I don’t know if it’s just me but creating an appropriate title for my poem is hard. Brenna Twohy seems to have that part down pat, especially in terms of sometimes not giving anything away about the poem, it diverts your attention away from that. For example Neville Longbottom’s Boggart attends Severus Snape’s funeral and Fantastic Breasts and Where to Find Them. The latter had the oddest segue into a poem, ‘what turns me on is Ginny Weasley in the restricted section with her skirt hiked up,’ and then there’s Anxiety: A Ghost Story ‘we have got to talk about the kids in all those Goosebumps books,’ which was 90’s Nostalgia. Oh, and what a poem the fantastically titled Today I am Tired of being a Woman was.

In Swallowtail the poetry was relevant, arresting and is a fine collection.

4.5
Finally I was in the mood to read poetry!
I don't think I can pick one from this collection and call it a fav. I just don't have the words to articulate how I felt reading this one. Highly recommended

This was an enjoyable read and I would recommend it. thanks for letting me have an advance copy. I'm new to this author.

Beautiful, but very sad, poems. I enjoyed some of these more than others. There were some that I really resonated with and some that I just skimmed through because I didn't care for them.

Very much enjoyed this piece! Relatable for me personally, and open. Another of the button poetry gang I intend to follow.

I am a poet at heart even though I read other things most of the time. So when I saw that Button Poetry had released another book I was beyond excited. When I realized it was written by Brenna Twohy, I could not wait to get my hands on it. It takes real talent to convey as much emotion as they page as someone does while performing spoken word and Brenna did not disappoint. Her depiction of coming to grips with "healing" from grief and trauma is something that I feel many of our generation can and do relate to. I know I did.

The experiences shown in this work are ones that are sadly very common place in our society and need to be talked about more even though they can be hard for survivors to talk about.

A great collection of poems. Love the way mental illness, grief, and assault are approached, and have recommended this collection since reading it

4.5 Stars (I received an e-arc from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review)

TW: References to past suicide attempts

First of all, this cover is stunning, beautiful and such a simple cover. The collection is emotional, heartbreaking and really goes into the struggles of mental health. Each poems title usually has a dedication or some sort subtitle. Hard hitting, sarcastic and plenty of other amazing things. I don't want to give away too much about the content because I feel like you need to read this collection without knowing a lot.

This book only gets better as the book goes on. Brenna is able to eloquently capture grief and heartache in way that feels achingly familiar. Her references that go hand in hand with tough subjects bring a small amount of levity while still dropping those little bombs inside your chest. Amazing collection!

This was a mixed bag for me, like most contemporary poetry. It's definitely modern and written in a very youthful style. I'd recommend it to others for sure.

I'm not even that much of a poetry fan but this book was lovely. Just take five minutes out of your day and be mindful with one of these poems.

I loved this collection of poetry!! I highly recommend it. It even had Harry Potter references! It was nuanced and fun and yet serious. it made you think and cry and even just sit still.

This is the first poetry collection I’ve ever read by Brenna Twohy and it wasn’t something for me. For some reason I couldn't get into this poetry collection. Maybe it was the writing or maybe I just couldn’t connect to the poems. I’ve had this before that I just couldn’t enjoy a poetry collection. Perhaps it's just not the time to read this book and maybe later I’ll buy this poetry collection and read it again. Sometimes I just have these moods where I really want to read poetry collections, and perhaps when I have one of these moods again, it’s time to read Swallowtail.

I just love the way Brenna braids words together. I am honestly at a loss for my own. Her work just took my breath away. This feminist view of grief and loss was remarkable. Thank you NetGalley and Button.

I always loved poetry and this title remind me why I lobe poetry so much!

Swallowtail was my first from the collection and I’m eager to discover more.

This collection of poems deals with so many important topics such as grief or mental illness. Brenna had the way of picturing very well these situation and according to me it was the best part of this book! Honestly I sometimes feel like author speak of such subjects without really knowing it but here, it felt very real and near.

It was really touching but it’s a really hard reading.

Absolutely stunning! Brenna's writing is so raw and emotional that her words and phrases truly speak out to the readers. This collection was so eye-opening and heartbreaking to read, and with every page I found myself more and more engaged with the poems. Swallowtail is a wonderful collection of poems that I absolutely recommend.

This was one of the first books of poetry I read from start to finish. Each and every single poem moved me. Very compelling, very creative, and very raw. I loved this.

DNF - Sorry but these poems and the writing style definitely wasn't for me, so I did not finish the book. It's nice that apparently I'm in the minority. Absolutely stunning cover and title!

Simply phenomenal. I've seen some of Brenna Twohy's incredible performances on the Button Poetry channel on YouTube and having the chance to read them directly in this collection was amazing.

Swallowtail offers in-depth truths and horrors of women experiences in today's America. Some are hard to grasp and a lot are what we've either witnessed or experienced ourselves and this is something everyone needs to read in today's climate.