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mepresley's review
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
I did enjoy reading this collection and found that each poem made an impression as I read it, though none were (for me) standouts that resonated as a whole. Most had lines that I found particularly impactful and beautiful, images that were powerful. On the whole, the poems were long, difficult, and opaque. They were often more intellectual than emotional. If I had to articulate a theme that ran through the collection, it would be the intersection of science and what we can and cannot know about each other— the thoughts, feelings, and characteristics that make a person themselves. One of her poems, “Fog,” seems to me to best encapsulate the collection, which is a bit like trying to perceive anything at all through a cloud of mist.
sam8834's review
5.0
Mei-mei Berssenbrugge is one of my favorite poets, a poet whose work you really have to sit with and be prepared to spend days on a single poem. I think the title of the collection could have been better, could have come from another piece, but this is otherwise a great, full collection to spend some time with.
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