Rena Joy Poetry

Book Description:

 

What if you spend the rest of your life

chasing love, only to discover her

in the pit of your stomach?

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What then?

Almost Loved is more than a poetry collection — it’s an unflinching journey through the adoptee experience and reclamation of the love the reader should have had from the start. Drawing on her own experience as an adoptee from foster care, Rena Joy writes about fractured family bonds, mental health struggles, and the strength it takes to rebuild after childhood trauma.This is a book for anyone who survived the storm, stood in the ruins of their life, and decided to love themselves in ways no one else could. Every page whispers the same truth: you are enough, and you are worth loving — especially by you.

 

Almost Loved follows a former foster child’s search for love and connection, while pushing back on the labels assigned to her. Grappling with subjects of abuse, mental health and deeply held grief, this collection aims to answer: what does it truly mean to be loved in a world where you’re seen as second best?

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Almost Loved follows a narrative arc and is broken into six sections. In section one we meet the unlovable girl, where we discover her origin story and the characters waiting to rip her apart. Next Murky Middle and Dark Nights, where she struggles to navigate dysfunctional relationships with herself, family and friends (relationships that almost end her life). But then she meets her partner, makes real friends and welcomes her little into the world and something shifts inside her. Bit by bit, she reclaims the love she should've had from the start.

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The unlovable girl represents our struggle to see ourselves for the beautiful humans we are. Our voices stolen and hearts shredded by those that don't know how to love themselves, but despite all the heartache we get back up again. Bit by bit, we believe in ourselves. We embrace our inner child who should've have been loved from the start.

Key Themes & Topics

* Healing after childhood trauma
* Abandonment and loss
* Self-love and self-worth
* Love and heartbreak
* Adoptee experience & identity
* Mental health and emotional healing
* Dysfunctional family dynamics
* Survival and personal empowerment
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Why Almost Loved Matters

For childhood abuse and dysfunctional family survivors, Almost Loved affirms that self-love after trauma is possible.
For adoptees it validates the complexity of belonging and identity.
For mental health advocacy it encourages openness and destigmatizes difficult truths through art.
For anyone who feels or has felt “almost” loved.

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Author Bio – Short Version (50 words)

Rena Joy is a contemporary poet and adoptee whose work explores love, loss, mental health, and the healing power of self-love. Her debut collection, *Almost Loved*, is a testament to survival after abandonment, loss, and childhood trauma — and to the courage it takes to love yourself again.

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Press Release Snapshot

 

Headline: Rena Joy’s “Almost Loved” Is a Testament to Self-Love After Abandonment and Loss

 

Summary

In her debut poetry collection, *Almost Loved*, Rena Joy speaks directly to survivors of dysfunctional families, diving into the heartbreak of fractured families, loss identity, mental health battles, and the silent weight of being adopted. With striking honesty and lyrical grace, she offers a mirror to those still piecing themselves back together, proving that the greatest act of healing after childhood trauma is to love yourself without apology.

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Contact: rena@renajoypoetry.com or click here to contact Rena