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abendlied's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
laughatlantis's review against another edition
Not quite what I expected. I enjoyed what I read, but I put it down because I wasn’t in the mood and just never picked back up.
alexslifewithoutchicken's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
kendra_kendra's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.0
readingwithathena's review against another edition
Because I am not a serious poetry reader, I do not rate the poetry books I read. However, just know that this is one of my favorites of the year.
rachelselene's review against another edition
5.0
from AUTUMN:
Asking, does the moon ever get sad?
Needing to know, does the moon get terribly sad because it is simply called the moon, & not some fancy Greek name, like the myriad moons of Jupiter, like Callisto, for example, from the Greek kallistos, superlative form of kalos, meaning "beautiful"?
Then, knowing:
The moon does not get sad. Or at least, not because of that.
Of that, the moon is terribly proud.
from EVERY POEM IS MY MOST ASIAN POEM:
I only know the beginning & the end. Everything else
is a superlative question—a supervoid
I have come to view as my innermost joy.
i loved this soooooo much. the “small book of questions” sequence in part ii was my favorite but this collection as a whole was beautiful and sad and hopeful, probably the best collection i’ve ever read. very excited to read whatever chen chen comes out with next!!!
Asking, does the moon ever get sad?
Needing to know, does the moon get terribly sad because it is simply called the moon, & not some fancy Greek name, like the myriad moons of Jupiter, like Callisto, for example, from the Greek kallistos, superlative form of kalos, meaning "beautiful"?
Then, knowing:
The moon does not get sad. Or at least, not because of that.
Of that, the moon is terribly proud.
from EVERY POEM IS MY MOST ASIAN POEM:
I only know the beginning & the end. Everything else
is a superlative question—a supervoid
I have come to view as my innermost joy.
i loved this soooooo much. the “small book of questions” sequence in part ii was my favorite but this collection as a whole was beautiful and sad and hopeful, probably the best collection i’ve ever read. very excited to read whatever chen chen comes out with next!!!
sparky63's review
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
sad
fast-paced
3.5
Reading these feels like reading a diary where each poem is an entry. Chaotic, it has a strong feeling of longing and wishing to be able to connect with someone who would refuse to and only love an imagined version instead. I’m sure I’m missing a lot as there were sections I couldn’t read (language issues 😔).
It also made me realize I don’t think about men the same way which uh that’s cool I guess.
It also made me realize I don’t think about men the same way which uh that’s cool I guess.
futurememory's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
So I’m doing something that I never thought I’d do, which is attempt to read a book of poetry a day in the month of August with The Sealey Challenge. I’ve already failed, as this book took me two whole days, but it was well, well worth it.
What an absolutely striking, and occasionally, profoundly moving, book of poems. I don’t have the language to critique poetry; I barely took any poetry classes in higher education, and while I considered myself quite the poet in high school, I drifted away from the medium as I grew older. I have nothing against poetry; I just am too inadequate at the discipline of it to really feel like I can properly express my opinions on it.
What I loved here: Chen Chen does a magnificent job of exploring the intersection between queer identity and Chinese-American identity. The push and pull of longing for acceptance from family, the fears and frustrations of never feeling truly yourself, the wonder of stable and joyous love with a partner.
Highly readable, with such a strong voice. I’ll be seeking more by Chen Chen in the future.
What an absolutely striking, and occasionally, profoundly moving, book of poems. I don’t have the language to critique poetry; I barely took any poetry classes in higher education, and while I considered myself quite the poet in high school, I drifted away from the medium as I grew older. I have nothing against poetry; I just am too inadequate at the discipline of it to really feel like I can properly express my opinions on it.
What I loved here: Chen Chen does a magnificent job of exploring the intersection between queer identity and Chinese-American identity. The push and pull of longing for acceptance from family, the fears and frustrations of never feeling truly yourself, the wonder of stable and joyous love with a partner.
Highly readable, with such a strong voice. I’ll be seeking more by Chen Chen in the future.