Reviews

Swimming Lessons: Poems, by Lili Reinhart

infjkiki's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

5.0

fantine's review against another edition

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1.0

Petition to rearrange the alphabet so I no longer have to shelve this insipid celebrity diary next to Sylvia Plath

rb5373's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

3.0

evanaviary's review against another edition

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2.0

Out of nearly 100 entries in this collection, only a small handful felt remotely substantive. The rest are a sentence—two at most—and are standard postmodern poetry that reads as closer to journal entries. Take this:

This is how I know
I love you so much.
Whenever I see something
beautiful, I want you to
see it, too


This collection felt rushed with filler like this. Recollections of relationships that always feel like they're floating at the surface, no greater introspection or devices at work. Stronger editorial guidance to actually tie loose threads together might have solidified this collection for me. It's difficult for these poems to actually work with each other because the moments with gravity get buried deep into the middle. Idk, this could've worked a lot better and just left me wanting much more depth. Time to get out of the pool, I guess.

sarairia's review against another edition

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3.0

3.5 ⭐️

kattha's review against another edition

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3.0

love, loss, heartbreak, mental health, the ultimate dread of oblivion - all things that feel and appear very real, raw, relatable. lili did really well, it’s just a little flat sometimes - a lot of imagery and similies, but nothing else. but sometimes, they really shine and hit the nail right there on it’s beautiful head. go on. find the words no one has written before. keep on feeling. <3

kristensonlyhobby's review against another edition

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3.0

I am not a big poetry fan, which is all that accounts for my lower rating. The cover and art of the book are beautiful. The poems are written in a journal-like style so it was a pretty quick read.

ameliasreadinghaven's review against another edition

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5.0

Absolutely amazing. The art, the cover, the pages, the words. Although the poems lacked a little depth I still couldn't help but fall in love with each and every one. It almost felt like we were catching a glimpse into her personal journal with her thoughts and feelings and I honestly loved that aspect.

I can't wait for future poetry to come from Lili Reinhart.

briewhale's review against another edition

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3.0

I really enjoyed this collection of poems. They were relatable and evoked a bunch of different emotions. They were even better because of the way Lili reads them.

theserendipitousone's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

3.5

Overall quite a lovely little poetry collection.