The Road Between

great poetry with some beautiful imagery! Highly recommend to poetry fans.

The Road Between is a poetry collection by Courtney Peppernell, an author I feel is slowly becoming a new favourite of mine. She has, once again, delivered a well-thought out collection, where her honesty, talent, and unique way of storytelling shine once more.

The Road Between was another pleasant collection of poems. Her poems are easy to read, relatable, and fun. I like the themes and the way she uses the English language; had it been another author, someone less talented or someone I couldn’t relate to, I’d probably find her way of writing way too simple. But it works for her, and it works wonderfully.

Her second collection is also divided into sections. My personal favourites where “the closet”, “the sky” and “the home”. The closet especially struck close to home; it was the most relatable section out of them all for me, voicing so many of my fears, thoughts, and worries. I can’t believe I actually spent my day reading sapphic-themed poetry, both of her collections have been such an unexpected gem. Like I said in my review of her previous work, I really like the way she portrays f/f relationships, attributing to further normalizing them. I think I will always be thankful for the amount of healthy representation I’ve gotten through her work.



**An ARC was provided via Netgalley in exchange of an honest review**

The Road Between

by Courtney Peppernell

Andrews McMeel Publishing

Poetry

Pub Date 29 Aug 2017

I am reviewing a copy of The Road Between through Andrews Mcmeel Publishing and through Netgalley:

Poetry is probably the most genre to review because it is one of the most personal forms of writing:

This collection of poetry speaks a lot of sorrow and loss, a lot of the poems are sad, but the collection does not entirely lack hope.

I give The Road Between four out of five stars.

Happy Reading!

I really enjoyed this book. Courtney Peppernell's voice is like a lighthouse guiding hurting people home. She does not candy coat life's challenges, particularly as they pertain to being a lesbian in a world that can sometimes be both unsupportive and cruel. While acknowledging that the judgement and harshness is there, she does not dwell on negativity, but instead on love and possibility. This book is a love letter to young women who are searching for acceptance and looking for their place in the world. It is, by turns, both realistic and hopeful, both joyful and sad. I highly recommend this book. It's frank and tender, and it should be on the shelves of every library, so young people of all ages can feel free to be themselves and know that someone out there accepts them exactly as they are.

A charming, if uneven, collection of poems about relationships and heartbreak. The prose sections were significantly weaker, in my opinion, but I heartily recommend for young adult readers!

A collection of poetry and prose that is mostly about love, relationships with others, relationship with oneself. It is in my opinion, heartfelt storytelling, things that the author feels strongly about but it will probably be not to everyone's liking. Still it is a quick and easy read and enjoyable for those who like their poetry that way.

I'm not typically a fan of poetry, but Peppernell knows how to dig deep and find the emotions that we all feel. The way that she phrases certain things speaks to me in a way that other poets have not been able to do. This is the second work by Peppernell that I have read, and I've thoroughly enjoyed both.

Review copy provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Great collection of poetry, but not the best. Overall, I enjoyed this though and if you love poetry, you'd probably enjoy this too. I also appreciated that it is an LGBTQIAP+ collection.

Courtney Peppernell has quickly become one of my new favorite authors. This was yet another beautiful collection that truly spoke to me. Peppernell has a great talent for creating short and deceptively simple poetry that has a much deeper underlying meaning. Her striking prose flows perfectly, and each line packs a strong emotional punch. This particular collection is about the journeys that life presents all of us. Specifically, these poems deal with the process of finding yourself again after becoming separated from it along the way—how we have to carefully piece ourselves back together until we feel whole.

The theme of finding oneself is something that, at this time in my life, really speaks to me. I’ve definitely been taking this exact journey over the last few years, feeling like I had lost touch with myself and trying to figure out who I am and what I need in my life. I’ve been feeling a deep need to settle into and truly come to terms with every aspect of myself. It’s this sort of work that I can connect to very easily—that makes me feel more confident in who I’ve discovered that I am and what love means to me. Peppernell’s words are wonderfully profound and they deeply touched me.

I always think it’s fantastic to see more LGBT+ work coming into the the literary world. Even though many of the poems that focus on love deal with a romance between two women, I believe these poems will speak to anyone, no matter their orientation and how they love. Love is love—it is a universal subject that can touch the hearts and souls of all of us. I’ve already gone ahead and purchased her two novels and I absolutely can’t wait to read more of her work.