Thank you to NetGalley for providing me a copy of this book!

Honestly, I picked this for the title alone - I'm Chinese and I was ready to see something about the year of the dragon reflected in here. I feel that there are some meditations here that *almost* make a dent on me: see the "Red Light Green Light" poems, "Other People's Me" and "Year of the Dragon (how it ended)", but in the end my only opinion is that reading all these poems made me realise how much I wanted to read Mary Oliver instead. I honestly feel that this book already dug its own grave by appropriating the Chinese zodiac for its title when it really wasn't about that at all, and in the end it turned out to not be something I wanted to read.

Poems. The best literature of them all. (I have never recovered from DDLC)

These poems are, well... interesting. I'm no expert on poems, but they're probably Monika-praiseworthy. Probably. I like how calm they are. Very good.

Fantastic book! I really enjoyed it and thank Netgalley for the chance to read it! Poetry is some of my favourite to read. I would definitely recommend this one to anyone who enjoys poetry or wants to get into it.

Esta colección de poemas tiene momentos interesantes y algunas imágenes que me gustaron mucho, especialmente los poemas estilo Red Light, Green Light, que transmiten esa sensación de pausa antes de seguir avanzando, como en el juego. También hay bastante presencia de la naturaleza y algunos comentarios sobre la política y el estado actual del mundo.

Mi favorito fue uno hacia el final con una estructura visual que parecía una serpiente o un dragón: fue muy original y me pareció visualmente impactante.

En general, no conecté tanto con la mayoría de los textos. Si bien había buenas intenciones y temáticas como la interconexión de la vida, sentí que algunas comparaciones no me resultaban del todo potentes y, en ciertos momentos, me costaba mantener la atención aunque intentara leer con calma.

Rescato especialmente dos poemas, Evergreen y Reprise, que me parecieron muy buenos. No fue una lectura inolvidable, pero no descarto volver a leer algo más de esta autora en el futuro.

Como siempre con la poesía, es algo muy subjetivo —quizás lo que no me llegó a mí, le toque el alma a otra persona.

I really, really enjoyed this!!

Especially First Snow, Hopelessly Hopeful & War Chief.

Excited to check out the other poem collection from this author.

I found this collection to be a very enjoyable read, featuring many quiet and reflective poems. I particularly liked "Carry It With You" and "First Snow." However, I felt that the collection could have benefited from having more poems. Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to read this.

Dieser Gedichtband hat mir insgesamt gut gefallen, allerdings hatte ich das Gefühl, als würden vorrangig alltägliche Begebenheiten und Beobachtungen beschrieben werden, ohne dass ich hier einen Mehrwert für mich erkennen konnte. Die Gedichte sind zum Großteil eher kurz gehalten und nur wenige konnten mich berühren oder zum Nachdenken anregen. Ich kann daher nur teilweise eine Empfehlung aussprechen und würde einen Blick ins Buch vor dem Kauf empfehlen.

In English:

Overall, I enjoyed this volume of poetry, but I felt it primarily described everyday occurrences and observations without any real value for me. The poems are mostly rather short, and only a few touched me or stimulate my thinking. Therefore, I can only partially recommend it and would recommend taking a look at the book before purchasing.

While I do enjoy poetry I just didn't connect with this one but overall it was a decent read and the overall writing was very good. The title for the book was a bit confusing as the title and cover image don't match. I wasn't expecting the whole thing to be about dragons but for there to be some continuity besides the one poem. Thanks NetGalley for the ARC read

These poems and meditations were quiet and enjoyable. I had a good time reading it. I think I liked it more because I am a dragon myself. A good read for poetry month..

This is a collection of poetry reflecting on 2024 and the year that unfolded in the author's life. The year seemed significant as they were also born in the year of the dragon (me too!), but it was nice how this book centered around the thoughts and personal experience rather than the origins or history of the year.

Thanks to Sunrise Press and NetGalley for the book in exchange for review.

This poetry collection completely blew me away. Each piece felt intentional and full of emotion, but Low Tide stood out as the one that really hit home for me—absolutely unforgettable.

If you're someone who appreciates lyrical writing and poems that linger in your mind, this is a must-read. I'd wholeheartedly suggest it to anyone who finds joy and meaning in poetry.

This is a short collection of poems that focuses on self-reflection, nature, and observing others. I enjoyed several of the poems, especially For Once and Other's People Me.

The title is misleading, as I thought the poems would focus on Asian culture.

Poems are subjective, but I think others will find one or two poems in this collection that are relevant to them or make them pause and think.

This book is amazing! My favourite poem I read was Low Tide. I would recommend this to any poetry lover

It’s an easy read, but so descriptive it pulls you in. You don’t just read it—you feel it. I particularly liked “ why I run barefoot in the grass” Thanks to the publisher!

What got me about this book was “poems and meditations” I was so curious as to what that meant, meditations. Ford turrell’s “year of the dragon” is a very thought heavy book, it definitely felt like I was getting an inner look on turrell’s mind during a meditation. I liked the acknowledgement that the year of the dragon is a Chinese cultural thing, I think it would be great to see if you could include a list of Chinese poetry collections on the back to further support, but that’s just an idea!! I will also have a review on Amazon and goodreads.

I enjoyed the themes of interconnected between all living creatures. However, I did not find any of the poems to be particularly compelling.

This is a short and sweet little anthology of poetry by Ford Turrell. Nothing earth shatteringly amazing but lovely poems nonetheless.

I really loved the mix of nature and natural imagery with the present circumstances-- the dichotomy of the beauty we know exists and confronted with the murders, war, famine, death we see on a personal and global scale.

i was invited to view this through my email. interesting book, i enjoyed it. thank you so much to the publisher!

Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read and review this book

While I really liked two poems (Evergreen and Reprise) as a whole I didn't feel like this was particularly memorable. I wouldn't say no to reading more by the author, but I'm not too fussed.