Nocturnal is a poetry book about self discovery, love, and healing. This book shared a lot of similarities in style and themes with other popular instapoets such as Rupi Kaur, Alison Malee, and Amanda Lovelace. Like the aforementioned poets, it’s all free-verse with random spacing between lines. While I can appreciate the form at times when the spacing is used to emphasize specific words, most of the time it just feels pointless and serves no real purpose at all.

Now aesthetically speaking, Nocturnal is one of the most beautiful poetry collections I’ve read in some time with full-page art gracing many of the pages. The book’s design is gorgeous and there was a large variety of different illustrations from page to page, I greatly appreciated the attention to detail. A turn of the page would have a feast for the eyes with many of the illustrations being nature themed and I cannot understate how pretty this book was, excellent job to the publishers and the book designers for the marvelous work that they did on this book.

Unfortunately, looks were pretty much all this collection had going for it. While the book was lovely to look at, the content was forgettable. I didn’t find all that many lines that really stood out to me, there was no rhythm to them. Often I found that as I turned the page I had already forgotten the poem I had just read. The themes were repetitive and they are the same ones you see in every poetry book being published lately but it never manages to do anything new or memorable.

I thought that I would like this collection a lot more than I did, and I honestly wanted to love it with how beautifully the book was designed. If you’re a fan of simple, positive poetry or the poets that I had mentioned earlier than you might appreciate this collection. Like many others, Wilder Poetry has an instagram account dedicated to poetry that is very pretty to look at. For myself personally, I feel like the market is getting over saturated and it’s getting to be a little boring. It’s not to say that this collection was bad, there was just nothing that stood out about it to make it great.

This poetry collection is definitely one of the most beautifully illustrated once I ever read. I loved the whole design and how the poems were connected from page to page. Overall, I couldn't connect to the poems themselves, that's why I didn't give it a higher rating, even though I really loved the overall design.

I would still recommend this to people who really love most of modern poetry cause it's really nice poetry, I just read modern poetry I connected to more.

Nocturnal is a collection of fascinating poems that can pull some strings from our hearts. The collection contains self love, nature, experiences and such.

What I liked:
First things first. I love the aesthetics of the book cover! It reminds of the saying “less is more” and it is definitely appropriate for the overall theme of the book. As for the writing style, it is easy to read and I enjoy getting lost between the lines and pages.
The artworks or visuals of some pages on this book are so stunning that I can’t help but take a screenshot of those pages.
Further, I have read this book late at night and it might have affected me while reading it because I felt every bit of the poems. This book has touched some of the deepest insecurities I have about myself and that made me teary-eyed.
Lastly, this book made a bit impact on my perspective on self love and confidence.

What I did not liked:
This book has a lot of potential but in defiance of all the good things I’ve stated above, it wasn’t enough to be stuck on my mind for a long time. Nevertheless, I enjoyed and liked this book!

Recommend or not:
Yes!

ARC received from the publishers in exchange for an honest review.
Publication Date 07 May 2019

'i haven't met a cloud
that didn't touch me'

There is just something about this collection of poetry that I really like.
Little editions that Wilder Poetry makes to each stanza just make you go 'yes that's it' it's uplifting and touching and I just finished it but I want to read it again right now.
The art is as beautiful as the poetry and on some pages, it's so bloody pretty I've bookmarked my favourite illustrations to look at again later.
The collection isn't without its faults. Like a lot of modern poetry anthologies, I felt like some of the poems were placeholders or just put in to up the page count.
Having said that I would recommend this to people trying to get into poetry or for enthusiasts that are looking for a new collection by an up-and-comer. Its a quick read (under 100 pages) with a very good reread value.

Beautiful collection of poetry. The topics vary but mainly concern love and loss. I love finding a poetry collection that expresses how i've felt better than i could have put into words and Nocturnal did just that.

The art was a pleasant surprise and was a lovely compliment to the words.
I thought this was a heartbreaking glimpse into grief and loss, but also comforting and motivational for the spirit. These words resonated with me, the title was also perfect for this collection.

“a heart was made
to live in the dark;
maybe we were too.”
-Maybe we were meant to so that we appreciate the light.

I love the word ‘nocturnal’. I have no idea why, but I do, and that is why I chose to review this poetry collection. That and my desire to read more poetry. It was the title and front cover that caught my eye.

Let me start by saying that the artwork is stunning and I absolutely love it. It is worth purchasing a copy of this collection for that alone.

I have mixed feelings about the poetry itself. Some of the poems were really close to my heart and others were just a bit meh. There were too many poems of only a few short sentences in my honest opinion. I preferred the slightly longer ones.

The short sharp ones can work, but too many of them and I feel the collection loses its power. I felt this one suffered a bit from that.

Having said that, as a whole I did enjoy the poems, especially in conjunction with the artwork. Were these poems eye opening and absolutely brilliant? No, but they did express emotion quite well and sometimes that is all you need.

Beautifully written, lyrically expressive on a myriad of topics. There is no one theme except perhaps self-reflection. The author jumps around between love and loss, insecurity and self empowerment with focus on night and dreams and nature. There is a "wildness" to it that is so connectable.. Some of the poems are whimsical and light and some are deal with heavier emotions. One of my favorite was about time, so accurate and trusting and youthful in its approach...I really oved the way the author used words and emotions to express ideas and concepts, the breakdown of chapters into different variations of light also added some magic and at the same time nostalgia to the mix. Evoked a mix of emotions but was an absolute pleasure to read. Highly recommended!


"there is something graceful
about the way time passes by -
how it gives itself away,
never knowing whose hands
will stop to hold it before
it leaves"

"i dream of an almighty night
full of wonder and a north star
that knows the way"

I know poetry is subjective and intuitive, but this is how I feel about "Nocturnal": It brought me joy, because some poems mangaged it to express how I feel and I was stunned and other poems where exactly the words I needed to hear. And also, at some points I had to stop and admire the beauty of the style and I was wishing I had written it
I will read it again tomorrow and the day after that to keep this work of art in mind.

I really enjoyed this work. The poems are really lovely. As well the imagery chosen - well illustrated for this is wonderfully done. A great read for those who love poetry.

Stunning collection of poetry with even gorgeous artwork here and there.
Although I can't relate to all pieces, I felt it. And isn't that what poetry is about?

maybe i read this at the wrong time. earlier last year i read a lot of poetry that helped me get through a lot of hard emotions, and this seemed in the same vein but i didn't need it's aide any longer, but know it would have gotten me through if i had. sometimes the love we thought we wanted is what we needed and better is ahead, someone who helps us be more ourselves than we ever knew possible, that doesn't try to change us, only loves us as we are.

i've always been told that
i was born chasing sunsets, but
sometimes i wonder if i'm really
just trying to find a way
to be in two places at once.

Nocturnal is an interesting collection; it doesn't ever settle on just one main theme, but seems to flit between love and loss, insecurities and self-love, all tossed with a healthy focus on nature and all the healing it can offer us.

my heart tends to live
in the wrong place at
the right time,
but i've always loved
the sound of rain
on a sunny day
and the moon after
sunrise.

So many of the poems in this collection resonated deeply with me, particularly the creator's acknowledgement of their own patient-to-a-fault attitude towards toxic partners (been there!). More than anything, I loved the sections on self-love, and would have enjoyed more of those scattered throughout. The only reason I'm giving this 4 instead of 5 stars is that some of the pieces felt repetitive or out of place in the grand scheme.



I also feel like I can't complete this review without showing you an example of what I mean when I say that this is, without a doubt, the most visually beautiful poetry collection I have ever seen. It's filled with illustrations and watercolor scenery that lend the most incredible atmospheric touches.

Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book has been very well compiled. The order of the poems, the categories and their division made sense to me. I didn't feel repetition although the poems circle around the same topics.

The drawings included are also amazing. Seriously. So well done and mesmerizing.

It is a very beautiful book.

Feeling so inspired by this beautiful collection of poems. The art is equally just as exquisite. My heart is happy after reading this.

I very much like Wilder Poetry on Instagram so I was excited to read this book. It didn't disappoint! While the poetry is minimalistic, I really enjoyed the emotions behind the words.

Very enjoyable collection. It was pleasant to read. It made me interested in poetry in general, too, which is amazing.

I was so impressed with Nocturnal! Not only is it visually pleasing, but the writing is beautiful and relaxing. This book is etched into my soul, and I will be visiting it again.

ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review (Thank you!)

This was my first experience with Poetry, as I usually don't read poetry and It's been twelve years since I last read a poetry book. But soon as I saw this wonderful cover I wanted to read it. I'm so glad I did.
I'm delighted with this little gem. The words were simply beautiful, meaningful. The illustrations were fabulous and I loved how fitting they were. It is a book about stars and night, nature and feelings of love, and heartbreak and also acceptance. There are many feelings contained in each poem.
It was relaxing for me and I recommend it to those who enjoy pretty artwork and lyrical writing.

This poetry collection along with the artworks are very enticing. It speaks to me and found many that very relevant for me.

As the blurb suggest, this one is very good for those in healing process. It doesn't belittled our woes and it gives us hopes that there will always be light after the dark.

Thank you #netgalley for providing the arc.