Review of "If Freedom Had a Face" by Avel Renasia
- Megan Diedericks
- Mar 29
- 2 min read
"... the guts to speak of horror
When the truth is faint." (Windstorm)
Avel Renasia took her promise of occasional romanticization and delivered fully, but the author also vehemently refused to shy away from honesty. One piece can make you imagine sitting in a field of flowers with this book in your lap, and the next will be filled with visceral and sobering language.
As such, If Freedom Had a Face is both utterly beautiful and utterly devastating.
Throughout this collection I felt very seen as both a person and a writer. Renasia devles deep into both the good and the bad of growing up and discovering who you are.
Many of the pieces had me going back to read them a second time just to fully take them in, and take the punch they provide!
At its core, If Freedom Had a Face reads like legacy, something Renasia wrote to leave behind and not be forgotten—and personally, I think the poetry and prose in this book is impossible to forget.
My favorites and some thoughts:
• To Whom It May Concern
This poem, to me, is about rising up from the dirt, but there's also this sense of dread and ache that remain because of those who stepped on you to begin with.
• Thoroughbred
With this sense of melancholy over quitting and feeling like a lost cause... How can it not be a favorite?
• Just Us and a Poor Man's Weather Glass
I will never move on from the idea of imagined safety and freedom portrayed in this.
• Dear Vulture in My Ribcage
So powerful.
• The Cloaked Rainbow
The dangers that follow being queer. The people who need to read this poem most likely won't even understand it.
• To Love Another Woman
This piece brought tears to my eyes. It calls for freedom, to be able to love without fear and without having to keep your guard up. So beautifully sad.
• On Feeling Things Differently
This piece feels like looking in a mirror.
• Hypothermia and Scarlet Rain
The feeling of betrayal is heavy with this one, and the language is so visceral.
• Goodbye, Gracie
This also brought tears to my eyes. The despondency woven with beautiful memories truly packs a punch.
• STILL MAD
The knife/wound metaphor is genius.
• Slipping
This piece ties in with the wolf metaphor from "The Cloaked Rainbow" for me. Both are equally devastating.
• If Money Weren't a Thing
I desperately want to live in the world this poem envisions.
• Invisible Heart
Looking into that mirror again.
• Once More
The visuals are insanely good, and it reads like a story on loop.
Honorable Mentions: "Third-Degree Burn," "Manila," "Matinee," "Things That Last," and "My Existence Remains an Art."
From queer love, to powerful witches, to the author's most deepest feelings, and to the sky and everything it hangs above—If Freedom Had a Face is more than anyone can encompass in a review; it's an experience.
