REVIEW | Bloom by Brittany Travesté

Where are you in your self-love journey? And when is the last time you read something that encouraged you to BLOOM? While I feel that I have grown to love myself and everything that has shaped to be who I am, I still have a way to go. Like many of us, I still have a tendency to conceal or hide the not-so-desirable parts of myself and my past. So you would believe it had to be fate that while dealing with this very issue I would receive a book in the mail that spoke directly to my situation. Enter: Bloom by Brittany Travesté.

At first glance, I am instantly pulled in by the cover. From just admiring the vivid orange hues of the cover with the beautiful illustration blooming in four stages, I knew life would be given within this book. I immediately got a sense of the growth process before the pages were even turned. And as I turned those pages, I was lured in and couldn't put the book down until I was finished.

Reading Bloom was like flipping through pages of my own diary--- complete with daydreams, lessons learned from my grandmother, memories of my late father, and retracing burns that were left behind from old flames. Brittany Travesté does a great job of showing readers how her influences and choices shape her and the way she views the world around her. Knowing that another woman has experienced some of the same growing pains, loves, and losses as me was a refreshing experience. It made me feel like I wasn't alone in learning to love myself and figuring out who I really was as a woman.

The beauty in Bloom is that the author doesn't trim the thorns on her roses either, if you know what I mean. While Brittany Travesté so beautifully illustrates memories of first loves and the like, she also shares uncomfortable spaces in the growth process such as insecurity and uncertainty. You know about them, those places most people gloss over or try to conceal. She owns her mistakes, without flinching, letting us know it's okay to share ours as well. One passage in particular really spoke to me:

"I don't wish to be perceived as just another beautiful thing. 

There is ugliness there, too, and I am blooming in spite of it. 

Truth is, I am blooming because of it.”

Owning every decision we make, no matter how imperfect, is essential to our growth in our journey to self-love. And I so desperately needed that reminder.

I recommend this book to any young woman journeying down her own path of self-discovery. I feel like this book has something that will resonate with women, no matter their station in life. Many parts of her prose spoke to the 24-year-old me who was dealing with a tough break-up, while others spoke to my entire childhood.

To learn more about author Brittany Travesté, be sure to visit her site and get familiar. Also, check out her Instagram, where she's constantly inspiring me with her #blackgirlmagic. To grab up a copy of Bloom for yourself and or the women in your life, be sure to click the link here.

Are you on your own journey to self-love? 

If so, what things have helped you on your journey? 

Disclosure: This book was sent to me by the author for review. However, all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. To read more about my disclosure policy, click here.