This poetry collection is really interesting and I’ve never read anything like it. Many of the poems were incredibly beautiful. I especially liked the poems personifying Antarctica. I also liked the integration of quotes and excerpts throughout. Overall, I enjoyed the book. It introduced me to a new topic in an intriguing and thought-provoking way.

I was completely unfamiliar with the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, so I had to stop about a third of the way through and read about it on Wikipedia. I also thought the characters were hard to keep track of, in part because I didn’t realize there was a handy list of people and key locations in the Notes section until I’d finished the book! I’d recommend reading the Notes section first.

The introduction does a good job of connecting this collection to climate change, but I felt the connection was lacking in the poems. Reflecting on Antarctica in 2022 without making any connections to climate change feels like a glaring omission. The first poem is about how Antarctica shifted from tropical to cold (“I was tropical once / Then, I became so cold”), so it seems to me like the collection should have ended with a reference to the current anthropogenic shift affecting the Antarctic climate.

If you love history, adventure, and poetry, this book is for you!

I wasn't expecting any prose at all, but there was too much for my tastes. I ultimately decided to DNF this book, which is unfortunate. The cover is stunning but there is no mention of there being any type of prose in the synopsis. The chunks of history were mundane and kind of boring.

This wasn't my favorite poetry collection that I've ever read, but I do appreciate what the author was trying to do. The writing was lovely, and there were some really powerful moments that I look forward to revisiting.

I was so excited about this book because I love poetry and more specifically, nature poetry. And then taking the idea and writing a book about a historical time period, it felt like it checked every box.

Unfortunately, the book fell very flat for me. I do think that part of it was the formatting as an eARC, I assume the final print copy will be nicely formatted but when I transferred this to my Kindle the lines all seemed very discombobulated with what I think were page numbers in the middle of the poems and issues like that.

Aside from the formatting issues though I was confused throughout the book and it just felt like a disappointment.

A line I liked though was:

"All my hours are ice hours. All my flowers are ice flowers."

I have no idea how to rate this book. It is nothing like I ever read before. First, I wouldn´t say it´s a collection of poems. I would rather say it´s a collection of lyrical stories based on a historical event. Second, I would make bigger space (say three lines? or use some sort of a graphic marker) in between particular parts of the text, because at times it´s not exactly clear what belongs where.
Overall I really enjoyed this book. Polar expeditions are so gripping. I think that the author told the story of ice and struggle well.

Thank you NetGalley and Wheelbarrow Books for the chance to read and review this ARC.

While as a whole I don't think I'm fond of this book, there were some really powerful moments that I'll come back to. It's definitely a book I will read again in the future before deciding how I'll feel. The opening poem, 'Perhaps I was Eden' is one of my favourites and I loved the Gladys Mackintosh poems.

Un testo molto bello se si vuole attraversare l'Antartide seduti al caldo della propria casa. Poesie molto belle, rendono vivide le immagini che descrivono. Unica pecca non mi è piaciuta molto la commistione tra poesia e prosa.

I’ve almost finished this book and I’m in awe of the imagery that presents itself within every poem. The history and grief behind it all. I’ve rarely enjoyed poetry but I find this to be so tastefully done. This is certainly something you could come to love easily. We read letters and stories throughout, weaving the tales of Antarctica and Endurance (both literally and figuratively). I’d recommend this to people from all walks of life, I feel this is something in history that’s rarely spoken on.

I received this e-book free for a genuine review.