There is something very melancholic and magical about Escaping the Body by Chloe N. Clark that's stuck with me since I've read this poetry collection. Reminiscent of reading suburban fantasy novels that take emotions and turn them into something dreamy and sentient, Clark's poems articulate experiences and feelings in a compelling and extremely personal manner.

One of my favorite lines from this collection comes from the poem "You'd Be Home Now":
"how I would like to seduce / the infinite, use my tongue / to collapse galaxies in on themselves / over and over, let the stars find new / ways to make my body ache"

I am definitely going to get a physical copy to own and would love to read this writer's future work. Thank you so much to NetGalley and Chloe N. Clark for this eARC!

It turns out I unwittingly chose to overlook the “magic tricks” part in the description for #EscapingtheBody. It must be because all else sounded much, much, much more enticing . . . which, not-really-spoiler alert, they are!

The allure of Clark’s poetry lies in the darkly sentimental, and the sentimentally dark. There is a dissociative quality to them that evokes the sad girl trope, which I have fallen head over heels in love with in the past 7-8 months. Thus I found myself similarly in love with the collection upon finishing the first of the five parts that make up the book.

The following part had the exact opposite effect, when tech lingo and pop culture elements were introduced. Granted, Houdini was named in the last poem of Part I, but the rest was so good I wasn’t as hung up on it. After Part II, the harrowing imagery, the striking voice, the mystical sensibility made occasional returns in powerful, moving poems; but none of the following parts were as strong as the first.

(For those curious, a tally of how many poems I love-love-loved in a part:
I. 7
II. 0
III. 4
IV. 2
V. 0 — but whereas I noted down a strong dislike for 5 poems in Part II, I only noted 1 for Part V aside from absolute hatred for a Hulk reference in an otherwise good poem.
This is not to say I did not like the other poems featured in a part — I’ve in fact kept a considerable amount of quotes — it’s only to remark how many poems in their entirety captivated me.)

(For those curious again, I also noted dislike for 3 poems in Part IV, plus a dislike for a title . . . which I’ll get to shortly.)

The book lost rhythm straight after Part I, but I read most of it in a single sitting. The sole reason I didn’t finish it was that overall loss of momentum that should tie the poems together. At times I wasn’t sufficiently interested in the next poem. This coincided with magic tricks and Houdini being incorporated into the poems. I believe it’s only partly because I am annoyed by this subject matter itself that I wasn’t a fan of these poems; the bigger ‘why’ is that I found Clark’s pen to lack in these poems what makes it special in darker or mystical ones, or more sentimental or surreal others.

My overall experience with the book also suffered from my particular experience with some of the titles: I was a bit frustrated that a number of them felt disjointed from the poems, I was put off by the ones that read like angsty tumblr one-liners. The one title, though, that ruined the vibes (yes, I’m saying vibe seriously, I’ve made peace with the fact it’s an inalienable part of my lingo now) was Duolingo in Part IV. The poem itself was beautiful, brilliant, but I couldn’t connect with it all because of the title. I realise this sounds inconsequential, but I get hung up on these small things.

All my complaints that would normally turn me against a book were not enough to cloud my appreciation for Escaping the Body. I found Clark’s poems not just inspired, but also inspiring. I loved the way she words the simplest moments, the way she spins before-seen ideas into distinctive approaches. The smallest expressions, the smallest thoughts held such peculiar magic at times, and I felt compelled to write, drawing on them — hence I found these poems inspired in their own right, and inspiring for me.

My favourite poems among favourite poems were A Reward for You and the Ones I Don’t Think You Need and & Other Ways to Read the Dirt. I haven’t been able to shake off either. As a matter of fact, the latter, overtly political with a unique lyricism, has become one of my all time favourites, ever. I wish I could plaster it everywhere. I wish I could etch it on me, in me. I’d be satisfied if the night sky were a hologram, and this was displayed.

Concluding, I would like to clarify why my rating will be different on different platforms. NetGalley asks for ratings based on how likely one would be to recommend the book. That for me is a solid 4/5. However, my overall experience with the book would be more a 3/5, as per my aforementioned less favourable opinions regarding having to push myself through a bit. But do, absolutely do, read this book, if only for & Other Ways to Read the Dirt. It’s that good. I’m that obsessed with it. Plus, there are many other fierce poems I would have written at length about if I hadn’t already written a review that’s verging on excessive length-wise (sorry!).

[DRC provided by #NetGalley and Interstellar Flight Press. Honestly, thank you for making it possible for me to be able to read this book!!]

P.S. In The Escape Artist Wants to Tell You (at least the DRC version) “it’s” was twice misspelled as “its”.

This is a cohesive collection of narrative-based poetry, each one laced with nostalgia and curiosity. Each poem circles back to the body - its functions, its limitations, its futility. Recurring themes are empathy, dystopia, trauma, dreams/nightmares, robots and missing people. My favourite aspect was the repeating allusions to magic: referencing illusionists, psychics, magic shows, funhouses and circuses. Chloe N. Clark has a talent for vivid imagery and paints a clear picture with her language.

The writing is good, but the poetry was forgettable and plain to me. It is a good book but not amazing.

I generally really enjoyed this poetry book. I found the prose engaging and the book was well written. It was fairly different from most poetry books, as most are typically in the realm of self-love and recovery while "Escaping the Body" was a bit more on the graphic side. I enjoyed reading it a lot and would honestly recommend it to anyone looking for a quick read.

Poetry is a genre I don't often pick up, but something about Escaping the Body called to me, and I'm so glad I gave it a shot! The poems contained in this collection deal in themes of love, loss, bodily autonomy, grief, but all with an undercurrent of hope. I found it easy to connect and find bits of my own experiences reflected back in Clark's words, and while the poems flowed easily into one another, I didn't find them to be repetitive or boring. I made liberal use of my Kindle highlights, and I could absolutely see myself coming back to this collection to revisit some of my favourite poems ("Flight" and "Error Codes" being my two huge standouts among many excellent contenders)!

I went into this knowing that I am not huge on poetry, and exited feeling the exact same way. Poetry is a genre that is very hit or miss in general, and this collection was more of a miss. Many of the poems felt contrived, with common metaphors and overly flowery language.

The two poems that really stood out to me personally were "Error Coding" and "Osteomancy"; among all the nature metaphors, the coding and skeletal references were a welcome surprise.

I don't know who I would recommend this to. Perhaps someone who enjoys poetry would feel more strongly towards this collection, but for me it did nothing at all.

This poetry was an absolute masterpiece, the darkness the themes of nature, the body, space! it was so so moving and fascinating. It made me reflect and really think about the themes at hand. I will think about this poetry for days, weeks, years to come. I will also be purchasing a hard copy for all my notes!

Escaping the Body is a moving collection of poetry, exploring the body, love and loss( and dreams and even trees).
Reminding me somewhat of Rupi Kaur, some were beautiful, meaningful and relatable, if a little repetitive at times. Overall I really enjoyed this. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

I loved those dark poems. Most of the time they were super short but fascinating and had a great storytelling.
I really adore those kind of poetry mixed with a kind of surrealism.

Absolutely beautiful!

Look--there's a poem about Jon Carpenter's horror masterpiece The Thing. I mean. That's amazing. Really enjoyed this weird book of poetry. Would recommend pairing it with The Ghost Sequences by A.C. Wise.

Chloe N. Clark wrote a beautiful book which I read it one sitting. Her poetry is about how our bodies experience loss, pain, love, hurt, and violence.
The poems that touched me the most were
"Questions we asked for the girls turned to limbs", "Grown your own little forest", " I was planning on learning how to breathe today". These poems are about suicidal ideation, existential dread and the connection between our bodies and nature.

4.5 ⭐️
This collection of poetry takes us on a journey thought magic tricks, monsters, and mysteries. Clark wrote a collection of poems that are very cohesive with strong themes of escaping our bodies, surviving trauma, fantasy and the magic that revolves around the mundaneness of everyday tasks, as well as discussing women and how our society objectifies, twists and changes us.

I have found with other poetry books I’ve read I go through them quickly but this collection caused me to pause and reflect on what I’ve read. I loved that this piece of writing that resonated with me and caused this inner reflection and made me think about life outside of just my body but also the relationship between the soul and body. This definitely isn’t the type of poetry that you read once and never think about again, I kept going back and rereading the same poems because they stuck with me so much.

This is a great collection of poetry that I really enjoyed reading! Cant wait to check out other works by Chloe N. Clark!

Thank you NetGalley and Interstellar Flight Press for the copy in exchange for an honest review!

A collection about nature, space, monsters, and the body. I can appreciate the horror elements, but something was missing for me. None of the poems or images have stuck with me. This might just not be my cup of tea.

<i>Thank you NetGalley for an eArc in exchange for an honest review.

I'm giving this two stars because I know how subjective poetry is.

But I ended up tapping out of this book around 70 percent because I just was not finding anything to enjoy. There was not a single poem or even line that stood out to me, that made me pause, that caused my heart to squeeze or flutter. I felt nothing reading this collection. Nothing about it really even felt poetic, more like musings of the author, as if I dipped into her stream of consciousness.

The best I can say is if you hate Siken's works for being overly flowery, metaphorical, and confusing, you may like this collection of poems instead.

Although I am not a frequent poetry reader, this collection was a pleasant surprise. I selected this based entirely on the title and the ideas here were interesting. I enjoyed the reading experience.

It took a bit to really get into, but I ended up really enjoying this poetry collection. A few of my favorites were Lichenometry, The Witch's House, and The Undue Acidity in Your Veins.

This collection was extremely up my alley; of all the poetry books I have read over the past few weeks, this one resonated the most by far. I found myself wanting to save practically every other poem to read over later. The use of generally fairly simple language to describe specific moments & evoke the intense feelings of loss and love was to great affect. Clark really has a wonderful grasp of her own style: the prose is straightforward, with very little garnish, though that in no know detracts from the shrewdness of emotion of her poetry. I could easily see myself coming back to this collection to re-experience it all in the future, and to remind myself of just how powerful poetry and language can be.

I will definitely be looking up more of Clark's works, and I will be keeping an eye out for this collection when it is officially released! Thank you to NetGalley and Interstellar Flight Press for access to the ARC of this book.

Mesmerising poems that enchant and excite with their whimsical formatting. A delightful journey through many fantasy worlds that spark your own imagination and enable you to ponder on what occurs afterwards.

Blog Review: https://drizzleofjoyblog.wordpress.com/2022/04/16/escaping-the-body/

I enjoyed the horror quality to these poems, often speaking of beautiful things with a certain twist. The collection was well-written but it wasn't as consistent as one would hope. I would love to read more work by this poet in the future to see if maybe a different collection will work better for my taste!