shelleyanderson4127's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
3.0
A caveat: I do not usually read poetry. I picked up this anthology of 24 poets' work because each poem is illustrated by a feminist comic artist, and because the subtitle promised "an intersectional feminist comics poetry anthology".
The concept is innovative, pairing pictures with words. The book delivers everything it promised, with works by cis women, trans and non-binary poets. The art work is beautiful. Sometimes exuberant, sometimes moody or mystical, the graphics and words mesh, helping to make the poem clearer and more understandable.
The poems were skillfully written. I especially enjoyed Red Woman by Kenzie Allen, about the sexist violence Native women face; and the sensual celebration of two women's passion in Venus Thrash's Drown. Capitalism Ruins Everything, Even Witchcraft by Kendra DeColo; Laura Hinton's University Toxic; and To the Cherry Blossoms on 16th and Wharton by Kayleb Rae Candrilli were all beautiful.
And understandable. I could not understand what most of these poems were about. As I'm a reader who reads for meaning, this was frustrating. The excellent full-colour illustrations and the very thought provoking Study Guide in he back of the anthology were helpful, but on the whole the content went over my head.
The concept is innovative, pairing pictures with words. The book delivers everything it promised, with works by cis women, trans and non-binary poets. The art work is beautiful. Sometimes exuberant, sometimes moody or mystical, the graphics and words mesh, helping to make the poem clearer and more understandable.
The poems were skillfully written. I especially enjoyed Red Woman by Kenzie Allen, about the sexist violence Native women face; and the sensual celebration of two women's passion in Venus Thrash's Drown. Capitalism Ruins Everything, Even Witchcraft by Kendra DeColo; Laura Hinton's University Toxic; and To the Cherry Blossoms on 16th and Wharton by Kayleb Rae Candrilli were all beautiful.
And understandable. I could not understand what most of these poems were about. As I'm a reader who reads for meaning, this was frustrating. The excellent full-colour illustrations and the very thought provoking Study Guide in he back of the anthology were helpful, but on the whole the content went over my head.
althea's review against another edition
3.0
Embodied is a gorgeous poetry collection by poets of minority genders all about their bodies and their lived experiences therein. The use of graphic novel elements to make poetry more accessible was particularly interesting and the artwork was all so stunning. I didn't resonate with a lot of the poetry, not just because I am white and many of the poets are people of colour, but just because I am not very familiar with poetry and at times I feel that the graphic novel layout made it a tad bit more difficult to fully grasp the meaning of some of the poems. Overall, this was a gorgeous graphic novel that I would recommend to poetry lovers and graphic novel readers alike!
Thanks to A Wave Blue World and Netgalley for an eARC in return for an honest review!
Thanks to A Wave Blue World and Netgalley for an eARC in return for an honest review!
pirate_frog's review against another edition
3.75
some poetry is so hard for me to understand, and this fell into that same trap, although i did enjoy the illustrations and especially liked the poem abt the cherry blossoms and enjoying spring whenever it comes
e_d_ivey's review against another edition
3.0
I was really excited for this one but the execution didn’t live up to the potential in my opinion. What worked: the illustrations. These were absolutely beautiful and my favorite part of the book. What didn’t work: the poems themselves weren’t my cup of tea, but I also get that poetry is very subjective. Mostly, I found it hard to follow. The composition of the words made the pacing feel more disjointed than they would have otherwise, I think.
All in all: it’s a stunning book and I’d like to see more like this.
All in all: it’s a stunning book and I’d like to see more like this.
gabbyreadswithtea's review against another edition
3.0
Embodied is an intersectional feminist comic / poetry / prose / graphic novel anthology. I jumped at the chance to review this incredible piece of work and I’m glad I did.
I personally didn’t connect to as many pieces as I’d hoped to. Each piece is created by multiple creators (artist, poet & sometimes letterer) And because of this I found that some of the writing pieces felt disconnected from the artwork.
I still encourage people to pick up this graphic novel / poetry anthology. The stories were beautiful and it was amazing to see such a diverse group of creators and artwork come together in a beautiful collection.
I received an e-copy of this graphic novel from Diamond Book Distributors in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I personally didn’t connect to as many pieces as I’d hoped to. Each piece is created by multiple creators (artist, poet & sometimes letterer) And because of this I found that some of the writing pieces felt disconnected from the artwork.
I still encourage people to pick up this graphic novel / poetry anthology. The stories were beautiful and it was amazing to see such a diverse group of creators and artwork come together in a beautiful collection.
I received an e-copy of this graphic novel from Diamond Book Distributors in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
em_harring's review against another edition
4.0
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review!
I loved this collection. The artwork is *gorgeous* and I loved how the artists interpreted the poems they worked on. I think this is a perfect book for those who may not feel as comfortable reading poetry on its own, because they have the guiding interpretation of the poem in the comic.
I also loved how each of the contributors wrote about bodies and identities. This is such an important contribution to the growing non-binary and trans literary canon.
Would highly recommend!
I loved this collection. The artwork is *gorgeous* and I loved how the artists interpreted the poems they worked on. I think this is a perfect book for those who may not feel as comfortable reading poetry on its own, because they have the guiding interpretation of the poem in the comic.
I also loved how each of the contributors wrote about bodies and identities. This is such an important contribution to the growing non-binary and trans literary canon.
Would highly recommend!
snchard's review against another edition
4.0
I loved the art and I loved the poems. I didn't always love them together, sometimes it was a little too literal. I would definitely read another comic poetry anthology, though! I appreciated that the poems were printed in their original form at the end of each comic, and it was so cool that there was a study guide in the back.