Look I’m going to be honest here, when I requested this one on Netgalley it was 100% because I loved the cover. It’s absolutely beautiful and if we’re being honest, I’m pretty much interested in any genre of book if it has a cover like this. Very on brand for me. It turned out to be a stunning poetry collection and is definitely one of my new favourites.

The book isn’t very long, but it still manages to pack a punch in the 54 pages it does contain. The collection is divided into sections and each focuses on a different theme or topic. All the poems are really beautiful to read, there were obviously some that I enjoyed more then others but poetry is so personal and reviewing it is so difficult so we won’t get into that mess. Part two, Fairytales, did contain some of my absolute favourites though.

This is just a beautiful, lyrical and vivid poetry collection. Each poem tells a unique story and it’s definitely a collection that I’ll be going back to again and again.

I'm so, SO glad I didn't realise this was poetry until I started reading it. If I had I might not have requested it and then I wouldn't have had the pleasure of reading this amazing collection of poems that deal with fears, inner demons, lost love, self-empowerment, feminism, healing, and hope. My absolute favourite in the collection is Spending My Borrowed Time, followed closely by Millennial Warfare.
I don't often read poetry but based on how much I enjoyed this collection, if it's ever available in physical form I will be buying it asap and I will definitely be reading anything else Kala Godin publishes in the future.

Book Review
Title: Witchcraft and Monsters
Author: Kala Godin
Genre: Poetry Collection
Rating: *****
Review: So I don’t read poetry often but most collections I do read I end up enjoying and since this was fantasy based, I thought I’d take a chance on this. This collection is broken into five parts; Witchcraft, Fairytales, Bodies, Bad ideas, and Endings which was really intriguing for me. The first part Witchcraft was actually a lot darker than I was expecting but there are one or two light poems but not light as in happy but just a lighter kind of dark. My favourite poem in this part of the collection had to be Call me Sin because of the brilliantly vivid description it gives of the embodiment of Sin.
Part 2 is entitled Fairytales, and it a mash-up of Fairytales and mythology rolled into one. I loved a lot of poems in this section, so it is a three-way tie for favourite. I Hold Olympus in my Palm was the first one as it likens the reading to the Greek Gods in ways specific only to certain gods and evokes feelings of pride and importance which was interesting to say the least. The second was The Big Book of Mythology which is also about the Greek Gods but rather than liken themselves to the God the person instead questions them, for example, the person questions why Hera stayed with Zeus when he was always in the bed of another and the simple answer is loyalty. I found this to be great as it does answer some questions, we have about the legends of the Gods but also makes them seem more human as they do have flaws and weaknesses. The last poem I really loved in this section of Man versus Beast and it the comparisons between this story and Beauty and the Beast is clear, but it throws a whole new perspective on the classic fairytale that I really enjoyed. I also have to mention Teeth and Flying, Teeth is a short poem on the fairytale Red Riding Hood which manages to be both nostalgic and extremely creepy at the same time while Flying looks at the narcissistic God Apollo at it was perfection.
The third section is entitled Bodies, and it deals with the body, both illness and inflicted injuries. My favourite poems in this section were The Tale of a Gorgon, which deals with a woman who is in a wheelchair and how she likens herself to Medusa as she knows people feel that if they look at her, they will turn to stone and how this affects her. I also enjoyed Witching Hour which is about a person who is paralyzed in some form and the crushing panic they feel at waking up and not remembering they can’t move, the panic, fear and then crushing pain and disappointment felt so real it was amazing. I also have to give credit to Dear 17 which is a letter of sorts to the past version of this person and how they desperately tried to form themselves into a new person, but I also got the feeling that it was about self-harm as well.
The fourth section is entitled Bad Ideas, and this section focuses on the theme of lost love. The two poems I really have to talk about here are Pity was his Only Power which is about a relationship where the boy feels like he is a God that can own and possess the girl, but he doesn’t see the difference between boy and God, but she sees him for what he really is. This was just a striking poem empowering the girl to take advantage of this information she knows and leave him alone the way he deserves to be. Haunted Houses Look a Lot Like People is also a great poem as it turns the loss and aching of a newly lost love into a story about ghosts and haunted houses which just fit so well, and I think that everyone can relate to this in some way.
The final section is entitled Endings, this section is about endings and what comes after. The only poem I have to shout out in this section is Small Absolutes. It is about how some things in life, no matter how small seem like the biggest things in the universe and nothing will ever change that. I really liked this poem because despite the dark feeling of the whole collection this stood out as a tiny ray of sunlight just breaking through the cloud.
Overall, I really liked Witchcraft and Monsters and it is probably the best poetry collection I have read in a long time and I highly recommend you read it. It is short but so provoking that I couldn’t stop thinking about some of these poems for a long time afterward and I am sure that I will return to it again at some point in the future.

I knew when I saw that title of this collection that I would love it, and I was right. This was a short, wonderful read that I had a hard time putting down when life forced me to take a break. The poetry was dark and wonderful. Kala Godin weaves beautiful imagery into her poetry and I cannot wait for whatever she writes next.

I received this from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I wasn't sure about this when I seen the title and when I requested it I did not know it was poems but once I started reading it, I could not put it down.

It was broke down in to 5 sections. The poems to me where great. They seem to be someone fighting there own fears and troubles in life. It brings out the monsters in life that we can sometimes face as well of other small poems.

I really enjoyed this. After reading this, I may try to start picking up more poetry readings.

Wow the book of poetry was raw and real and heartbreaking. I knew nothing about this poet going in, but I love her work. I got a Nikita Gill vibe from a couple of her poems, which was nice.

4.25/5 stars

I don't really read poems or books in poetic styles of writing, but this was actually nice. Using a more dark, macabre style of writing actual helps the topics the author is trying to address. It was a quick read as well, so makes it good for those who like to read in short bursts or just all together. I also enjoyed that it was seperated into 5 different parts, each one addressing a different theme and topic, with the last part being a really good closer. This is one I can see people enjoying and to just read on their own time in bed or even at school.