What Flies Want

The poems in this book was both raw and amazing. The deliverance of each sentence felt like a breath of fresh air—it was so honest and good.

This book is about topics such as mental health, family life, and overall reality. What I liked most about this book is how authentic and genuine it is.

I hope to read more from this author in the future, but for now: read this!

I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

"What Flies Want" by Emily Perez focuses on themes of womanhood, motherhood, violence in America, and the author's experiences as a bicultural Latina. Each poem glitters, though there is repetition in theme there is never repetition of the poems themselves. Every piece feels fresh and from the heart.

My favorites included 'Before I Learned To Be A Girl', 'Your Mood', 'What Flies Want Is Not', 'Corrección/Correction', 'Out of the Wood-', 'Once I Learned To Be A Girl', 'You Have All Day', and 'Vows'.

In these pieces, Pérez skillfully expresses the frustrations girlhood/womanhood, the tensions that arise in a long-term relationship, and the melancholy of straddling two cultures in a world that prizes one over the other. In short, these poems made me feel seen in many ways.

Emily Pérez is an English and gender studies instructor and grade-level dean at Colorado Academy. She is the author of What Flies Want, winner of the Iowa Prize; House of Sugar, House of Stone; and the chapbooks Backyard Migration Route and Made and Unmade. She lives in Denver, Colorado. What Flies Want, her newest collection, is a dark collection of poems that deals with very real traumas—mental health, marriage difficulties, self-harm, etc.—and their very real consequences.

What Pérez does well is create poems that have this lingering sense of dread that permeates through them. There’s nothing overtly scary or gory in these poems, but there is a mood created of ominous fear that works on a primal level. For example, her poem “I Want These Problems to Stay Quiet Problems” begins
let no light alight upon this larva
or visit this virus newly named. don’t tap
the glass before this adder, attempt to tame
this tempest in an Erlenmeyer flask.
These lines are sonically rich and fun to read out loud, but while they seem light and almost sing-song on the surface, a closer reading reveals something very large and scary and threatening about to happen. Pérez never states what it is, exactly, in the poem, and that almost makes it worse for the reader.

Elsewhere, Pérez taps into some mythic images to create the horror of the experiences of her subjects. For example, “Once I Learned to Be a Girl” begins
Once upon a time there was a little box,
a wooden vessel filled with tiny wants.

Once upon a time the box was buried,
the map and key tucked high upon a shelf.

And when her hands were free she cut
and colored, drew straight lines and crafted
This poem explores, with mythic and folkloric imagery from childhood stories, the pains of growing older and becoming more aware of the very real horror in the world. This approach is subtle with its horror, but like her other poems, the scary things are just at the edges waiting to grab the unsuspecting reader and leave them awake at night after reading.

What Flies Want is a solid collection of poetry. While it isn’t overtly horror (no zombies or werewolves or vampires, oh my…) it is a very strong collection of scary poetry. The monsters in this book are real, and Emily Pérez masterfully draws the reader’s attention to them and makes the reader afraid of them, which is a profound talent. This is a strongly recommended book for anyone interested in horror poetry.

What Flies Want by Emily Perez was my introduction to this poet, and I was immediately and easily drawn to the strong feminist voice that is undeniably one with which to be reckoned. Themes of motherhood, womanhood, and violence intermingle throughout, and Ms Perez's emotions ring raw and true in each and every word. This collection is bold and ambitious, and each virtually simmers with unresolved tension, providing much food for thought and demanding further contemplation.

Many thanks to NetGalley and University of Iowa Press for an ARC.

What Flies Want pushes readers to a precipice where something is about to go over the edge. Bubbling under the surface of many poems are the #MeToo movement, the white privileged that causes biracial children to embrace their whiteness over their heritage, and a world obsessed with guns and violence. Perez questions the society we live in while also holding ourselves accountable for it in each decision we make: going along, to get along. The tension between the public world and the private world is palpable in these poems. Perez is a stunning writer and her poems will have you second-guessing your decisions and looking for better paths forward.

This was a really great collection of poetry. The author does a wonderful job of utilizing standard poetic forms and devices while also utilizing some more modern techniques. These poems are refreshing, poignant, and very relevant to the US today. Some standout poems were: The Door / Locked, What Flies Want is Not, and How I Learned to be a Girl. I think this collection is perfect for fans of Aracelis Girmay and Emily Skaja.

Highly recommend!

"What Flies Want" comes out swinging full force as it takes on themes ranging from mental health, school shootings, racial inequality, and feminism. The writing style keeps you on the edge of your seat as Perez uses unorthodox stanza breaks alongside classical styles. I was particularly drawn to the poem "My Children Use the American Flag" and it's breaks/diction, specifically they way she seamlessly incorporates asides in parentheses so well. Deep, a little dark, and most of all beautifully written collection of poetry.

My favorite poems are: "Dinner Conversation", "Accounting", and "Lockdown, 1st Grade."

I loved this collection from beginning to end. I would recommend it to anyone who is always on the lookout for some complex, fleshed-out and thoughtful poetry.

What Flies Want is beautiful and striking verse, with images that linger. A literary collection to be savored.

This poetry collection stunning and moving as it dealt with many issues that prevail in the modern day America.. With themes ranging from womanhood, motherhood, violence, privilege and heritage.
Perez questions the society and raises accountability from those who are in it.
Each poem as raw as it can be and comes straight from the heart.

Thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

What Flies Want (2022) is the third publication of poet, essayist and literary critic Emily Perez. This slim volume is a bold contemplative thoughtfully written collection of poetry featuring dynamic and controversial themes related to family life, mental health issues, school shootings assault and gun violence. Emily Perez has held positions in high school education and writing education and workshops, her writing has been featured in several publications including Poetry Magazine and Copper Nickel.

Combined with the unusual title of the book with a doll on the cover, the book at first glance seems like it may be an eerie collection of Gothic horror—this is not the case. Perez recalls her impoverished childhood where sheets and tin foil were placed on the windows to block the unrelenting heat of the dry South Texas border town near the Rio Grande. Perez “white” mother (the whiteness of her hair, snow, the pages of a book) her father, from Mexico, the bicultural aspect of their marriage is mentioned briefly. Perez recalls her childhood (sexual) abuse in powerful brief bursts and readers can’t help but feel sympathetic and sorry for the bright sweet imaginative child portrayed.

Occasionally Perez seemed to resent the (unjust) expectations and demands of her husband and three sons in her personal space and time. In the poem ‘Dinner Conversation’ the topic of mental health is a topic freely discussed, accepted and understood with emphasis placed on the toxicity of medication and environment. The medication is necessary for a functional wellness in life. The tragedy of Columbine High School Shooting (1999) ignited a movement that demanded stronger gun control legislation. As a high school educator, the issues that involve gun violence were of utmost concern for Perez: from the school safety drills to the unsecured and unlocked guns in her elderly parent’s home waiting to explode. **With thanks to the University of Iowa Press via NetGalley for the DDC for the purpose of review.