My main caveat here is that I'm just not sure it works as an anthology. The poems are designed to work and be read via Instagram, to be easily readable and digestible, and that's absolutely fine and a totally valid way to read and consume poetry. It just demands different things of the poet, much the same way that slam poetry often doesn't translate well onto the page; it doesn't make it worse poetry, it just means that it works best when read / listened to / otherwise consumed in its intended way.

This may well be a personal fault of mine, and if you generally like Instagram poetry then you'll absolutely love this one. There's a range of voices and subjects (although tw for sexual abuse in a lot of them) and some pretty imagery, and I do think that all of the poets in here have talent. I've since followed a few of them on Instagram (and am already following others). I'll probably reread it at some point and spend a bit more time with some of the poems, see if I can draw more out of them. It is by no means a bad book and I'm really glad that the poets in here can see themselves in print, and I think that there are works in here that will speak to a lot of people. I would be really interested in seeing a collaborative Instagram account of their works, for example (and the Mosaic Instagram account is really great for that reason.) I think it speaks to the fact that there's a prescriptivist view of poetry as being contained in the pages of a book and that this is the only and best way to read poetry. This book, to me, proves that poetry is a living thing and should be consumed in the way that best fits the poem, and to me that's not an anthology in this case.

Recommended for those who already like and read Instagram poetry, as well as to those who want to see what all the fuss is about, but I would probably recommend following all the poets on Instagram instead.