A review by alexiconeternal
Don't Tell Me Not to Ask Why: PoetryProse by Samantha King Holmes

3.0

My thoughts on this book are actually summarised well from the author themselves: "I'm going to be great, extraordinary / You just wait and see / Once I figure out who I'm supposed to be". I think this is probably quite true for their writing more than anything. I hate when I don't like a book of poetry, especially one as honest as this. Unfortunately, so much of this book came across as self-indulgent diary entries organised into lines. I wish so badly that this would have been put in front of beta readers and editors that would have critiqued it better, because there are some nuggets of real potential in here. However, they seem to be overwhelmed by a lot of pieces that don't hit the mark or have the impact that they're meant to. Maybe the shock factor affects some readers deeply, but as a victim of abuse myself, I found myself wishing the author had put more artistic care into her choices instead of going for vague emotionality. Her feelings are valid. Of course they are. But where is the growth, the self improvement, the truth under the raw spatterings of words on a page? That's what makes poetry. Unfortunately this just didn't work for me, but I have a feeling that maybe future books will be a lot better from this author.