Overall an interesting collection. 

There are a lot of strong sections in here, and the Q&A job application format works really wonderfully. Fenald has a recognisable voice, and the rhythm and cadance of her work is varied but consistent enough to feel cohesive. 
The poems on nationality and foreign-ness are particularly good and fitted well with the story-telling style used in many of the poems. 

There is also very clearly a lot of experimentation going into these poems. There is a huge range in the style and the poems that really stood out were the ones which didn't quite blend in with the rest of the collection. 
The couple of poems that leant into the absurdism/tried to approach the topic from an unexpected place really broke up the literalism that most of the collection stayed close to. 

It's also worth mentioning that the author clearly had a message to put across, and although the focus wasn't exclusively on one topic, the central ideas were portrayed clearly and without spoon-feeding the reader. 


It isn't a perfect collection, however. 
The core frustration and bitterness of unemployment is not particularly a subtle theme, and at times the "show don't tell" rule may have been ignored a little. There are sections where the message of frustration becomes frustrating in itself - the collection feels cathartic in places but such a barrage of hopelessness does become a little hard to get through in places. 

The poems also felt very tonally American, and while this isn't a problem in and of itself, paired with the current-affairs heavy content started to feel a little like it was designed for social media. 
The more heavily structured poems also fed into this too, OK Google, Define Job and Résumé Poem are two that felt very much intended to be seen outside of the collection, although this could also just be my personal taste coming through. 

The collection does pick up by the end, though, and I think a lot of my frustrations are with the earlier poems which seem to be trying to set a tone, but do so in such a blatant way it can feel as though you are just being told what to think and feel about the topic, rather than being allowed to feel what the authour does through her writing. 

Room to improve, and I certainly wouldn't rule out reading more of Fernald's work!


I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.