A review by will_meringue
Cain by Luke Kennard

challenging

I don't even know how I'd begin to rate this collection. 'Book I: Gravel Pit' was amazing, I felt on many occasions like I was discovering something I'd known but never articulated, which is a feeling I look for in poetry. I was particularly impressed by 'Painted Dream-Bird (I Wanted to Send a Message)' and 'Vestigial Stammer'. 'Book III: Death Shroud' was similarly incisive. But I could not get into 'Book II: The Anagrams'. It made no sense to me, was baffling to the point it made me apathetic and disengaged. I'm sure if I was reading to analyse it I would find it to be excellently, meticulously crafted, and I would be able to pull out clever details, but at the end of the day, as a reading experience, I personally did not find it enjoyable.