Beautifully written poetry collection that draws you in. The poems are filled with many emotions that will make you see in a different way.

This was a great poetry book. I always absolutely enjoy her work and I can't wait to read more in the near future. I highly recommend it.

A beautiful and emotional collection of poetry about love, survival, and mental health. It captures the feeling of wanting to be understood, especially in the most vulnerable pieces.

The cover of this book is stunning. I would purchase this book based on the cover alone. These poems and short stories were raw and real and relatable. They were beautiful but portrayed the dark realities of life.

IADYSAWTS is a collection of poetry on the grief of a relationship ending, which also explores family and mental illness. Carrie. A. Nation is a poem on addiction, and its legacy. For Vincent Van Gogh, Patron Saint of Psychotic Manic Depressives weaves Van Gogh’s story with the narrator’s diagnosis of manic depression. These are only two poems to pick out, there are so many I enjoyed in this collection. The poems are a mix of long and short. The stanzas in the poems are so well written, and so satisfying to read. The EMOTIONS this book took me through too. IADYSAWTS is one of my favourite collections of poetry

'In a Dream You Saw a Way to Survive' was one of this year's poetry collections that made em realize how raw and honest poetry could be. Having studied poetry at university, it always felt somehow old to me. There are only very few poems that truly strike a chord with me, which is why Clementine von Radics took me by surprise. She doesn't shy away from hard topics, but it gives the collection an honesty that grounds its sometimes fantastical style. I will definitely be keeping an eye our for more poetry from von Radics.

What a beautiful collection of poetry that focuses on just what the title says, surviving. I loved reading this and being immersed in such a gorgeous collection of poetry and the power of the written word in this collection!

https://nexttoabook.wordpress.com/2019/03/08/review-in-a-dream-you-saw-a-way-to-survive-by-clementine-von-radics/

This is a copy provided by the author and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to them!

More than exposing themes, the author exposes her vision and how she tries to overcome. I greatly enjoyed her simplicity in writing, how strategically she disperses her stanzas through the pages, reflected intensity into her words. However, the themes addressed are so common, perhaps, because I had read many poems by other contemporary authors and do not see the singularity in this work.

Overall it’s a book with a collection of poems that are actual and relevant to our time, especially for all teenagers out there.

There are two parts to this collection that for me have become distinct, the first one which the author reveals her weaknesses and the second her transformation and tenacity to overcome all obstacles.

“I made news of my love
like I was flyering for a lost dog”

The first part has such cruel transparency, the poet is allowed to lower, to humiliate to the point of feeling the reciprocal love. On the other hand, she becomes ironic and even sadistic when, for example, she transcribes her conversation with the therapist: THAT´S JUST SO AMAZING!

“I hope
We raise children
Who only yell
from joy”

In the second part of this collection, I see the poet with another more conscious and mature attitude, besides she gets in deeper themes such as addictions and childhood. I really love that vision in this part, her fierce criticism and his ironic singularity, which he should take advantage of that in another work.

Finally, I enjoyed this book, it was quite good but not so brilliant how I was excepted. Anyway, I truly believe that the poet has more to show and to offer, hopefully in the next book she can shine like she deserves it!

Happy readings,

Next to a Book.

Whilst I did enjoy this collection of Poetry, I wouldn’t say it was for everyone. It definitely spoke to me on a personal level, but may be a bit dark for some

It was delightful to read through this book despite the topics being mostly about depression + a bit of mental illness, and loss of love through being cheated on. The poems were very touching too.

Some of my favorites:

"What a short life the bullet has
compared to the wound."

"I belong more to my own survival
than to you
and the fiction of permanence."

And my most favorite one:

"I'm saying I loved a man for years
thinking he was the bandage
only to realize he was the wound."

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with the digital version for an honest review. And apologies for posting this late because I was busy with uni.

In a Dream You Saw a Way to Survive is a poetry collection about love, cheating, abortion, loss, abuse and consists of two parts.

"You spend years building a home
just to watch it destroyed in seconds."

This is the first poetry collection I read by Clementine von Radics and I liked it. There were some beautiful poems I could relate to and I liked that Clementine was really raw and honest.

"My healing is ugly.
My edges cracked and uninspiring.

But still, they are my edges.
Still, I am healing."

There were some poems that were okay but I could still feel the emotion behind her words. I cannot wait to read some of her other poetry collections!

"I’m saying I loved a man for years
thinking he was the bandage
only to realize he was the wound."

Favourite poems:
Storm
You aplogize for your mistake
The Fear
Ever the optimist
Post-term
To the protester outside of the clinic who called me a murderer
Bitter
A bird flew
Notes on the term survivor
You are on the floor crying
For Vincent van Gogh, Patron Saint of Psychotic Manic Depressives

To date, this is my second Clementine von Radics book! I fell in love with her earlier work, Mouthful Forevers. And so with latest one!

Author’s voice from then and now, of course, had changed immensely! It was divided into two parts, when I began reading I had a hard time hitting the right tones of the voice. As to the experiences were not of mine personally nor I could connect with yet. It took me time to fully hit and felt emotions as to where and where it is all coming from; that was what I thought with the first part. As for the latter part, I liked it better! I felt the lyrical change and flow of the verses. Plus the good balance between the longer pieces and the short ones is something to note of. It does not come as overwhelming nor underwhelming to one.

However, among the pieces from part one, A Bird Flew is my favorite. It took my tears.

It had impacted me more, the picture it paints the reader is louder and clearer by the page I held on. What I love most about the collection is the bravery it shows me; topics of abortion, sexuality, and talking about one’s mental health must have been therapeutic and difficult for the author and for me as it is, and with the stigma it surrounds, especially from where I am from is such a hard and taboo topic to be talking about with the wrong person. It has helped me in such a way to connect (not outright but in ways).

I would be keeping my eye out for another Clementine Von Radics work for sure!
Trigger Warning/Content: abortion, mental health, divorce.

“No one else can decide,
What your tough looks like”

This book is gorgeous from the cover to the words. The poems are deeply relatable for me and made me feel a lot of capital F Feelings. The mark of a great poetry collection for me is if they make me cry and this one had me there. I highly recommend you check this collection out and I can’t wait to break into more of von Radics works.

I was not a fan of Clementine's original collection, Mouthful of Forevers, but was pleasantly surprised by the improvement in this collection. The poems were raw, relatable, and memorable.

TW: abortion, alcoholism, manic depression

I just think this collection of poems wasn’t for me. I was not the right audience.
It deals with cheating and marriage and I simply cannot relate.
Because of this, the great majority of the poems did not work for me.

And yet, I loved the way Clementine von Radics used words.
There’s something unique and enchanting in the way she managed to weave words together and create beautifully aching metaphors.
There’s talent right there, no doubts about that.

Favourite Poem:
YOU ARE ON THE FLOOR CRYING.
And you have been
on the floor crying 
for days.
And that is you
being brave.
That is you getting through it
as best you know how.
No one else can decide

What your tough looks like.

This collection of poetry was nice, but it wasn’t anything exciting. I would have enjoyed it a lot more if there had just been more poems. I felt so disappointed when I flipped the final page and that was it. I have pretty similar thoughts on this collection as I have had for other poetry collections. I absolutely loved some poems, while others were bland to me. I felt like the poems towards the beginning of the collection were very touching and beautiful, and they continued to lose my interest as I kept reading through the thing. I’m sure that other people would enjoy these poems more than I did. It could just be that I can’t connect to the experiences written about. I will definitely keep an eye out for other collections from this author.

I received a free, advanced copy of this book through NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Clementine von Radics’ (@clementinevr) In a Dream You Saw a Way to Survive is a slim collection of poems that cuts to the quick of infidelity, codependency, bravery, and healing. In one of the most powerful pieces, “To the Protester Outside of the Clinic Who Called Me a Murderer,” von Radics explains the decision to have an abortion. In another, “Notes on the Term Survivor:”, she faces the truth of what it means to endure an abusive relationship. Of them all, I think the 5-lined “Confession:” is my favorite. This is a powerful collection.

Boy, do I have some Big Feelings about von Radic’s latest work In a Dream You Saw a Way to Survive and smacking three GR stars on this collection is a bad way of conveying how I feel about it. So, no quick synopsis here— sorry.

In a Dream You Saw a Way to Survive is a two-part collection that synthesizes some tough material into a well-curated examination of survival, trauma, heartbreak, grief, and hope. Von Radic runs the gamut of common themes explored in contemporary poetry so when I began reading the collection, I worried that they wouldn’t have anything new to say. Ultimately, Part I did not distinguish itself to me. Part II, on the other hand, PART II.

Von Radic’s voice is smart, toothy, and dripping something delicious in Part II, but the prosody of the poems in Part I never hit the same lyrical stride as later ones. In particular, I’m still thinking about “The poet refuses to see what can be plainly seen” hours after I finished the full collection.

In this ancient and blooming place, longing did not exist
until Zeus grew jealous, splitting each person in half with a
blade of lightning, and that was the birth of loneliness and
fucking and longing and birth.
This is how we learned to search for each other, to clatter our bodies back into a single thing.

Von Radic’s imagery and thoughts are so potent and fresh. They upset the inertia that I feel around contemporary poetry. Only a few poems in Part I hit me in the same way such as “A conversation between my therapist and the mouth that sometimes belongs to me”.

But what do you call the
children? Is this the way a
wolf becomes a dog? Listen.
There was once a terrible
snow and I ate despite,
I made soup from my own
bones.

Von Radic is a force and I look forward to what they write next. In a Dream You Saw a Way to Survive, without a doubt, is something I would encourage you to read. I received an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review, but the collection will be released soon on 04/09/2019.

I really enjoyed a previous poetry collection by the author, but with this one, I just couldn't really connect to it. There were a couple poems I really enjoyed and I think overall it's a good piece of work. I also really enjoyed that it wasn't stretched. It felt overall very coherent and personal.

I would still recommend this poetry collection to anyone who enjoys modern poetry. It definitely has a fresh feeling to it and with how short it is, it can be enjoyed in one sitting.

I absolutely adored every poem in this collection. The poet uses themes that are universal; love, loss, fighting to survive, regret, mental health and different form of abuse. These themes are personal as well and speak to many people, myself included. Some of the poems are heart-breaking and I had to step away from reading them. I could feel the poet’s emotion with every line. These poems were a pleasure to read. These are the kind of poems that speak to me, I love to read them, listen to them and write them.