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3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
Planting Gardens when they cannot grow. Planting Gardens where something has passed on. So much imagery and beautiful poetry to back it up.
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Sin’s poetry not only finds the heart of the matter but he digs it out and exposes it to the light, looking in the very crevices of the muscle to reveal truths that we’d rather bury. Can’t wait to read the other volumes.
and sometimes i think that this will
be my fate
living a life
claiming to have loved
when all i've ever known
is hate
Maybe a 2.5
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
This was genuinely a beautiful book. I’m currently engaged and I was still able to reflect on the past/past relationships as well as be inspired to give love to my proper new relationship. The booked moved at a nice pace, and I was still able to take away the full message from this book. Once again this book was beautiful and I definitely recommend to anybody who may have past traumas or just any woman who is currently living.
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
edit: The author has denounced the idea that one of his poems is about suicide in my comment section so I've swapped the word 'suicide' with 'death'. He has brought to my attention that he has suffered the traumatic loss of his premature brother and that my interpretation of a poem about suicide is incorrect. I feel for him and hope he finds peace. However, I still stand by my first interpretation that the poem under my 'romanticising suicide' category is harmful. Furthermore, I believe that interpreting the poem as romanticising suicide is completely valid and the author could not have expected me to know that he had a premature baby brother.
I received an ARC of Planting Gardens in Graves via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I was honestly so close to rating this 4 stars. So goddamn close.
You might not be able to tell from my Goodreads reviews, but R.H. Sin is not a new author to me. I used to have a physical copy of Whiskey Words & a Shovel II. However, I never got around to reviewing it because it was a very quick DNF and I sold it off as soon as I realised it wasn’t for me. I had hopes that this one was going to be different.
At the beginning, it was. Most of the poems were heartfelt and they had enough depth to differentiate them from mere sentences. Some of them were empowering. Others evoked deep consideration about the meaning of love. Y’know, things that poems are supposed to do. That all changed after I got to around the 100-page mark. FUCK.
The book very quickly dipped into ‘what the fuck’ territory. Nothing was sacred. The author romanticised suicide in a very cliche overdone way. 2 strikes in one. He praised himself as a ‘nice guy’ which has some very uncomfortable connotations.
Finally, his poems
derailed into mere
sentences.
And then ended. The depth was gone. The originality was gone. I was left with the same idea reiterated over and over. Not being facetious, but the entirety of the book’s second half could be condensed into one or two poems. R.H. Sin definitely did not need 100 pages to say what he did.
No Subtlety
men beg
for entry
then label women whores
as they exit
men chase pussy
then degrade women
for giving it to them
He’s saying the exact same thing in the two different stanzas. The first is more poetic. The second is just a reiteration of the first but in a slightly less poetic way, as though he thinks that the reader probably hasn’t understood the first stanza. Perhaps his books appeal more to younger demographics, but that doesn’t mean they’re idiots.
Short Sentences
they love pussy
but not the women
they get it from
Let’s change that into a sentence. Imagine that this appears at the end of a heart-wrenching article about gender equality and being taken for granted. They love pussy, but not the women they get it from. Now, which format has the most impact?
In my opinion, the sentence packs a lot more punch than the poem that R.H. Sin has written. That’s not good. Poetry and the structure of poetry is supposed to enhance meaning or send a message. This jarred structure may do it for some people but it is nowhere near as impactful as it is in prose.
Romanticising Suicide
i loved you
but heaven loved you more
i needed you
but heaven needed you more
i lost you but gained an angel
I completely understand that this might be a way that someone deals with thesuicide death of someone that they used to be close to. That doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s healthy – especially when written in a book that’s supposed to appeal to those who are depressed or feeling down. In the words of the Goodreads synopsis, this original volume celebrates connection, mourns heartbreak, and above all, empowers its readers to seek the love they deserve.
In my opinion, books that celebrate should not be celebrating the creation of an ‘angel’. There really isn’t anything aboutsuicide death that should be celebrated. Perhaps people can find peace in the idea that the one whom they loved is in a better place but it’s still pretty sketchy.
I Swear I’m A Nice Guy
it’s time for men to step up
or lose their women to men like me
Let’s get something straight first; I’m 100% for confidence. You feel good about yourself? Good. Having confidence in yourself is a wonderful thing and not vain as so many people perceive it to be. However, there is a time where one must look at oneself and consider if that confidence is completely well-founded.
This poem reminded me of r/niceguys. In summary, these are basically guys who complain about how no one is willing to fuck him despite being such a nice person. Of course, they really aren’t as nice as they think they are and may actually be bigger douchebags than the ‘assholes’ who actually have girlfriends. I believe that R.H Sin might be emulating one of these people, but doesn’t actually realise it.
He says that men will ‘lose their women’ as if we are possessions to be lost. News flash! We’re not. It could be a slip in grammar, but coupled with the whole ‘I’m better than all the other men out there’ attitude, this poem makes me uncomfortable.
In Conclusion. This book is a personal experience and some may have a great deal of trouble getting through some of the poems. This could be due to mental triggers or the short, blurry sentences. Having said all of that, the first half of the book did actually house some thoughtful poetry.
Want my advice? Stop at around page 130. You’ll have read most of the original ideas in the book and will probably enjoy it. So I’m going to end on a positive note with a poem with some "pretty dope" imagery.
women with sharp tongues
cut through weak men
likes knives to bread
note: I'm not sure that I want to recommend with book anymore due to the somewhat patronising comment left by the author. I appreciate that he has lost someone special to him, but it's uncomfortable to have a grown man comment on a teenagers review telling them that they're wrong. Post this incident, I've shared this poem numerous others and suicide IS a common interpretation.
I received an ARC of Planting Gardens in Graves via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I was honestly so close to rating this 4 stars. So goddamn close.
You might not be able to tell from my Goodreads reviews, but R.H. Sin is not a new author to me. I used to have a physical copy of Whiskey Words & a Shovel II. However, I never got around to reviewing it because it was a very quick DNF and I sold it off as soon as I realised it wasn’t for me. I had hopes that this one was going to be different.
At the beginning, it was. Most of the poems were heartfelt and they had enough depth to differentiate them from mere sentences. Some of them were empowering. Others evoked deep consideration about the meaning of love. Y’know, things that poems are supposed to do. That all changed after I got to around the 100-page mark. FUCK.
The book very quickly dipped into ‘what the fuck’ territory. Nothing was sacred. The author romanticised suicide in a very cliche overdone way. 2 strikes in one. He praised himself as a ‘nice guy’ which has some very uncomfortable connotations.
Finally, his poems
derailed into mere
sentences.
And then ended. The depth was gone. The originality was gone. I was left with the same idea reiterated over and over. Not being facetious, but the entirety of the book’s second half could be condensed into one or two poems. R.H. Sin definitely did not need 100 pages to say what he did.
No Subtlety
men beg
for entry
then label women whores
as they exit
men chase pussy
then degrade women
for giving it to them
He’s saying the exact same thing in the two different stanzas. The first is more poetic. The second is just a reiteration of the first but in a slightly less poetic way, as though he thinks that the reader probably hasn’t understood the first stanza. Perhaps his books appeal more to younger demographics, but that doesn’t mean they’re idiots.
Short Sentences
they love pussy
but not the women
they get it from
Let’s change that into a sentence. Imagine that this appears at the end of a heart-wrenching article about gender equality and being taken for granted. They love pussy, but not the women they get it from. Now, which format has the most impact?
In my opinion, the sentence packs a lot more punch than the poem that R.H. Sin has written. That’s not good. Poetry and the structure of poetry is supposed to enhance meaning or send a message. This jarred structure may do it for some people but it is nowhere near as impactful as it is in prose.
Romanticising Suicide
i loved you
but heaven loved you more
i needed you
but heaven needed you more
i lost you but gained an angel
I completely understand that this might be a way that someone deals with the
In my opinion, books that celebrate should not be celebrating the creation of an ‘angel’. There really isn’t anything about
I Swear I’m A Nice Guy
it’s time for men to step up
or lose their women to men like me
Let’s get something straight first; I’m 100% for confidence. You feel good about yourself? Good. Having confidence in yourself is a wonderful thing and not vain as so many people perceive it to be. However, there is a time where one must look at oneself and consider if that confidence is completely well-founded.
This poem reminded me of r/niceguys. In summary, these are basically guys who complain about how no one is willing to fuck him despite being such a nice person. Of course, they really aren’t as nice as they think they are and may actually be bigger douchebags than the ‘assholes’ who actually have girlfriends. I believe that R.H Sin might be emulating one of these people, but doesn’t actually realise it.
He says that men will ‘lose their women’ as if we are possessions to be lost. News flash! We’re not. It could be a slip in grammar, but coupled with the whole ‘I’m better than all the other men out there’ attitude, this poem makes me uncomfortable.
In Conclusion. This book is a personal experience and some may have a great deal of trouble getting through some of the poems. This could be due to mental triggers or the short, blurry sentences. Having said all of that, the first half of the book did actually house some thoughtful poetry.
Want my advice? Stop at around page 130. You’ll have read most of the original ideas in the book and will probably enjoy it. So I’m going to end on a positive note with a poem with some "pretty dope" imagery.
women with sharp tongues
cut through weak men
likes knives to bread
note: I'm not sure that I want to recommend with book anymore due to the somewhat patronising comment left by the author. I appreciate that he has lost someone special to him, but it's uncomfortable to have a grown man comment on a teenagers review telling them that they're wrong. Post this incident, I've shared this poem numerous others and suicide IS a common interpretation.
As my second book from Sin, I have to say that I was not disappointed. I really enjoyed how he got in depth with so few words. I also like that he explored more with longer poems, those were also good. Overall it’s a well rounded book about life which I found myself relating to.