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desireeslibrary's review
4.0
Such a poignantly beautiful critique on the oppression within the criminal justice system and the criminalization of poverty and blackness.
mad_taylh's review
challenging
emotional
sad
slow-paced
4.0
"Them fools say you can become anything when it's over/ Told 'em straight up, ain't nothing to resurrect after prison."
kvreadsandrecs's review
4.0
Wow. This man is haunted and his poetry feels like a way out. This is so good and the audiobook makes really takes it to another level. I wasn't expecting the blues, but man, those guitar riffs match perfectly. If you read one poem from this collection, make sure it's "In Missouri". Damn.
meganat0r's review
4.0
Deep. Profound. Tragic. The kind of book you don’t want to put down but have a hard time keeping focus. I’m keeping it.
analyticalchaos's review
5.0
“This is how misery sounds: my boys playing in the backseat juxtaposed against a twelve-year-old’s murder playing in my head.”
This collection is incredible. There are no words to explain the absolute poetic powerhouse Betts is, or, at least I'll try. Each poem is raw, accessible, and poignant—one of those books where you read a line and have to shut the book to process it.
Please read this book if you are on the fence about poetry or themes of rehabilitation.
This collection is incredible. There are no words to explain the absolute poetic powerhouse Betts is, or, at least I'll try. Each poem is raw, accessible, and poignant—one of those books where you read a line and have to shut the book to process it.
Please read this book if you are on the fence about poetry or themes of rehabilitation.
jlwalter93's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.0
jacksons_books_and_music's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
Profound, lyrical, visceral, enlightening, and moving poetry. It sheds light of the predatory prison system and its long-lasting impacts on those it incarcerates and their families.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Classism, Gun violence, Genocide, Death of parent, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Torture, Colonisation, Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, Racism, Kidnapping, and Violence
Minor: Blood, Rape, Addiction, and Adult/minor relationship
sam_bizar_wilcox's review
5.0
I am not brought to tears by poetry all that often. This collection did it. It's a compelling and unflinching look at what happens a man is condemned, marked now and in perpetuity as a convict. This is a collection about America, its ugliness, its racism, its casual cruelty, and its inability to atone for its sins. Incendiary, sharp, and haunting: everyone should read.