Dandelion Travels

Heartbreaking but also inspiring. A great read for anyone trying to figure out just who they are in this wild world. Super easy and quick to read, but lacks a punch!

Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I was given an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I am not a person who would ordinarily select a book of poetry. While browsing books, this jewel of a book actually jumped out and said pick me. I am so glad I did. The prose and poetry in this book are beautifully written and flow effortlessly from one page to the other. It follows the life of Eric, “Dandelion” the pet-name used by his loving mother, father,Stan, a preacher. best friends,nAndrea and Eric have been the best of friends since primary school. Xavier has become a constant part of Andrea’slife now. She and Eric had a tradition of shopping thrift store to find their perfect back to school look but for some reason Xavier has to come along to everything that was Eric and Andrea’s thing.. The book is a story that takes you through first unrequited love/crush. The sad end of a first love. It was so lovely the way the story unravels. Absolutely a must read. I adored the book and would recommend. I would also recommend trying something outside your genre. You might find a gem too.
Special thanks to #NetGalley, #West44Books, #Angel Barber, and #DandelionTravels for the opportunity to review early.

This is an all the feels kind of book, that not only tells a complex story in the most beautiful way, it also inspired me to go back to writing and even make a few poems myself. The characters are very well explained and executed, giving you as much information as you're gonna need, with a dynamic atmosphere. The plot feels truly meaningful, important and something not only worth telling, but also extremely relatable. The world building is worth talking about, but I need to talk about the writing: although it achieves great things, reading it became a bit confusing on some of the poems. Another confusing aspect is whether it's an original story or an autobiography (I assume it's the first one).
All in all, it's a book that makes you feel infinite and reminds me of El Chico de las Estrellas by Chris Pueyo.
Please beware of trigger warnings (could be spoilers) like mentions of violence, cheating, very religious family, and family not accepting coming out.

Being a novel in verse, this was a pretty quick read. It wasn't my favourite novel in verse I've read, but it was one of the shortest so I'm putting it down to that and the fact it had less space to go deeper.
Overall, I really enjoyed it, and Eric felt like a very complex character despite not getting to spend a lot of time with him. This could easily be stretched to a novel if the author (who is only 19!) wanted to and I'm really keen to read more of their work going forward!