Ellie Doe-Demosse
“Find something that makes you forget to eat and sleep and drink and then do it until you die of thirst.”
— Excerpt from Love Her Wild // Atticus
I remember picking this book up the day after my seventeenth birthday. I had gone on a night out with a few friends to celebrate my champagne birthday, and somehow our asses ended up at the bookstore (I think it’s because we had a mad craving for Starbucks after we had dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings). Immediately after walking through the double doors, I made a mad dash for the poetry section and Love Her Wild was the first book my hand went for.
Long before my seventeenth birthday however, I’d been wanting to get my hands on that book. It had only come out a few days (precisely six days) before my birthday, but it felt like an eternity waiting for it to finally be in the grasp of my fingertips. And when I finally got to hold the hard-copy book, they traced every intricate detail up to the binding.
You see, Love Her Wild isn’t just a book of pictures and poems; it’s so much more than that. The book in itself is poetry; it’s art – from the front cover to the very last page. Every single page tells a story and every page takes you on a new spontaneous adventure.
What drew me to the book in the first place is the fact that I’ve been following the author on Instagram for a long time, and just reading his work sent literal chills down my spine. I first discovered his work on Tumblr of course, but then I knew I had to find this guy and read more of his work, which is how I came across his Instagram. That was of course, months ago, but I haven’t regretted that impulse decision to find him. In fact, it’s probably one of the greatest decisions I’d ever made in my life.
I don’t care if I’ve only been on planet earth for seventeen years, twenty-seven days, sixteen hours, twenty-five minutes, and fifteen seconds. Out of all the decisions I’ve ever had to make, following Atticus on Instagram and purchasing Love Her Wild was by far, the best one.
“Chase your stars fool, life is short.”
— Excerpt from Love Her Wild // Atticus
Out of all the books of poetry I’ve read, this one has touched me the most. And that speaks volumes to me, because I only know of one other book that has been able to literally touched my soul, and that was Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur. Out of all the books of poetry that I’ve read, she held the top spot for making me feel something I have never felt before, but that was until I read Love Her Wild.
This books means a lot to me, and I’m sure none of you will even begin to understand why it has affected me so much as a person. Honestly, I almost wish that I had wrote this book because it’s an exact representation of my scattered thoughts and emotions. The only difference is that the author is a guy, but I don’t really care about that. What I care about is the fact that he was able to put all of my emotions onto paper, and bind them together in a book.
Atticus doesn’t know me, and I don’t know him (in fact, I don’t think anybody does unless you’re a close friend of his and you’ve seen his face), but the fact that he was able to form words that I’ve had trouble forming, say things that I can’t say, and write poetry that I haven’t even come close to writing, that all relates back to my life, is the most wild thing that has ever happened to me. I’ve never seen a relationship between an author and a reader much like this one; this would be my first, and I’m f*cking living it.
There are precisely three poems in Love Her Wild that have seeped through my jet black soul (or amateurly painted jet black soul), out of all the poems put in this book. As a result of the way they’ve made me feel, I’ve reached out to Atticus on Instagram and asked him if he could personally write out each poem, and send me pictures of them so I could get them tattooed next year. Unfortunately he hasn’t responded yet, but by God, I hope he does before 2018 arrives, because those poems mean a lot to me, and it would mean even more to me if they were in the handwriting of the artist who created them.
So if there’s even the slightest chance that you’re reading this Atticus, please shoot me a reply back as it would mean the absolute world to me if you did.
“Our songs live longer than our kingdoms.”
— Excerpt from Love Her Wild // Atticus
Overall, Love Her Wild is anything and everything you could ever want in a book full of poetry. It is love and life and everything in between. It is heaven and a safe haven. It is your wildest Friday night adventure, it is your favourite Sunday playlist, it is your perfect Monday morning, it is your perfect night’s sleep and the best way to wake up in the morning. It is your greatest day you’ve ever lived to date.
Love Her Wild has so much to offer you and more, and will definitely exceed any expectations you may have of it. But if you don’t trust me and my opinion, you are more than welcome to ask the 423, 000+ people who have probably read it as well.
