Dreams of Falling


Poetry - Inspirational
133 Pages
Reviewed on 05/23/2017
Buy on Amazon

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.

Author Biography

“Writing has saved my life a thousand times.” While many might take this as figurative speech, reading and writing poetry have done just this, and so much more for me. If I were not a writer, I am certain my life would not be as fruitful and rewarding. Ultimately, I am dedicated to growing in my passion and craft. I am committed to creating literature that enhances critical thought, while promoting empathy and understanding across race, religion, cultures and so on.

Since I was seven years old, I have been writing short stories, plays, novels, essays and poetry.

My work took an unexpected turn, however, when I was diagnosed with depression, anxiety and bipolar
disorder in March 2016, only a year after graduating from college.

Rather than let my diagnoses defeat my desire to write, I turned to the notebook. In one year, my first self-published poetry book was completed and released. My first poetry book catered to mental health issues, as I used poetry to share my challenges to rise above pain.

As more people support my efforts to help spread mental health awareness through my work, helping others continues to help me.

So, while people might think it is a figure of speech when I say, “Writing has saved my life a thousand times,” the reality is anything but that. Writing has pushed me to not only recognize my own potential, but help others to do the same.

    Book Review

Reviewed by Gisela Dixon for Readers' Favorite

Dreams of Falling by Ranequa Kelley-Boyd is a collection of poems that are autobiographical in nature in the sense that they all come from Ranequa’s own life experiences. Dreams of Falling starts off with an introduction about Ranequa herself and a little bit about her background of growing up as a black woman in America, as an only child of a single parent, and dealing with mental illness, identity crisis, and racism in American society. The poems are grouped into smaller collections and each collection is presented in its own chapter with a brief summary from Ranequa about where they are coming from and her life experiences about that particular topic. Although each chapter contains poems relating to a specific topic or period in her life, they are grouped such that each chapter can be read independently of the other.

Dreams of Falling by Ranequa Kelley-Boyd is a very readable collection and I thought that the poems were all genuinely well composed with an artistic feel to them. They are lyrical and the words seem to flow naturally. I also liked the fact that they highlight in a candid way the issues in our society: namely, the stigma surrounding mental illnesses, battling with depression and coming to terms with society’s lack of understanding of it, racial discrimination, and the specific issues that young, black women face in American society in particular. All of this is addressed through the poetry in a heartfelt way. I very much enjoyed this collection and would recommend it.