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"My personal guidelines, when doing any review, are as follows: five stars means, roughly equal to best in genre. Rarely given. Four stars means, extremely good. Three stars means, definitely recommendable. I am a tough reviewer. I try hard to be consistent. For communication of personal events, this is about as strong as I can remember. Five stars it is, and highly recommended."

"The inexpression of my internal sexuality spilled out to my lips and my kisses tasted like disorder. This book 5 stars you say? TRY 5 MILLIONS STARS! I fell in love right from page .
The book speaks abuse, love, life, death, breakup, self love AKA EVERYTHING I LOVE!
It had a chronological order, in fact every poem was entitled with a date; we go thro a journey with the author, from having a friend to a bestfriend to a boyfriend to lust to love to happpiness to doubt to abuse to hurt to falling down to rising up.
all of this in 50 pages, I can honestly say that this author is a genius.
Here are my favorite poems, i picked only a few because i felt like you need to read from the start to get the journey right."

"The poems are also a beautiful and descriptive way of the author expressing her core emotions towards her encounters. It is a delicate touched natured work of what appears to be covering love, loss, and the feelings that each poem wishes to pass along.

The literature was admirable, and I enjoyed how easy it was to understand the references and poetic lyrical nature of the work. Other poem books are just so hard to relate to or to understand, but this collection was quite the opposite.

As one enters a relationship, they face the initial rush of love, excitement, joy and if it does not work out well, then the anger, loss, feeling down follows through."

"Hristova's poetry is amazing. She crafts language in a way that is both beautiful and powerful as she tackles difficult subjects while promoting female empowerment.
One thing that I especially like about her work is how her poems do not each start on their own page. Instead, her poems will start towards the end of a page and continue on to a next, in a way that is fluid and helps the reader to visually feel the fluidity of her work.
The copy that Hristova sent to us also contains images of her artwork. This art only helps to show the depth and darkness of the feelings painted through her poetry.
So Dewey Readers, for those looking for a new and fresh poet, definitely check her work out! I rate her work as 5 out of 5 Coffee Beans."

"Emmanuella’s poetry is very heartfelt and deep. Her poems are well-written and she’s an extremely talented author. This is a must buy! 🙌🏾❤️👏🏽"

"Unique and lovely, just beautiful”

"How can one possibly rate someone else's poetry and words? It's so very personal, on both sides. For the one sharing and the one reading. It takes such courage to share one's inner most thoughts and put it out there for others. I loved this.

Beautiful and honest, Emmanuela has been able to put into words what so many of us have felt, and what our hearts have not been able to put into words. Hard and clean, in the way you feel after a good cry. Cathartic and real. Absolutely wonderful."

"The Day My Kisses Tasted Like Disorder is a collection of poems written by Emmanuella Hristova and in her book she explores pivotal moments in her life, including the death of her sister and the ‘birth and death of a relationship.’ The poems laced throughout the book are moving as well as poignant and will provoke readers thoughts. The poems are mostly short and quick poems but just because they are short does not mean they have little meaning and poignancy, in fact, they are incredibly profound and will definitely stay in readers memories for a long time, and that is just one quality I love about the incredible The Day My Kisses Tasted Like Disorder."

"[Her] work is not just detailing trauma and suffering, you get poems that remind yourself of when you first fall in love. These reminded me of any relationship I have been, the honeymoon stage, where every new thing is wonderful and what could go wrong? Well, Emmanuella eventually takes off those rose-colored glasses and shows you. I enjoyed reading this work, and it was not a long read which is great for a person like who doesn't read poetry often. I give this book a 4.5-star rating and hope that others enjoy this piece as well."

"Through truly heartfelt, gut-wrenching poetry, Emmanuella tells the deeply personal story of the rise and fall of a relationship, against the backdrop of the devastating sadness of loss. She is a lovely poet, who feels every word, not so much writing them as sobbing, then eventually roaring them onto the page. Written like a journal, its entries in prose, you do find yourself suspecting this book is the direct publication of a genuine diary this author composed. Whilst feeling somewhat voyeuristic, if this were indeed the case, you realize that she has a strong message toward the end of it, and does indeed want it to be read."

"Even the encroaching heartbreak is beautifully rendered, and I find that the poems about the pain of love are more striking to me than the joys she experienced in the beginnings. Reclaiming her identity as a woman, able to support others emotionally and stand on her own, is also a powerful section of the book. Some of that power is because she sees that from within the lens of the patriarchy trying to establish ownership over appearances and presence. It's certainly an experience that every woman can identify with, even if they haven't experienced assault themselves. That these poems follow in the wake of breakup certainly proves that emotions color memory; the heartbreak is vivid, so the memories of past trauma and her grief are also vivid. But out of that grief come some of the more beautiful lines that really speak to me, and I truly believe that it's the same for life: rising out of the grief, we'll come back stronger and more capable than ever before."

"Potent and powerful, mandatory reading for feminists of all ages and genders. One doesn't often describe a poetry collection as a page-turner, or 'unputdownable', but I was compelled to read this in one sitting and would urge others to do the same. The collection starts, like all new relationships, full of hope, almost giddy and single-minded, but is soon forced to examine the very nature of relationships and one's own suitability for entering into them. The reader is taken on a dark and foreboding journey but one that remains at times flippant and darkly comedic, laughter is, after all, the best medicine. The author's choice to - in a matter of fact style - list the many cases of abuse or harassment she has received only serves to highlight the normality of such interactions and the compartmentalisation and trivialisation of them as a form of coping strategy."

"Each [poem] written was heartfelt and shows triumphs and tragedies, and the in between emotions. It wasn't always clear where one ended and a new one started, but the words themselves were quite grand. I look forward to reading more by this author."

"Personal, deep, sentimental, well thought

are you a fan of poetry? i've always felt poetry is a very personal time, like almost so more personal than even a book ... and so many authors go so deep and dark, devealing into those personal heartfelt feeling and moments in our lives. poetry, poems ... so sweet ...but at times sentimental. might cause you to draw on your own love moments? great read. fun layout. but like all book or poems, poetry ... u might get something else from them? so fun. i enjoyed this read. check it out!"

"I loved Hristova’s words and stories: they’re full of emotion and quite powerful. When I read in her biography that she’s writing a novel, I immediately got interested. She really has a way with words and I think her novel would be lovely to read!"

"Emmanuella Hristova is a new to me author. Her book, The Day my Kisses Tasted Like Disorder is a collection of poetry that follow a certain time in her life. The poems are hauntingly beautiful and some relatable. If you’re a fan of poetry, I recommend you reading this collection. Even if you’re not, it’s a beautiful read and worth checking out. I give this 4 stars."

"Upon Diluting Myself" and "Upon Being a Woman" are the most powerful pieces in the entire collection. 10 stars each of these. "Upon Diluting Myself" is long but super powerful. It's also explicit, painful, eye-opening, and emancipating, all at the same time. Similarly, "Upon Being a Woman" is the most painful piece in The Day My Kisses Tasted Like Discord. It does have a lot of Spanish words, which I couldn't understand. The poem is probably the longest in the collection but speaks for a lot of women suffering from sexual abuse. "Upon inheritance" is a sad and painful piece that nearly made me cry. Last but certainly not least, The Day My Kisses Tasted Like Discord ends with "Here's to the Woman," Hristova's perfect conclusion to her emotionally raw poetry collection that I believe is dedicated to all women out there. This collection was hard for me to judge, but my overall rating is: 4 stars."

"From a literary perspective, Hristova is extremely skilled in form and structure. Even without the illustrations, the way the words dance across the page, some bolder or larger than others, brings the poetry to life. October 18th especially induces a sense of emptiness with the lengthy gap between the brackets. I absolutely adore how the collection reads like a diary in chronological order to enable the reader a greater connection. She also intelligently crafts different tones, with increased repetition and a bold use of language in the more passionate poems."

"I thought the authors honesty was not just thought provoking but also beautifully honest. There was a brutal edge to much of what I read but if I think about it, I am sure that it had to be and for the most part I was grateful that it was. I’ll admit that on more than one occasion I cried, so hard at one point that my heart didn’t just break, I could almost feel the tears cleansing my soul.
I loved this, I hold my hands up to say that I wasn’t sure that I would but I admit Emmanuella has won me over."

"This book was everything.

What I love about this collection was that it was so freaking honest and raw. It’s like you’re reading her personal diary, it’s beautiful and heartbreaking and unbelievably relatable.

If you’ve ever had you’re heartbroken you will see your pain and anger reflected in Hristova’s words. If you’ve lost someone your heart will ache as she recounts heartbreaking moments with her sister, and navigating the world after losing someone. She shares stories of her trauma, of how scary life is for a woman. Stories that are brutally honest and terrifying in their relatability.

It’s an emotional rollercoaster & it really freaking hurt. I loved it. She took me down memory lane, it was painful and I shed some tears, but my gosh this collection was amazing!"

"You should know that it’s not really easy for poetry books to sway me, but the book ‘The Day My Kisses Tasted like Disorder’ was NOT filled with nonsense and bad grammar like SOME of the other poetry books I read before. I loved how the author was capable to express her life’s story in such short yet beautifully poetic paragraphs.
A very short yet heart touching book about the author’s life on how she carries on living her life with a heart filled with sorrow. You’ll surely love it.
I’ll give this book a 3.5 out of 5 stars.
My favorite quote: “I spent a decade building a fortress around my heart, to protect myself from the pain inflicted from the outside invaders till one day I realized it was awfully lonely in this lofty castle I had built for myself because the only one inside was me…”