Hello and welcome to another cumulative review of the books I got from Netgalley. I have been terrible reading books I got, however, I am hoping to get a few more down before the end of the month. I have been reading a lot more poems in the past months and I am really enjoying my journey. I include affiliate links in my posts as the book covers.
Eighteen Inches: The Distance between the Heart and Mind by Mirtha Michelle Castro Marmol
Review
This book is a collection of poems and prose that documents or chronologies the life of a woman who had to accept and understand the eighteen inches distance between her heart and her mind. We follow her on a life journey as she learns about heartbreak, acceptance, and as she builds and takes down a wall around her heart.
Trigger warning for rape, emotional trauma, and abortion.
There are a few lines in this book that got to me and one is in the very start
“It worries me that you’ll always feel the need to be the one who loves more. And there is a pain in that type of love”
This hit me deeply, as someone who always loved too hard and too deeply, I used to forget how a loving relationship is a two-way thing. People who have not realized this, give and give but never receive and that can be so harmful.
There was also something special about her relationship with God and you could see that everything was in the way she was raised (although sometimes she could be a little condescending to people who according to her “were most likely all raised completely differently” which is not necessarily a bad thing). It was heartbreakingly precious to see how she handled her abortion and how she was unable to tell her mother because she feared her judging gaze (I believe that no matter how god fearing a family is, a daughter should be able to tell her mother anything, or I do hope that my future daughter can tell me anything)
There is a specific poem that I also loved “the paradox of human nature”
“The paradox of human nature is that
we teach each other to expect
supernatural miracles
Yet, when it comes to human relations,
we teach each other
to have no expectations”
I just kept thinking that this is human nature to a T. We place these astronomical expectations or unseen and alien things when we can’t even place human relationships on the same slate.
This book delves into love, pride, courage, trust, doubt, selfishness, and much more. I would higher recommend it.
Expected publication date: September 15th, 2020
Rating
I gave this book 4.7 out of 5 stars
The Caiplie Caves by Karen Solie
Review
Before I go into this book, I have to admit that this is very hard to read especially for someone who doesn’t read a lot of poems. Although recently I have read quite a few that I really enjoyed but this one was a struggle.
BUT if you enjoy poems that explore changes in time and seasons, power, the hand of the mighty, oppression, and the strength of belief, this is the book for you. I liked it but I didn’t enjoy it, which basically means I might pick up another book by the author.
I enjoyed a few poems such as ‘A visitation’, ‘A lesson’, and ‘Clarity’ and would highly recommend you read them.
A few excerpts
“nothing exists in the darkness that doesn’t in the light”
As long as you believe everything you proclaim can come to fruition
“Do you hear the music inside the May’s everlasting housefire?
do you see the loneliness streaming from its broken windows like smoke in every direction?”
Rating
I gave this book 2.9 out of 5 stars
In Real Life: An English-Spanish Novel in Poems by Leticia Sala
Review
This is a book of poems that reads like a story of two lovers who seek ways to explain how much they love each other, how much their love for each other is worth, and how much more they want from each other.
Each poem is so beautifully crafted and so heartfelt that it pulls you as the reader into the relationship. It expresses deep love, acceptance, loss, grief, second chance, and most importantly self-reflection.
One that really stood out to me was the ‘Reflection‘ poem
“Couples are the most perfect mirrors”
It just made me think about the importance of having a partner that reflects your heart. You only stay with someone you think you want. If you look in the mirror hoping to see a perfect you, then that is what you will see.
Another is ‘Twisted’
“You, pretending to be, the person you think, I’m expecting you to be
Me, pretending to be the person I think you’re expecting me to be”
This is true in a lot of relationships, especially at the start, if you are going to pretend to be someone else’s type then you really shouldn’t be dating that person in the first place. It will just be this rollercoaster where you keep trying to be someone you are not.
My personal favorite has to be ‘Waves’
Here she takes about commitment and sacrifice, basically, if you are not ready to commit to this for the rest of your life, then don’t go in. at least, go in knowing that you will give it all you’ve got, sacrifice what you have to, then you will know that you did everything you could for it to work.
I really enjoyed this book and I hope everyone checks it out.
Expected publication date: September 1sr, 2020
Rating
I gave this 4 out of 5 stars
Scenery by Jose Felipe Alvergue
Review
I thought it was a book of poems but I was wrong.
So once I realized that this was not what I thought it was, I tried to read this book like I would a textbook, since it was non-fiction but I still didn’t enjoy it and this was not because this book addressed the history of racial division and segregation.
A few excerpts from the book that I enjoyed the context in which they were addressed
“There is no neutrality in the apocalypse of emotion”
“The riot is always new form to this arrangement, and there is nonetheless an afterward”
This book addresses race, childbirth, motherhood, preference, and there are painting and pictures of hardships and unrest that people faces, or rather the memory of the author.
I think I would have enjoyed this book more if I read this as a paperback not as an e-copy because it just felt all over the place.
I felt like there were too many typos and the way it was written was so hard to understand.
Rating
I gave this book 1.3 out of 5 stars
Ever After by Olivia Vieweg
Review
I got this book from #Netgalley
I enjoyed this book, BUT I had such a difficult time reading this because of the art style. This reduced the level of enjoyment I felt reading this book, HOWEVER, this did not stop this book from creepy me out. There were so many unexcepted zombies scares that I had to keep my eyes open. *do not be fooled by the beautiful book cover, it hides the enjoyable horror within*
We start the story in some sort of mental institution or a protection home and we feel the heat that the characters experience in this home. Vivi lives at the institution *not sure, with the art style* and she feels strange because she wishes to go beyond the barricade to see the world. She leaves the institution and that is when she meets Eva who was bitten by a zombie when she and her friend decided to take off some part of the barricade that protects them from the zombies.
On the train which they have both boarded, the train stops and after staying on the train for a while, they leave the train taking their lives in their hands. Running across the vast landscape while hiding and running from zombies, all the while Eva is slowing transforming to a zombie from her former experience. They build a friendship and soon Vivi finds out about the transformation and they had to make a choice.
Honestly, I would have enjoyed this book a lot more if not for indistinguishable back and forth in Vivi’s imagination. It got to a point that I didn’t know what was real anymore and it made it so confusing to read. I felt like Vivi’s mental anguish and hallucinations could have been made into black and white or a different color tone, but it has the same color palette as the rest, which made it so confusing.
Expected publication date: September 1st, 2020
Rating
I gave this book 3.7 out of 5 stars
Thanks for reading. I hope you check out Netgalley and hopefully join as a reviewer.