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fieldofhats 's review for:

The Hurting Kind by Ada Limón
1.75
emotional reflective slow-paced

Read for Adv. Poetry Writing.

This was such a mediocre book. There are a few poems that were pretty good, but none that were really mind-blowing or transformative. When it comes to free-verse modern poetry, there are just better writers. I don’t have anything against Ada Limón, I just don’t prefer the style. It’s very bland compared to the likes of Mary Oliver, Billy Collins, Rupi Kaur, etc. I also get a pretentious vibe from her poetry, especially the last one, “The End of Poetry”, where she calls for the end of language and thematic trends of classic poetry like modern poets haven’t already been moving past that for at least fifty years. Overall, incredibly meh. I can’t recommend this in good conscience.