skudiklier's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
My feelings about this collection varied a lot depending on the poem. Some of them I absolutely loved, I wrote down quotes I liked, etc. But others I just couldn't get into.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Animal cruelty
Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual content
Minor: Death of parent
cgcpoems's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
I’ve never read anything quite like this poetry collection. The way it talked about gender, the way it weaved interconnected stories of desire, love, & the body all together into one book—it felt like sitting in a workshop, like learning from a teacher.
I don’t think I fully understood everything that was happening here, and I mean that in the best way. This is a collection I’ll be returning to in the future, for further contemplation and further insight.
I don’t think I fully understood everything that was happening here, and I mean that in the best way. This is a collection I’ll be returning to in the future, for further contemplation and further insight.
sam8834's review against another edition
4.0
Weird, erotic magical realism. Cool use of a symbol. Nice cohesion, not really telling a story so much as pulling you into its landscape for a mythical love affair.
mxae's review against another edition
3.0
As a whole it's an interesting piece which evokes magical and material images. Individually the poems, and even more so the lines, did little for me.
kvothes's review against another edition
favorite poem was “praise house: the new economy.” what gabrielle does with symbol and gender in here is absolutely fascinating—been meaning to read for years, and finally did because it was a thesis recommendation. my final book of the year!
krys_kilz's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
2.0
To be completely honest, I did not understand this collection at all. It flew over my head entirely. The only poem in the entire collection that I genuinely enjoyed was The Sun Got All Over Everything.
It was a slog to get through the whole thing, which is a shame because the reviews were overwhelmingly positive. I feel like I missed something or maybe a lot of things.
Overall, I was pretty disappointed. I came to this collection after encountering her poem Most Days I Want to Live, but the poems here (minus The Sun Got All Over Everything) lacked that candidness I was seeking. In fact the collection felt the opposite of that poem - it was so convoluted I had no idea what was going on at any point while reading.
It was a slog to get through the whole thing, which is a shame because the reviews were overwhelmingly positive. I feel like I missed something or maybe a lot of things.
Overall, I was pretty disappointed. I came to this collection after encountering her poem Most Days I Want to Live, but the poems here (minus The Sun Got All Over Everything) lacked that candidness I was seeking. In fact the collection felt the opposite of that poem - it was so convoluted I had no idea what was going on at any point while reading.