A review by allieelizbart
Native Guard by Natasha Trethewey

5.0

I was supposed to read this poetry collection in a class during the worst semester of my life, and I didn't get around to it because I didn't get around to any of my work. It's been sitting on my bookshelf, waiting to be cracked open, since 2017. But, honestly, I'm glad I waited to enjoy it until I was in the right headspace. Natasha Trethewey's third collection is dark and doesn't skimp on the macabre. It explores and intertwines her mother's brutal death, her ancestors' legacy, and the violence and trauma experienced in her childhood. If you've read any of my other mini-reviews or kept up with what I read (anyone out there?), you know I'm a sucker for themes like memory, identity, and death, and this hit all 3 of those. Trethewey's collection is accessible, nothing pretentious about it at all. She closely controls the presented narratives and refuses to water down the most uncomfortable parts. Favorite poems: "Graveyard Blues," "Myth," "Pilgrimage," "Southern History," "Blond," "Southern Gothic," and "South."