Reviewing Poetry I Read Recently

Hello!!!

Welcome to another post of me ranting!!!!!!!!! (Warning: There will be a lot of cursing in this post)

I have decided not to number this post because I do not think I will be going down this rabbit hole again. So earlier this year I decided to binge read a shit ton of poetry. I also recently self-published a book of poems (which is doing poorly on Kindle, so check it out to support a struggling writer) and I thought ‘what better way to improve myself?’ which lead me to read a lot of poetry collections. I have to use the term ‘poetry’ loosely with these books because some of them are so shitty but don’t take my word for it, read it yourself.

Although I did read a few good ones that I will tell you to check out some are so bad that I just won’t recommend them. If you enjoy reading this post and you want me to make a second one, then leave a comment below.

The Rose that Blooms at Night by Allie Michelle

Review

I flew through this book and I loved this book. Woah! I didn’t expect it to hit me this hard.
This is a collection of reflective and soul searching poems that just makes me think about my inner relationship and connection I have with the environment or society as a whole.
Favorite lines in the book *Excerpts*
“Darkness is the truth you avoid, and it yearns for the light”
“I suppose we are living in a time that values being admired over being loved”
“When you do what you love, You will feel eternity stirring within you”

These lines are just so powerful. One thing about this book that I like was that at the end of each poem, the author explains or talks a bit more about the poems and she sort of makes promises to herself and sometimes to the universe. I love this and I would highly recommend it. I plan on reading her other poems and I can’t wait.

Rating

I gave this book 3.9 out of 5 stars

Depression and Other Magic Tricks by Sabrina Benaim

Review

Okay, I enjoyed this book although I have a few poems that just weren’t doing it for me.
I am not going to sit on a high horse and claim that I am the god of Poetry, so let me explain. Let’s start with a few poems that I enjoyed, starting with the conversation ‘explaining my depression to my mother‘ it was very relatable and I think you need to read it, I also enjoyed ‘Unrequited in nine acts’ especially
“she cannot hold her heart up without trembling, so she hides it” – I feel it is the fear of putting yourself out there because you think you will not be accepted or you will be put down
“I mean skinnier & I tell him, I am not lying”– I felt like she was talking about an eating disorder
There are a lot of good poems in the book that I could relate with and there were just some that I had no idea what she was talking about.
An example is in the ‘Girl Beside You’ where she goes on and on about Crimson lipstick, then headphones, and I know she is trying to imbibe current culture. I just was not vibing with it.
So yes, there are several good poems but as a collection, it just was not doing it for me. It was just a colossal mess. One minute I was relating to depressive thoughts and the depression talk with her mother and then we are talking about sex, fucking, and orgasms and love and I am was struggling with the whiplash. There is just so much back and forth.

Rating

I gave this book 2.7 out of 5 stars

Adultolescence by Gabbie Hanna

Review

Okay……… guys… I am either an idiot who does not get poetry or this is not poetry.
It is the first book I am giving such a low rating. There is no way this is an actual book, it is more like the author was just word vomiting (Pardon me, I am trying to say this most pleasantly)
Let’s look at a few ‘poems’
Organs:
“a man told me that in the hour before he proposed to his wife,
she kept complaining that she had to pee,
they couldn’t find a restroom,
so, he popped the question anyway,
she said yes.
She didn’t realize until hours later,
after they had dinner and called everyone in their contacts to share the news,
that she never did pee.
May your heart always be fuller than your bladder”

WTF
seriously, I don’t get it. Another example
Tease:
“If a guy doesn’t answer your test for three years
does that mean he’s not interested or is he just playing hard to get?”

I mean by the end of the first year, one would assume that you got the message. I don’t even get how this is a poem, am I supposed to think it is deep or something because I think this is as shallow as shit gets.
Another excerpt is from the poem titled “Beauty” which I am assuming she is trying to talk about sexism in the workplace but I seem to be wrong about that also.
“believe it or not, it’s possible to have big tits and also big dreams
it’s possible to have a great ass and also a great work ethic”

Gosh, I can go on and on about this but I will stop here but I will say, Read at your own risk.

Rating

I gave this book 0.5 out of 5 stars

Useless Magic by Florence Welch

Review
So I think it’s unfair to call this poetry when it is a collection of Lyrics. So when I read this book and I had to sit through numbers repeated lines, I had no idea that this was a book written by a musician but after finding out that fact, everything made more sense. I quite enjoyed it and one line that I really cannot get out of my head is “Regrets Collect like old friends” an excerpt from ‘Shake it out’

Then there is also “Rage” which I loved

“I’m worried we are entering an age of rage,

Where only anger will be considered an asset

And the gentle will be mocked, then eaten.

Those with soft voices will have their tongues cut out,

As punishment for not using them the right way

Don’t you know your words are weapons”

Rating

I gave this book 3 out of 5 stars

Honeybee by Trista Mateer

Review

I don’t think this book is a collection of poems, it more the beginning and end of a relationship between a bisexual woman and her former female lover. Her lover seems to have broken up with her and is about to get married to a man.

The author goes on and on about how said she feels and how sorry she is forever feeling any type of love for her ex (This might just stem from my frozen heart but, girl move on). Although I do have to put out that I enjoyed this book, as it did point out a few things such as the way her mother treated her after finding out that she is bisexual and also the sense of loss that one can feel about not being seen or heard.

Think you should check it out.

Rating

I gave this book 3.2 out of 5 stars

Overall I do not know how I feel about this so-called poetry, I would classify most of them at just thoughts on paper, individual rambling, soliloquy, and self-justification, but what do I know. I am not a poetry guru and this might just be me who is dumb and don’t get the appeal of this sort of literature.

I do enjoy a few of the books and would recommend that you check them out, especially Honeybee and The Rose that blooms in the night, both of which I enjoyed.

Thanks for reading.