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badseedgirl's review against another edition
4.0
Read as Part of the 2023 Gagents of Chaos reading challenge on Facebook: Eric LaRocca.
These poems are filled with so much pain. I would like to give Mr. LaRocca a hug, and let him know that people love and accept him.
These poems are filled with so much pain. I would like to give Mr. LaRocca a hug, and let him know that people love and accept him.
bonafidefaygo's review
dark
fast-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
1.0
macclown's review
3.0
I want to start by saying I love, love, love LaRocca's other works, and even in this the imagery was there, the way they write is beautiful and haunting and I do truly love it.
The problem with poetry I think is it's much more dependent on the reader as to whether it's "good" reading, maybe due to how short poetry tends to be compared to novels, or because of how much more vague it is. It's hugely dependent on connection.
I loved how these were written but I just didn't have that emotional connection. I did love 'XXX_CANDIED VISCERA_XXX' though, solid 5 stars for that, and there's some great snippets throughout that just sound so good.
I'll always recommend LaRocca's works, and I still recommend this. Maybe you'll find something in it that I didn't!
The problem with poetry I think is it's much more dependent on the reader as to whether it's "good" reading, maybe due to how short poetry tends to be compared to novels, or because of how much more vague it is. It's hugely dependent on connection.
I loved how these were written but I just didn't have that emotional connection. I did love 'XXX_CANDIED VISCERA_XXX' though, solid 5 stars for that, and there's some great snippets throughout that just sound so good.
I'll always recommend LaRocca's works, and I still recommend this. Maybe you'll find something in it that I didn't!
reads_vicariously's review
4.0
This collection features 20 poems of vivid imagery and raw emotion. Each one feels intensely personal, as though Eric is pouring his heart into the page (and I believe he may very well have been). There’s also lot of ambiguity and metaphor at play, and I loved trying to figure out the various interpretations/meanings behind each. These are certainly ripe for multiple reads!
Eric has a fantastic writing style; one that I’ve really enjoyed in his longer works and that shines just as bright with his poetry. Plenty of evocative descriptions (at one point an egg yolk is described as an “oily corpse”) and intriguing phrases, such as “candied viscera,” “velveteen sunlight,” “teeth of the moon,” “cannibal priests,” and of course the titular “fanged dandelion”.
The imagery is so visceral and powerful, and each poem is a gut punch of emotive memories and experiences. While there’s language like seed, breath, and tender the diction trends much heavier with rot, torture, blood, cut, maggot, coffin, etc. There are also lots of scenes with bad things happening at night and characters devouring one another (in various ways). It’s clear Eric is focusing on the darker and more painful sides of relationships, self-perception, identity, and the human condition.
I enjoyed all of the poems and I appreciate the brutality and honesty present, though one of my favorites is “A Mother is a Kind of God” which seems to be from the perspective of the earth and about a serial killer who delivers victims into her “body”. I’m likely way off
Eric has a fantastic writing style; one that I’ve really enjoyed in his longer works and that shines just as bright with his poetry. Plenty of evocative descriptions (at one point an egg yolk is described as an “oily corpse”) and intriguing phrases, such as “candied viscera,” “velveteen sunlight,” “teeth of the moon,” “cannibal priests,” and of course the titular “fanged dandelion”.
The imagery is so visceral and powerful, and each poem is a gut punch of emotive memories and experiences. While there’s language like seed, breath, and tender the diction trends much heavier with rot, torture, blood, cut, maggot, coffin, etc. There are also lots of scenes with bad things happening at night and characters devouring one another (in various ways). It’s clear Eric is focusing on the darker and more painful sides of relationships, self-perception, identity, and the human condition.
I enjoyed all of the poems and I appreciate the brutality and honesty present, though one of my favorites is “A Mother is a Kind of God” which seems to be from the perspective of the earth and about a serial killer who delivers victims into her “body”. I’m likely way off
the_coycaterpillar_reads's review
4.0
Fanged Dandelion is a horrifying collection of 20 poems that will not hesitate to put chills down your spine and search for hidden meaning. It is seeping in a creeping sense of dread and dismay and the influence of characters through-out LaRocca’s career is a strong marker through-out. The imagery and pulsating emotion are a siren call, it bleeds between pages, and the short snappy prose is hard hitting and uncompromising. It’s a dismembered hand crawling out from its haunted pages, its successful in grabbing you by the throat and not letting go until the final story is committed to memory.
Eric LaRocca is an author who puts his heart and soul into everything he writes. Its his passion and nothing is clearer from this stunning collection of poems. The ambiguity and the words hanging from the precipice of a cliff left me hurrying to find hidden meanings, trying to grab it before it was lost forever. I loved his ability to leave a lot of it up to the readers imagination. My senses were intensified, and I was on red alert. From many of the poems I had a feeling of eerie quiet closing in around me, the psyche is affected, and delusions start to take precedence in your mind. I love LaRocca’s narratives in anything he writes.
Fanged Dandelion like his other works is poetry personified. One story that stands out for me is Things Can’t Get Much Worse it paints a story of an individual who is bound perhaps in the attic as their mother and father are downstairs reading and preparing vegetables for dinner. I enjoyed the imagery of a normal life being lived whilst there are horrors being hidden from view from the world’s eyes. Its haunting and pays homage to the idea that we never know what’s going on behind closed doors.
If you want a story that will truly mess with your mind read A Mother Is A Kind Of God. It tells a tale of (as I have interpreted it) bodies being thrown into graves. The deep cavern and the soil acting as the embrace of a mother. The descriptive writing – “a slim man in tattered flannel and dark overalls, toting a canvas bag and a small toolkit.” The darkness of this poem, it made the synapses of my brain fire all at once, my imagination was a fertile breeding ground of imagining what could come next.
Fanged Dandelion is a collection of dark and claustrophobic with soul breaking imagery. It blew my mind to fragments that made it impossible to gather the pieces afterwards. An altogether triumphant collection of unique horror poetry.
Eric LaRocca is an author who puts his heart and soul into everything he writes. Its his passion and nothing is clearer from this stunning collection of poems. The ambiguity and the words hanging from the precipice of a cliff left me hurrying to find hidden meanings, trying to grab it before it was lost forever. I loved his ability to leave a lot of it up to the readers imagination. My senses were intensified, and I was on red alert. From many of the poems I had a feeling of eerie quiet closing in around me, the psyche is affected, and delusions start to take precedence in your mind. I love LaRocca’s narratives in anything he writes.
Fanged Dandelion like his other works is poetry personified. One story that stands out for me is Things Can’t Get Much Worse it paints a story of an individual who is bound perhaps in the attic as their mother and father are downstairs reading and preparing vegetables for dinner. I enjoyed the imagery of a normal life being lived whilst there are horrors being hidden from view from the world’s eyes. Its haunting and pays homage to the idea that we never know what’s going on behind closed doors.
If you want a story that will truly mess with your mind read A Mother Is A Kind Of God. It tells a tale of (as I have interpreted it) bodies being thrown into graves. The deep cavern and the soil acting as the embrace of a mother. The descriptive writing – “a slim man in tattered flannel and dark overalls, toting a canvas bag and a small toolkit.” The darkness of this poem, it made the synapses of my brain fire all at once, my imagination was a fertile breeding ground of imagining what could come next.
Fanged Dandelion is a collection of dark and claustrophobic with soul breaking imagery. It blew my mind to fragments that made it impossible to gather the pieces afterwards. An altogether triumphant collection of unique horror poetry.
namedroppingsleaze's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Cannibalism
Minor: Rape
vanmeers's review against another edition
2.0
poetry is, as always, super hit or miss with me and unfortunately this one didn’t resonate with me as much. i always appreciate larocca’s writing and i think they’re talented at what they do, but i think i’d have to reread this to have it mean something more to me tbh
but as it’s poetry i’m sure, while it didn’t speak to me, there’ll be people it’ll definitely speak to and i can see the appeal of his different poems — especially because the topic is such a personal thing. i’ll definitely have to pick it up again in the future (maybe my feelings about this collection will be different. maybe. maybe not).
but as it’s poetry i’m sure, while it didn’t speak to me, there’ll be people it’ll definitely speak to and i can see the appeal of his different poems — especially because the topic is such a personal thing. i’ll definitely have to pick it up again in the future (maybe my feelings about this collection will be different. maybe. maybe not).
blackcatkai's review
dark
emotional
fast-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? Yes
3.0
CW: intrusive thoughts, body horror, mental illness
a couple of LaRocca's poetry in this collection really just hit while others did not. this is mostly more because of how I'm still figuring out what I do and do not like with poetry as it's not a writing type I'm generally drawn to. I'm glad I read it and a couple pieces I even read multiple times in a row because of just how good they were. I'd be interested in more poetry if LaRocca were to release it.
a couple of LaRocca's poetry in this collection really just hit while others did not. this is mostly more because of how I'm still figuring out what I do and do not like with poetry as it's not a writing type I'm generally drawn to. I'm glad I read it and a couple pieces I even read multiple times in a row because of just how good they were. I'd be interested in more poetry if LaRocca were to release it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Gore, Body horror, and Blood
erinmae's review
5.0
Would it be weird if I said these poems are beautiful?
Maybe.
They are beautiful.
Beautifully haunting.
My favorite : A Mother is a Kind of God.
Maybe.
They are beautiful.
Beautifully haunting.
My favorite : A Mother is a Kind of God.