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A review by apalershadeofwhite
Banjo by Samantha Wynne-Rhydderch
4.0
There is some really, truly beautiful writing in this collection! The choices Wynne-Rhydderch makes are so intentional and I'm sure I probably didn't even pick up on all of them. A lot of the poems include a powerful focus on seemingly smaller details that actually serve to make the texts feel so real. An instance of this I really loved was from the poem 'Hong Kong Mah Jong' in which there is a specific focus on using lime and not lemon. Super effective!
*SPOILER*
My favourite thing in the entire collection was the very intentional and extremely effective use of enjambment in order to mislead and shock the reader. Wynne-Rhydderch not only uses the regular line-to-line enjambment, but they go the extra mile and hyperbolise this technique by using it between entire stanzas. For instance, one stanza ends with the enjambment "cut" and the next stanza continues with "her in half". This is done so well, and I fell in love with it immediately! The choice of continuing the enjambment over and entire stanza break and not just a regular line break is something I'm not sure I've seen before (and if I have, it was not done in such a superb manner because I don't remember it)!
*SPOILER*
My favourite thing in the entire collection was the very intentional and extremely effective use of enjambment in order to mislead and shock the reader. Wynne-Rhydderch not only uses the regular line-to-line enjambment, but they go the extra mile and hyperbolise this technique by using it between entire stanzas. For instance, one stanza ends with the enjambment "cut" and the next stanza continues with "her in half". This is done so well, and I fell in love with it immediately! The choice of continuing the enjambment over and entire stanza break and not just a regular line break is something I'm not sure I've seen before (and if I have, it was not done in such a superb manner because I don't remember it)!