I have some pretty simple advice for all of you bookworms out there. If you despise Jewel’s music, don’t plan on investing too much time in her poetry.

“A Night Without Armor” is basically a less musical version of Jewel Kilcher’s radio-friendly songs. I enjoy Jewel’s music, and even own her CD, so the book felt all too familiar to me.

Not surprisingly, many of Jewel’s song lyrics come directly from her poetry. She writes of this in the preface to the book, stating, “I’ve learned that not all poetry lends itself to music — some thoughts need to be sung only against the silence.” In over 100 poems, written by the musician since her childhood, Jewel gives fans an intimate glimpse of herself, coming across as a deep thinker while being vulnerable, almost shy. Even the title suggests a certain painful vulnerability.

As a whole, the collection is a very melancholy one, with few pieces being happy or joyful. Poem titles such as “Cautious,” “Bleary Eyed,” “I Miss Your Touch” and “A Slow Disease” give fair warning of this fact.

Jewel offers thoughts on loneliness (“no one should feel this alone”), humanity (“…a boundless, absorbing heart”), and even the perfect man, (“a man who won’t ask me to be what he needs but lets me exist”).

The one possible drawback of Jewel’s first collection is the privacy of some of the pieces. Once in awhile, I got the feeling that there was a private joke that someone wasn’t telling me. The occasional reference to a city or person is somewhat lost to a reader unfamiliar with the topic.

I also felt a slight disappointment at the predictability of “A Night Without Armor.” Somehow the effort, although it included some beautiful poetry, was exactly what I expected of Jewel. It is fairly obvious that the musician and the poet in Jewel Kilcher are definitely one.

So with that, I go back to my original statement. Don’t take a chance on “A Night Without Armor” if “Pieces of You” wasn’t for you. Neither will be music to your ears.

4 stars out of five.

Kelsey Foutch is a sophomore in journalism and mass communication from Waterloo.