I look forward to purchasing a print version of this book to truly grasp the poet's intentions with formatting. I also look forward to reading some of these poems with students in the fall. The brutal honesty combined with such powerful, beautiful imagery creates a very visceral work, including some poems that deliver truth like a gut punch.

I'm adamant that one should read a poetry collection a minimum of two times: the first to experience the poetry, the second to understand it. Faylita Hicks' A Map of My Want is my latest piece of evidence as to why. Having just finished my first read through, I can say I loved the collection's musicality, imagery, and flow, but I can't say I "get" what Hicks is trying to say. Hicks' perspective as a black nonbinary femme who has been incarcerated is wildly outside my realm of experience, which added a significant (though not unwelcome) barrier between myself and the poems' meaning. The highly-wrought nature of the poetry added another barrier, making the collection as a whole difficult to penetrate. This is not a criticism, however, and is in fact praise--each poem is so rich and layered that it begs to be read slowly, one line at a time, and preferably with a pen and notebook handy; unlike plenty of contemporary poetry, a reader can't simply inhale it in one sitting and move on (and expect to glean anything from it), though the language is so intoxicating that doing so is tempting.

A Map of My Want is a challenging collection, both in style and content, but one worthy of significant time and attention. I look forward to returning to the poems in the near future for a much-desired second reading.

Thank you very much to NetGalley and Haymarket Books for the advanced review copy!

Publishing date: 09.07.2024
Thank you to Netgalley and Haymarket Books for the ARC. My opinions are my own.

The book as a meal: A buffet where I can eat any meal I want
The book left me: Questioning my gender once again

Negatives:
Formatting was a little hard to read and process

Positives:
Several connective themes (erotism, freedom, gender fluidity)

Features:
A nonbinary person exploring their gender, erotic and sexual themes, navigating gender in society and family situations

Why did I choose this one?
Poems for days for a poem loving woman. Also, nonbinary rep. Love to see it

Pick-up-able? Put-down-able?
In between. The formatting didn't allow me to read for a prolonged time, but the poems made me want to continue. I prioritized preventing a headache, and read bit by bit instead of swallowing it whole. I think this would fit best as a physical book.

What was the vibe and mood?
A little uncertainty, a lot of curiosity, wanting to fit in, finding out you can make your own mold, exploring myself a little, and most important: feeling free.

Final ranking and star rating?
3 stars, C tier. Although I appreciated the themes going on and the stunning writing style, I could not connect with the work. I recognized some parts of the work in myself, but not enough to truly appreciate it. I think I could come back to it later after reading some more biographies to understand the work and the author. This book would fit those seeking to understand themselves and others in the LGBTQ+ community. I have some in my circle that would adore and find some use for this work.

Favorite poems:
Foreign bodies
Gawd forgive me
The skybridge in their divorce

Faylita Hicks has conjured such a stunning and beautiful story through her cutting “A Map of My Want”. This collection is brave and poignant with an impactful prose from a strong voice we should all be listening to. I have already recommended this to my local book club and look forward to more of this talented human!

Thank you to Haymarket Books via Netgalley for providing me with this ARC! A very visceral and compelling collection of poems. I read this collection very quickly but get the feeling that this is a collection I will return to and find something new each time.

I got this as an arc on Netgalley and it will come out in July. This was a very good interesting collection of poetry dealing with themes of race and queerness. I got sucked in and finished it in two sittings.

“Who I am now - a kind of boi travelling south//southwest: as far as the stars will take me”
4.5☆|5

Not reading this collection of poems in one sitting was hard. A part of me wanted to savour them, read them slowly and then there was another part that wanted to devour each word as soon as possible, to drown in Faylita Hicks' verses and poems. Somehow, both of those parts won as I read this in about 3 days, trying to revel in every word.

This book screams freedom. It screams freedom, it screams liberation, it's a really specific and particular mix of freedom and guilt, as much as the pleasure of erotism. I might go read some of the poems again later, in the next few days, to feel all those feelings once again. The poetess' style was magnificent and every minute spent in those poems was a delight.

If I had to choose favourites, I would say that my favourite poems were probably "On Becoming a Bridge for the Binary" as well as "The Skybridges in Their Divorce". However, there were multiple were I lost my breath by consuming the words and forgetting to breathe and others when I had tears in my eyes. That book was sublime, and as someone who never read poetry, I am glad that I decided to try it for once.

Thank you to Netgalley and Haymarket Books for the ARC of this book, it will be officially available on July 9th.