mattiedancer's review
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
4.75
Writing: 5⭐️/5
The writing in this collection of poems is technically sound but, beyond that, some poems spark from the page, their form glimmering their ideas to life. Even when the topic is hard or dark, Cullen has a manner of casting it to light. The writing is both dark and hopeful, cynical and encouraging, remorseful and eager.
Approach: 4.5⭐️/5
Many of the poems focused on aging, death, religion, and grief. While a few poems felt too short and a few others felt like their form didn’t match their theme quite perfectly, Cullen hit the mark much more often than she missed. And, when the miss was there, it was subtle, a bit of something off, a piece or two missing.
Who Should Read This Book?
- Those looking for a stark, abrupt poetry book about grief, religion, death, and aging
- Fans of contemporary poetry about darker themes
Content Warnings?
- Misogyny, death, death of a parent, illness, religion, trauma
Post-Reading Rating: 4⭐️/5
For all the glimmers of hope stashed through the book, I felt morose once I was done reading.
Final Rating: 4.75⭐️/5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Grief, Dementia, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Sexism, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Cancer, and Medical content
caseythecanadianlesbrarian's review
challenging
dark
funny
reflective
sad
slow-paced
3.0
This is a unique book, with many poems using traditional forms while a lot of the content is focused on 21st century life, including climate change and social media. One series of sonnets is titled "TBH"; "current mood" is used as a poem title more than once. At the same time, aging, death, and nostalgia are also prominent themes that feel more timeless or time stamped in the past.
Cullen writes about the deaths – and lives – of both her parents and her experiences aging, realizing her own mortality. Life is a "relentless mix of joy and dread" that "not even poetry will save." The poems about her youth feel critically nostalgic, like she knows things are maybe worse now in some ways but it's not like everything was better before. There was an innocence, though. She writes:
We told our mothers we were at sleepovers / Look at us in our tight jeans and high-heeled boots / Little deities of the suburb / Monstrous in our appetites / It was the time of our lives / Before we became insurance brokers / Or single moms / Or sober
Cullen often uses line repetition, sometimes slightly altered from the line's previous appearance; it gives the poems a circular rhythm and kind of emphasis I enjoyed. Her imagery is often everyday, realist, which makes metaphors stand out and blow you over: "all the while our hearts pounding in our throats / those delicate disasters / we cannot shrug off." My heart, the delicate disaster. Such images sit alongside colloquial dialogue like "You mad bro / Don't be mad bro."
Other diverse themes include dog companionship, motherhood, domesticity, growing up Catholic, nature, sex ("groins" are "wicked boxes of delight"), parents, beauty standards, fatphobia, and food.
These poems are often sad, sometimes funny, sometimes even bawdy. I recommend them!
Cullen writes about the deaths – and lives – of both her parents and her experiences aging, realizing her own mortality. Life is a "relentless mix of joy and dread" that "not even poetry will save." The poems about her youth feel critically nostalgic, like she knows things are maybe worse now in some ways but it's not like everything was better before. There was an innocence, though. She writes:
We told our mothers we were at sleepovers / Look at us in our tight jeans and high-heeled boots / Little deities of the suburb / Monstrous in our appetites / It was the time of our lives / Before we became insurance brokers / Or single moms / Or sober
Cullen often uses line repetition, sometimes slightly altered from the line's previous appearance; it gives the poems a circular rhythm and kind of emphasis I enjoyed. Her imagery is often everyday, realist, which makes metaphors stand out and blow you over: "all the while our hearts pounding in our throats / those delicate disasters / we cannot shrug off." My heart, the delicate disaster. Such images sit alongside colloquial dialogue like "You mad bro / Don't be mad bro."
Other diverse themes include dog companionship, motherhood, domesticity, growing up Catholic, nature, sex ("groins" are "wicked boxes of delight"), parents, beauty standards, fatphobia, and food.
These poems are often sad, sometimes funny, sometimes even bawdy. I recommend them!
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