Forest of Noise is filled with immense thoughtfulness, heartache, and near-unimaginable loss. Mosab Abu Toha's singular voice brings an urgency and proximity to Gaza that is genuinely palpable. Though this collection is more experimental than its predecessor, each poem lingers in a way that only the words and imagery of Mosab Abu Toha can linger.

To illustrate, here is one of my favorites from the collection:

"Ramadan 2024

Around that dinner table, missing are the chairs
where my mother, my father,
and my little sister used to sit with us on Fridays,
and where my siblings and their kids
used to drink tea at sunset when they visited.
No one is here anymore. Not even the sunset.
In the kitchen, the table is missing.
In the house, the kitchen is missing.
In the house, the house is missing.

Only rubble stays, waiting for a sunrise."

Thank you so much @netgalley and @aaknopf for the advanced reader copy of Forest of Noise in exchange for my honest review! As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own. Forest of Noise is out now, wherever you source your books!