Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

Thought-provoking, deep, and beautifully written. My only qualm is that the flow of the poems were a bit off, but that could be intentional. Still, The Apricot Memoirs definitely makes itself known in the best way.

Sweet but at the same time rough.
The author tries to describe her thoughts the simple ways but with that bittersweet taste.
I really liked read this book.
I think it's a poetry full of powerful thoughts and ideas that we, the readers, should emerge with an open soul

Visually striking but not especially well written. Potentially an interesting book as artifact, but not much more than that.

"The Apricot Memoirs" by Tess Guinery is a poetry collection spanning the topics of religion, motherhood, femininity and self love.

I think the colour choices for this book was wonderful and and unlike anything I have previously seen in a poetry collection. The choice of using orange text on an apricot background tied the entire collection together and I believe it helped to push the narrative further. The book is very warm both in its subject matter and how the poems were written. Guinery creates a cozy atmosphere within her book. While I didn't connect with every poem in the collection I found my swooning over many of the poems. There was a really good balance between longer prose like poems and short powerful thoughts that I really enjoyed. The pace of the book moved really well and I found myself wanting to constantly turn the page to read just one more poem.

Thank you to Netgalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing me with this E-Arc of "The Apricot Memoirs" in exchange for an honest review.

Loved this poetry book so much!! I ended up purchasing it from Amazon, too so I would have a print copy.

A beautiful collection of poetry and prose that I could pick up at any time for a feeling of inspiration.

The Apricot Memoirs is a collection of poetry and prose that explores the various facets of love, life, and creativity. It is both intimate and expansive. this collection of poetry and prose explores various themes, including love, vulnerability, and creativity. Her work is warm and uplifting, and her Instagram feed is full of positive words. Thank you, Andrews McMeel Publishing, for the gifted copy via net galley.

This collection felt very Gabbie Hanna (adultolescence) and instagram poetry in the worst way possible. To even call most of these poems is a stretch when there are sometimes 5 words to the whole thing. It had a journal, first draft feel. Like a self-help book or advice column but make it Christian. That element was a surprise (as I’m seeing it was to other reviewers) and I felt a little tricked? I’m not anti-religious writing, I actually have a deep faith myself, but this book’s Christianity was somehow off-putting. It felt entirely too prescriptive, just do this, pray this, in a way that would be a. Inaccessible to those not of a similar background and b. Felt unaccepting of a suggestion of faith dissimilar to her own. Not that this was ever stated explicitly, but it was the tone given off.

I read in her bio that she is a designer by trade and just took a year off to explore her artistic whims. That makes sense to me because this feels amateur, unedited. There’s a reason most author’s first works are not the one’s they publish. Passion is important but so are the lessons you learn from hours and hours spent dedicated to learning the craft. I would have dnf’d it if it hadn’t read so fast (again because most pages were one line).

The entire collection felt like an ideal vision of the world. There isn’t always a grander sense of beauty, like the sun being a “golden circle.” It felt contrived with a forced sense of poeticism.

Also a forced sense of importance. There were so many ordinary realizations made out to be groundbreaking discoveries, which gave the whole thing a sense that the author thought she was better than you because she could teach you these things. She also places value on things as if that opinion is shared by everyone. Example, gray and beige = bad, as if either of those colors is inherently negative. And rainbow is good (let’s not even touch how cliche that is). There is also a “poem” that says not to define yourself by trends but instead by your true “essence.” There’s an implication here that people (girls?) should feel bad for liking and participating in things which are popular. A very sneaky sort of judgement.

On a structural level there was a lack of cohesion or through-line. Most poetry collections build on themselves but this did not, partly because there was hardly enough substance to build on, my having barely started a poem before it was over, and partly because it was random. There are revisited ideas like motherhood, faith, and color, but they don’t come together in a greater way than each piece individually. And yet, it’s still somehow true that the collection was very repetitive. There was a structure used for at least half the poems where the first line would make some observation, there’d be a dash, and then the last line would define the poem for you. This structure itself is weak, to use it likely 50+ times is a mistake.

Examples:
(Note that these are the entire poems)

“If its not a poem, quiet thy words—
a rebuttal to gossip” p.20

“Choose to be a conversationalist—
Intimacy.” p.27

“If you can celebrate it, celebrate it!—
Hymn.” p.31

I will say, I liked the poem on p.144 and there were some instances of pleasant rhyming.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy

There were a few poems? Doesn't seem the right word when some were only a sentence long... that i enjoyed and will use more like affirmations.

I wasn't expecting it to be so religious and the blurb didn't give that away

I also found the colour of the words and paper hard to read on a screen and had to really focus and squint to read it.

Overall I think this would be a nice book to gift. Thanks for the arc.

The Apricot Memoir described as a poetry collection is nothing but random thoughts put together incoherently. There is no doubt the book is visually pleasing but I can can hardly say that for the content.

A very soothing and evocative collection of poems, with a spiritual undercurrent. It is a thoughtful collection, albeit with no apparent theme. This, however, does not detract from the collection. Some of the poems make you stop and think, and that's always a sign of good poetry, and good writing in general. I enjoyed this book.

I received an ARC of this title from the publisher via NetGalley.

Both the spiritual nature of most of the pieces and their really brief length makes this seem more like a book of biblical proverbs than a book of poems (or even psalms). For example, most of the pieces are as short as this one:

"I picture prayers to be much like wind:
words carried by breaths, circling and
giving momentum to sounds of hope."

Some of the book is straightforward life or spiritual advice with extra line breaks:

"All
unmasking
intimacy
I have ever come to know
has grown
from communion -

Just talk."

But some is quite pretty:

"I'm reading books like I'm alive at
midnight, sipping ruby-flavored whiskey -
sweetly wild, fiercely frolicsome -

Moonlight oil."

I can't separate my overall feelings on this book from the length of the poems. They are so short and there are so many of them that they sort of wash over you. The few longer pieces really jolted me in surprise when I turned the page because they were such a change. Maybe more of those would have made each poem more memorable and increased the power of each of the proverbs.

The poem were beautifully and lyrically written. I enjoyed most of the poems and i recommend it to everyone!

This was truly such a beautiful book and collection of poetry, prose, and art! In short, this book was pure art! I absolutely loved it!

This book was sent to me as an ARC on Netgalley. However, all opinions are of my own.
I loved this book so much! I love how connecting the poems were, some of them really spoke to me. I love one line sentences too - really helps to break down the book and make quotes. I’ve added quite a few of the quotes into my journal as i just loved them so much.
Such a beautiful book and I’m obsessed with the title too!

‘The Apricot Memoirs’ is a visibly fun and unusual creation. The pages are apricot, the font red, with designs scattered on several pages of the collection. Many of Guinery’s pieces are religious. Other themes are love, personal growth, creativity, vulnerability, and motherhood.

She writes: “I don’t want to slap glitter stickers across a season I’m yet to fully articulate; a season that demands more than my pen knows how. So, for now, here are some excerpts, some partial moments that exist somewhere within the story ...” The excerpts to which Guinery refers are short contemplative sentences and advice. It’s easy to be drawn into her warmth, empathy, and joie de vivre.

Here is a standout prose piece which I like very much and which is longer than the other pieces.

“When I say I need time alone, what I really mean is: I want to move all the furniture around and then move it all back. I want to paint something and leave the brushes to bristle all because I decided to go wash my hair. I’ll forget to take my multi-vs—I was busy trying on dresses. Suddenly, I’ll move every plant to the tiles in the sunroom, just to water them. The plants will make like a jungle at the front door because there was that book I once read, explaining the cycle of butterflies, so I’ll rummage around for it, but in my hunt, I’ll find old photos—sleeping in nostalgia for what feels like ten minutes. Suddenly it’s dusk. Dinner will be the last thing on my mind. I’ll likely throw a handful of vegetables into some batter and, amid the kitchen mess, I’ll pour some Spanish wine while closing my eyes at the same time. I’ll light some candles, open all the windows, change the sheets, and fall asleep early because nothing excites me more.

When I say I need time alone, this is what I really mean.”

I definitely recommend ‘The Apricot Memoirs’ to religious readers looking for inspiration and a quick read to which they can return when they seek upliftment.

A huge thank you to @NetGalley and @AndrewsMcMeel for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was quite disappointed by this book! The poems felt quite pretentious for some reason and they gave me a boomer-ish vibe! Apart from motherhood, they focused a lot on religion (and not just on faith) in a way that made them feel like they were pressuring me, a reader who isn't so much into religion.
Also, the lyrics were mostly too simple and didn't blow me away neither did they feel super original!

Such a nice static for a bland content :(

The visuals of the pages were very beautiful (in the physical copy the leaves will still be pink?), but the content was so ... ???
Mixing paragraphs, "poems" and loose phrases throughout the book

Poetry for the Instagram influencer in your life, and that certainly isn’t a bad thing. I appreciate what the author conveyed and could absolutely see so many of these beautiful pages as Instagram posts. When it comes to novels in verse, I prefer a bit more of a story, but this book is instead a great little roadmap of quotes to return to throughout life’s journey.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC*