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finnsnowbevi's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Cancer and Grief
Minor: Biphobia and Car accident
avisreadsandreads's review
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Excrement, and Grief
Minor: Car accident
jayisreading's review
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
Equally heartwarming and heartbreaking, Chen Chen’s second poetry collection hits hard with his exploration of family relations (blood and chosen), as well as the queer Asian American identity. These poems very much so reflect on being alive in and part of a beautiful yet also fucked up world (especially in the United States).
A lot of love and care went into each poem, and I loved the way Chen expressed himself so freely, not only in form but in switching between languages as well. Because, sometimes, English is simply not enough to express oneself, especially when one is stuck in the in-betweens of cultures.
I was especially taken to the “a small book of questions” poems, finding Chen’s reflections—especially when he was writing about his mother—poignant. Another lovely collection from Chen, and I look forward to his next work.
Some favorites: “we’ll be gone after these brief messages,” the “a small book of questions” poems, “Elegy While Listening to a Song I Can’t Help But Start to Move to,” “One Year Later: A Letter,” “Origin Story,” and “Spring Summer Autumn Winter”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia and Racism
Moderate: Death
Minor: Mass/school shootings
cheezh8er's review
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Homophobia, and Racism
skudiklier's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
God this was amazing. Chen Chen's writing never disappoints, and this collection just blew me away. I was excited to see a couple poems I already knew, especially "Winter (big smelly bowel...)"--I think of that one all the time, and loved seeing how the feeling of reading it changes in this context too.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, and Death of parent
Moderate: Death, Sexual content, and Car accident
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