A review by barrettbooks
Nothing Is Okay by Rachel Wiley

challenging emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

5.0

What a glorious collection of poems. Wiley is a fat, queer, biracial woman and the collection explores all of those intersecting identities. Various pieces highlight both the violence that oppressive structures enact against fat people, queer people, Black people, and women, and the beauty and joy of the identities themselves, and the euphoria of self love in all one's facets. There is so much pain and anger in this collection but also hope and happiness. There is also so much humour! Beyond the more serious subjects, there are a lot of pieces which explore being single and navigating online dating, many of which are extremely funny. Even within the serious pieces, Wiley's wit and humour is a highlight. The style and form of the pieces vary greatly, keeping my interest locked and showing great range. This was just a wonderful read and quickly moving up my list of all-time favourite collections.