4.5 dark, beautifully-broken, strong stars~

Thank you to NetGalley and Northwestern University Press, TriQuarterly for providing a digital ARC for review!

::TW::

This was a stunning collection of poetry that delve into dark and complex topics, including but not limited to trauma and sexual assault. This collection touches on sex, desire, gender identity and more. Each section of poetry has a specific theme and is complemented by definitions followed by a song of choice. I really liked this aspect of the book, as it puts more of a tone in each section before reading further.

This collection was dark and intense; each poem told a different story. One of the poems near the end really stood out to me, which I will redact the subject from due to TW as well as content*

Overall, a solid collection of poems - definitely recommend giving it a read, especially if the content or themes speak to you in some way.

i was intrigued by this poetry collection and I wanted to loved it, truly, the poet is a queer person talking about their experiences and going through pandemic, which is a good subject

but i couldn’t connect with their writing. tbh I felt really dumb, bc I had to reread several times one poem to try to understand it, unsuccessfully…

some of the poems are really cool but most of them were for me, like trying to solve a math problem. I felt like I hadn’t the right knowledge to appreciate the piece

i think I wasn’t the target audience for this collection unfortunately

DNF at 20%

I wanted to like this so much, I really did. It's written by genderqueer author C. Russell Price, and it's a collection of poetry about sexual identity and gender discovery, but I just... did not like it. There are parts of it I did enjoy, especially the way it's written and the execution of the layout of the book and how each chapter is divided by words with definitions that are up for interpretation and kind of written out in the way the author interprets those words. But the next page after a definition of a word is a "Ritual" page, which every time I got to made absolutely no sense to me, most of the rituals sounded self sabotaging and really aggressive. I just do not think this was for me, and that's okay. All poetry can be subjective and taken differently by different people, so maybe I just wasn't understanding it the way the author intended.

I also want to mention there are absolutely no trigger warnings in this book, and this discusses several triggering and sensitive topics that may upset people. I was taken aback by some of these topics so I don't want anyone else to be surprised by it's contents. So since it doesn't give any trigger warnings, I will: molestation, rape, and self harm are the big ones. The only other one I can think of is self sabotage which I'm not sure is a major trigger warning, but just something to be aware of if you pick up this book.

Like I said, I wanted to like this, I really did. I loved the representation that a genderqueer author wrote a book of poetry about their experiences and navigating life. The only thing stopping me from giving it one star is I did like the execution of how it was laid out, and the way it was written. With that being said, I give this 2/5 stars.

Poetry and I had a little falling out but Price's work reminded me that I can't stay away forever. This book is dripping with so much goodness. Allusions to Sexton's "The Truth the Dead Knows". A poem that describes the apocalypse as a man named Carl. Poems prescribing rituals to the reader. Poems like "How To Stay Politically Active While Fucking The Existential Dread Away" that feel way too apropos of the times we're in for you not to nod along in thought to as you go. Poems about Stevie Nicks and Anderson Cooper and beauty queen hair. What's not to like?

Listen-- I don't really know how to review poetry the way I know how to review everything else I read, but I'd pay good money to sit in a theater to listen to Price read these poems. So there's that.

I really didn't enjoy this collection at all, and I really really wanted to. It just felt so uncrafted and attempts to be shocking for the sake of it without landing too well ... I cringed a lot honestly. A shame because the layout and concept of the collection is gorgeous, but the poems themselves leave a lot to be desired

Just the title alone had my attention, so I knew I had to read it.
Oh, You Thought This Was A Date?! Apocalypse Poems, by C. Russell Price is unapologetically honest dealing with politics, gender, sexuality, and queerness.
When I first started reading the poems, I was a little confused with the writing style, a mix of pop culture references such as lyrics, song titles and quotes mixed in with Price's poetry. Most of the pop culture references I knew, but I was trying to figure out how they fit in?. It's not like most of them were mainstream top 40 references.
Poetry for me is either I get it or I don't. I'm glad I was able to adjust to the style and stuck with this collection.
The poems have their heartbreaking, and humorous moments despite taking on such matters as rape, guns, and mass shootings. At times the poems can be intimate and lovely despite all the gloom. Price uses simple language over the complex, making it accessible to most readers.

Thank you netgalley for the advanced copy and Price for the poetry.

oh, you thought this was a date?! by C. Russel Price is a collection of unapologetic poetry mainly about sexuality and queerness.

I want to start this off by saying that I think about 80% of the pop-culture references went over my head. A lot of them I didn't pick up on until I read the notes at the end and I think I definitely would have enjoyed it more and gotten more of a kick out of a lot of poems if I was more clued up to the references. It's my own fault and it's a shame because I think it's a really cool and pretty niche way to write poetry. We are so influenced and entwined with the world around us that I love the idea of societal culture being included in poetry and writing.

A lot of the poems were really refreshing because they talked about sexuality and being queerness in such an honest way. It wasn't looked at through rose tinted glasses and I really appreciated how the author shed light on a lot of problems in the queer community such as younger queer people having abusive and toxic relationships with older people. However, the author also spoke on the beauty of relationships and how impactful love can be, which I really liked. They spoke about queerness and gender with such frankness, which was great and powerful to see.

"My great gender trouble as a queer American
is that I should think 'erect'
not 'automatic rifle' when I hear 'semi.'

I just really liked how much the author didn't shy away from 'hard' topics such as rape and abuse. These topics need to be discussed and not be viewed as taboo or shameful. Furthermore, I think it's so brave of the author to speak on their own abuse and not allow their abusers to be unknown. How commendable!

Overall, a very different collection of poetry that I think will be great for many people to read. I just wish I understood more of the references!

Poetry is very subjective and very personal, in my opinion. I didn’t connect with anything in this book, but that doesn’t mean much as far as poetry goes - I probably wasn’t an intended audience. There were also some triggers in here which I wasn’t expecting which of course affected my experience.

I really enjoyed this book of poetry. I loved the diversity and poem length and structure. While the poems are all unique, they shared a similar theme of the apocalypse and all had dark undertones. I enjoyed that each chapter had a soundtrack and ritual to go along with it, which really tied it all together. The imagery throughout the book also evoked a dark, yet beautiful feeling. Overall a really great read!

As someone who is knew to poetry I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Iv recently read some books written in verse which I enjoyed that made me decide to pick up a poetry book.

The author has written some raw work reflecting on past trauma. The poems are deep and moving and insanely well written. I loved the connection within each chapter to a certain album/song/artist.

This all being said, I’m not desperate to jump onto another poetry book, which is my own personal feelings towards this type of writing. For poetry lovers, I recommend!

I really really loved this.
I like it when poetry sounds like it was written by a person and not a Poet (TM). Price's images are effective and flagrant and bright but are created with simple language and an affinity for the confessional and the conversational.
The poems feel intimate, drawing us into a space of queer love (and sometimes just queer sex) without relegating us to the borderline-cliche status of voyeur.
Throughout, the poems are tinged with an apocalyptic sensibility, into the face of which Price spits, defying despair and reaching instead for something deeper.
Thank you to NetGalley for the proof, and to Price for the poetry.

oh, you thought this was a date?! is a poetry collection exploring the apocalypse through trauma, desire, and the realities of America. The collection is split into sections, each with a quote, dictionary definition, 'Soundtrack' and 'Ritual', and the book feels like a ritual overall, a chance to speak about brutality and destruction through lyric and song. There's a lot of music, titles and lyrics, infuses throughout the book and it almost feels like the hazy soundtrack to a wasteland, playing whilst poems explore kinds of apocalypse, trauma, vengeance, and personal histories. At times, in poems like 'Ars Poetica: We Can Take Our Turn, Singing Them Dirty Rap Songs' but also through its own structure and tone, it is also a manifesto for poetry that isn't "fluff", that does things rather than gently meditate, and that's a good message to leave with: poetry should have power, and can feel dangerous to those who'd rather it was hidden.