poems, but the biggest thing for me was the disappointment. I went into this fully believing that I would love this book, because it had two of my favorite things — poetry & mythology, but the book as a whole just fell flat for me. Some poems were very creative, and thought-provoking, but most of them didn’t really invoke the level of emotion I thought I would feel.

Overall, it’s a very ‘meh’ poetry book.

📖 WOULD RECOMMEND TO: Fans of Rupi Kaur & Amanda Lovelace, possibly readers who are beginners when it comes to poetry

3.5/5

21 poems in 21 days. This collection by Betül Kelez is a short and sweet taste of the English folklore of Melusina.

I really liked this collection. Sometimes it felt disjointed for me, but I don’t know the story of Melusina so I was just kind of following along the poet’s path.

I was able to connect with some of the poems, and that’s all you could really hope for, is it not?

I really enjoyed the art that was included as well. The one-line continuous drawings being my favourite.

I hope you get to publish an even larger collection next time Kezel, as I would be glad to read it.

The Mermaid with Angel Wings is a short collection of poetry that was inspired by the European folklore. It fixes on the legend of Melusina. There were a few poems that got my attention. I really wish that there were more poems or at least a few longer ones.

The legend interested me so much that I decided to look it up after I finished the collection.

Original Review Posted to Goodreads:

This book is a beautiful culmination of fairy tale-fantasy poetry! I loved every second of it. The beautiful poems told a delicate and raw story that will stay with me a long time. I love everything and anything mermaids and this poetic take on it made my fantasy heart very happy! That feeling of being alone and different, disconnected and longing for a place, resonated with me, it’s something I'm sure most people can relate to. The beautiful illustrations danced on the pages for me, it set the mood and just worked so well with the simplicity of the magic happening in the poems! This book for me was a wonderfully deep experience, even if it was brief it was great. I will be buying up a printed copy ASAP!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookleaf Publishing/BookBuzz for access to this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The mermaid with angel wings is all you want in a short poetry collection that feeds the soul of young girls. Exploring both coming to terms with love and a hindering past, it creates food for thought for young female minds. If you like Rupi Kaur and Amanda Lovelace give this a read, it’ll leave you wanting a little more - just as all poetry should.

Thank you to NetGalley, Betül Kelez and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

A beautifully written collection of poetry, but I found the poems too short to relate to. I loved the illustrations too.

This was a very cute little collection. I didn’t even know that Melusina was a creature that existed. Most times in books, the folklore and mythical creatures are overused. This wasn’t the case here.

The Mermaid with Angel Wings by Betül Kelez is a short collection of interconnected poems about Melusina, a creature that feels like she doesn’t belong because of her biology.

Quite a few of the poems are full of anger and revenge, sadness over one’s self. Despite it being about a mermaid with Angel wings, the story reminded me of what a teenager just recently learning about how to be themselves might feel.

While I liked the poems immensely, the art at the beginning few pages felt out of place.

Luckily, After a few more pages, the art style evened out and fit very well. My favorite art piece was the one at the end. Very tattoo-worthy, if I do say so myself.

This poetry collection is lush and rich and vibrant. Much like the mythology it tells of and the history of mermaids themselves. The collection was relatable in a way I wasn't really expecting and the words flowed beautifully off the page.

I was reading the poetry and all of a sudden the book was done. I was like, is this the end?? Guess it was😊😊. I was really getting into the story when all of a sudden it was done. I love it when a folklore becomes poetry. It has more feeling and it makes the story more intrsting. Beautiful story turned poetry. Loved it!! Wish there was more.

I received a free copy of the book and is voluntarily writing a review

Thank you NetGalley and Bookleaf for the chance to read and review this book!

The premise was interesting, and I think fans of Amanda Lovelace and Rupi Kaur may like this collection. However, it does leave a lot to be desired. This may have made a good writing challenge, but did not make for a good book of poetry. It didn't feel honest, more like someone knows what type of poetry should sell in this market and wrote that.