To be honest, I was on the fence initially about accepting this book. It’s been so long since I’ve really read and enjoyed poetry, after all. Longer still since I wrote any of my own and that was when I was really into reading it. Something in me told me to give it a chance when I read the description. I’m glad I did.
There’s nothing for me to go over as far as the technical workings that I usually talk about in my reviews, so this is a little different for me. I’ll focus on the emotions that sprung to life.
“Stars” was my favorite. The raw emotions and what it’s like dealing with them really hit home for me. I don’t deal with my emotions well, and this kind of made me feel like I was not alone in that. Anxiety is definitely one of my “hissing, spitting creatures” and I loved the personification of these feelings.
Each poem brought some new feeling and I found myself almost reading them aloud. Almost. I was definitely “getting into” it.
I really enjoyed the growth and knowledge of the narrator as their sexuality was first repressed then set free as detailed in “Eleutheromania.”
“Out of the Woods” was powerful and proof that you don’t need all the words for something to truly resonate with someone.
Overall, I highly recommend this collection. Actually, I did recommend this collection. Someone near and dear to me has been needing courage to live their true life, and I felt this collection of poetry would help them find that. Thank you, SJ Blasko. You truly are a phenomenal storyteller.