A review by charliesbookshelf
Necessary poisons by Andrea Blythe

emotional reflective medium-paced

3.5

this collection is a book of ‘found poetry’, a reordering of an existing literary work to create new meanings. here, the author reconceptualised ‘the plant’, an unfinished stephen king novel about a rejected author sending an evil plant to take over a publishing house in an act of revenge. andrea blythe reworked this story into a poetic representation of a woman uncomfortable with her body and mind, her place in the world, and how others perceive her. i really liked this - i thought it was really creative and unique and ultimately succeeded in what it was trying to do. however, for the most part it didn’t evoke a very strong emotional reaction in me (possibly because it was created from someone else’s work rather than something entirely new coming from the author themselves?). because of this, i don’t think it will stick with me long-term like other poetry has. i still really recommend reading this though if you are interested by the synopsis!

my favourites

• the intention of being
• on taboo ground
• a wake 
• a matter of transition
• making arrangements 
• all but forgotten 
• sudden botany 
• of the earth 
• student of more 

thank you netgalley for the e-arc :)