You’re Not a Girl in a Movie cover art

You’re Not a Girl in a Movie

 Preview
Free with 30-day trial
A 30-day trial plus your first audiobook free.
1 credit/month after trial—to buy any title you like, yours to keep.
Listen all you want to a selection of thousands of Audible Originals, audiobooks and podcasts.
$16.45 a month after 30 day trial. Cancel anytime.

You’re Not a Girl in a Movie

By: Hala Alyan
Narrated by: Hala Alyan
Free with 30-day trial

$16.45/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $7.99

Buy Now for $7.99

About this listen

"In poem after poem, there is raw emotion, straightforward storytelling, and unapologetic truth.” (NPR)

There exists, within [Alyan’s] poems, the cacophony that pervades our most intimate of relationships, a glistering sheen covering even the most banal interactions. Her poems feel as familiar as the prayers we make up in our own minds...they’re a quiet triumph, sacred and profane, and, most of all, grounded in humanity." (Nylon)

You’re Not a Girl in a Movie is a new collection of powerful poems by Hala Alyan, winner of the Arab American Book Award in Poetry and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. In these nine extraordinary poems, Alyan wrestles with the intimate themes that have driven her acclaimed body of work to date: the aching loss of homeland, the image and worth of women, and the violence of love. In Beirut, Brooklyn, and roads in the American West, she unravels the effects of decades of war and displacement on love and human worth and identity. She speaks to mothers and grandmothers, past lovers and friends, and through her shimmering, wrenching glimpses of internal and political chaos, pleads for home.

©2020 Hala Alyan (P)2020 Audible Originals, LLC. Poetry Emotionally Gripping
All stars
Most relevant  
open, honest, genuine, big feelings... what's happened? thanks so much for sharing powerful words

wow

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I really enjoyed this book, the poetry, the voice and the depth of the author’s work. Thank you Hala

Beautiful poetry

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I will come back to this time and time again. Hala Alyan is a discovery! A writer that I’ll be searching for and eagerly awaiting new releases too

Beautiful and heartbreaking

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Disappointing that foul language was present in opening of book with no purpose. I found the book to disjointed

Boring book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.