Finished 07/16/2024 || Misplaced Organs & Various Saints by Dante Émile || #MisplacedOrgansVariousSaints #NetGalley #LGBTQAI #queer #poetry

Thank you NetGalley, Dante Émile, and Querencia Press for making this e-ARC available!
Please note: This review may not be reproduced or quoted, in whole or in part, without explicit consent from the author and myself.
All of my thoughts are my own~

5 stars!!

For full transparency college has been eating away at my leisurely time but I did also pick this title up as a read now when past it's publication date

This was an extremely moving and a somewhat shared religious trauma experience about failed love and how intense those feelings are. This collection reminded me so much of how my own brain works from time to time and I really related to the author and what was shared here.

Very haunting and gorgeous and heartbreaking but again, so validating to get a glimpse into someone else's head and heart and feelings.
I defiantly want a physical copy of this in the future!

Overall I think this was a decent poetry collection. The theme was consistent throughout and all of the poems felt purposeful and well thought out.

My favourite poems in this collection:
- a prayer
- two boys, in embrace
- king solomon splits my heart in two

This collection of gothic poems is wholly (holy?) satisfying. It plays with religious imagery and body horror, rich in a darkness sweet enough to baptize in. The poems contained vary in subjects and feel, sometimes imitating scriptures with others reminiscent of bedtime stories. My favorites include love of the wolf, love song of two vampires, the last supper, and the poet as an autopsy table. I highly recommend if you're into gothic images, blood, and ex-lovers.

“We both have stories to bury & none of us really know how deep we should dig. The dog keeps bringing the bones back home: he wants to play with our dead, he wants us to toss them just to see them come back again.”

Trigger warnings: this collection deals with themes of domestic and psychological abuse, suicidal ideation, domestic violence

Genre:
Poetry
Nonfiction

“So here is a list of all of my sins,
sorted by bloodshed & in alphabetical order.
So here are the names of every person I've tried to replace you [God]with,”

This nonfiction poetry collection is a reflection of Dante’s various failed romantic relationships and his attempts to move on and his relationship with his God. I did enjoy reading most of the first half of the collection’s poems but I couldn’t relate to many of the second half, specifically those referencing biblical stories. I am not Christian, nor do I come from a Christian family therefore I don’t understand many of the references or comparisons nor could I relate to or connect with those poems on an emotional level.

The poems are raw and filled with emotion, one can feel and understand the pain that the writer felt during these toxic relationships with both himself and his various partners. It is an LGBTQIA+ collection - the author describes his various same sex partners and I think he initially starts with a position of wanting god back in his life because of the lack he experienced due to the religious position that Christianity has on same sex partnerships and the development of his own new relationship with God. One in which he doesn’t see himself as a monster.

“screaming take me as I am or kill me screaming peel my skin off like a blindfold screaming love me despite the horror screaming please, God, love me because of it.

My favourite poem: Monster theory
Would I buy this book:not for myself but who knows in future it could make a wonderful gift
Do I recommend this book: it’s not fair of me to say whether others should or shouldn’t read this collection. As a cisgender woman who isn’t Christian it’s hard for me to relate to this collection. But a Christian LGBTQIA person will probably have more to connect with in terms of similar experiences and viewpoints.

“One of my faces wants to say here you go, here's the key, have a look around. There's a chest next to the haunted dolls with every version of me I've tried to drown on the inside
Nowhere help me make a choice.
I will drag this out in the open, but you have to tell me there's still some road ahead of us.”

Themes:
god (Christian)
Toxic relationship
Stories/storytelling/writing down
Ghosts
Haunted house
Breaking up/leaving significant other
Love in exchange for pain
Woods
Wolf devouring and the gentle lamb ( this reference I know and understand thanks to William Blake)
Monstrous self

Thank you Querencia and Netgalley for my ebook review copy of this poetry collection.

First and foremost, I want to express my gratitude to NetGalley, the publishers, and Dante Émile for providing me with an ARC copy of "Misplaced Organs & Various Saints" in exchange for an honest review.

From the moment I started this collection of poetry, I was enraptured by Émile's work. Each poem felt like a journey into the depths of the soul, an exploration of the human and religious experiences that left me breathless and longing for more. Among the many gems in this collection, "The Poet as an Autopsy Table" and "The Last Supper" stood out as personal favorites, resonating with me on a profound level.

I found myself utterly hooked from the very first page, unable to tear myself away until I had devoured every word. There's a raw power to Émile's writing that is both visceral and haunting, leaving an indelible impression long after the last page is turned. One line in particular, "If God cares he's leaving open-mouthed kisses on both of our crooked spines," has stayed with me, haunting my thoughts and stirring my emotions.

Émile possesses an incredibly powerful voice that demands to be heard, and I eagerly await more work from them in the future. Their ability to evoke such intense emotions and provoke deep introspection is a testament to their talent as a poet.

As "Misplaced Organs & Various Saints" prepares to make its debut tomorrow, I extend my heartfelt congratulations to Dante Émile on this remarkable achievement. This collection is a testament to their skill as a poet and a true gift to readers everywhere.

I really loved this! The religious imagery juxtaposed with the subject matter was really compelling. A tiny volume but very memorable. Looking forward to more work from this author. Gorgeous writing.

"If God cares he's leaving open-mouthed kisses on both of our crooked spines."

I'm not someone who reads poetry super often. I should, because I usually enjoy it when I do. This though? This was a bit more than that. I was enraptured by the words on each page. I sat down and read it all. Then I sat down two days later and read it all again. There's a gorgeous rawness to each piece. The imagery is vivid but the emotions they bring out are more powerful. I'm very glad that I stumbled across this collection.

Thank you to the publisher for giving me an E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.


5 stars.
THESE. WERE. BEAUTIFUL.
It only took me 2 days to read it and this collection was amazing. I haven’t read poetry this good in a long time.
Part one is fast-paced and passionate, it feels like a fever dream in the best way.
Part two is slower and thought out, softer almost.
However, the two parts balance each other out perfectly.

This was hauntingly beautiful. The themes of queerness and religion were masterfully woven together, the rhyme schemes interesting. Very good.

There are so many poems in this collection that have left me absolutely breathless!! Some personal favorites are “suburbia judas”, “love of the wolf”, “the last supper”, “after abel”, and “the poet as an autopsy table”! I think I’ll be thinking about “after abel” for the rest of my life. Dante’s poetry is a treasure

An absolutely beautiful, haunting collection. It's rare to see someone play with religion as theme this masterfully.

Hauntingly beautiful.
Well written, stunning and horrifying, i loved this.
The language was really amazing. So vivid and at times really emotional.