Review of All the Things I Never Said BY Mae Krell

Although this collection was born out of holding back, it later becomes a mirror of self. It starts with I need someone to hear me, and form meaning out of the words I say when I stutter in fear, then it moves to I can hear myself, I can see myself. Her words slowly draw the reader into her existence and experience of self-realization. 

TITLE: All the Things I Never Said
AUTHOR: Mae Krell
GENRE: Poetry
NUMBER OF PAGES: 69
PUBLISHER: CreateSpace
DATE OF PUBLICATION: January 22, 2015

I still cannot believe that a 14-year-old wrote this book. All the Things I Never Said deeply reflects on lonely moments and then connects silence to creativity, and voice.

Mae Krell chews her thoughts and releases them to form images and understanding of herself. Although this collection was born out of holding back, it later becomes a mirror of self. It starts with I need someone to hear me, and form meaning out of the words I say when I stutter in fear, then it moves to I can hear myself, I can see myself. Her words slowly draw the reader into her existence and experience of self-realization. 

Mae Krell writes of love or of what could have been love, of beauty and of self-esteem. My best poem is her comparison of our perception of a starved animal to our standard of beauty today (being skinny). It was a brief yet puncturing criticism of societal standards placed on girls especially, to shrink before being considered beautiful. Mae Krell's knowledge, perception and approach to expression knows no bound in her poems. 

Although there were minor typos besides the intentional defiance to proper grammar, I think that this is beyond exceptional for a writer's first attempt. All the Things I Never Said is a small collection that is written uniquely to trap a reader’s thoughts into a teenager's journey of being and becoming.

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