novelesque_life's review against another edition
1.0
RATING: 1 STAR
It was like opening my journal when I was preteen and reading cringy poetry I needed to get out at the time. I am not sure if she means to do it this way. I went on Hanna's Instagram account to see if I could get more clues about the author, as she was also a "popular' singer (I had not heard of Hanna till picking up this book). While eclectic in my taste of music, I am also pretty boring, lol. I found Hanna's singing on par with her poetry. If you are on the fence about this book, you may wish to check out her IG page and see if its to your taste.
It was like opening my journal when I was preteen and reading cringy poetry I needed to get out at the time. I am not sure if she means to do it this way. I went on Hanna's Instagram account to see if I could get more clues about the author, as she was also a "popular' singer (I had not heard of Hanna till picking up this book). While eclectic in my taste of music, I am also pretty boring, lol. I found Hanna's singing on par with her poetry. If you are on the fence about this book, you may wish to check out her IG page and see if its to your taste.
racham1123's review against another edition
*I say 80 pages but it was more like 50 and then I started skipping around to see if there was any sense in trudging through- I did not find any.
Backstory: I have picked up Gabbie Hanna's other book adultolescence at least 6 times and I've put it back every single time but I'm just not quite sold. Then, I found dandelion for, I kid you not, $1.29. And, I decided even if I hate this I've barely wasted any money- this I can handle.
You guys.
Do you remember when The Cursed Child did sooooooooooooooo bad?
My Barnes and Noble literally had to mark it down for $3 before anyone would even buy it (yes I was one of those $3 girlies). This is a pretty similar situation, I think.
I gave it one star but it was absolutely a DNF. (WHY is this still not an option GR??)
I think- I kind of like the illustrations, or at least most of them. They're kind of weird and quirky and it's interesting how some of them relate to the poems. But the poems are trash. (I actually feel bad saying that because poetry is such a complex thing to rate) but, most of these poems read like tweets or Tumblr posts- as a lot of people have mentioned. There's zero connection for me. There's zero intrigue. Nothing makes me stop and question anything. They're not interesting.
Also is it just me or are these pages REALLY freaking white? Like, blinding white.
That might just be me, I don't know. But I do know I'm not going to gain anything from finishing this collection.
Backstory: I have picked up Gabbie Hanna's other book adultolescence at least 6 times and I've put it back every single time but I'm just not quite sold. Then, I found dandelion for, I kid you not, $1.29. And, I decided even if I hate this I've barely wasted any money- this I can handle.
You guys.
Do you remember when The Cursed Child did sooooooooooooooo bad?
My Barnes and Noble literally had to mark it down for $3 before anyone would even buy it (yes I was one of those $3 girlies). This is a pretty similar situation, I think.
I gave it one star but it was absolutely a DNF. (WHY is this still not an option GR??)
I think- I kind of like the illustrations, or at least most of them. They're kind of weird and quirky and it's interesting how some of them relate to the poems. But the poems are trash. (I actually feel bad saying that because poetry is such a complex thing to rate) but, most of these poems read like tweets or Tumblr posts- as a lot of people have mentioned. There's zero connection for me. There's zero intrigue. Nothing makes me stop and question anything. They're not interesting.
Also is it just me or are these pages REALLY freaking white? Like, blinding white.
That might just be me, I don't know. But I do know I'm not going to gain anything from finishing this collection.
deyi's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
brookeisbusyreading's review against another edition
2.0
Oof, so many things to say about this book…
First, it was too long. No poetry book should be ober 200 pages in my opinion. Plus, by the time I got done reading the short essays at the end, I pretty much forgot I had been reading a poetry book.
Second, why did so many of the illustrations not go with the poems? They didn’t really add anything else to them either. There was also this random rat/mouse drawing with words in a bubble that kept showing up but why…? And there were 3 naked women illustrated yet the ‘poems’ before and after them didn’t seem to be about exposing herself spiritually, for example, or rediscovering her body, etc.
Third, nearly all of the poems rhymed, but they felt…lazy? I don’t like that word when it comes to rhyming poetry since rhyming poems can be wonderful, but this book makes me lean more toward the lazy side. I felt like the rhymes were forced in majority of the poems just for the sake of rhyming. (Readers can tell when it’s something writers force or when it comes naturally.)
Lastly, the poems were A) too simple, B) not poems at all (or even affirmations), and/or C) just opposites put together to create the illusion of poems. I don’t mind simplistic or short poetry when it’s done well - because it can hit HARD in the right ways - but this book completely missed the mark for me.
It seems like nearly every popular poetry book I read I end up disliking. Maybe I should just stick to indie authors. At least I don’t tend to get frustrated or bored halfway through.
First, it was too long. No poetry book should be ober 200 pages in my opinion. Plus, by the time I got done reading the short essays at the end, I pretty much forgot I had been reading a poetry book.
Second, why did so many of the illustrations not go with the poems? They didn’t really add anything else to them either. There was also this random rat/mouse drawing with words in a bubble that kept showing up but why…? And there were 3 naked women illustrated yet the ‘poems’ before and after them didn’t seem to be about exposing herself spiritually, for example, or rediscovering her body, etc.
Third, nearly all of the poems rhymed, but they felt…lazy? I don’t like that word when it comes to rhyming poetry since rhyming poems can be wonderful, but this book makes me lean more toward the lazy side. I felt like the rhymes were forced in majority of the poems just for the sake of rhyming. (Readers can tell when it’s something writers force or when it comes naturally.)
Lastly, the poems were A) too simple, B) not poems at all (or even affirmations), and/or C) just opposites put together to create the illusion of poems. I don’t mind simplistic or short poetry when it’s done well - because it can hit HARD in the right ways - but this book completely missed the mark for me.
It seems like nearly every popular poetry book I read I end up disliking. Maybe I should just stick to indie authors. At least I don’t tend to get frustrated or bored halfway through.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Eating disorder
Minor: Rape
Just don’t read itam3lia_grac3's review against another edition
2.0
I thought that maybe I would like this more than Adultolescence... but somehow in 3 years, her poetry didn't grow. She didn't learn quality > quantity.
But, hey, what do I know?
But, hey, what do I know?
liz21's review against another edition
5.0
This poetry book was wonderful. I didn’t mean to read it so quickly — I meant to savor it, but it felt like the author had crawled inside my head and annotated on the mess she found there. It’s such a beautiful thing to me how sharing our pain can make others feel seen too because it was a beautiful display of who I feel inside when I read those thoughts and cries immortalized.
Thank you Gabbie for writing such a wonderful collection and for being real with the world so that we can be real with ourselves.
Thank you Gabbie for writing such a wonderful collection and for being real with the world so that we can be real with ourselves.
nicolelagoe's review against another edition
medium-paced
0.25
Some of the worst “poetry” I have ever read.
ady_pav's review against another edition
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
3.0