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Title: well-organized and powerful/life-affirming works
Review: Damien Sturt's "Taste Your Emotions" is an accessible, engaging and well-presented journey through the thoughts and feelings of someone struggling with drug addiction and the challenges of making major changes with one's life. As someone who works with dual diagnosis clients (people diagnosed with substance abuse and mental health disorders) I recognized many of the patterns of thinking, and the raw emotions that Damien presented in his early works, and was inspired as the poems went on to present hope and the challenges faced by new-found sobreity. The poem "Relapsing Nightmare" from the Chemical Life chapter was a powerful piece about the tumultuous early days of early recovery, and the poem "Sweet Life" was a very poignant and affirming tale of strength. I look forward to introducing these poems to the people I work with, as well as to anyone else who doubts the impact that writing, reading, and sharing poetry can have on one's life.
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