This was a great book. Lisa Well's writing was incredibly and immaculate, and from t he very beginning I had a thought that I was going to love it. I did.

I really enjoyed this collection. Lisa Wells is not a poet I'm familiar with but I will watch out for her in future. Not every poem struck a chord with me but the ones that did really resonated. Let me quote a few lines:-

"In the park adjacent the crematory there is a toddler hidden in the folds of her stroller. Only her hands are visible kneading the air."

"...there's a wound in me and everyone knows you should never trust what comes to you limping."

"...marching bead by worried bead upon my rosary-"

The language is beautiful and the choices of imagery are just perfect and I recommend this if you are looking for a new poet with a little bit of depth but still accessible.

I was given a copy of this book by Netgalley in return for an honest review.

"To endure this
apparatus

all I have to do is last."

This poetry collection thrived on being abstract yet vivid in its use of description in every poem. Every poem was a unique journey, separate from all the others. Admittedly, some flew right over my head but I still very much liked reading the words and trying to decipher what they meant to me.

A perfect break from all insta-poetry I'd say and something I look forward to having on my shelves. Definitely recommend this to anyone who wants to read a confident, bold and exquisite play on words!

Favourites: "Theory of Knowledge", "Saddle Shoes", "Woman Seated With Thighs Apart", "Canis Vulgaris", "Instructions", "Resurrections", "Beast (1 and 5)", "Under the Water, Carry The Water", "We Must Be Coming Down", "State of a Fair", "Winemaking", "Poetry Man".

The Fix is a collection of poetry from Lisa Wells, which won the 2017 Iowa Poetry Prize. I have a mixed relationship with poetry. I love to read it out loud and savor the rhythms and patterns of words, and I subscribe to the theory that poetry can have a thousand different meanings depending primarily on the reader. This also means that I sometimes miss the "real meaning" of a poem without the background context. However, I've been trying to read more of it this year and to explore some new-to-me authors.

Unrelated to my relationship to poetry, Wells word choice throughout her poems is casual, but her style is abstract. This makes understanding her poems a bit difficult, and I sometimes had trouble following a train of thought from one stanza to another. Overall, her poetry left me with a raw enjoyment of the art but a loss on conclusions about each poem and what she might be trying to convey.

The Fix is a collection of poems I found as utterly engaging. Once you read a poem, you can't help but be excited or wonder what the poet will talk about in the next poem. All the poems describe moments from the poets's life, but they were vividly but creatively described that only a good poet can do. The poet's language was lyrical, musical but sharp. Lisa Wells certainly not only proves she's a poet but also that her words, her beautiful complex words, can hurt and strike deep too as they spoke of something of truth in her and so it became truth to the readers as well. These poems are haunting and I know i'll reread this soon.

And look at that cover. I loved it..I have to have a hard copy for my shelf as I only read this as an e-copy granted to me by the author and publishers thru Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

PS: this indeed deserve the prize it got. :) :)

This collection of poetry takes the everyday and turns it on its head, exploring from every angle. I enjoyed this collection because it takes a bit of a risk when it comes to word choice and description, putting in words and phrases that quickly let you understand that you don't know where the next line will be going.

Although it is a quick read, it is definitely something that will linger with you awhile.

These poems are vividly described snapshots about every day life. They are haunting and graphic and will stay with this reader for a while.

I love poetry and when I came across Lisa Well's new poetry collection, I knew I had to read it.

The poems are of different topics. The flow is also different from poem to poem. Sometimes it's slow and smooth, languid in its flow. Other times, it's fast and wild.

I could visualise the scenes the poet describes through her poem. It did take me some time to truly understand what she was trying to speak of but, that's the beauty of poetry, as you keep reading them again and again, the meaning and the thoughts become clear eventually.

An incredible selection of poetry that almost defies description. Vivid in both descriptions and distractions the poet takes the reader on a wild ride from the shoulder of the road to the backroom of a club. Animalistic and sometimes violent the journey continues unabated.

Sometimes the words turn simple:

A seed sleeps till you put it in the ground.
A seed is a box water opens

~ Resurrections II

Other times the words tend to run deep and the meanings blur. The is captured particularly well in ”State of a Fair” blending meanings and playing both on words and events to create a double vision branching in different directions.

Complex yet beautifully written collection of poetry certainly able to hold the the attention and admiration of the reader. A well-done collection deserving of the Iowa Poetry Prize.

Though certainly well-written poetry, it just didn't really speak to me personally. I think I just wasn't the right reader, though I definitely enjoyed Lisa Well's skill.