In a world where positivity has degraded into a mere buzzword, we are told to mask and sugarcoat our pain and struggle so as to paint us as glorious beings with fading strength and wounded beauty. Echo by Kylie V. Milanes offers no such comfort. Each poem is a trigger for catharsis, an unfiltered stream of darkness, and a world of hurt. Here, one will find words that are not meant to spoonfeed wonderful feelings, but rather shove bitter medicine. Yet at the same time, they offer a hope spot for a mind finding pause in contemplation, the same way how a flower seed waits under compost and soil, or how a caterpillar slumbers in a cocoon, or how the darkest before the dawn lingers a bit more until the sun's first light appears.