A Review of Unheard by Bhavini Bhargava

Dear Bhavini,

I didn’t expect to write you a letter. I meant to write a review.

You know, something with star ratings and formal language, like:
“Bhargava’s Unheard is a poignant meditation on the emotional landscape of today’s youth.”
Or maybe:
“This collection captures the muted cries behind high achievement with quiet brilliance.”

But how do you write a review of something that feels more like a heartbeat?

So instead, I’m writing you this.

I read Unheard in a single sitting. Not because I had to, but because I couldn’t look away. Your poems didn’t beg for attention. They didn’t posture. They didn’t puff their chests or strut across the page.
They just… sat down beside me. Gently. Without permission. And started talking.

Not loud.
Not fast.
But real.

And suddenly, I wasn’t alone.

Bhavini, do you know what it means that you—a nationally-ranked athlete, a top scholar, a visible young woman—wrote about being invisible?

It means this: even the brightest lights are allowed shadows.

That revelation alone? Worth the entire book.

You gave words to things we were too exhausted to name.
The quiet burnout. The fake smile. The “strong girl” label that sticks like a weight.
The ache of pretending everything’s okay just so no one worries.
Or worse—so they keep applauding.

There are no villains in your poems. Just pressure. And expectation.
And silence, pressed into all the spaces between.

But here’s what I didn’t expect:

Hope.

Soft, yes. Barely visible in places. But unmistakable.

It’s there in the pauses. In the breath between stanzas. In the subtle shift from breaking to building.

I saw a girl learning to love herself again. Not loudly. Not completely. But bravely.

So thank you, Bhavini.
For writing what others don’t.
For saying what so many of us couldn’t.
For reminding me that being “unheard” doesn’t mean being unimportant.

Sometimes the quietest voices carry the most truth.

And this book? It doesn’t whisper.
It echoes.

Gratefully,

An Avid Reader

Ink and Horizons Book Award

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This book is a winner of the Ink and Horizons Book Award, an accolade dedicated to honoring books that explore the uncharted territories of human experience—stories that invite readers to journey beyond the familiar and engage with the universal themes that unite us all. Whether through vivid fiction, thought-provoking nonfiction, or evocative poetry, the award highlights works that embody the spirit of literary exploration.

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