Revenge Body is a collection of poems with themes that deal with fatness, identity, queerness, family, and mental health. I was eager to get my hands on this book because I’m a fan of Button Poetry and Rachel Wiley. I enjoyed this collection of poems, some spoke to me more than others, some more cutting and visceral. Bold, honest, and straightforward, these poems are accessible to new and seasoned poetry readers alike.

However, I feel like something is missing from this collection. A spark, more bloodletting, just something. The collection was on the shorter side and I wish there were more poems included. Aside from those two nitpicks, I still enjoyed Revenge Body.

This is a solid poetry book that will resonate with readers that are drawn to its themes.

Thank you to Netgalley and Button Poetry for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is the first poetry book ive ever read and WOW. the emotions i felt in this book is astronomical.. I loved this book.

Thank you Netgalley for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I'm not going to lie, I read through this collection of poems twice before I felt I was even remotely ready to write up a review and even still, I feel wildly unable to do so. Revenge Body is filled with poems that felt like they were coming from my own heart and pouring onto the page, Executive Dysfunction especially resonated with me because of my own recent struggles with ADHD and depression but there was something in every piece that called out, demanding to be heard.

This is my introduction to Rachel Wiley so now I must go read her back catalogue. I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone who considers themself human and offer it as a snapshot of humanity to those who don't.

Unfortunately I did not enjoy reading this book of poetry. I feel like I did not connect with the writer’s experience and this made it difficult to relate with what was being described and talked about.

I really enjoyed this. I grew up watching button poetry so I always have a little bit of a soft spot for their collections but this one is definitely one of my favourites so far. As a fat, queer woman so many of these poems resonated so deeply with me - specifically Pozac 30mg, Heavy, and Unconditional Fires. There were moments I would finish a poem and it would leave me a little speechless - I would have to close the book and just sit and think. Overall, a really great collection!

Thank you NetGalley for the review copy!!

The title of this poems collection by Rachel Wiley got me immediately hooked, as well as the poem with the same title. However, I found this collection very uneven. Some poems read like genuine gems, some felt more like necessary space fillers with very little substance.

It sounds harsh, namely because poetry is such a personal craft and it feels unfair to be judging someone's vulnerability. But on the other hand, poetry IS a craft, which means it should be shaped and edited so the author can come with the best way of communicating what they want to say. Even if the poetry relates to very sensitive issues, such as body image, identity and loss doesn't mean there are no ways to make it truly engaging.

I enjoyed the pop culture references and several other bits, but some pieces I just couldn't help but gloss over. This wasn't my favourite style of poetry, but there's definitely a lot of potential.

A but of spoils but no detailed ones:
So, I've wanted to try ARC for a while. And while I was on netgalley.com looking for some, I came across this. Going into it I thought it would be simple poems. Now I was so so so wrong. I thought it might venture into mental health and pop right back out, no no no. This it dives deep into mental health issues such as depression and childhood trauma. It tells the truth about bad parental relationships. When most see bad family relationships they think that it can mended easily, this shows that some family relationships are too far to be mended. It talks about abusive siblings, and I personally found myself relating to that and the family relationships in general more than any other topic. Definitely a must read

‘Revenge Body’ is a fantastic third collection from Rachel Wiley. It sets out to unpack what it means to be human in the 21st century, covering topics like heartbreak, mental health and how we see ourselves and our bodies.

There are a number of pieces that stuck with me long after I had read them, particularly ‘Theory of the origin of whiteness’ and ‘What brings me in today’. Wiley’s writing is intricately woven, allowing the reader to reflect, both internally within themselves, and on our wider society as a whole.

This is a strong collection and well worth a read!

I’m not a poetry expert so I can’t really give you a full on analysis on this book. I can tell you though, that I enjoyed some of these a lot! The poems I liked had me in awe and others had me questioning my existence (in a bad way). It was giving millenial I’m not going to lie.

My favorite poems were executive functioning, all the pills i tried before, glow, thirty six, and the mother riddle.

Thank you for an arc of this in exchange for an honest review! I picked it up because of the cover, which I'm a big fan of, because it reminds me of Valley of the Dolls. However, I wasn't a big fan of the poetry inside. I feel bad saying this because there are great themes included and the author truly put a lot into it, but I'm not a fan of the style or more "modern" poetry. However, if you're a fan of Tumblr poetry, you may enjoy it more than I did.

I feel bad rating this so low considering how personal and vulnerable these poems are, but this was very difficult to get through. It honestly just wasn’t the book for me, i don’t generally enjoy tumblr poetry. if you are a fan of rupi kaul or amanda lovelace you will like this collection.

This collection of shapely poems is a sharp, salty, smart, heavy. They stand their ground. They’re a clever fuck you to what we’re told are the ‘wrong ways to woman’. They’re ‘eyeliner winged so sharp it could kill a man’, ‘a punch to the salty universe’, a ‘get with it, already’ cry to antiquated white feminism. They’re what it means to be a woman today saying fuck you - on all accounts - in the face of being judged and shamed. Arm yourself with these, they’re awesome.

Overall I enjoyed this poetry collection. I definitely enjoyed the shorter poems to the longer ones (longer than a page), as I felt they were more concise and impactful. I think that if you read the description of this poetry collection and connect to the main themes, you will enjoy this book.

My favourite poems in this collection were:
- Revenge Body
- Handsome, or in which neither of us is the man
- Executive functioning
- Thirty-six
- Bug
- What we were
- What brings me in today
- Excuses
- Glow
- Questionnaire for future potential partners
- Exilium Anxietatem
- Float

this is a very enjoyable collection, and shocking at some parts. the writer was very honest and bold in her poetry, and she managed to capture the emotions very well. for me, i feel like her style of poetry doesn't really interlock with my preferred style of poetry. but if you happen to be a fan of rupi kaur or amanda lovelace, this is a great recommendation for you.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Button Poetry for proving me with an eArc of this collection in exchange for my honest review.

"Hurt to hurt. Acid to acid. Trust to dust."

Revenge Body is the third book of Rachel Wiley's but the first I have read and absolutely loved. This collection is filled with poetry that discusses mental health, being queer and black/biracial and, body image.

One thing I adored about this collection is how sharp and direct it was. It didn't hide anything and each word was so loud and powerful.

Some of my favourite poems, some of which I even related to were 'Ghost Me, I'll Write Your Eulogy', 'Bug', 'Theory of the Origin of Whiteness', and, 'Revenge Body'.

Whenever I read full collections of poetry they are usually a hit or miss with me, maybe I don't like some of the poems, or the words just don't hit me as much as they should, but with this collection, everything hit me. I was so caught up in the words that Wiley wrote that I was reading some poems and lines over and over again, trying to commit them to memory because they impacted me so much.

This collection was brilliant and I could not recommend it enough.

Rachel Wiley's third poetry collection covers familiar ground: navigating a world hostile to fat bodies, queerness, Black identity as a biracial woman, familial estrangement and childhood trauma, struggles with mental health, etc. While the collection is a bit uneven, several poems (particularly the title poem) really sing. Wiley's sense of humor shines through, even in her sharp meditations on anger. Certainly a great pick for any fan of queer/fat/feminist poetry!

this poetry collection was so powerful and moving. i feel incredibly seen and i really enjoyed every single poem. some were funny, some were sad, some felt so, so personal, but above all, most were, if not hopeful, then at least authentic and true and loving (herself). my biggest new year's resolution is to have a kinder and better and more healthy relationship with my body, and i'm really grateful i read this ARC because i know i will be buying this when it's published and then referring it as a way to ground me and hold me accountable to this resolution. a must read for 2022!!! i will be reading all of ms. wiley's other works and have recommended this poetry collection to all my friends who love poetry.

Thank you to NetGalley and Button Poetry for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Poetry is probably the most difficult genre to review and rate because is such a unique literary format and a truly personal one at that. Despite the technical quality, usually what makes a poem "good" or "bad" is how much it resonates or not with the reader.

As for the Rachel Wiley poems', the quality did vary, but all of them where filled with raw emotion (the kind that scares the shit out of us with its unapologetic honesty), and also addressed urgent and important topics, such as body shaming, mental health, feminism, queerness and Black identity.

I haven't read poetry in a while, especially in English (it's not my mother language), but I couldn't help myself and did read this in one fast seating. I feel like I would definitely re-read this one many times.

There's a lot of food for thought, with just the right amount of humor, and I not only appreciated all of the poems, I really felt moved by most of them, especially "Revenge body", "Handsome, or in which neither of us is The Man", "Executive functioning", "Excuses", and "Prozac 30MG".

I also think most of the poems are meant to be read out loud, and I wasn't able to resist the voice that asked me to do just that.

Finally, I feel it's important to let you know I definitely don't have the same life experience as Rachel. But that's why I also loved some of her poems so much. Because, even in the midst of difference, I saw myself in little parts of it, just enough to not feel alone in my moments of wrongness.

I can't wait to buy a physical copy and will definitely recommend it at every opportunity, but especially to my closest girl friends.

This is a great collection of poems about mental health, body positivity, being female, and being Black/biracial. I could really relate to a lot of the poems about being fat and struggling with mental health. While I did enjoy the poems there were some that I couldn't get into. Some of them just didn't pack the punch that the other ones did.

Thank you to NetGalley and Button Poetry for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

5 Stars ( I received an e-arc from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review)
TW: Some allusions to physical abuse, emotional and mental abuse

I loved this collection of poetry and didn’t realize that I had actually read an arc of Fat Girl Finishing School a few years back. The author’s writing has come quite a long way from that collection, flowing lyrical phrases and text formatted into certain designs. Great representation of queer identity, punching “white feminism” in the face and toxic mother daughter relationship. I almost ended bawling my eyes out when reading her poem saying good bye her beloved dog Clementine(having lost mine less than 6 months ago). Also this cover is very intriguing and part of the reason why I picked up this book. A great start to a new year of reading poetry.