It is very hard to review an anthology of poems. There are always going to be some of the poems that don’t appeal or that we don’t connect with. As the reader we are reliant on our tastes and preferences matching up with those of the editor of the anthology. If they do not it can be hard to enjoy the volume.
Unfortunately, in this instance, this is what happened to me. The poems in this anthology are, mostly, not to my taste. I felt many of them just ended, hanging in midair. I turned the page expecting more but no. I personally like my poems to conclude, to take me somewhere. I also felt the poems were very American in subject and context, which is fine if you like that sort of thing but I don’t.
There were some poems in the anthology that I did enjoy such as 'The Summer You Learned to Swim' by Michael Simms, 'My Father’s Hands' by Zeina Azzam, 'Vain Doubts' by Julia Alvarez and 'The Raincoat' by Ada Limon. I also enjoyed the reflective pauses and the invitations for writing and reflection. The foreword by Danusha Lameris and introduction by James Crews were a lovely read and perhaps set my expectations too high for the rest of the book.
With thanks to Netgalley and Storey Publishing for providing an advance review copy of the book. All opinions in this review are my own.
Verdict: ⭐⭐⭐
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