Her brilliance stems from her consistent acknowledgment of helplessness in the face of disaster, using art as a shield and a response to unfathomable despair and to the inability to reverse brutality ... Hala Alyan’s work embodies open eyes and observation and self-awareness; how to make sense through acceptance—that there often isn’t any sense to be made from loss, yet many of us survive.
If Alyan’s couplets lack the precision and melancholy wit of Shahid’s ghazals, the best of them capture the rich musicality of the form, providing a counterpoint to the sparseness of other poems in the collection ... Though often challenging, the poems of The Moon That Turns You Back are always soulful, a testament to what Alyan has done with wreckage.
Spellbinding ... Alyan’s poetry draws the reader in through form, including interactive poems styled in a choose-your-own-adventure format ... A bountiful collection of poetry, especially for those interested in diaspora and the complexity of multinationalism.
