This poetry collection was so personal and honest. I really enjoyed some, and just didn’t vibe with others.

My faves were Peaches, Intersectional Feminism (aka actual fucking feminism) plays the dozens with white feminism and Poem for Susan (Boomer) Jenkins. Coincidentally, I have spent the last two weeks of my life binge-watching every single episode of Wentworth so the latter felt particularly timely.

If you like reading poetry, or are just in the mood for some raw and honest truths, give this one a go.

Review of Revenge Body by Rachel Wiley
By Liv Pasquarelli


Revenge Body, Rachel Wiley’s 3rd volume of poetry recently published by Button Poetry. Wiley is a queer, biracial poet and performer and faculty member of the annual Pink Door Writing Retreat for women and nonbinary writers of color.

Revenge Body is the type of book I dreaded ending because I did not ever want to stop reading it, cutting the cords of connection and identification that seemed to attach me to her words. Imagine my delight upon discovering that Wiley has two previous volumes of poetry: Fat Girl Finishing School (the NAME ya’ll) and Nothing Is Okay, both also published by Button Poetry.

Never in my life have I highlighted so much of a book. At a certain point, I just gave up on highlighting since there were more lines highlighted than there weren’t. Wiley’s poetry reached deep into my chest and squeezed my heart in a way that made me laugh and cry. Her words held me in a way that made me feel seen and validated. Revenge Body set the record for the amount of times I said, ‘yup’, ‘mhm!’, and ‘that’s right’ out loud while reading.

“All the Pills I Tried Before” hit home for me as someone who has been on and off psychiatric meds since I was 14 years old. Turning pharmaceuticals into poetry is no easy feat, but Wiley does it beautifully.

Certain points in the book I wondered if Wiley had someone stolen my life and written about it. I, too, have an older brother who is full of rage and violence, yet beloved, babied, and forgiven, time and time again, by my mother. In “What We Were,” Wiley traces the roots of her relationship with her brother back to childhood through to the person he has become and the break between them.

“My brother grew up to be a magician,
My brother grew up to be twice as angry as he was tall
and he got so tall.
Spring loaded goldfinches always up his sleeves
and I, his assistant
cut down with a flourish,
phantom sibling,
a dull ache at the severing point.
The days I forget I have a brother
are the same days I forget I was a child at all.”

Rachel Wiley, Revenge Body, page 17

This poem made me wonder, do all sisters of first sons feel this way? Do we all feel cut down little by little until we disappear? My own brother cut me with his words from as early as I can remember, hissing ‘fat pig’ under his breath at the dinner table. The hardest part is the disbelief from my own mother when I went to her for help. Like in “The Mother Riddle,” my mother two turned up the volume on the television, both literally and symbolically, when the abuse was happening, and once again years later when I asked for the smallest crumb of acknowledgement.

Wiley tackles intersectional feminism and the way current feminism is whitewashed in “Intersectional Feminism (AKA Actual Fucking Feminism) Plays The Dozens With White Feminism” and “White Feminism Watches The Color Purple” As both a feminist poet and a biracial poet, Wiley gifts us with a much needed perspective on the failings of modern feminism in a way that’s both hilarious and impactful.

The way the writer weaves intersectional feminism with fatness is what makes this volume remarkable. The root of intersectionality is the fact that no single identity stands on its own. We are all complex people with many layers of identity, some visible, some invisible. Fatness and race are possibly the two most visible identifiers, making it impossible to move through the world without those around us letting us know how they feel about who we are, whether conscious or unconscious. In the poem “When The Fat Girl Stays Fat,” Wiley writes,

“Once, I dared to enjoy an apple at a bus stop,
a large beautiful Honeycrisp apple, perfectly chilled,
and a car veered across two entire lanes of traffic to splash
my fat body with shame for being seen eating
anything at all.”
Rachel Wiley, Revenge Body, page 34

When it comes to having a body society deems unacceptable, many find it perfectly fine to make their distaste known. From my own father to strangers on the street, my body has been criticized, shamed, and faulted. I have been slandered under the gaslit shroud of ‘concern for my health.’ I know the fear of eating in public, at a restaurant, seeing others turn to gawk when the waiter brings our dishes, waiting to see what the fat girl ordered. Depending on what it is, they will decide whether I am shamelessly gorging myself day in and day out, or dieting. Either way, they will assume that the food I ordered that evening is a decision that leads directly to my unruly, fat body.

It is hard to put into words the way these experiences make me feel, but Rachel Wiley does it beautifully, line by line. She is the fearless gut punch the world needs, intersectionality defined, a sweet and shameless cupcake, and most importantly, an incredible writer.

To close, here are the closing lines from one of my favorite poems in Revenge Body: “Praise to The Longest Night of The Year”

“Praise my therapist.
Praise the universe and its divine clownery.
Praise the chosen family who stay choosing me back.
Praise the mothering in me despite it not coming from her.”
Rachel Wiley, Revenge Body, page 63

OMG this book! Thank you netgalley and button publishing for an arc of Revenge Body. I can’t remember the last time I read a book that made me feel seen, heard, understood. Rachel has a special way of looking at what it’s like to be human, these poems feel like they are under a microscope allowing them to feel larger than life.. These poems will stick with you long after you’ve finished the book. I know I’ll keep them close and revisit them again and again. A stunning collection.

This is my first exposure to Rachel Wiley, and I have to say I was hooked from the very start.

Before I even get to the writing, I adore the structure of this book, the clear layout of themes and the integration of quotes. I also love the choice of black pages at the beginning on sections!!

Now onto the poetry. Some of my favorites:

New Moon, Who This? This poem will stay with me for the rest of my life as advice from one woman struggling in society to another. Sometimes it can be hard to let go, but we need to.

Executive Functioning This put my jumbled brain into words. I feel so much less guilty because of these words.

Ghost Me, I’ll Write Your Eulogy Catharsis!! I laughed, but I also deeply felt the hurt expressed under the humor.

These are just the tip of the iceberg. There is so much gold in this collection, everyone should read it.

The poetry is pretty accessible in my opinion. Lines can be long at times, and there are few really short poems, but it’s all very readable (and re-readable!). There are also many different structures of presentation, which can help break up the read to not feel monotonous.

Thank you to NetGalley and Button Poetry for providing access to this book in exchange for my honest review!

This was a fierce collection of poems. Read all together, they made me feel like I'd spent a few days talking to the author, or maybe like I'd eavesdropped on her deeper conversations.

Thank you Netgalley and Button Poetry for a review copy of this book
I honestly love this poet. She is so thoughtful and intense with her words. I related so much to her poems about self love as well as her friends struggle with suicide. I really loved this book

Her fury is showing, glaring through the page.

It’s not often our words come out clearly when we’re trying to describe the pain we feel, especially when we are overwhelmed by so many conflicting emotions.

In Revenge Body, Rachel Wiley reveals her deep-seated anger and a desire for retribution. She speaks of “righteous anger” and this “undeserved forgiveness” that burns inside of her. When people in life hurt us, it brings out a rage that often can’t be contained and spills out of us. She speaks from the heart when revealing her truths, and she is furious. But her poems are clear, structured. Wiley organizes her thoughts in a way that invites us to be enraged alongside her, while still maintaining a sense of maturity that is admirable. One word comes to mind when reading her work: passion. She is so alive and emotionally charged; we can feel her anger so intensely through the page and, at the same time, are able to reflect on our own resentments that we may have.

Wiley’s third poetry collection is broken into three parts. Each section is devoted to dissecting the author’s personal experiences, which gives us insight into her relationship with love. She considers the downsides and consequences that come along with that intimacy, that utter devotion and the process of having to regain self-love; to claim it as her own again after having it taken from her. Wiley is unapologetic in her exploration of trauma, body image, intersectionality, Black identity, sexuality and resilience. Something readers can appreciate about Revenge Body is the countless opportunities she extends to connect us with her work. With a wide variety of topics, she has a little something for everybody to engage with and, even potentially, relate to on an emotional level.

Wiley uses free association and lets her inner monologue drive her work in poems like “Executive Functioning” and “Prozac 30MG.” By following this continuous stream-of-consciousness in her writing, she exemplifies how messy and complicated life can be. The endless number of thoughts and feelings we have every day can’t be summed up in a matter of sentences. They are random, subjective and non-linear. Wiley does an effective job of revealing this part of the human experience and, in its own right, it’s so accurate. Following her train of thought also does a great job of showing how overwhelming life is. Even those mindless tasks that take up our time can be completely overbearing. Little things like reheating the tea after it gets too cold or doing the dishes. “What Brings Me in Today” fits most clearly with this intention. In this piece, a close friend’s suicidality is the catalyst for an impromptu therapy session. Therapy is just the place for tangents and rambling, as we are able to explore complex emotions freely in a productive and supportive environment. The words just spill out of our mouths, as they do in Wiley’s poems.

This kind of writing is easily comparable to a confessional – the art of exploring the self. Well-known poets such as Sylvia Plath and Robert Lowell braved this era of poetry and popularized it. In its time, confessional poetry covered topics that were “not supposed to be spoken.” Stories so personal that it almost felt like you shouldn’t be reading them, like a diary. Revenge Body reflects on a variety of intense psychological experiences that the author undergoes: an abusive childhood and her struggle with mental health. It’s so raw with emotion. And that’s just it – confessionals are surrounded by this idea of vulnerability. Continuing to share stories that are uncomfortable to talk about warrants a kind of understanding, prompting more people to invite others into those parts of themselves that they may otherwise feel completely alone in.

The way the author jumps right into a piece, without warning, is almost shocking, but pulls her audience in. In poems such as “Femme Fatale” and “Revenge Body” she immediately intrigues us, teases us: “his first mistake is assuming anything I do is for male consumption, for his consumption,” pulling us into her story and her rage. It’s bursting with anger – giving the illusion that Wiley had been biting her tongue for too long and now she’s finally letting that fire run rampant. It’s refreshing in its ability to feel like the last straw, and she’s had enough. Like confessional poetry, it feels like a secret between Wiley and us. By sharing this with us, letting us in on her unrepentant anger, Wiley gains her power back as she takes control over how her story is being told.

Wiley shows versatility in her writing style by using lists to format some of her poems. This adds some witty, light-hearted humour in contrast to much of her other storytelling. Discernible in its title, “All the Pills I Tried Before” describes each medication as if it were a person, an object or a bad dream. Adderall is “undoubtedly a fire sign” while Vyvanse is “a luxury car with cut brake lines.” This mixture of comic relief and dark humour allows us to take a moment before continuing with heavy subject matter. She even lets us laugh at ourselves, like in “Excuses” where Wiley lists off the reasons why she is unable to come to work for the day. She is “unable to stop crying and/or shitting and/or bleeding and/or feeling,” or maybe she is just “entirely too cool for this shit.”

Wiley comes to terms with her anger at the end of Revenge Body, showing us how she moves forward in her survival of a painful past. It’s a beautiful moment to close on in this poetry collection. She has “survived love,” as she puts it in “Unconditional Fires,” and has found use in that – she has become resourceful and resilient. I really love her last line in this poem. She speaks about having to build a new home – one that is “perhaps less vulnerable to the fire.” I believe by this she means that our wounds only make us stronger people. The negative emotions that she puts on display in her work, she uses as a tool for her own transformation. She shows us, using this poetry collection as an example, that by releasing this anger and sadness, we can move beyond ourselves. It’s her way of healing. And in turn, we learn that no matter how broken, our hearts can always be salvaged.

Such a great collection. Covering a ton of different topics, this collection manages to still make meaningful commentary on problems such as fat phobia, body image, feminism, race, and others. Thank you for the opportunity to read this collection.

Rachel Wiley is an artist with words. Her poetry was so unbelievably vivid; she created pictures with literary devices. Revenge Body explores a lot of different topics like fatness, race, family, abuse, and grief but the poems still flowed together well because Wiley has such a unique and strong voice. This is a wonderful poetry collection for every one who has been called an angry fat feminist and now holds that as a sign of power.

My favorite line from this collection was:
"My little girl heart with its stitched lace edges spent a fortune in waxy birthday wishes hoping to one day thrill my mother with my ability to magic myself steadily upright after one of her severings."

This collection surprised me as I didn't know what to expect based on the cover. Prior to being approved for Revenge Body as an eARC on Net Galley I was unfamiliar with Rachel's work, reading this has instantly made me interested in picking up her back log. The writing of each poem was tender, and almost read like a long lyrical story.

Revenge Body explores the topics of fat phobia, race, feminism, body image, and mental health. I did not quite enjoy this collection as much as Rachel Wiley’s previous ones.

I received a free eARC from NetGalley and the publishers, Button Poetry, in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Review: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Release Date: 25 January 2022

This is my first time reading anything by Rachel Wiley and I must say, I was impressed. Revenge Body is a collection of poetry that covers quite a bit of ground in only 90-odd pages. The writing is easy to read, and the poems themselves pack a punch. There were random circles drawn in the middle of each of the four sides of every page which I found a bit strange. Having said that, this could just be formatting intending to be removed with the final print, and it didn't impact my enjoyment of the poems at all.

Overall, I loved Revenge Body and I am excited to read more by Rachel Wiley.

I've been getting more into poetry recently, and really enjoyed Revenge Body. While it certainly discussed some serious issues, I thought it was very well written and easy to get through. I would definitely read more by Rachel Wiley. I do think it could do with some illustrations, but that's not a necessity, I just think regarding poetry, illustrations always help tell the story.

This collection was a mixed bag for me - some poems were so strong and others felt like fillers. I wonder if this would have been more effective as a pamphlet or shorter collection but I really enjoyed it all the same. The collection looks at fat phobia, racism and feminism, intersectionality and LGBTQ+ identity. There's some really l
beautiful language throughout and I particularly enjoyed the poems What We Were, Red Herring, Femme Fatale, The Mother Riddle and Questionnaire for Future Potential Partners

Loved the diverse set of topics dealt with in this collection of poems, as well as the brutal honesty. The collection is all about speaking up for yourself and celebrating womanhood - really enjoyed it (especially Ode to The Invisible Girl). First time reading anything by this author but I'll definitely be checking out her other works!

Poetry is so personal and sadly this wasn't for me. I got about 25% before I did not finish.

I loved the premise but also felt the cover needs improving.

Thank you for the advanced reader copy.

"Instagram Poetry" has been dominating the genre for the last 5 years, and it quickly became redundant and tired. While Rachel Wiley's Revenge Body offers some keen insight into the life she inhabits, the writing blended in with all that I've read in the last half decade.

Some poems stand out, like "What We Were," that weaves a beautiful tale about coming of age and family. With lines like "The days I forget I have a brother/are the same days I forget I was a child at all" give readers great introspection into what Wiley can truly achieve with her talent.

Revenge Body ultimately shies away from what could be a great endeavor into the poetry world, and is ultimately reduced to words we've seen many times before, and mantras that suit a 2016 version of feminism.

This collection is best read as a series of journal entries with catchy titles. The poems demonstrate some narrative ability. They lack original language, nuance, lyricism, or poetic technique. Young adults with an interest in memoir and diaries may find the subject matter appealing. Adult poetry lovers will find little to sustain their attention.

Revenge Body is a poetry collection about mental health, body positivity, race and other topics. I've never fully read a collection of poetry, but I was intrigued. I loved all of the poems and definitely connected with a few of them. Each poem flowed well. I loved that the author's sense of self came through each poem.

I definitely recommend this collection!

ARC provided by Netgalley for an honest review.

I’ve always found poetry as a way to tell a story without TELLING you a story. Here, it’s done beautifully and with such purity. You can tell it came straight from her heart. Beautifully done.