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co32minus's review against another edition
I flip flopped a lot on whether I liked this book or disliked it. There were particular poems that revealed themselves to me more and more as I reread them and read them in sequence, and I think Anna Journey's use of symbolism and rhythm is artistically beautiful. However, it is abundantly clear to me that she is a white cis woman.
From the very first poem she talks about transgender prostitutes in a distasteful way and on many occasions her difficulties with her sexuality seem to prevail over the comfort or value of others. I wish her the best with those feelings as they obviously confuse her, as is human, but starting off the book with a slur is rough.
She also uses the g-slur for Romani people, and uses a pretty shallow appropriation of Japanese imagery in a sexual way that just doesn't sit right with me!
I was also unsure if I was just bad at reading her tone but there were quite a few poems that made me wonder if she was supposed to be sympathizing or making fun of like, old dead slave owners in the south. To be very honest I was just kind of on edge for the whole book (or at least what I read).
Overall her writing style can be really nice but is heavily laden with plants who's meanings I have to Google, and after a while I just got tired.
I respect her human confusion and the vulnerability of her poetic voice, but I was uncomfortable as a trans poc, and that's that.
From the very first poem she talks about transgender prostitutes in a distasteful way and on many occasions her difficulties with her sexuality seem to prevail over the comfort or value of others. I wish her the best with those feelings as they obviously confuse her, as is human, but starting off the book with a slur is rough.
She also uses the g-slur for Romani people, and uses a pretty shallow appropriation of Japanese imagery in a sexual way that just doesn't sit right with me!
I was also unsure if I was just bad at reading her tone but there were quite a few poems that made me wonder if she was supposed to be sympathizing or making fun of like, old dead slave owners in the south. To be very honest I was just kind of on edge for the whole book (or at least what I read).
Overall her writing style can be really nice but is heavily laden with plants who's meanings I have to Google, and after a while I just got tired.
I respect her human confusion and the vulnerability of her poetic voice, but I was uncomfortable as a trans poc, and that's that.
snowwhitehatesapples's review against another edition
4.0
Noir-like with provoking and bold imagery. Reading this collection is like being stuck in a thick and foggy past where reality and fantasy seamlessly melds with one another. Personally, I prefer her later collections as the poems here are a little too difficult (or well, too personal like it's a secret language unknown to me) for me to understand.
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