2 out of 4 stars
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A Breath of Fresh Air is a collection of poems written by Bernard Edward Bharat, a survivor of a spinal cord injury who found comfort in writing during his recovery from his medical procedures. They are poems of encouragement and guidance that aim to impart wisdom and direction to a reader facing a range of life situations.
The themes and topics of the poems focus on parental love, aging, righteous living, as well as virtues like being a good neighbor, hard work, humbleness, responsibility, patience, and peace. Many of the poems remind the reader to pause, practice gratitude, and to pray. Similarly, there are cautionary poems that warn the reader to resist cheap pleasures and misplaced priorities, and provide countless examples of what success (and failure) may look like.
The collection is written from a Christian/Catholic perspective, with many references to God, Jesus, and the mother Mary. Though the first half of the book touches on these only occasionally, nearly every poem in the second half references Biblical principles directly. For this reason, I would not recommend this collection to readers who are averse to religious principles, or who many be uncomfortable reading works from a passionate Christian writer.
The poems are nearly all written with a loose rhyming scheme, which gives a lyrical quality to the concepts presented within. Unfortunately, I found at times that the phrasing in the poems seemed slightly juvenile or simply awkward, as if the author was prioritizing the rhyme over the flow or logic of the words. Another aspect of the rhyme scheme that stuck out to me was that sometimes the same word would appear at the end of multiple lines of the same poem, presumably to enable the rhyme, yet rather than enhancing the experience it just seemed repetitive and unnecessary.
The poems did contain quite a bit of useful wisdom and helpful advice that would be beneficial to readers seeking direction in life, or those who may not have the benefit of older adults to guide them through difficult life decisions. However, I was distracted from these positive aspects by some formatting issues, such as inconsistent spacing between the lines. Also, a handful of the poems appear to have been added within the text as images, which appeared tiny within my Kindle copy, and made it difficult for me to read those particular passages. Due to these formatting issues, and the sometimes-awkward use of rhyme, I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars. However, I would still recommend this to readers who are looking for a simple yet uplifting Christian collection of poetry, as the issues I experienced with the book are largely based on my personal preference and therefor may not bother other readers as much.
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A Breath Of Fresh Air
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