wanderlustlover's review
3.0
Thank you to by Amanda Lovelace; Nikita Gill; Iain S. Thomas; Cyrus Parker; Sara Bond; Yena Sharma Purmasir; Trista Mateer; Canisia Lubrin; R. H. Swaney; Pierre Alex Jeanty, Central Avenue Publishing, and NetGalley for allowing me the extreme pleasure of access to an advanced reader copy of “Disconnected: Poems & Stories of Connection and Otherwise” for an honest review.
I could not help jumping at the chance to read an anthology that included long-time favorite Amanda Lovelace, and new-favorite Nikita Gil, as well as several new poets and authors writing under this auspicious theme of connection/disconnection.
I felt the organization of this book could have been a little better curated, because, though I loved most of the piece in here, I felt the flow of the topics and pieces was not as seamless or smooth as they could have (should have?) been. I very much loved the poetry more than narrative/prose writing.
All in all it was better than it wasn’t.
I could not help jumping at the chance to read an anthology that included long-time favorite Amanda Lovelace, and new-favorite Nikita Gil, as well as several new poets and authors writing under this auspicious theme of connection/disconnection.
I felt the organization of this book could have been a little better curated, because, though I loved most of the piece in here, I felt the flow of the topics and pieces was not as seamless or smooth as they could have (should have?) been. I very much loved the poetry more than narrative/prose writing.
All in all it was better than it wasn’t.
allisonhollingsworth's review
3.0
This is a collection of poems and short stories that incorporate the lines of the poems. It was a great idea and I enjoyed the collection as a whole. All of the poems and stories dealt with the theme of relationships. The only thing is that not many of the stories stuck with me, and there was a wide range of skill by each author, in my opinion. For example, some of the stories felt like they were going nowhere and had no plot and sort of just felt like a diary entry and I found myself not caring much about the characters. One of my favorite pieces was by Amanda Lovelace. As usual, her story about sirens had that strong female friendship storyline.
shirleycuypers's review
3.0
This book was provided by the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you Central Avenue Publishing and Netgalley!
[Dis]Connected is a collection of poems and short stories written by numerous authors. Each writer was assigned a poem by another writer, and had to write a short story based on that poem.
I requested a copy of [Dis]Connected via Netgalley because I really love Amanda Lovelace and R.H. Swaney, and I thought it was the perfect opportunity to discover new poets. Unfortunately, I didn’t really like this book because it was really not what I was expecting.
I think that the idea behind [Dis]Connected was really original but I didn’t enjoy every poem and/or short story. I know that with every anthology, it’s hard to like every poem/short story, but I don’t know, I think I expected more of this book because Amanda Lovelace and R.H. Swaney, two of my favourite poets, contributed to this collection.
It was also a bit obvious that some authors aren’t used to writing short stories and some of the stories had nothing to do with the poems. It was like some of the authors read the poem and then wrote something completely different.
It was hard for me to read all the short stories, but I did, however, enjoy reading the last part of the book filled with poems. I’m still going to check out the other authors and read some of their poetry collections because I really liked the poems and I will not judge them by their short stories.
[Dis]Connected is a collection of poems and short stories written by numerous authors. Each writer was assigned a poem by another writer, and had to write a short story based on that poem.
I requested a copy of [Dis]Connected via Netgalley because I really love Amanda Lovelace and R.H. Swaney, and I thought it was the perfect opportunity to discover new poets. Unfortunately, I didn’t really like this book because it was really not what I was expecting.
I think that the idea behind [Dis]Connected was really original but I didn’t enjoy every poem and/or short story. I know that with every anthology, it’s hard to like every poem/short story, but I don’t know, I think I expected more of this book because Amanda Lovelace and R.H. Swaney, two of my favourite poets, contributed to this collection.
It was also a bit obvious that some authors aren’t used to writing short stories and some of the stories had nothing to do with the poems. It was like some of the authors read the poem and then wrote something completely different.
It was hard for me to read all the short stories, but I did, however, enjoy reading the last part of the book filled with poems. I’m still going to check out the other authors and read some of their poetry collections because I really liked the poems and I will not judge them by their short stories.
laurelthebooks's review
4.0
The concept behind this collection intrigues me, and I loved reading the connected stories and poems by different writers.
I love the premise behind Michelle Halket creating this collection as well and her passion for it shines through.
I enjoyed reading it, and I recommend to poetry and short story lovers!
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley.
I love the premise behind Michelle Halket creating this collection as well and her passion for it shines through.
I enjoyed reading it, and I recommend to poetry and short story lovers!
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley.
mooncrepes's review
5.0
It's a rare occasion that I read an anthology of poetry and so thoroughly love the written compilation that I find it difficult to close the book for breaks. But this was, surprisingly, the case for [Dis]Connected.
A devourable read from popular poets, this collection is bursting with poems and lines that dare to explore what it means to connect, to unplug, to attempt to fill the empty space between humans. All the works shared themes of love and loss, hurt and healing, but overall, the collection is eclectic and visceral, leaving open the opportunity for it to resonate with just about anyone.
Although I'm not the biggest fan of anthologies in general, I would recommend this collection simply because the messages are so important and the works are deeply touching. Each piece is woven into the next, making this collection a cohesive compilation of everything we all need to hear/know....and more.
A devourable read from popular poets, this collection is bursting with poems and lines that dare to explore what it means to connect, to unplug, to attempt to fill the empty space between humans. All the works shared themes of love and loss, hurt and healing, but overall, the collection is eclectic and visceral, leaving open the opportunity for it to resonate with just about anyone.
Although I'm not the biggest fan of anthologies in general, I would recommend this collection simply because the messages are so important and the works are deeply touching. Each piece is woven into the next, making this collection a cohesive compilation of everything we all need to hear/know....and more.
mcvemma98's review
4.0
Potential Trigger Warnings: Alcohol abuse, death of a sibling, child abuse
Thank you to NetGalley and Central Avenue Publishing for the digital ARC of this book! Also thank you to Central Avenue Publishing for granting my wish to read this collection. All my opinions are my own.
"[Dis]Connected" is a poetry and short story anthology that I found to be so creative. Some of the most popular poets of this year came together and inspired each other's work, by writing a poem for another writer to create a short story inspired by that poem, as well as writing a poem for another writer to create a short story based of of theirs... etc. This collection came with art illustrations throughout the collection as well.
I loved this collection so much! Like I mentioned before, I found the way this collection was brought together to be so creative and original. It was such a good way to explore new writers, as well as to find new material from authors I recognized and enjoyed, such as Caitlyn Siehl and Alicia Cook for me. This collection was cohesive and worked well together, but several stories stood out from one another, taking on loss, grief, strength, healing, and more, and I enjoyed them so much. Not all stories and poems stood out for me, but most of them did, and they were all very original, and I wished some of them were full-length novels when I finished reading. Something that I was really impressed with was that all of the authors managed to make me care about their characters immediately, which I loved. I wasn't sure if I would end up liking the entire book, just because there are so many authors, and I hadn't read previous work by most of them, but I was pleasantly surprised.
These stories, as well as the authors, were full of diversity, another part of this collection I loved! "Stay With Me" by Courtney Peppernell was about a young woman mourning her girlfriend, and maybe finding new love. "Wrapped in Distance" by Komal Kapoor was a story of a young woman's family getting ready for meeting her brother's potential new bride, and how she felt that she was probably not the Indian daughter her parents wanted. These were some of my favourite stories in this collection. I enjoyed reading about these character's lives, and learning a little bit about them.
I had so many favourites in this collection. "What The Wild Gave Me" by Wilder, "Halo" by Caitlyn Siehl, "The Fourth Saturday" by Alicia Cook, and "Get Up" by Raquel Franco, as well as the stories I mentioned before were the highlights of the collection for me. I typically found that the poetry did not really stick out for me, not because I didn't like them, but because they were typically only one or two pages long, sitting at intervals between the short stories, which were much longer in comparison.
Overall, I loved this incredibly diverse, original, emotional collection so much. Even though I found the poetry could get lost easily in the short stories, I enjoyed pretty much everything I read.
Thank you to NetGalley and Central Avenue Publishing for the digital ARC of this book! Also thank you to Central Avenue Publishing for granting my wish to read this collection. All my opinions are my own.
"[Dis]Connected" is a poetry and short story anthology that I found to be so creative. Some of the most popular poets of this year came together and inspired each other's work, by writing a poem for another writer to create a short story inspired by that poem, as well as writing a poem for another writer to create a short story based of of theirs... etc. This collection came with art illustrations throughout the collection as well.
I loved this collection so much! Like I mentioned before, I found the way this collection was brought together to be so creative and original. It was such a good way to explore new writers, as well as to find new material from authors I recognized and enjoyed, such as Caitlyn Siehl and Alicia Cook for me. This collection was cohesive and worked well together, but several stories stood out from one another, taking on loss, grief, strength, healing, and more, and I enjoyed them so much. Not all stories and poems stood out for me, but most of them did, and they were all very original, and I wished some of them were full-length novels when I finished reading. Something that I was really impressed with was that all of the authors managed to make me care about their characters immediately, which I loved. I wasn't sure if I would end up liking the entire book, just because there are so many authors, and I hadn't read previous work by most of them, but I was pleasantly surprised.
These stories, as well as the authors, were full of diversity, another part of this collection I loved! "Stay With Me" by Courtney Peppernell was about a young woman mourning her girlfriend, and maybe finding new love. "Wrapped in Distance" by Komal Kapoor was a story of a young woman's family getting ready for meeting her brother's potential new bride, and how she felt that she was probably not the Indian daughter her parents wanted. These were some of my favourite stories in this collection. I enjoyed reading about these character's lives, and learning a little bit about them.
I had so many favourites in this collection. "What The Wild Gave Me" by Wilder, "Halo" by Caitlyn Siehl, "The Fourth Saturday" by Alicia Cook, and "Get Up" by Raquel Franco, as well as the stories I mentioned before were the highlights of the collection for me. I typically found that the poetry did not really stick out for me, not because I didn't like them, but because they were typically only one or two pages long, sitting at intervals between the short stories, which were much longer in comparison.
Overall, I loved this incredibly diverse, original, emotional collection so much. Even though I found the poetry could get lost easily in the short stories, I enjoyed pretty much everything I read.
julia_francis's review
4.0
The collection was incredible. All of the writers that were able to collaborate on this all produced such incredible poems and stories. I absolutely adored the concept, or "theme" of this collection, and thought it was masterfully executed. So, so well done. There are so many incredible talented writers featured in this book, and I can't wait to explore their future works.
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