Book Review: Depression and Other Magic Tricks by Sabrina Benaim

Depression and Other Magic Tricks
Poet: Sabrina Benaim
Publisher: Button Poetry
Rating: 4.5/5

I cannot express my state of mind in words after I finished reading this masterpiece. Sabrina’s approach to depression is entirely unique. She uses words to build a labyrinth in which not all can survive. Only the ones who have experienced anxiety or have felt left out can relate to the verses in the book.

Each poem has been brilliantly penned down in a way that it can evoke emotions of empathy, sorrow and laughter as well. Very subtly, Sabrina expresses how difficult it becomes for her to even ‘speak about herself in the first person’. I first came to know about Button Poetry when I heard Sabrina reciting one of the Grocery Stores poems on Facebook. That’s when I decided to get this book and I am happy that I did that.

The best of all is ‘Explaining My Depression to My Mother’ because of the way Sabrina’s words make complete sense. In one part of this poem, she says that ‘insomnia has this romantic way of making the moon feel like the perfect company’ but her mother says ‘try counting sheep’. Do you notice the figurative language here? In another of her poems titled ‘First Date’, she says ‘I have held love, but I popped it and locked it, then dropped it and lost it’. In this poem, she describes the happiness that comes when cupid strikes but then the mind makes its way into her life and things blow up in the face! Her mother tries to tell her that she is a bird, implying that she has all the freedom, but her mind thinks otherwise. It says to her that she is a bird which means that the world is her cage and her freedom is limited. A collection of quiet yet reflective verses, Depression and Other Magic Tricks has some very nice poems that heavily depend on the end rhyme for their sense and sound. Much is revealed within this patterned structure.

After a long time, I am reviewing a book that I didn’t get for review. Hence, I am happy that I made the right choice. Read this book, for you will surely enjoy being trapped in Sabrina’s verses.

Best wishes to the poet!

Buying link: Amazon

(I can lend the soft copy. Drop an email if you wish to read).