A review by novelbloglover
Under Her Skin by Lindy Ryan, Linda D. Addison, Toni Miller

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

 

Book Review 

Title: Under Her Skin by Toni Miller, Linda Ryan & More 

Genre: Poetry 

Rating: 2.5 Stars 

Now I am not a big poetry fan, I don’t read a lot of it and what I have read in the past hasn’t been too amazing with the exception of Amanda Lovelace’s first collection. However, this is dark, horror poetry collection so it appeals to more of what I like to read, I am hoping I get on better with this collection than I have with others. Out of the opening poems, one really stood out to me and that was WE by Morgan Sylvia which really highlighted both the gorier elements of this collection and the feminist stand that a lot of these poems take. The language that Sylvia uses really conjures some grotesque imagery to mind but the words on the page are hauntingly beautiful and lyrical. While I still don’t believe that poetry is going to be something that I will honestly pick up on my own but I do find some to beautiful in concept and execution but there just doesn’t seem to be enough substance for me. 

Designer Girls and I Cut Away The Parts That Offend You by Elsa M. Carruthers were both amazing poems centred around female body image and how we feel pressured to conform to certain standards. The writing in both of these poems was beautifully done and conjured up some truly amazing imagery that was tainted with a dark side. I also really enjoyed Unbecoming Porcelain by Nikki R. Leigh was another haunting poem and the imagery was quite dark, the feminist elements of the collection really shine through in these poems. However, that being said a lot of the poems felt really similar with the same themes and imagery being conjured. Due to this, I found myself not really caring and feeling anything from the poems. While I did finish the collection it wasn’t anything amazing, I did appreciate the darker imagery and tones projected within the collection and the stand on feminine body imagery and how women often feel pressured to conform to certain standards and images but the collection did isolate the male side of this as men do feel the same pressure especially in modern western culture. Overall, I was a decent collection but it didn’t do anything.