Beautifully written poetry about how we as women are often tricked into doing something that we get punished for in spite of often not knowing what is really going on.

Loved this chapbook of poetry! Chloe Hanks delivers a masterful collection of poetry with a twist at the end. I love the Sylvia Plath inspired imagery of blackberries — a metaphor carried throughout the book. Must read!

This one took a while to get into and understand but once I did it was subtly enjoyable. It is a quick read so I was able to read it again and understand it better the second time.

I think this has a niche audience and the title and cover convey that well.

Short and sweet. I loved these poems. They were easy to read and the prose really sat with me. If you like poetry you will definitely enjoy this.

Short but incredibly thought-provoking and beautiful

Thank you to the author and the publisher for this arc through netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Adultress while a very quick read is an incredibly hard hitting one. It is about how we as women can sometimes be tricked into doing something that we get punished for in spite of often not knowing what is really going on. It deals with the subject of being taken apart and reshaped by men and having to try to find yourself again afterwards. It is also a poem that touches on sisterhood. Adultress is evocative and thought provoking and I would definitely recommend it.

I find it hard to relate to this poetry as I am not really into poetry but I do understand that women most of the time got reduced to their mistake as if it's the only thing that they will ever be while men can just walk around adorned with all of their mistake and wrong doings like medals. Kinda find it hard to think that someone would not want sisterhood in a patriarchal society, even with yourself. If you’re a woman, then be one for yourself.

“adulteress” wasn’t what I expected. Going into it, one would assume that this was the side of the wife not the “other woman”. It was written beautifully, with metaphors of love and relationships to the berries. The part when she spoke of not just being an adulteress, of being defined by that single word when she was so many other things, was incredible and very beautiful. It shows how simple things can be so sinking.
Although the book Itself was beautifully written, it read more like an essay. Not in a bad way but just so short that I was finished in a few minutes. I most likely wouldn’t recommend this at my store because I know people would not want to spend money on 20 pieces of paper that could probably fit on one, expertly written or not.

Adultress by Chloe Hanks is short poem but it packs a punch in just few pages. I wouldn't have imagined it is possible but what they say is true - Never judge a book by its cover, here by its size.

Once you understand the metaphors in the book, it gets easier to understand and to relate to it. What we all want in our life? To love and to be loved. We all crave for that attention and there's nothing wrong with it, it's just human nature.

Sometimes we go to terrible lengths to achieve that love but what if that same love and passion has destroyed someone else's life in the process? Even if we can't be held responsible or is it even possible to shrug of that responsibility even if we didn't know the consequences of our actions?

Adultress is such a word, a word that cuts like a knife. This book is about "the other woman" and Chloe has packed a lots of feelings and emotional turmoil that is palpable throughout and makes you overwhelmed. I always wondered why is it always that a woman is blamed for infidelity but not a man. I have heard it most of the times, oh men are men but women need to control themselves like the whole responsibility or being faithful all lands up on the shoulders of a woman but never a man.

The whole situation laid bare in front of the society to judge, the passionate voice pleading that all this "other woman" needed was that one true love. She is the one who goes through everything and man comes out unscathed. Such an irony and hypocrisy. The more I thought about it, the more I felt the depth of this piece.

It is indeed beautiful and heartbreaking. Only thing I feel is it's very short. I could see some similarity with Lang Leav poems but Adultress stands out. Definitely recommended to poetry lovers.

#netgalley #adulteress #chloehanks

Thank you netgalley and Querencia press and Chloe Hanks for providing me with e- ARC in exchange of an honest review.

I wasn’t a very big fan of this. Berries to represent womanhood are often used in poetry, but it didn’t fit quite right here. Instead of being a recurring theme, it came off as just overly repetitive. I didn’t connect with it at all

3.5/5 stars

Adulteress was a quick read. I too have been in that situation where all I wanted was my blackberries. I feel as though once you make the metaphors out, it’s easier to understand. I am not quite used to this writing style, but it was lovely.

The emotions were all too real… how others can make you feel less than because of something you can’t control…

But there is nothing like seeing yourself as the beautiful juman YOU are! Loved the outcome:

“I am not adulteress-
I am clean …… “

Chloe Hanks’s adulteress is a memorable and stunning work of poetry. Her piece chronicles the emotions of “the other woman,” who may deserve more empathy than the public consciousness would typically be inclined to give her. It is filled to the brim with thought-provoking metaphors, putting this difficult situation into words beautifully. I loved every second of reading this, dissecting every word Hanks wrote.

In fact, my only critique is that I wish this work was a longer. My e-arc copy was only 20 pages long, so this piece was over before I fully realized it began. I simply would have loved to explore this story further and experience the character’s emotions in greater depth.

Despite this critique, adulteress managed to be very impactful. Hanks is evidently a talented poet. Her work made me feel and reflect, and I truly sympathized with her words. Every detail of the poem is expertly crafted and certainly impressive.

Given the length, and my newness to poetry in general, I question what to rate this piece, but I have settled on 4.5 stars. I thought this piece was stunning and I think it will stick with me for a long time, but I don’t think I can give it a full five stars given the fact that it left me wanting more.

If you are wanting to read a quick but beautiful piece of poetry, I would definitely recommend adulteress.

This book of poetry is super short, but it encapsulates a wide range of emotion. The poems discuss the feelings of being the other woman in a way that truly shows the internal turmoil after it all comes to light.

This poetry book was so beautiful it wouldn’t let me go until I finished it all. A powerful depiction of what it’s like unintentionally become “The Other Woman”.

I loved the beautiful fruit/berry imagery that was prominent in the poems, and could practically taste the words. The styling of the poems reminded me somewhat of Trista Mateer and Amanda Lovelace, so if you like those, you’ll probably love this one as well.

I recommend this collection of poetry to every poetry lover out there, and it packs a lot of power in very little pages. I’ll be sure to look for some more of Cloe Hanks works as I just need to read more.

Big thanks to Netgalley, Querencia Press and the author Chloe Hanks for allowing me to read an E-Arc of this poetry collection.

Chloe Hanks was able to capture my heart with this heartbreaking tales of being the other women. She portrays the feelings and emotion so well. I loved that she used blackberries to get her point across and I was not able to put the book down. I was so moved by such a short book that it is ideally a great read for a quick pick or if you wish to cry also the poetry to read. Chloe Hanks tone of writing is clear and straight to the point while still upholding the emotions she wishes to show the reader. Chloe Hanks is a talented Poet and Author that I cannot wait to read more works. I look forward to following Chloe Hanks career and to see how much more she grows on this journey.