A great book of poetry inspired by Taylor Swift songs. This would be a wonderful gift for a Swiftie who likes decoding meanings, because the poems don't specifically state which song they're related to. Even if you don't want to sleuth things out, it's a nice collection of poems.

Hmmm. The concept is interesting and I came into this really wanting to like it but most of this was a miss for me. Some of the poems were fun and well written, and the discussions at the beginning and end of the book were helpful in adding context, but ultimately in a collection that's 100% referencing someone else's creative work, some of the connective tissue needed to fully enjoy the final product was missing.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this book. All opinions are my own.

Whether you like Taylor Swift or not, you know who she is. You can’t be unaware of her. She is everywhere. Her music rings out about her breakups and her sadness and her innate power as a woman, and she draws people to her. Because while not all of us can put words and music together the way she can, we can all feel those words. We understand what she’s singing about, because we’ve all had out hearts break. We’ve all had to grieve a loss. We all long to connect with our power. And we all reach for the words to express ourselves in those moments.

When Kristie Frederick Daugherty, poet and professor, fan of Taylor Swift, saw the crowd’s reaction to the Eras tour, she was inspired. She could see that the thousands of people in the audience all sang and danced and came together as Swift sang her heart out about the chapters of her life, she got an idea. What if she could bring poets together in the same way, all inspired by Taylor Swift songs, translating them into their own art, for all to read? That is how Invisible Strings was started.

Daugherty brought together 113 poets, Pulitzer Prize winners, award winners, bestsellers, and the U.S. Poet Laureate, and asked them to share their inspired poems. Each poet worked from a different Swift song to interpret, weaving clues to its origin just like Swift herself is known for slipping Easter eggs into her works. The poets talk of being loved and being broken, about the magical beauty of the heavens and the daily grace of everyday rituals, just like Swift. And like Swift’s songs, they tear the audience apart and glue it back together with hope, love, and connection.

I will admit that I don’t read a lot of poetry these days. I was an English major way back when I was in college, and I was asked over and over to interpret poems just the way the professor wanted, no matter what I really thought about the work. I still let that color my reading. But I’m certainly not against throwing on some Taylor Swift and, say, shaking it off. Invisible Strings was not on my radar, but a publicist reached out and offered me a copy, and I was intrigued. And after reading just a quarter of it, I was reminded of the power of poetry. I was moved. I was stunned by the beauty of the language. I was happy to catch some of the Easter eggs. And a couple of times I was hit by a truth like an arrow to the heart.

Invisible Strings is a celebration of the work of Taylor Swift. It’s a celebration of modern American poetry. Thoughtful Swifties will be engaged with these poems, reading and rereading, trying to find all the hidden messages. But you don’t have to be a fan of Swift to read this. Each of these poems stand on their own as a testament to modern life and relationships. Having the Swift connections may help make this a richer experience, but you don’t lose out with these poems by not knowing her songs. You only lose out if you don’t read them.

Egalleys for Invisible Strings were provided by Ballantine Books through NetGalley, with many thanks.

Thank you to Ballantine Books and Random House Publishing for the eARC. These are my honest thoughts.

I'm potentially the exact target market for this book... a Swiftie and a former English major turned prolific reader.

There were quite a few poems I LOVED. But most were just OK/meh. I get in a collection of poetry, you're going to get some serious variety. But a lot of the poems didn't translate for me from Taylor Swift to modern poetry. I felt like I was back in an English Lit class, and it wasn't fun dissecting the pieces like I thought it would be. I also felt like most of the poems were a stretch from a Taylor Swift song to the poem printed on page.

My favorite was by Tyler Knott Gregson.

Liked it one time? 3 stars.

This was a really unique collection of poetry! I enjoyed trying to guess which song each poem was inspired by. Great gift for any Taylor Swift fan!

One of the many things I've marveled at when it comes to Taylor Swift's fandom is their dedication to decoding every single nuance of her songs. The attention to detail they bring to her songs, videos, concerts, and social media posts is the sort of close reading that most English teachers (like me) can only dream about. "Invisible Strings: 113 Poets Respond to the Songs of Taylor Swift" offers poets and readers another opportunity to consider Swift's work and how her lyrics and themes might inspire other pieces. For this anthology, these poets (who may or may not be members of The Tortured Poets Department) were each assigned a Swift song. True to its title, the specific song that inspired each poet is not identified, leaving it to readers to discern which songs each poet might be responding to. Fortunately, Swift's fans have plenty of practice with this. Readers who are not well versed in Swift's ouvre will nevertheless get to enjoy a collection of poems by an eclectic and skilled group of poets.

Now let me say right up front that you'll need to take my rating with a grain of salt. While I don't dislike poetry (and am in fact a big fan of much of Shakespeare's work), it isn't something I gravitate to all that often. Also while I love music and would say I'm a fan of Taylor Swift's music, I probably don't qualify as a 'Swiftie'. Still I do enjoy much of her music and there is no denying her influence. So the idea of a book of poetry inspired by and in response to her music intrigued me. There are 113 poems here and each one is supposedly connected to one of her songs. Now as I already said I like her music but am not a diehard Swiftie so it probably won't come as a surprise that puzzling out which song a particular poem was responding to wasn't something I was able to do. And there perhaps was the disconnect for me. I clearly wasn't the target demographic this book was meant for and while I could appreciate quite a few of the poems the connection just wasn't there for me. That being said I've no doubt legions of Swifties will connect with the poems and have little to no trouble figuring out which song each is in reference to. I'd like to thank
Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, and NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read and review an eARC of Invisible Strings.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/invisible-strings-kristie-frederick-daugherty/1145919238?ean=9780593982419&bvnotificationId=6309baf9-b5fd-11ef-922d-0e0e9f459767&bvmessageType=REVIEW_APPROVED&bvrecipientDomain=gmail.com#review/327148288

Invisible strings is a book of 113 poems all responding to a Taylor Swift song. Each poet was assigned a song and wrote an original poem inspired by their song. It’s a super cool concept and was a fun challenge trying to match each poem to a song! Although I do wish it came with an answer key. because there are many poems I could not figure out. As a Swiftie, this was a fun puzzle to try to solve.

Thank you to Ballantine Books for the advance copy.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

As a fan of Taylor Swift, her music, and the community she has built through the Eras Tour, I was intrigued to request this poetry collection. I read this collection between December 6 - December 8, also the dates of the last shows of the Eras Tour. It was perfect timing. This collection is the perfect love letter to Swift's songs and how they inspire artistry and creativity in so many of us. It was fun to try and figure out which song inspired by which poem, but honestly I just appreciated each poem and the beauty it contained even if I couldn't figure out the song being represented. Major kudos to Kristie Frederick Daugherty for creating this project and compiling this beautiful collection. I think it will touch the hearts of many poetry lovers and Swifties alike.

Poetry is a very subjective thing. Attach it to something as personal as how you experience a song and the subjectivity gets even more intense.
I realized that maybe I wasn't the intended audience for this book when the opening lines were all about how Swift is a lyrical genius and her songs near perfect. Being a casual fan, I had a flash I'd jumped into something I might not connect with, and that's pretty much what happened. Some of the poems are truly fantastic and a couple are deeply touching, but the majority just weren't for me.
In the end, I'm probably more interested in seeing people's reactions to the poems than the poems themselves.

Happy thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the chance to read some poetry!

I love poetry and I love Taylor Swift, so this was the perfect anthology for me. I appreciated the variety of poems and enjoyed most of them. Some are easier to connect to the lyrics than others, but all stood up well on their own.

I was disappointed in this book of poems for a couple reasons, but the main being that I could not decipher 90% of the poems and which Taylor Swift song it was related to. This book could've held a lot more meaning for each piece of work if the corresponding song that inspired the poem was listed, that way it took the guessing game out of reading the material.

I also found reading the book, even in chunks, hard to digest. The poems themselves were great works but as an anthology, they did not mesh well, especially under the umbrella of Taylor Swift songs or lyrics. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

THank you netgalley for the chance to read this!
I really enjoyed this. I will say, I am not a big "lets read poetry in one go" reader, so this really took me some time to get through. Im also not big on trying to interpret what the poet is really trying to model, so don't ask me which of these is which Taylor Swift song. But overall, I just thought these were well done and really interesting.

While Swifties will be more focused on matching the poems to the songs, the poems in this collection can also be enjoyed by readers of poetry who've never heard her music (although what the former group will get out of it is on a different level, of course). We had a fun little Taylor Swift display with this book, Heartbreak Is the National Anthem, Heavy Hitter, and a few others--but not, sadly, the Eras tour book :)--but right now of course all the titles from it are always checked out.

What a sweet treat! This is the perfect anthology for the holiday, or really any, season. The writers and poets responses to Taylor Swift's songs is inventive, creative, and fun of heart. While you don't have to be Swiftie to appreciate Invisible Strings, if you are a fan the book adds a layer of nuance to Taylor"s music. This is a collection I'll keep coming back to. Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the opportunity to read and give feedback on this lovely eArc. 3.5/5⭐️⭐️⭐️

I really enjoyed this book of poetry and the connections tied to Taylor Swift. It was a nice peaceful read and I enjoyed thinking through some of the similarities to Taylor’s own music and writing process.

What an amazing anthology of poetry.
Such a fun read.
Any Swiftie fans will love this collection.

I got an email about downloading this arc and downloaded it right away!! I’m a newer Swiftie.. more like a few years. I don’t know her whole back long yet or all her Easter eggs. I figured this would be a lot of fun to try and decode!

There are so many amazing poems in this one! I enjoyed so many of them, but you don’t necessarily have to be a Taylor Swift fan to enjoy them. I feel like a lot of of them weren’t so obvious and harder to decode. I had a hard time and only a few were very obvious. I think there are many here that fans of poetry would enjoy, even if they don’t like Taylor. It’s also fun for fans though!

My biggest issue with this book is that there is no answer key!! I would LOVE to know what song influenced each poem and re-read them knowing that. I wish there was a code at the back or something. I hope one day she will release this information to help us out! I feel like some of these poems would have bigger impacts if they know Taylor’s lyrics, but not the biggest poetry fans.

I did enjoy this one and I think many of her fans will too! Thank you to Ballantine Books and Netgalley for an arc. All thoughts and opinions are my own!

This is a really cool collection. I love the wide pool of poets featured with many different styles and tie-ins to Taylor's music. I found myself bookmarking several of them to read later and/or use in the classroom. While interpretation is integral to poetry, I do wish there was a little more information of how the poems connect to her music -- I would have liked a short blurb for each of the poet explaining what they chose to connect with and how. That's just me being picky!

Not my favorite collection, but it is still a nice read and would make a good gift.

4⭐

I had a really hard time getting into this book. I wish that I could have read more of it. It just didn't seem to be for me. I DNFed at about 10%. I will not be submitting a review anywhere else. I will only submit it here. I thought this was going to actually be about Taylor Swift's music instead it didn't really connect.