Reviews

All the Flowers Kneeling by Paul Tran

jbmorgan86's review

1.0

Another attempt at modern poetry, another unpleasant experience. I appreciated the mythological allusions . . . but that’s about it.

Topics: sexual abuse, beauty, transgender issues, Vietnam, history, language:

cparsons's review

hopeful inspiring reflective sad

3.25

annies00's review

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault

readingwithcoffee's review against another edition

dark hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

3.75

I am hoping the parts that didn’t click are simply because of my headache i and prior to starting the audiobook, tran performs their poems excellently but I might recommend the digital or physical copy because I would have benefited from flipping between the poems and notes section. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Racism, and Rape

agur001's review against another edition

I just didn't vibe with it. 

oneskyolder's review

4.5

i wanted to give a standing ovation after reading this collection of poems. it's clear that paul tran is technically competent, from their masterful experimentation with poetic forms (some poems even mirror and circle back to one another) and wordplay. although the collection's broad themes are trauma, sexual violence, and u.s. imperialism, i was pleasantly surprised by the 'scientific method' poems which reference various scientific experiments throughout history. my favorite poem of the bunch was 'i see not stars but their light reaching across the distance between us'. the only reason why my rating is missing 0.5 stars is because i was hoping for a stronger emotional connection with the poems.

alexthereadingdragon's review

reflective fast-paced

4.75

adesinabrown's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

robinks's review

challenging dark emotional reflective slow-paced

5.0

I enjoyed the variety of styles the poems are written in. The Notes really helped me appreciate I See Not Stars but Their Light Reaching Across the Distance Between Us. I also enjoyed each of the Scientific Methods and The Santa Ana.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Rape, Sexual assault, and Violence

Moderate: Body horror, Sexual violence, Classism, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Sexual content

Minor: Blood, War, Murder, Animal death, Death, Drug use, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Stalking, and Medical content

apolloann's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.75