Reviews

The Girl Aquarium by Jen Campbell

saint_eleanor's review

emotional inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing slow-paced

3.5

This was lovely i definitely didnt like every poem but the namesake one was so beautiful and so were a lot of others. Lovely 💌🐬

rebekkaemmi's review

2.0

Not sure I actually understood it all but I had a good time anyway

songsandsonnets's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

julziez's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

2.5

lou_lelou's review

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

o_w_e_n's review

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.75

minnietimperley's review

challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

emeraldreverie's review against another edition

3.0

Evocative and extremely illustrative, it felt deliberately uncomfortable and aching.

cathyjane's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

annemaries_shelves's review

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I love Jen Campbell’s YouTube channel and I still want to read her fiction but I didn’t fully connect with her poetry. 

I think it’s mostly a me and preference thing since I struggle to understand more oblique or implicit poetry (the kind that’s not super straightforward and full of metaphors). 

I did love the themes of queerness, feminism, and disability that were explored in poems about fairy tales, circus, and northern England. I just didn’t understand or connect to a lot of them. I can tell she’s a good writer and poet though - some of the imagery was really strong. 

Overall not quite a hit for me but will absolutely work for a lot of other readers.