I am relatively new to Kate Baer and her poetry but read and appreciated her take on motherhood in the collection What Kind of Woman when I checked it out a few months ago. The ARC I just finished of I Hope This Finds You Well was a quick read and a good introduction to erasure poetry. Given the weight of the topics she discusses, her style is very approachable. The comment source of "Re Teaching Students the Art of Connection" sums up well how I imagine many feel when reading Baer - "...poetry is so much more than finding the hidden symbolism and test answers and instead about connection and expression." #IHopeThisFindsYouWell #NetGalley

This was different than my normal go-to for poetry, yet it was something unique! The way this author turns hateful messages and comments into something beautiful and breathtaking is astonishing. Discussing key topics and events in today’s society is crucial to trying to be understood; she nails it perfectly.

Amazing amazing AMAZING. I adored Kate Baer's debut book of poetry. I return to it often. As soon as I was approved for this one, I stopped doing anything else and I just inhaled it. Already preordered my copy. I don't know how she does it, I wanted to cry and/or scream at some of these messages. I can't imagine the strength it takes to turn that vitriol into grace.

There is something profound, one might even say holy, about taking back space from those who would push you to the margins. I Hope This Finds You Well does just that. Kate Baer’s newest collection is a reclamation, a clarion call, and a battle cry all at once. Never one to shrink away from her detractors, Baer takes the vitriol hurled in her direction and turns it into verse. Herein lies not only an alchemical affirmation, but a jagged path home. Please read this book.

I Hope This Finds You Well is due to be released on November 9, 2021 and is now available to preorder wherever books are sold.

3.5 but rounding up!

i really admire anyone who attempts erasure poetry because despite how it may look simple it's actually quite hard! i was really interested in the premise of the book but feel disappointed. many of the poems felt like responses to the comments rather than using their words to create art from. perhaps what limited the poems most was the source material-- commenters don't use the most interesting of language and thus doesn't leave a lot of room for play. i did enjoy "re: poems made from online messages" because it felt fuller and had imagery!!

fans of prose poetry will probably like this more than me!