"I needed these poems to cut through my own looping thoughts and to invite me to sit with my own grief, pain, anger, and-surprisingly-my joy at breaking free. This is a book for anyone in the thick of deconstruction. Marla will be a good, creative, and curious friend on your own journey to healing."
D. L. Mayfield, author of Unruly Saint: Dorothy Day's Radical Vision and its Challenge for our Times
"An unrelenting love letter to the deconstructing exvangelical in all of us, jaded kicks your ass in all the ways you never knew you needed. Marla's collection of salty and sweet, diverse-drenched poems delivers punch after punch of inclusion, truth, and authentic calls for change. Read this book-it will do your heart, mind, and backside good."
Stacey Chomiak, author and illustrator of Still Stace: My Gay Christian Coming-of-Age Story
"In jaded, Marla Taviano sees the thing but allows the reader to see what she sees without intruding or leading, and thankfully without assuming. For instance, in her poem 'ten years ago' the thoughts are loud and profound while the lyricism of the poem is still and quiet-as if waiting for us to take a synchronized breath with the poet. A beautiful invitation is offered here."
Marcie Alvis Walker, Black Coffee with White Friends and author of Everybody Come Alive
"Jaded follows Marla's first collection of poems on deconstructing white evangelicalism. She says the soft part LOUD, offering much-needed language for those in the wilderness trying to make sense of faith in the bid toward wholeness."
Rohadi Nagassar, author of When We Belong and host of the Faith in a Fresh Vibe podcast
"Poetry exposes the wound, names the wound, and heals the wound-with love. Poetry also advocates for the wound and speaks the truth about the wound. This is how I see Marla's poetry. She is a gifted writer whose book, jaded, is necessary for all who are on the path of liberation from toxic white supremacy culture and colonization. May all who read jaded feel seen, heard, and understood."
Tasha Hunter, author of What Children Remember and host of the When We Speak podcast
"I really loved poring over these poems from Marla as she expresses the wide range of emotions that are true to her and many others as they seek to disentangle from systems of theology that aren't serving them anymore. I love the care that was placed in the themes as well as what was chosen to be shared within the themes."
Robert Monson, host of Black Coffee and Theology podcast and co-host of Three Black Men podcast
"For anyone who's grown up in the evangelical church and walked away, this book is for you. Jaded gives voice to your anger, your questions, and alllllll of the contradictions. But it also leaves you with a sense of life on the other side-that there is beauty in calling it like it is, in naming the idols, and in walking toward freedom."
Fr. Shannon T. L. Kearns, co-founder of QueerTheology.com and author of In the Margins: A Transgender Man's Journey with Scripture
"With wit, candor, and obvious disgust at the manipulations of her former evangelical lifestyle, Marla offers us a glimpse into her journey of rediscovering her humanity amidst all the ruinous religious teachings she once believed."
Camille Hernandez, author of The Hero and the Whore
