Euphoria

by F.S. Yousaf

In F.S. Yousaf's debut poetry collection, he writes of a journey dedicated to growth, mental illness, spirituality, and self-reflections. Filled with various poems and topics, this collection will surely give you different emotions, ones which you wouldn't experience otherwise.

Genres: Poetry, Mental Health, Love, Romance, Fiction, American

131 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2018

About the author

F.S. Yousaf is a poet and writer from New Jersey. He is the author of five poetry collections, and finds himself writing about many topics—most notably about love, spirituality, and boyhood. He has a Bachelors in History and Secondary Education and is getting his MFA in Creative Writing from William Paterson University.

His forthcoming poetry collection is titled ‘Euphoria’, and will be published Fall 2025.

Stay connected with F.S. Yousaf for daily updates through Instagram (@fs.yousaf).

Reviews

[Alice-Elizabeth (Prolific Reader Alice) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mainly poetry on love and loss. Most of it quite beautiful to read, but did take me a while to get into the collection itself, since there wasn't a lot of rhyming in the poems. I do like poetry with rhyming, as it can bring strong rhythms. Past the 40% mark though, I was fine!

[Nuno · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book did not work for me. There are a few good lines here and there, but I found no imagery or rhythm in the poems. The theme of love and loss is empathetic but if feels like a series of cliche sentiments or thoughts of work chopped up to look like free verse and not showing any of the poetic structured forms found in other works of poetry. Some poems are only a few lines long that seem more like snippets from a diary of short stories.

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

I find it so hard to rate poetry books because they are more like memoirs and when someone rips their heart open like that it’s hard to rate that. I found so many poems in here that my heart resonated with. Thank you for showing us your heart.

[Jessi ❤️ H. Vojsk [if villain, why hot?] · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fresh cut flowers are pleasant,
but the happiness
That comes from maintaining and cherishing
An item with vulnerability
Seems to last longer.

[greta · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was such an interesting poetry collection! i feel like each person could find a poem that resonates with them quite easily. the author done a superb job at being straight forward, yet emotional about his feelings through his writing.

my personal favourite poems were: wonderment, withstand, journal entries, self-sacrifice, depart, our time, persist, 10/12/17, raw, reawakened, self-worth, rouse, carrying, well-being, mislead, lucidity, cherish. these were the ones that i resonated with the best.

highly recommend if you want a poetry collection that's about mental health, relationships and spiritual growth!

[Glire · Rating 1 out of 5]

PS Reading Challenge 2020- #13: A book with the same title as a movie or TV show but is unrelated to it.

Demasiado straightforward para considerarlo poesía. Carece de ritmo, de sutileza e, incluso, de profundidad —a pesar de que sus temas son el desamor y la depresión.

Más que poemas son pensamientos fraccionados, que en ocasiones se leen como tuits y en ocasiones como tarjetas Hallmark.

[marioncoin | coin.reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rise
the sun will rise through the ashes
of the night,
and it will bring a new feeling for us.
we will know that all the struggles
only made us stronger.

[Chaimaa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Relieved

I am thankful for the ones that have seen the most of me,
and stayed.
I am thankful for the ones Who left Before knowing all of me.

💘

[Hannah Joel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love, loneliness, God, family and more are all portrayed in this short but thought-provoking work of art in such a beautifully artistic way, before I had even reached the 5'th poem I knew I had found something special in this book. The author has an alluring way of getting their point across to the readers and his take on life is inspiring. I am looking forward to reading more by F.S Yousaf, this book is definitely worth reading.

[Caitlin Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

**2.5**
I just did not connect with this much at all. I wanted to, but nothing really stuck with me or made me feel a connection to it.

[rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

it’s 1am and I’m feeling particularly vulnerable so this rating is more on how much of this resonated w me than for any actual//founded critique on the piece

[Patroochie · Rating 1 out of 5]

just no

[Simone Camilleri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you NetGallery and F.S Yousaf for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Very excited as I adore F.S. Yousafs work.

Euphoria by F.S. Yousaf is one of those poetry collections that sneaks into your heart and stays there.

The way F.S Yousaf writes about love, vulnerability, and connection is simple but powerful. Nothing feels forced or overly polished. It’s soft, gentle, and incredibly real. I could feel the honesty behind every line, and there’s something so comforting about that. These aren't just poems about romance—they’re about safety, understanding, and being truly seen by someone.

There were quite a few poems I ended up rereading, just because they hit a little deeper or made me pause. They felt like they were written for the feelings I’ve never quite known how to put into words.

If you’re someone who enjoys poetry that’s heartfelt and authentic without being overly complicated, this is absolutely worth picking up.

[Rachel Nicole Wagner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

I have followed this amazing poet for a while now on Instagram and I just want to say that his book did NOT disappoint! I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish! :)

~Rachel

[Abbie Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

This was a great choice to end the year with! Lots of small reflections on self improvement and refreshing perspectives towards the end. “Exceptional” in particular encompassed my goals for the coming year.

Some very short verses of poetry but a lot to like! I particularly liked that it started with positivity and this wavered throughout as the author learned to navigate life and try to maintain happiness, rather than the first third of the collection being of despair and gradually becoming lighter.

What I didn’t love as much was that a lot of the reframed perspectives follow such a typical narrative of self improvement being triggered in spite of another person and their wrongdoings. I think I’d have really loved to see the reframed motivation for self improvement from a more self-centred approach.

[Ayesha · Rating 3 out of 5]

For his debut poetry book, it's really good.

[Shannon O'Connor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting

At first I felt this book was a little slow paced and simple, but sticking with it showed me how amazing it was. The poems dove deep into the authors struggle with depression but also how to move on from love. This book did have some religious poems that I couldn’t really relate to, but I didn’t feel like I was being bombarded with religion & skipping those did not take away from the rest of the book. Overall I am glad I stuck with it to the end. A great read!

[Zack Grey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Euphoria reads like a prayer— but not the kind of prayer you’re used to. Not a prayer for good health, not a prayer for fancy cars or super models. Euphoria is a prayer to those who are just trying to figure out how to do it the right way. How to be human in a deeply imperfect world. How to make sense of it all.
read this book. Find Euphoria.

[F.S. Yousaf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really grateful I got to edit and expand my first ever book lmao. I hope yall enjoy it :)

[Syed Mahmood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book by an amazing young writer. Looking forward to reading more books of his in the future

[Emily · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lol this was so bad

[Sara Gudiel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Its healing

It was really inspiring and it made me think of the world in a other way ........ Wow amazing book

[Katelyn Stallings · Rating 4 out of 5]

Euphoria by F.S. Yousaf was an interesting book. It was a poetry book that I found quite depressing at times. It talked about hardships, heartaches, and basically just not wanting to exist in the worlds anymore. Even though it had a depressing mood, I enjoyed it.

There wasn’t any characters because this was a story book but I didn’t really enjoy the writer’s tone. Some parts were relatable while sometimes I was just annoyed by how he dramatized some subjects.

A quote I enjoyed was “There are times when I wanted the worst for you, Hoping you would understand The roots of my thoughts. I needed you to feel the pain I held, But here I am Praying you never feel like I did. Hoping no one ever sees you Like the way you saw me.” I was fond of these words strung together because I’m aware that at times I feel this type of emotion and others feel it as well.

The point of view was first person because it was telling about their feelings and thoughts. I liked it because it was like they were telling me a story about their troubles.

[Shakeitha R Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection of poetry was packed with heavy emotions

Euphoria is definitely the perfect name for this collection of poetry. Each poem was beautifully written and was like releasing a breath of toxic air to clear your lungs to inhale fresh air. This collection of poetry was packed with heavy emotions. Each poem weighed heavily on my heart and mind as they resonated with me. F.S. Yousaf is an outstanding poet. I definitely recommend this collection of poetry to anyone that loves poetry. I will check out more of Yousaf's work.

[Jordan Elise! · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another beautiful collection by F.S. Yousaf! I ADORED the first collection of his that I picked up last year called Sincerely. I will say that this one was a little more difficult to get into because it seemed to lack a specific structure and there wasn’t really a smooth “flow” to the topics discussed in this collection. It jumped around going from a poem about loss & abuse to love & healing and then back to loss & abuse. Overall, I enjoyed this collection but it wasn’t my FAVORITE.

Overall, F.S. Yousaf has such a beautiful way with words that engrosses me every time. Cant wait to pick up Serenity! :)

[Nida · Rating 5 out of 5]

The poems in this book speak of love, sadness, loneliness, and many emotions in between. F.S. Yousaf is an up and coming author; I followed him from Instagram and was ecstatic to see he published a poetry book. I recommend to all those interested in this new style of poetry, which is written in few lines but resonates and relates deeply to many situations today. Great read!

[Ida Wood · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many of these poems spoke to me. They are simple yet powerful, easy to understand yet emotionally complex. My favorites, based on my personal experiences, are Unmask and Aspiration. Parts of Strength and Fictitious Reflection spoke to me as well. Often poetry is difficult to relate to, but not so these beautiful gems.

[Maryann Gestwicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the title. Poems that I liked: Perception, reminder, depart, nightfall, heavy heart, detrimental, ambition, deceitful, unmask, snowfall, reluctant, wounds ( made me laugh), flourish, mislead, torment, drastic, aspiration, rouse, uncertain, liberated, coax, loops.

[Muaaz Rizwan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book explores love, loss, and self reflection. It’s written by an aspiring young writer and the book itself is great for young adults and anyone who’s getting in the realm of reading. Overall it’s a great work and some may even call it a masterpiece.

[Toni Araneta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finding peace

This is a great set of poetry written by the perspective of a Muslim male living in America. He explores mental illness and the emotions of a break up will turning to God to find peace. Easy to read and very relatable.