*Rain, Wind, Thunder, Fire, Daughter* by H.G. Dierdorff is a mesmerizing fantasy that weaves elemental magic with a deeply emotional journey. Dierdorff’s storytelling is rich and immersive, creating a world that feels both enchanting and perilous. A captivating read that balances epic adventure with heartfelt character development.

✨️Book Review✨️

Thanks to netgalley for the ARC!

'Rain, Wind, Thunder, Fire, Daughter' is an enthralling collection of poetry from HG Dierdorff. The poet's range is evident as her works vary from sonnets, prose poems, free verses, to concrete poetry, each one more unique and engaging.

The subject matter is interesting ranging from climate change, the poet's struggles with mental health, and her fundamentalist christian upbringing.

Surprisingly, in spite of climate change being the central theme of this collection, the poems such as 'Sonnet with a mouth full of dollar bills' and 'A Classical Christian Academy' were the cream of the crop as they were an honest and raw exploration of the poet's struggles in lives. On the other hand, poems like 'Rain, Wind, Thunder, Fire, Daughter' felt flat because of their use of recurring motifs such as ponderosa pine trees, burning Forests, and mother-daugjter relationships.

Oftentimes, it felt as if the poet just wrote words without any depth behind them. The subject matter though interesting was never fully explored in a satisfying manner. For instance, 'Sonnet with my shirt off' doesn't come off as a celebration of femininity but a textbook example of uncritical 'white' feminism which boils womanhood down to body parts, and bodily processes.

Further on, in a single poem the poet brought colonization, and the expulsion of indigenous peoples from their land which was an amazing theme that she could've explored further but unfortunately, that wasn't the case. I think it's extremely important for white poet's living on indigenous lands to acknowledge the fact that forest fires, and widespread climate change affect minority communities much more than it does them. Bringing it up as a one-liner to make a poem sound deeper than it actually is (considering that the poem doesn't engage with the theme at all except to amplify the poet's suffering) feels shallow and disingenuous.

On the brighter side, I do believe that H.G Dierdorff is a poet with a beautiful and unique poetic voice. Her poems are written with emotion, not just to be shared as snippets on instagram but to be discussed as pieces of art. One of my favourites from this collection was 'As The West Coast Burns (IV)' where the poet's narrative style, and structure reminds me of 'The Signpost' by Edward Thomas. Here's a comparison:

"Two voices, one gentle, one mocking: Stop making your suffering more than it is."

~ As the west coast burns (IV)

"A voice says: You would not have doubted so
At twenty. Another voice gentle with scorn
Says: At twenty you wished you had never been born."

~ The Signpost

'Rain, Wind, Thunder, Fire, Daughter' is a collection of poetry worth checking out, and definitely worth reading. Especially for those who have been disappointed by the current state of modern poetry, this collection will surely rekindle your faith in the poets of the 2020's. Overall 3/5 stars which I consider to be an above average rating as this collection was a balance of wonderful emotion-filled poems and poems that fell a bit flat due to their insistence upon half-hearted metaphors over actual substance. Still, I really enjoyed this collection, and I shall keep an eye out for Dierdorff's future collections.