Planting Gardens in Graves II

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read this collection of poems!

I love discovering new (to me) poets, I have found NetGalley is a great way to do this. I heard amazing things about this author, R.H. Sin, so I thought I would give this one a go.

Unfortunately, this collection was a 3 star read for me. I can see why the author's words would resonate with so many. This book explores themes of relationships, love, pain, suffering and heartbreak.

Maybe I have been reading too much of this sort of poetry lately, but most of these poems just seemed to blur together, nothing felt original or unique and sometimes even a bit repetitive.

I am not going to judge the authors work based on this collection alone. Like I said, I have heard amazing things about his previous works and I will definitely be trying them out in the future.

My favourites:
"Content"
"Of Anxiety"
In Ruins"
"November 9th 2016"
"Unlearning Toxic Love"
"In Mourning"
"Arms Open"
"Any Year"
"All The Years"
"Much Stronger"

As per usual with R.H. Sin's writing, I loved this book and plan to purchase my own copy to share with students in my classroom. I love how many of his poems are spare, yet deep and thoughtful. Thanks for the opportunity to read the advance copy.

I have never read any book by r.h. Sin before, and when I see this book on NetGalley I thought this is a great chance for me to get to know his work more. He is really a famous poet, and I was excited to read this one.

I enjoyed this collection. That are many poetry that I can relate to, that bring fresh air to my mind. It's so relatable that when I read I may have said "yep, been there", "oh my.. yes!" and so on. I have to bookmarked many of his poetry. But there are also poetry that I don't feel the connection to. Which is okay of course :)
Overall, I gave this collection 3.5 stars.

Thank you NetGalley for the e-copy :)

I love reading things from r.h. Sin but it seems to be so repetitious as of late. Some of the poems here just feel stagnant, was hoping for a little better quality. Still enjoyable, and talented, just needed some more.

I felt the pain, the loss, the hurt, the mourning! r.h. sin never fails to amaze me! though I haven't been in a romantic relationship - it's definitely got pieces that struck me!

I WILL ALWAYS READ AND RECOMMEND HIS BOOKS!

Planting Gardens in Graves II by r.h. Sin

Release Date: July 10, 2018

Publisher: Andrews McNeel Publishing

Genre: Poetry

Rating: 4 / 5

Reviewing poetry is new to me, but I do know that r.h. Sin is an incredible poet and thoughtful writer.  He empowers women and recognizes the struggle of finding the love we so deserve.  I resonate with his poems about strength and rising up, but find less connection in his poems about heartbreak or toxic relationships, hence the 4 star rating.  I am absolutely in love with his poem "to the reader."  My heart was soared as I read it and felt like he was talking directly to me.  It made me see why he writes what he does and how he desperately wants everyone to believe in themselves.  

"to the reader." ends with the lines 

"you are not a burden

i won't judge you

i'll do my best to understand you

i hope you find what you are looking for"

Yes, r.h. Sin, I definitely found what I was looking for in your poetry. I think a lot of women (and men) will find comfort in your words.  Thank you for writing empowering poetry on important topics.

r.h. Sin does it again mixing simplicity with intense emotions. From 'almost to the bottom' and 'dead alive', the poets paints vivid imagery of devils and souls, blood and tears, and humanity's neverending love affair with happiness and sorrow.

I  received a free digital copy of this book from Netgalley for an honest review.

I honestly enjoyed this work. Like most poetry book, there were some for me and some that were not my thing.

I enjoyed the amount of depth and feeling in some of these. I always enjoy reading a few poems and then putting the book down for a while to absorb the poetry.

One of my favorites:
Don't hide her
Love her out loud.

Let me start out by saying that I'm almost always the first person to say "I don't like poetry." I'm an English major in college, but most of the poetry I've had to read just doesn't connect with me. Nothing against the classic, great poets, but I just haven't felt anything groundbreaking from reading poetry.
Well, r.h. Sin (and a few other poets) are changing that for me.
I've seen r.h. Sin's work at Target, and I've always been intrigued by the short, brief poetry that looks like something I'd see posted on Tumblr or Instagram. I've never read any of his poetry books before, but when I got the chance to read and review Planting Gardens In Graces II, I jumped on the chance. I'm not sure what poetry was in the book before this one, but I can genuinely say that for a newcomer to r.h. Sin's work and to poetry in general, this book definitely provided for me.
Let's talk about the poems themselves. Very few poems are longer than a single page, which allows you to just read a single poem at a time, or to binge a few and then reflect. Unlike the poetry that I had to read in school, these poems are of relatable, modern subjects, such as love, heartbreak, and anxiety. There's a palpable sadness running through the entire thing, which I think separates it from some of the more uplifting poetry in this style that you can find on social media sites. Sometimes a sad poem is all you need.
There's no complex rhyme to pick apart, just a nice rhythm dictated by the line breaks. I appreciated the varying poem lengths. While many of them are short, consisting of just a few lines, others are longer and definitely feel deeper. Still, I found myself enjoying all of the poems, and reading them slowly, as one would sip a hot, flavorful tea. You don't have to read them in order. I did, to see how r.h. Sin wanted to present these poems, but opening up to a random poem and just seeing what it was to offer works just as well. My only complaint is that this book wasn't divided into themed sections, but then again, maybe this poetry book works better in the way it's currently organized.
This book earns 5/5 stars from me. Partially because it's bringing me out of my "I hate poetry phase," and partially because it's the type of book that I just know I want to keep on my bookshelf for a long time. I currently don't have a section for poetry, so I guess that r.h. Sin will get the first spot.
Here are some of my favorite lines. Like what you see? Pick up your own copy on 7/10/18!
- "Chase success/not him/choose yourself/not him"
-"I began making a list/of all the benefits/of loving you/and the page remained blank"
-"The world is cold/burn bridges to keep warm"

I thoroughly enjoyed this book just as I enjoyed the others from Sin. While there are several repetitive ones from his previous collections, I found the others brilliant. There were quite a few that struck a chord within me and I found myself bookmarking one after another! Sin never fails to amaze me as always

Thanks Netgalley for the advance copy of this!