Alyssa Gonzalez: A Review of “Pet: the Journey from Abuse to Recovery”

Posted on by Kella Hanna-Wayne
A bird's eye view of a mug of coffee with a heart formed in the foam, and an e-reader with the full book cover from Pet displayed: The background is a digital illustration. In the bottom fourth, there is a beat-up wooden cage on top of a cliff face, with an old fashioned lock hanging off the side and a golden skeleton key sitting in front of the cage. Behind the cage ascending from the bottom to the top right of the cover are a series of five layers, each with a different shade of grey-blue, starting with the darkest and ending with the lightest, and each layer has a different painted texture. The bottom is moody watercolor, the second is a rippling water effect, the third is sponge-textured paint on a canvas, the fourth is marble, and the last is cloud-like. Separating each layer is a thick line of gold foil. Ascending from the fourth to the fifth layer is a beige colored bird, flying joyously into the top right corner. On top of this illustration are three portions of text. In the top left is "the Journey/ from Abuse/ to Recovery" on three lines, in a pale blue serif font. In the bottom half, slightly right of center is the author name "Kella Hanna-Wayne" in the same font and color blue, but in all caps, with a thin line beneath it. And in the center of the page in very large, highly textured, painted, pale-beige letters it says "Pet"

For self-published authors, reviews on platforms like Goodreads and Amazon make a big positive impact on book sales. They increase the visibility of the book and they give credibility to the book, something that self-published books often are lacking in. My friend Alyssa Gonzalez was nice enough to write this beautiful and extensive review of  “Pet: the Journey from Abuse to Recovery,” my recently released book of poetry.

Here is an excerpt from her review:

“Poetry is perhaps the ideal artistic medium for processing an abusive relationship. One of the hallmarks of an abusive relationship, what distinguishes it from merely being assaulted, is that the attacker must convince their victim to linger, and abusers the world over share one key tactic: damage their victim’s senses of reality and self-worth. When reality breaks down, emotional impressions remain, tethered to the moments that made them and providing a path toward making sense of life once more. This is the place where Pet: the Journey from Abuse to Recovery, by Kella Hanna-Wayne, lives, and in that noisome soil this poetry collection has grown into something beautiful.”

Read the whole review on Alyssa’s blog here. 

More About “Pet”

A demo of the book cover: The full book cover: The background is a digital illustration. In the bottom fourth, there is a beat-up wooden cage on top of a cliff face, with an old fashioned lock hanging off the side and a golden skeleton key sitting in front of the cage. Behind the cage ascending from the bottom to the top right of the cover are a series of five layers, each with a different shade of grey-blue, starting with the darkest and ending with the lightest, and each layer has a different painted texture. The bottom is moody watercolor, the second is a rippling water effect, the third is sponge-textured paint on a canvas, the fourth is marble, and the last is cloud-like. Separating each layer is a thick line of gold foil. Ascending from the fourth to the fifth layer is a beige colored bird, flying joyously into the top right corner. On top of this illustration are three portions of text. In the top left is "the Journey/ from Abuse/ to Recovery" on three lines, in a pale blue serif font. In the bottom half, slightly right of center is the author name "Kella Hanna-Wayne" in the same font and color blue, but in all caps, with a thin line beneath it. And in the center of the page in very large, highly textured, painted, pale-beige letters it says "Pet"“Pet” is a poem sequence that navigates the reader through the traumatic & transformative journey of domestic abuse and its aftermath.

Written in four parts, “Pet” explores what it means to lose the sense of self to the coercion of violence; the world-shattering revelation, grief, and uncertainty after the escape; the ache of hindsight; and the quiet strength found in healing. Kella Hanna Wayne’s debut collection of poems is a story of self-denial and self-discovery; A book of poetry to be read cover to cover, and then over again.

Get your copy at the store of your choosing!

Want to Leave Your Own Review?

Have you read your copy of “Pet”?

Would you like to more people to find out about this book?

Here’s how you can help:

  1. Leave us a review on Amazon, Goodreads, social media, or the store website where you bought the book. This really really helps sales of the book. Amazon allows reviews of books even if you didn’t purchase the book from them!
  2. Take a photo of yourself with the book cover and tag us on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter
  3. Download and share the graphic linked here on whatever platform you like!
 

About the author: Kella Hanna-Wayne is the creator, editor, and main writer for Yopp. She specializes in educational writing about civil rights, disability, chronic illness, abuse, and Dissociative Identity Disorder. Her work has been published in Ms. Magazine blog, The BeZine, and Splain You a Thing and in 2022, she released a self-published book of poetry, “Pet: the Journey from Abuse to Recovery“. You can find her @KellaHannaWayne on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Medium, and Twitter.

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