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skudiklier's Reviews (647)
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
I love everything of Lyd Havens's work I've ever gotten to read, and this chapbook is no exception! The very first poem had me grabbing my phone to screenshot it for later, but then I wanted to do that with every one of them. I absolutely loved this chapbook.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Misogyny, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Thanks to NetGalley and Sixteen Rivers Press for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. The way I felt about individual poems varied greatly; I really loved some (more on that below), but others felt like they were trying too hard to sound clever, rather than describing things in a clear or evocative way—using big words, describing things in unusual ways that didn't add to the poems, in my opinion. But this collection overall really has a history; you can feel the strong connections to place and to the past. Despite this, the overwhelming feeling as a reader isn't one of nostalgia, but more a sort of appreciation and understanding, as well as hopefulness.
I loved the structure and rhythm of many of the poems; the third section of "What Grows Here," for instance, was beautiful in terms of its feel, look, and sound. The stanzas of so many poems—"Inventory of Household Items," "Galvanized Gutbucket," "Ode on a BIC Turntable"—were engaging and worked really well in this context.
Other poems like "Perfect Love Song," "Oramil's Dream," "I love you in autumn," and "Ode to North Bay Inn" felt to me like somewhat of a departure from the preceding poems, in a way I really liked. They really captivated me, and left me wanting more of that style in the rest of the collection.
The phrase "my love" was repeated in multiple poems, and I loved the feeling that gave to the collection overall.
The "Notes" section at the end was really illuminating on some of the specifics of the poems, and provided important context for them. I really appreciated all of this, but I almost wish the notes had been underneath individual poems—I don't think the author owes us any explanations, but if you're going to provide them, then I think they'd be more impactful just after they're used, rather than so far removed at the end that a reader might forget their role in the poems.
To end, I just want to share a couple of my favorite lines/sections:
from "All About Birds: An Elegy":
"/In the first place/
refers, my love,
to the peaches we ate on the balcony;
refers, my love,
to the months you first loved me,"
from "H2O":
"If my credit score were higher,
we'd be married, Modesto."
from "Root-Cause Failure Analysis":
"please consider all the ways a thing can go wrong,"
from "A Dream About Steinhart Aquarium":
"The mouth waters; the tide goes out."
Overall, I enjoyed this book. The way I felt about individual poems varied greatly; I really loved some (more on that below), but others felt like they were trying too hard to sound clever, rather than describing things in a clear or evocative way—using big words, describing things in unusual ways that didn't add to the poems, in my opinion. But this collection overall really has a history; you can feel the strong connections to place and to the past. Despite this, the overwhelming feeling as a reader isn't one of nostalgia, but more a sort of appreciation and understanding, as well as hopefulness.
I loved the structure and rhythm of many of the poems; the third section of "What Grows Here," for instance, was beautiful in terms of its feel, look, and sound. The stanzas of so many poems—"Inventory of Household Items," "Galvanized Gutbucket," "Ode on a BIC Turntable"—were engaging and worked really well in this context.
Other poems like "Perfect Love Song," "Oramil's Dream," "I love you in autumn," and "Ode to North Bay Inn" felt to me like somewhat of a departure from the preceding poems, in a way I really liked. They really captivated me, and left me wanting more of that style in the rest of the collection.
The phrase "my love" was repeated in multiple poems, and I loved the feeling that gave to the collection overall.
The "Notes" section at the end was really illuminating on some of the specifics of the poems, and provided important context for them. I really appreciated all of this, but I almost wish the notes had been underneath individual poems—I don't think the author owes us any explanations, but if you're going to provide them, then I think they'd be more impactful just after they're used, rather than so far removed at the end that a reader might forget their role in the poems.
To end, I just want to share a couple of my favorite lines/sections:
from "All About Birds: An Elegy":
"/In the first place/
refers, my love,
to the peaches we ate on the balcony;
refers, my love,
to the months you first loved me,"
from "H2O":
"If my credit score were higher,
we'd be married, Modesto."
from "Root-Cause Failure Analysis":
"please consider all the ways a thing can go wrong,"
from "A Dream About Steinhart Aquarium":
"The mouth waters; the tide goes out."
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Thank you to NetGalley and Button Poetry for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This collection blew me away; if I'm being perfectly honest the first two or three poems were lacking something for me, and not having read anything else by this author, I was worried I wouldn't like this collection. But nearly every poem after that was brilliant, and by the end my feelings on this book were totally reversed.
My favorite poems include An Open Letter to Raven Symone, How to Come Out and Stay Out, The Other Black Man, Family Reunion, and Advice from my Grandmother.
Some of the shorter ones pack a really intense punch in between the longer pieces; I usually don't like really short poems, but these ones (such as Insomnia, Correction, and To Existing Being Enough) fit perfectly in this collection.
The poems near the end really started telling a singular story that absolutely gutted me. After finishing this book I definitely want to read more work by this poet, and am so glad I had the opportunity to read this book.
This collection blew me away; if I'm being perfectly honest the first two or three poems were lacking something for me, and not having read anything else by this author, I was worried I wouldn't like this collection. But nearly every poem after that was brilliant, and by the end my feelings on this book were totally reversed.
My favorite poems include An Open Letter to Raven Symone, How to Come Out and Stay Out, The Other Black Man, Family Reunion, and Advice from my Grandmother.
Some of the shorter ones pack a really intense punch in between the longer pieces; I usually don't like really short poems, but these ones (such as Insomnia, Correction, and To Existing Being Enough) fit perfectly in this collection.
The poems near the end really started telling a singular story that absolutely gutted me. After finishing this book I definitely want to read more work by this poet, and am so glad I had the opportunity to read this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Cancer, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, Murder
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
This isn't a book I would have ordinarily been interested in; I'm not big on self-help books or religion. But I love Harry Potter and the Sacred Text, and knew I'd be interested in anything Casper had to say. And I was right! I'm really glad I read this book. It's really made me reflect on practices I can start or emphasize in my life to make them mean more. And getting to hear Casper read it himself was lovely!
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
This book is incredibly engaging and unique. It would be easy to describe it as slavery but in space and nothing else but that, but there's so much more to it. Because there's a different hierarchical system in place, it shows new ways people maintain control over others. Additionally, the relationships between the various characters are so complex, and it doesn't take the easy way out of focusing on some sort of romance as a happy ending. Also, side note, Aster is totally autistic and I really loved getting to see myself in her character in that way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
I regularly read books that I think everyone should read, but this is one I know I'll be recommending for a long, long time, to as many people as I can. I've followed Aubrey Gordon's work for years, and have been convinced of her positions for a while now, but this book lays out everything in such a clear, damning way. This book answers the questions I haven't known how to when having arguments with other straight-size people about anti-fat bias, and addresses everything you may think to ask about. This book should be required reading for everyone, but *especially* those going into the medical field in any way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma
Moderate: Rape, Sexual content
Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Suicide, Excrement, Stalking
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
I'm so glad I read this book. It has changed the way I see the world, and I think everyone should read it. I'm not really a science person, so I'll admit that some parts of this felt a little slow to me, but I don't at all regret reading it. And for the most part, it was more engaging than I would have thought.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Genocide, Racism
Moderate: Death, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief
Minor: Sexual content
funny
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
I've been reading xkcd for years, and have wanted to read this book since the day it was announced. I'm so glad I finally got around to it, because it was so funny and interesting.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Blood
Most of the book isn't graphic, even though a lot of the questions end in death. But there's one question right at the end where there are really graphic descriptions of blood that I hated.
The sections I read of this book were amazing and so enlightening; I was assigned certain chapters for a course in college, and didn't go out of my way to read the rest of the book simply because I was very busy. But I would highly recommend this book, as what I did read has stuck with me. (And I should go back and read the whole thing someday.)