#AD #Gifted | Thank you so much for the publisher, to Netgalley and to Amy Clennell for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Poetry has many goals and paths it can take. Some poems create, some poems mourn, some poems reach through the page and speak to you in a way only described as “ours”. This collection achieves, and excels, at all three of these.
It is hard to believe this is a debut collection, it was so intricately woven and so breathtaking. I’ll definitely be buying myself a copy once it is published. This is the exact sort of poetry I could recommend and rave about for hours on end. Everything from the subtle and delicate haikus, to the deep cutting grief explored through long stanzas, every word was precise and crafted and chosen.
My personal favourite poem was “My Alfie”. I am autistic myself, I really felt seen by the poem’s illustration of the fatigue constant explaining and justifying our existence to others brings.
Throughout many of the poems, Amy retells or references fairytales in such a charming way. She combines fairytales and various mythical and folklore allusions with the well-placed diction choices and language devices, meaning these poems both rolled off the tongue and off the page into my heart. Each poem felt well-rounded, and not one felt overtly repetitive or same-sy. Each brought their own factors to the table, and contributed to a stunning collection.
To conclude, I would rate this collection of poems 4.25 stars. I would have rated it as a 4.5 star read, but I wasn’t a fan of the limericks near the end – they felt forced and out of place.
Dorothy's Bookshelf 