Publishing date: 01.10.2024
Thank you to Netgalley and Guernica Editions for the ARC. My opinions are my own.

I expected: A fever dream of surreal poems
I got: Exactly what I expected
The book left me: Reflecting on the poems, wondering if I understood anything

Poetry style: Untitled prose, no more than half a page or quarter page each

Amount of poems: 54 individual poems

Features:
Vivid and surrealist poetry, reflections on society, raw emotions in poetry form

Final ranking and star rating?
3 stars, B tier. This is a fever dream in the shape of poems. Some of these are clear commentary on society and people, others are emotions, or stray thoughts. I find no proper centric theme, and I think that works well here. This is a fascinating collection, and one I blasted through in maybe an hour or less. I think this collection can be very hit or miss for most. If you like fever dreams and surrealism, then this might be for you.

Favorite poems:
Page 8
Page 15
Page 46
Page 48
Page 52

Loved this collection. Every new entry was like a little story you could lose yourself in, yet also relate to. Beautiful.

This book offers something genuinely fresh and distinct, yet still feels relevant to the world we live in. It reminded me of why I turn to poetry, especially when my spirit feels empty. The pieces that resonated with me were layered and thoughtful, striking a compelling balance between tragedy and whimsy in an unexpectedly refreshing way.

This book is fresh, totally unique, different, yet, it fits to the society we live in. Some poems are not here for them to be understood, but rather felt. This is what I had to remind myself while reading it. The book left a mark in my soul, and reminded me why I read poetry. It brought the same feelings as Walt Whitmann in some ways. But it's modern and made for this society. Thank you.

ℝ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | 𝔽𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕒𝕥: 𝐸-𝐵𝑜𝑜𝓀

ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨: 𝑳𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒂 𝑻𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒉𝒚 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒖𝒏 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐞—𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐯𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝, 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞. 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐨𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝. 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐞𝐦 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐭. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐈’𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭.

𝐻𝓊𝑔𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓃𝓀 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓉𝑜 𝒥𝒶𝓈𝑜𝓃 𝐻𝑒𝓇𝑜𝓊𝓍, 𝒢𝓊𝑒𝓇𝓃𝒾𝒸𝒶 𝐸𝒹𝒾𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈, & 𝒩𝑒𝓉𝒢𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑒𝓎 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒜𝑅𝒞! 𝒜𝓁𝓁 𝑜𝓅𝒾𝓃𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓂𝓎 𝑜𝓌𝓃.

If I'm totally honest, reading this felt slightly like a fever dream. But I mean that in the best way. The stories/poems that I understood and resonated with were thoughtful and complex, balancing tragedy, and whimsy in a refreshing way. I can't name why enjoyed reading this, but I did.