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boldeststroke's reviews
70 reviews
Goodbye, Eri by Tatsuki Fujimoto
one of my students lent me his copy of this because he wanted to show me a big source of inspiration for his literacy narrative and i am stunned by how intricate it is! look back has been on my radar for a minute now but goodbye, eri holds its weight well as a standalone story. the way that film is translated into manga is so expertly done, exact with every panel, especially in its uniformity. i never thought it’d end the way that it did, but i’m not against it at all! the more meta, the better, y’know?
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
Creation is all about getting into the audience's problems to make them laugh and cry, right? Well, it wouldn't be fair if creators didn't get hurt too, would it?
one of my students lent me his copy of this because he wanted to show me a big source of inspiration for his literacy narrative and i am stunned by how intricate it is! look back has been on my radar for a minute now but goodbye, eri holds its weight well as a standalone story. the way that film is translated into manga is so expertly done, exact with every panel, especially in its uniformity. i never thought it’d end the way that it did, but i’m not against it at all! the more meta, the better, y’know?
I Do Everything I'm Told by Megan Fernandes
there are some really emotional poems in this collection that i cannot get out of my mind. "orlando" is one that fully made me tear up. i also fell in love with the entire second section and its sonnets turned erasures. those fucking crowns at the end! genius!
3.5
I don't believe in kin by blood,
but I believe poems can give form to the formless,
that one can resurrect roads not taken in a line
and give it a name.
there are some really emotional poems in this collection that i cannot get out of my mind. "orlando" is one that fully made me tear up. i also fell in love with the entire second section and its sonnets turned erasures. those fucking crowns at the end! genius!
The Air Year by Caroline Bird
this collection starts out so strong. i love mid-air as an opener, with its lasting images likening mouths on the verge of kissing to sprinting over rooftops and a silver earring to an acrobatic hoop. bird has a way of making prose poetry surreal as well. i was really interested in the tightrope act she was doing with those particular pieces, reading like a narrative but still operating like uncontained free verse. wow.
3.5
Now her house is burning down and you're still
writing. This poem will not
drop everything, sit up, get up
from this stale sheet and go to her.
this collection starts out so strong. i love mid-air as an opener, with its lasting images likening mouths on the verge of kissing to sprinting over rooftops and a silver earring to an acrobatic hoop. bird has a way of making prose poetry surreal as well. i was really interested in the tightrope act she was doing with those particular pieces, reading like a narrative but still operating like uncontained free verse. wow.
Severance by Ling Ma
i was oscillating between giving this 4.5 or 5 stars because i got caught on the ending like many others. ultimately, i ended up going with the latter because even if it left me wanting a clear ending, it also left me understanding that it wasn't something i deserved. it fit the tone of the novel overall, and i can accept that even in my discomfort. candace chen is a protagonist for the ages. she is a deeply flawed person, a cog in the capitalist machine. her relationship to religion not only through her occupation but also through her mother really fascinated me. while the novel doesn't revolve around it, their similarities stuck out to me the most, this inheritance of being trapped and wanting to be freed, whether from a mall or a country, not at all lost on me. candace's access to her memories made for great contrast against the corporate backdrop of her apocalypse. i loved that shen fever had a nostalgic tinge to it. the feeling is something i have always been interested in, so to see it contorted into this mundane horror left me feeling the most unsettled i have ever felt in my life. chapter 10 with ashley and janelle and evan... wow. i got chills. i don't like to make comparisons between novels that deal in the same subgenres because they're never apt, and each work tackles different themes, especially in this case. but to bring up station eleven very briefly, i think it's worth unpacking that i'll never be able to have a pre- and post-type relationship with this book the way i did with that book. severance will always exist through the lens of a pandemic i've somehow lived through, whether i like it or not. ling ma writes prose with a voice that i admire so deeply.
dark
reflective
5.0
To live in a city is to live the life that it was built for. To live in a city is to consume its offerings. To live in a city is to take part in and to propagate its impossible systems. It is also to take pleasure in those systems because, otherwise, who could repeat the same routines, year in, year out?
i was oscillating between giving this 4.5 or 5 stars because i got caught on the ending like many others. ultimately, i ended up going with the latter because even if it left me wanting a clear ending, it also left me understanding that it wasn't something i deserved. it fit the tone of the novel overall, and i can accept that even in my discomfort. candace chen is a protagonist for the ages. she is a deeply flawed person, a cog in the capitalist machine. her relationship to religion not only through her occupation but also through her mother really fascinated me. while the novel doesn't revolve around it, their similarities stuck out to me the most, this inheritance of being trapped and wanting to be freed, whether from a mall or a country, not at all lost on me. candace's access to her memories made for great contrast against the corporate backdrop of her apocalypse. i loved that shen fever had a nostalgic tinge to it. the feeling is something i have always been interested in, so to see it contorted into this mundane horror left me feeling the most unsettled i have ever felt in my life. chapter 10 with ashley and janelle and evan... wow. i got chills. i don't like to make comparisons between novels that deal in the same subgenres because they're never apt, and each work tackles different themes, especially in this case. but to bring up station eleven very briefly, i think it's worth unpacking that i'll never be able to have a pre- and post-type relationship with this book the way i did with that book. severance will always exist through the lens of a pandemic i've somehow lived through, whether i like it or not. ling ma writes prose with a voice that i admire so deeply.
Dog Songs by Mary Oliver
what a sweet collection of poetry. i've never had the pleasure of having a dog as a companion, but it's abundantly clear to me that it's a relationship that can change your life if you find the right ones. the illustrations of oliver's dogs was maybe the most delightful part of reading this apart from the simple yet earnest words in each piece. i felt like a kid flipping through a picture book, appreciation for the wise words accompanying them growing with each sketch i saw.
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
3.5
Finally,
the slick mountains of love break
over us.
what a sweet collection of poetry. i've never had the pleasure of having a dog as a companion, but it's abundantly clear to me that it's a relationship that can change your life if you find the right ones. the illustrations of oliver's dogs was maybe the most delightful part of reading this apart from the simple yet earnest words in each piece. i felt like a kid flipping through a picture book, appreciation for the wise words accompanying them growing with each sketch i saw.