Split into 2 chapters – the EP & the LP, Alicia Cook takes us through a landscape of joy, pain and triumph in I Hope my Voice Doesn’t Skip. The subjects were varied – from family and home, to nostalgia, love and world events. There were poems with grief as a subject, which made me reflect on my own losses. Some of the poems on love, of first love – such as Traffic, Signs gave me feels. There are small details that characterise the writing – mentions of straw wrappers, squid ink and saltwater. The second part features writers, Christina Hart and J. R. Rouge, for example. There were some very assured poems in this part of the book.
There were a couple of poems I didn’t like, and I would expect that. This was the first book I had read by Alicia Cook and it won’t be the last. I found her poems were compelling, uplifting – they gave me strength and I’m sure if I read this book again I would find something new to like.
‘a testament to remembering where you came from,
but understanding you do not have to stay there,’
Poetic Insights 
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