Aurora Hatchel’s Sadness & Sadness Accessories is raw, vulnerable, and unapologetically human. Through deeply personal narratives, Hatchel explores identity, trauma, queerness, grief, and resilience with a voice that is equal parts tender and ferocious. The poems move fluidly between confessional honesty and lyrical beauty, blending biting social critique with moments of heart-wrenching intimacy. It’s a book that stares sadness in the face and refuses to look away.

What I love most about this collection is its unflinching emotional honesty. The opening poem, “I’ll never kill myself but—,” is breathtakingly stark in its confrontation with suicidal ideation, religious trauma, and the weight of survival. The imagery is staggering—the Abyss becomes a lover, the past lingers like an unwanted shadow, and hope is a fragile, wavering force. As a teacher, I wish more of my students could read poetry like this—poetry that doesn’t just dance around difficult emotions but drags them into the light and examines them without shame. Hatchel’s ability to make pain both deeply personal and universally resonant is a gift.

Another standout piece, “A Rejection Letter for JK Rowling,” is sharp, witty, and righteous in its fury. It’s a scathing critique of transphobia wrapped in humor and literary brilliance. It doesn’t just call Rowling out—it reclaims the magic that she failed to wield responsibly. Hatchel’s poetry doesn’t just grieve; it fights back, and that’s a necessary act of resistance in a world that too often silences marginalized voices.

But it’s not all pain and defiance. There’s joy here too. “Trans Joy” is an anthem of survival, celebration, and self-love. Hatchel writes about finding beauty in small moments, from the perfect pair of jeans to the simple act of existing as her true self. There’s something incredibly moving about reading a poem that acknowledges suffering but refuses to let it be the whole story.

Sadness & Sadness Accessories is not a light read, but it’s an important one. This book is for anyone who has ever felt like an outsider, for those who have wrestled with faith and family, and for anyone who needs to be reminded that survival is an act of defiance, and poetry can be a lifeline.

Pages: 79 | ASIN : B0DCRP3WH9