#AD #gifted | Thank you very much to Netgalley and Amanda Lovelace for sending me an ARC of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Before I begin, I want to quickly discuss intellectual snobbery. Just because a piece of art is accessible and is intended for a mass, mainstream audience, it does not mean that it is objectively bad. This “criticism” is mainly aimed at contemporary minimalistic poets.

Whilst intellectual snobbery thinly veiled as literary criticism is a MAJOR PROBLEM within the poetry community as a whole, do not fret, as this review is not here to bash Amanda Lovelace’s work because of it’s mass appeal - I am simply here to discuss my thoughts on the book itself. No intellectual snobbery here, just a bookworm!

This collection of poems is only the second collection of Amanda’s I have read, and although I definitely enjoyed it more than I enjoyed her debut, I still did not enjoy it very much.

I tried to come in with no expectations, but I still left feeling rather unsatisfied. Many minimalistic poetry tells a strong story or illustrates a message with few words, painting vivid images - similarly to micro-fiction and flash-fiction.

To me, a lot of the poems in this collection seemed to be lacking in their craft and technique, and although, at times, they conveyed strong messages, most of the time, they fell short of conveying those messages poetically - instead, most of the poem’s in the collection felt like motivational quotes, or instagram captions, or prose with line gaps.

If you were to read this collection, I would advise listening to the audiobook version, narrated by the author, rather than the ebook or hard copy edition, as although I found the poems themselves to be.

10/10 children's book, all parent’s need to read a book like this to their child to introduce human & social topics in a safe and accessible light

i have a lot of thoughts but they are not cohesive 

AD // Gifted • Thank you very much to the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

As a translator myself, I know the struggle of translating poetry, and keeping the same tone and message as the original. Although I do not speak Dutch, so have not read “May” in its original language, this edition is well crafted, delicate and full of life. 

Strong visual imagery is used throughout the poem, alongside an AABB rhyme scheme and an iambic pentameter. I do not know the original poem’s internal meter, but I do know that it had the same AABB rhyme scheme, and transferring a poem’s initial rhyme scheme into a translation is a feat extremely hard to accomplish.

The world of “May” is so intricately interwoven with Norse mythology. I adore mythology, so it was a welcome appearance! This is the first of Gorter’s work I have read or heard of, and his allegorical choices really demonstrated his skill level. I may explore more of his work, if translations are available.

My least favourite thing about this poem is it’s usage of enjambment. Instead of achieving a flowly effect (the usual goal of enjambment), at times it felt jagged and unnatural.

In conclusion, this poem is a beautiful epic of grief, life, death and youth. I am very pleased at the inclusion of an introduction and a synopsis, as it helped me appreciate the poem and understand certain elements of it. I think complex novels or poems sometimes need a synopsis, as to make them more accessible, which assists the reader’s own interpretations.

I would rate this 4 stars. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️