I normally skip poems because they're *too* short for my very short attention span, but I found myself drawn to this gorgeous cover, and, of course, the fact that it features WOMEN IN HORROR.

It's a very zippy read; some flew over my head while others crawled Under My Skin. Overall, it's a nice little sip of arsenic after bouts of flowered tea.

I love poetry, and so when I discovered that UNDER HER SKIN was filled with poetic horror, I was intrigued. Unfortunately, this book was just not for me. Instead of horror, the pages are filled with exploration of unattainable beauty standards and gruesome imagery. Those ideas just didn't flow well together, for me.

Under Her Skin is quite the haunt of a poetry collection. I think sliding this into the horror genre will be a bit misleading for some, but I found this to be a stellar categorization. This collection is truly horrific because it’s brutally honest and relatable. Under Her Skin is an immersive collection, touching on brutal beauty standards, gender norms, impossible goals, and misogyny. I loved how dark the writing was, while still resonating with the reader. I thought the variety of poets and style were a lovely combination. Definitely recommend this one for anyone looking for some powerful, hard-hitting poetry.

This poetry collection is very intense. There is at least one piece in here that will resonate with you in some way and I really enjoyed it for that alone. You might think this is more on the spooky/horror side, but it's less horror in a fictional way and more horror in beauty standards issues concerning women kind of way.

Thank you to NetGalley for this.

I really wanted to enjoy this poetry collection. But it wasn't what was advertised by the description. I went into this collection expecting horror/spooky stories but instead encountered the average topics of dangerous beauty standards and duplicitous gender norms. The writing itself is beautiful, though. I will definitely check out the authors' other works.

i was super intrigued by the gorgeous cover and the description of this! i'm not a huge poetry reader (yet) but i was very fascinated by this concept. while i did anticipate something a little bit different from what it was, it wasn't a change for the worse! some of the poems deeply resonated with me, and i think that's part of what makes this sort of literature great and scary at the same time. overall, the themes and writings were very interesting!

This was my first horror poetry read, and I'm still not sure how I feel about it. A few of the poems struck a chord with me, but most of them just missed the mark with me.

The collection wasn't exactly what I was expecting, but I can definitely see how it would appeal to some readers. I was expecting more along the lines of stories, emotions, and reactions, but the poems were much more abstract. This, however, may appeal to others.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Billing itself as a collection of horror poetry certainly caught my attention, but most of the poems focus on more patriarchal/gender issues. While these are still within the horror genre for sure, I expected a bit of a wider range of subject matters.

I absolutely adored this book. It stands out among my horror collection, as I am a sucker for the juxtaposition of beautiful writing to macabre content-- and this one ticks both boxes. This is a lovely collection to have on my digital shelf. I will soon own the physical copy. I am obsessed with finding more horror poetry now. Thanks, Linda Ryan and Toni Miller! #netgalley #underherskin #horror #poetry

This is a totally unique and immersive collection of poetry, filled with poignant, emotive, brutal and horrifying poems that really had me hooked. Certain poems really stood out to me, but there was a varied and eclectic mix from a variety of poets that I enjoyed - I will be checking out more work by some of them for sure! Would highly recommend for any poetry lover

Poetry is a bit hit and miss for me but I was intrigued around the idea of this book and cliched as it is, the beautiful cover.

Some of the poems resonated with me. They were dark and powerful, emotive and horrifying. Others didn’t do anything for me but that is down to individual taste. The style and content of the poems are varied enough that there should be something for everyone within the book. I feel like it’s a book to pick up and read for a couple of minutes and then come back to again some time later, rather than go sit and read it in one go.

Thank you to the authors, the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to review an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

i've been inhaling horror in all its forms recently so it made sense to try some poetry based around the genre, that is so awful but also so reverent of women, from the slaughtered to the final girls and everyone in between. poetry can be a hit and miss with me so i liked that this was an anthology of all different poets, some i liked, others not so much

The poetry is so different from other horror collections I have read before. With the image of women placed in the center of the book, the poets waved stunning tales of violence and beauty.
Es interesante ver como casi no cubren ciertos mensajes, los proectam y arman los poemas en base a eso.

I'm really trying to read a more broad range of books and poetry is something I've never gotten along with so thought I'd give it a go. Some of the poems are better than others but some I just really didn't get. I don't know if maybe more traditional poetry I would get along better with but I know there are people out there that would truly love this, unfortunately I'm not one of them.

`Thank you Netgalley for the ARC to read and review.
I enjoyed Some of the poems.
It's not a bad poetry collection but it wasn't for me overall.

This was such a beautiful book of poetry. It was Powerful, emotive and well written. Would recommend this one to anybody that loves poetry or anybody that is new to it!

Under Her Skin was not quite what I expected. It was definitely a case of my misjudging a book by its (beautiful) cover. I think I was anticipating something raw, something emotional, something haunting... but what I got was kind of... grimy.

I totally respect the intention behind this collection - bringing together hard-hitting, macabre snapshots of what it means to be a women in this world of patriarchy and prejudice. It certainly delivered on that, but I can't say that the reading experience was enjoyable.

The renderings of the female experience were extremely visceral and while, like I said, it wasn't really a fun time, I have to commend the editors for pulling this together. There was such a coherent vibe throughout - if I didn't know better, I would have thought the entire collection was written by a single author... and I know that's not easy to do when working with such an extensive array of creators with their own writing styles.

All in all, it wasn't my kind of poetry, but it was not bad by a long stretch. I already have a couple of friends I want to recommend this to.

I absolutely adore dark horror revolving around the women's perspective and written by women and this gloriously encapsulated those things. Poetry isn’t usually my go-to genre and I tend to have a hard time reading it if I don’t instantly like the writing style, but almost all of these poems held my attention in the best ways. Because it was written by multiple authors I never felt that it was repetitive and I never felt myself getting bored as each poem felt new and fresh. Each writer has their own unique prose and style that was so interesting to read, even if I didn’t adore it I did love seeing the diverse range of ways poets can write a dark horror story. Overall I’d recommend this to very specific people but I won’t be forgetting about this collection soon.

E-Arc Book Review

Quick Synopsis: Under Her Skin is the first volume in Black Spot Books “A Women in Horror Poetry Collection”. This first collection features a diverse group of CiS and trans women, as well as non-binary femmes, writing under the theme of poetry and body horror. Driving at the heart of what it means to be women and/or feminine in our society, this collection takes an unfiltered and unflinching look at topics ranging from motherhood to societal beauty expectations, control of our own bodies and what it means to be a woman underneath the skin.

Review: This E-Arc was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. There were a number of things that I really appreciated within the collection. I like the theme and how each of the poems were woven within that tapestry. Although each poem was written by a different author or featured a different topic, it still was connected to the overarching theme of body horror. I also appreciated perspectives that I could never possibly understand as a CiS woman. In most arenas of writing, diversity is sorely lacking and giving those voices the ability to express themselves is of the utmost importance. There were a few stand out poems for me, personally:
- Smile, by Nico Bell
- Anything But What Is, by Linda M. Crate
- My Tainted Touch, by Mary Rajotte
- Untouched, by Marilyn Tabiola
- Words Unspoken, by Mary Rajotte
- Shredded Alterations, by Sara Tantlinger
- Outside In, by Dalena Storm
- Pieces, by Annie Neugebaur
- Growing Pains, by Amy Lowenstern
- Shed, by Vivian Kasley
The primary issue I had with this collection was that many of the poems were convoluted and focused more on the theme of the book rather than the message of the poems. The voices of those who wrote the poems felt lost. For a select few, listed above, I found there was a perfect blend, but the majority were unable to create a path that I as a reader could follow. I felt that this was a missed opportunity. I also found myself putting the collection down and not really wanting to keep reading it. As a fan of horror and poetry, this collection didn't keep me interested. I believe this was due to how many of the authors ran away with the metaphors and forgot the ability to connect with the reader.

Overall, the poetry itself received two stars from me and a third was added due to the appreciation of the diversity and the goal of the collection.

[2 Stars]

Some of these definitely hit the mark for me:
- Beautiful by L. Marie Wood
- Skincare Routine by Cynthia Pelayo
- Metamorphosis by Catilin Marceau
- Sanctification by Amanda Kirby
- Bits of You, Still Kept by Maggie Shurtleff
- The Last Woman by Tiffany Michelle Brown

But the rest I didn't care much for. Not a bad poetry collection though, just wasn't for me overall. Might be good for closer to Halloween

CW: abuse, body dysmorphia, gore, assault, death, and more