Review: "The Sun and Her Flowers" by Rupi Kaur

    If you’re on the search for words so beautifully strung together that it makes your heart swirl, then look no further. Rupi Kaur is a #1 New York Times Bestselling author, illustrator, word wizard if you will, who has given us “The Sun and Her Flowers”. This book is the follow-up collection of poetry after her breakout hit that sold millions of copies, titled: “Milk and Honey”, which was published in 2014. 

    Three years later, and Rupi still continues to wow readers, by using her words and illustrations to convey the feelings and emotions behind them.  

    The contents of the book are neatly put in five different categories, such as the stages of a flower: wilting, falling, rooting, rising, blooming. 

    Kaur touches on a number of different subjects, subjects that most writers are not as comfortable to write about. What makes her so special and necessary as a writer in this world, is that she is completely unafraid to use her voice to speak on behalf of those that need it most. There are pages about love and loss, in all its forms, and is not limited to just relationships and sexuality, but also the importance of the love of one’s self. 

“if i am the longest relationship

of my life

isn’t it time to

nurture intimacy

and love

with the person

i lie in bed with each night

- acceptance" 

(pg. 108)

    She writes about her family and touching on her parents sacrifice, leaving everything they know, to give their children the chance to live in a country with more opportunities to live their dreams.  

“they have no idea what it is like

to lose home at the risk of never finding home again

to have your entire life

split between two lands and

become the bridge between two countries” 

(pg. 119)

    “The Sun and Her Flowers” is 248 pages of words straight from the author’s heart and soul. Kaur gives us the words to the feelings we can’t always understand or express. After reading even just a few pages of her work, you can see that she is brutally honest in every emotion that she allows herself to feel and shares with the world. Her revelations, conclusions, reactions, frustrations remind us that we’re not alone, that we all feel these feelings at some point in our lives. 

    Not only does she tell it like it is, but she always leaves the reader with a sense of hope. Kaur is a writer that will never sugarcoat anything, but remind you that there is beauty in everything if we are willing to see. 

“this is the recipe of life

said my mother

as she held me in her arms as i wept

think of those flowers you plant

in the garden each year

they will teach you

that people too

must wilt

fall

root

rise

in order to bloom” 

(pg. 114)