While poems centered around love, lost or otherwise, are not my favorite, I see great value in this book for younger readers. It will appeal to students and young adults who need a doorway into poetry, or a mirror in which to see parts of their identity. Enjoyable read, I look forward to seeing what this poet does in the future.

These poems are honest and heartfelt. Not masterful in any way. Mostly short prose like paragraphs, but the emotion is felt. Enjoyable but a little amateur.

I was interested in reading this collection because I loved the cover, I'm not going to lie to you. I was sold on this collection as soon as the author mentioned Andrea Gibson, who has moved me to tears on more than one occasion. I was utterly convinced as soon as I read the first poem. 

This collection is such a journey. It could be read on multiple levels. At face value, it's the story of someone really not handling a break-up. On a deeper level, this is a story of healing, of changing, and of holding onto some of the past because it's not realistic to expect to let go. 

Poetry is such a subjective thing, it's hard to anticipate how someone else will read them, and it's difficult, therefore, for me to tell you that you should read this collection or that you are going to love it because honestly some people just won't. But if you are like me, and you appreciate a good metaphor and a heartwrenching final line then you should definitely check out this collection. 

My rating: 4/5 stars

I received a digital advanced review copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This was a beautiful and heartfelt book about having a broken heart. Anyone who has experienced even a mild broken heart can relate.

My review will be posted on May 25th 2018 on both my blog and goodreads. Here is my review:
I was scrolling through net-galley to see what arcs I wanted to request when I stumbled across this one. The description peaked my interest so I requested and to my pleasure, got accepted. I am so glad I did.

I read this book in one sitting, on the coach to college and then in my psychology class because I couldn't put it down. This poetry collection deals with heartbreak so honestly and raw that anyone who's dealt with the loss of love can relate to. Not only were the poems able to connect with the audience but they were also beautifully constructed and vividly descriptive. I struggled not to highlight every line I read throughout this book.

I don't know what else I can say about this collection other than what has been discussed, but I recommend it to each and everyone of you.

Overall: This book will be one I go back to time and time again as it is the type of book that will be relevant throughout my life.

I enjoyed this book overall, but I wasn't blown away by it. There wasn't much poetic tone and many of the poems seemed the same with slight tweaks. There was a lack of development throughout the book. The poems didn't reflect growth, only repetitive dwelling.

First poetry book of 2018 and I'm blown away. If this is a peek of poetry I'm going to read this year, then bring on the poetry because, man this book is amazing.
Trista poetry style paints photos of life with such a bright, truthful way that I couldn't stop reading. I read this book all in one setting because in a way it kinda reads as a story being told. I enjoyed the mix of different lengths of poems. There are one-liners to long poems. There are a few poems that made my heart hurt because of the truth in them and because knowing that this is still things people have to go through. She writes with such fact and passion.
My favorite poems in this book are "On Writing My First Book Of Poetry", "The Baker's Lament", "A Wish", & "Semi-Factual Thoughts On Space". These poems are still on my mind even after a few days have passed.
My favorite line by Trista in this book is, "Your blush, a cascade of color from ballet shoes to fairy floss." I don't know why this is my favorite line but I just love her word choice, the picture that develops is simple but sweet.
This book is filled with many lines like that one and filled with powerful truths. About small-town lives, family, lifestyles, love, relationship, LGBTQ, and more. There's a line in the blurb and in the book, "Honeybee chronicle the on-again off-again process of letting go." and that line could be any more right. It's not just letting go of a past love, but letting go of drama, life, and the caring of what people think of you.
Therefore, this is a must-read for anyone. Looking to try poetry than try this one. This is a gem of a book!

Read the whole thing in one sitting. These poems epitomize many of the emotions I underwent during my younger years as a woman in love. The pain and questioning and heartbreak is relevant and relatable whether the reader is LGBT or not. I found it interesting how the author was able to combine the questions of her sexuality with her feelings of loss in her relationship with this one woman. A wonderfully emotional book.

While this isn't my favorite collection of poetry I've ever read, it definitely had its moments. It read, to me, more like a short story or collection of diary entries. Which, I didn't exactly mind, but as far as poetic goes, this didn't hit all the right spots for me.
Having said that, as a collection of stories, they were emotional and I did enjoy the book overall.

This book was absolutely beautiful. A book of poetry about heartbreak and love from a bisexual woman who couldn't let go. Or took a long time to let go. She moved away, stopped talking to her and still couldn't keep the poems from flowing. They were all wonderful and I loved it.

What I Liked

This poetry collection is filled to the brim with emotion. Every poem you can see that Trista Mateer is writing from her heart and it is beautiful. Even though her words are beautiful and they are both filled with pure joy and deep sadness. You can feel the ebb and flow of her emotions even when the poem is a mere line or two. For me this is a must when I am reading a poetry collection. Another must for me is that I am forced to stop and think. A poem needs to invoke reflection and some type of thought. This could be internal or just thinking about what the author who penned the work truly went through. Honeybee achieved this as well.
Another thing I liked was the fact that this collection had a story to tell. It wasn’t a bunch of one off poems thrown together and sold as a book. Each poem has it’s well deserved placed in this book. Each one is essential in telling Mateers story and I am so happy that she told the story that she did.

What I Didn’t Like

One thing I did not enjoy was the fact that at times I felt so disconnected from the author. Now stay with me I know this sounds weird. Even though I was able to feel her emotions and I really empathized with her. I have had heartbreak in my life and do love someone very much. I just never myself have felt hear break this deep and this emotional. So I personally had a heard time connecting a hundred percent. But that in no way means that this is a bad collection or to say that you wont connect with her a hundred percent. This is something that is personal. That is what I love about poetry, it is so personal of an experience and each person will experience it differently.

Overall Thoughts

Honeybee is a wonderful collection. I felt rage, sadness, and happiness within the short 160 pages. That is something difficult to do, but it has been done here. The words are beautiful and are accompanied by cute illustrations and little tidbits that increase the enjoyment tremendously. I would highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys reading poetry dealing with relationships, intense emotion, and loves to hear a heart-wrenching story.

Book Information

Publisher: Central Avenue Publishing

Publication Date: May 1st 2018

List Price: $12.95

ISBN: 9781771681360

Pages: 160

*I received this book through netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*

This book of poetry will remind you of every breakup you ever experienced. I read this in one sitting and was carried through the entirety of a relationship that felt doomed from the beginning.

I think this would be a good book to refer people to who are going through a difficult breakup. If you enjoyed the truth and raw honesty of Kaur's Milk and Honey you will certainly enjoy this.

This book was marvelous and it puts a new author under my radar.
Honeybee is more than a pretty poetry book, it's a journey. A journey though someone heartbreak that make you change.
So many moments will make you smile with sadness in your eyes, so many others are just screaming pure honesty.
A book to read and read again over and over.

Interesting format and I can for sure think of more than a few people this collection of poems would be good for. The writing style is very natural, but also quite repetitive. While this fits with the theme of the ongoing struggle of remembering a lost love, it became a little too repetitive at points.

Reading Mateer’s poems feels like coming home.

It wasn’t until I was half way down the rabbit hole of her incredible heart-break, that I realised the poems where in chronological order and when that hit me, it made the whole premise so much sadder. This encouraged me to connect and relate to the poems more.

For anyone who has had to leave someone that they love or been pushed aside, these poems perfectly quantify and describe those feelings that so often cannot be put into words.

I personally love confessional poetry, whenever I write, it always seems to be in a confessional tone and there is always something special and raw in free verse confessional poetry. There are always certain lines that strike you with blistering honesty and bring your own feelings into clarity.

In a world when poetry is often ridiculed and ignored, I admire poets like Mateer, who has made poetry “cool” again. She reminds me of Amanda Lovelace, Lang Leav and Rupi Kaur. I look forward to reading more of her work.

I’ll be honest, I’m not really the biggest fan of poetry, I’ve just never been able to fully connect with it and understand it the way so many others do. This collection of poems was really beautiful though, the general theme is heartbreak and loneliness after the end of a love affair, something that many of us can relate to, each poem is brisk and lovely, I actually really enjoyed reading them. Also, big props for the cover art that is very reminiscent of Sarah Paulson as Lana Winters.