Title: Rooted (Volume 2): A Poetry Collection

Author: Cassandra Chaput

Release date: Expected July 5, 2021

I connected with Cassandra a few years back when she was my main sensitive reader for my novel ‘The Stranger.’ From there, I discovered she had a poetry collection out and I dove into it. ‘Rooted: A Poetry Collection’ was fantastic. Empowering and uplifting, I loved how many small affirmations she had throughout.

(You can find my review here: https://stevestredauthor.wordpress.com/2019/03/11/book-review-rooted-a-poetry-collection/)

Now, almost two years later, Cassandra returns with her second collection, and I’m so happy she reached out to see if I’d like to review it. I have it pre-ordered for my Kindle, but she kindly sent me a pdf which I devoured.

What I liked: Cassandra has a way with words. Simple, straight-forward, delicate. Her poetry conveys a novels worth of emotions in sometimes only three sentences.

We open with ‘Stormy Weather,’ which not only starts the collection off with an affirmation, but also connects it to Volume 1 which I really liked.

Throughout, we see Cassandra actively embracing and connecting with her Indigenous heritage and culture. Poems such as ‘Dying Language,’ ‘Métis,’ ‘Heartbeat’ and many others. They are all fantastic snippets of a person fighting between accepting their heritage while trying to find their place in today’s society.

‘Serene’ was one of my personal favorites, a fantastic piece about reconnecting with nature and being one with the land and the elements.

‘Soon’ was a sweet poem about someone waiting patiently to reconnect with the love of their life.

My absolute favorite was ‘Our Time Is Limited.’ A gorgeous poem about living your best life and enjoying what you have and being as happy as you can be. Loved it.

The final poem was ‘Elm Tree’ which was both a touching piece of respecting nature, but also connected with the first poem and the first volume, which I really enjoyed seeing it come full circle.

What I didn’t like: This was such a great collection. With all poetry releases, it’s hard for me to comment on it as this was an author’s lived experience and I’m no scholar or poetry teacher. I can’t critique that Cassandra should’ve used a different rhyming scheme or whatever! The poems all work great and really tie in well with Volume 1 and with each other.

Why you should buy this: While this may only be Cassandra’s second release, I feel like she’ll become a force to be reckoned with in no time at all. She tackles darkness and grief with a smile and so many of her poems are amazing call to actions or empowering moments. Absolutely a joy to read and a collection I think many will love.

5/5