This collection of poetry, while stunning in its imagery, is too brief to completely engage the reader. This is, however, mostly a personal preference. I enjoy longer form poetry, especially when the author is presenting so many intriguing ideas. Haiku is a difficult poetry form to write in and in my opinion a difficult form to read, despite how easy and fast it is to read. I have no doubt, however, that these poems will be thoroughly appreciated by the right audience, it’s just unfortunate that that audience doesn’t include me.

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for providing me with this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

My thanks to NetGalley, who provided me with a free copy of this collection in exchange for an honest review.

This collection of minimalist speculative poems -- haiku, tanka and other brief forms -- joyfully tests the limits of what can be done with few words. Opening with a dark SF haibun, Christina Sng quickly shifts focus to horror (three sections), followed by mostly dark SF (two sections) and a very dark SF section for "The End."

In most cases, the haiku and tanka are presented in titled groups, forming a loosely-constructed longer poem from items previously published elsewhere. This works remarkably well, although the haiku especially become more like stars in a constellation than stanzas in a narrative work. The reader may visit them in any order, picking up resonances between them. Other haiku and tanka appear separately titled, with the titles intrinsic to their meanings. These didn't work quite as well for me, possibly because I'm not used to haiku with titles.

As one would expect from a haiku / scifaiku poet, Sng's vision is precise and frequently bleak. Some of the longer poems have distinct "punch lines," though these are never clichés. This is a generously-sized collection, but I found myself reading most of it in a single sitting. Well-crafted scifaiku, it seems, are a bit like potato chips.

Recommended for readers of both mainstream haiku and speculative poetry, or poetry-shy SF / H fans looking to broaden their horizons.

The Gravity of Existence is collection of poems by Christina Sng.

I’m not a regular poetry reader but I enjoyed these. It’s a great collection as there’s some very thoughtful and intense poetry, which is mixed in with more confusing poems. I especially loved the poems that were more fantastical and magical, as they were more engaging.

Overall, a wonderful collection of poems that I enjoyed reading.

A hauntingly beautiful exploration of emotions and space.
Christina Sng has crafted this book masterfully, with each piece more striking than the last. She truly is the queen of SFF haiku.
If you love poetry and want to dip your toe in the speculative genre, this book is 100% for you.

2.75*

This was a somewhat interesting concept, but I think poetry in general is very hit or miss with me. I do want the poetry I read to say something of substance, and I felt that this lacked that. It was pretty and very Tumblr'esque at times and I can see that it could be aesthetically pleasing.

So if you're into the aesthetics of poetry and quirky references and tales, this may be of interest to you. Otherwise, it didn't really feel that interesting. I did enjoy a few of the poems, but mostly because they seemed fun enough (without spoiling, the poems involving cats were the best).

TL;DR it was just overall not my thing but it also wasn't terrible, but nor was it remotely amazing.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the e-ARC.

I was blown away by the poems in here! They are short scifi/fantasy/horror poems that will make you laugh, think, and sometimes creep you out! Resist the urge to rush through this collection and savor each one.

I really enjoyed these. Some of them were pretty dark and took me by surprise. The one that hit home most for me was “Marriage”. And then I love all the ones that involved space!

Overall I really enjoyed this and will definitely be looking into this author in the future. The book is separated into parts and I liked all of them, some more than others.
A few of the sections I felt didn't really fit in with the other parts of the book and while they were good it also made my brain go huh?
The childhood tales poems were a bit too small for my liking although the goldilocks poem I literally laughed out loud out of shock and told my mother about it lol.
The title of this collection goes very nicely with the poetry inside of it.

This was not exactly what I imagined, according to the summary. It was enjoyable enough, but nothing really stuck out to me.
Thank you NetGalley for the arc copy of this!

To be honest, I didn't quite resonate with this collection. Knowing it's a scifi-horror, it did pique my interest at first because I haven't read anything like it in poetic form. I guess Ms. Christina's work simply isn't for me despite its rich imagery on space. I'm never used to reading short poems as they tend to fall short in my head, too, like a cliffhanger (it makes me question whether I understand it or not). However, I didn't find those pure nonsense. Sparrow, Monstress, and Monsters at Home are the few that I liked. Anyway, I know there'll be others who are going to intertwine with the beauty of this poetry, just as the author wanted at the beginning.

I really liked this collection of macabre poems. I love anything horror and macabre. This book is a fast read but there will be times when you read it again and again to understand the poetry. If your a lover of horror and macabre, then this book is for you. I loved the book so much, it was great fun to read.

I received a free copy of the book and is voluntarily writing a review

When i seen this poetry book avaible to read, i stopped... looked at the cover.. screamed... read the title... got more exicted... skipped the synopsis and right into the poems.
I was a bit confused with some of them thought but there are quite a few i did enjoy and am happy to read more from this author soon.

The Gravity of Existence is a haunting, lyrical collection. Christina Sng’s poems simultaneously embody and disembody grief, pain, fear, and loss. What on the surface seems like a collection of horror stories in verse and classic stories retold houses at its core a sincere interest in death and its effects. I enjoyed Sng’s unique use of form and meter and her freedom with length (or brevity). A few of the shorter poems had me puzzling over their meaning, without more to interpret the shorter poems sometimes fall flat. Nevertheless, I think this is a collection I will return to - it caused me to think both outside and inside myself as all the best poetry does.

Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advanced readers copy of this book.

I hated this book. I am not a fan of lazy poetry — I am even less a fan of poems that could be something had the author reached a tiny bit further. Also, for what reason did this fairytale poetry collection started with a 9/11 poem??

ESCAPE
“Why do you read
The moment you get home?”
I ask my child, her nose in a book.

“To escape the horrors
Of the world,” she says.
I nod and we exchange a look.

And so many of the “poems” are just fucking word association.

“mesmerized
by sunlight
child vampire”

and

“rappelling
for the first time
rapunzel”

What bugs me is that there are lots of interesting concepts that could have been made into really good poems. But they weren’t!

I couldn’t finish this book.

3.5
I did struggle to read the format of this arc but I can really see its potential.
This is the first book of poems that I have enjoyed as it was fun, playful and I was able to understand what the author was trying to show the reader.
I loved the section on fairy tales and apocalypses.

This isn't my first book by the author, but I think I personally prefer her longer work a bit more -- it gives me more time to get acclimated to each poem's tone / theme / message, and I think I struggled with that a little bit because of it here. I've never read short format poetry like this (or, not quite as short anyway), and I did enjoy how quick the style & book were - I was able to read this really fast and despite the speed, still had some vivid imagery in my head throughout!

The Gravity of Existence was a fascinating genre that I haven't read before and was excited about: science fiction/ horror poetry. This was a great read to welcome the fall season, and the poetry was eerie and unsettling. I enjoyed how the poems were broken up into little sections, making for a quick and easy read. However, this wasn't for me. Some of the poems felt a little too bare bones and vague for me. Overall, I am glad to be introduced to the horror poetry genre, and want to read more in this vein.

I am not usually a reader of poetry but this book's description appealed to me. I enjoyed the poems, though not really stuck out to me much. I enjoyed "The End" section the most. It felt like there was a real story in there and I liked how it unfolded. Overall, I enjoyed it for it's simplicity and easiness to read.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

Terrifying poetry and prose, in this gripping look at humanity. It takes some very odd turns and will have you questioning the gravity of your own existence.

This collection of poetry was a short and fun read. I really loved the childhood tales section, it made me laugh how short and blunt someone can basically summarise fairytales. A lot of the poems made me laugh out loud and the other half really had me thinking about my entire existence, so what else do you need. I definitely suggest reading this!