A review by aldoregan
Love & Misadventure by Lang Leav

2.0

Lang Leav doesn't have the best poems. Some of her poems didn't really have that much depth to them. Some I felt had no substance at all. But I can understand why so many people have loved her writing. They're very easy to understand and there are no mind-boggling metaphors. Her poems are just very plain but at the same time, pretty because of the words she uses and the feel that readers get when they read them. But upon finishing the book, her poems failed to stick with me and leave a long-lasting impression. Of course, if you want to read poems that will capture your heart and stay with you forever, then this is definitely NOT for you. Although there were some I found quite good, others were too insubstantial for my liking.

There were some poems that I found too ordinary and simplistic. The poem below honestly looked quite similar to what my classmate wrote when we were told to write a poem for our English class.

“The Girl He Loves

There was a man who I once knew,
for me there was no other.
The closer to loving me he grew,
the more he would grow further.
I tried to love him as his friend,
then to love him as his lover;
but he never loved me in the end—
his heart was for another.”


Some I am even embarrassed to actually call "poetry".

“A Well-Dressed Man

His charm
will disarm;
his smile,
in style;
his fashion,
in passion;
his words,
his flirt,
his tie
from his shirt,
to my wrists—
his kiss!
his kiss!
his kiss!”


But I was still able to find little gems in this very flawed book, nonetheless.

“Wallflower

Shrinking in a corner,
pressed into the wall;
do they know I'm present,
am I here at all?
Is there a written rule book,
that tells you how to be—
all the right things to talk about—
that everyone has but me?
Slowly I am withering—
a flower deprived of sun;
longing to belong to—
somewhere or someone.”


“A Way Out

Do you know what it is like,
to lie in bed awake;
with thoughts to haunt
you every night,
of all your past mistakes.
Knowing sleep will set it right—
if you were not to wake.”


“All or Nothing

If you love me
for what you see,
only your eyes would be
in love with me.
If you love me
for what you've heard,
then you would love me
for my words.
If you love
my heart and mind,
then you would love me,
for all that I'm.
But if you don't love
my every flaw,
then you mustn't love me—
not at all.”