Date: June 10, 2020
Book title: Revolution
Username: nightravenxx
Genre: Dark Poetry/Horror
Reading time: one hour
Rating/Warnings: 18+ strong trigger warning (bullying, racism, abuse)
Review:
*sits back in a mild state of shock*
This poetry shell-shocked me. In a good way. I think...?
My brain feels like I've been through...some pretty terrifying experiences, and that's exactly what the author sets out to achieve. From the horrors of racism to the terrors of domestic abuse, the speaker places us inside the protagonist's skin.
We feel what they feel. Blow for blow. Thought for thought. Anguish for anguish.
This kind of dark poetry that borders on horror is needed. Why? As a person of relative privilege, I can never fully grasp what it feels like to experience these terrors. To hate the way I look because society constantly tells me I'm not good enough. Ever. No matter how hard I try.
Not because I have a bad hair day or a blemish. But because I will never fit their ideal. Their stupid ideal that doesn't even make sense in the first place.
I can't even imagine.
And yet, this poem helps me imagine. I feel that anguish. That self-hatred. That pain like a needle. Because this author skillfully places me *right there*.
Same with the young man who loves men instead of women. Constantly trying to prove his masculinity and live up to a so-called heteronormative ideal. I'm not a man. I can never understand what it means to be a man. Much less a man who can't love whom he wishes.
And yet, I gotta say. This poem makes it happen.
For a moment, I feel his longing, his anguish. I can understand how that unspeakable pain makes me do things--like drinking--that I'd never do in real life.
That's the power of visceral poetry.
From the embarrassing things that happen in high school to cowering beneath a blanket as one's family is torn apart, we experience first-hand the things about which some people dare not to speak.
And yet the author does without glorifying the pain. That's the key. No glorification of abuse or violence. That's why I can recommend it despite its very visceral nature.
There's none of this torture for the sake of torture. This isn't any of this, "Ha-ha! Let's watch as Bob gets his legs ripped off."
No, this poetry has heart and soul. At least in the first five poems I've read.
But this is NOT for the faint of heart.
And definitely ONLY 18+.
If you have any trigger issues relating to violence, abuse, or bullying--AT ALL--this collection is sadly NOT for you. To be honest, it's a bit much for me. It should be. These are dark themes.
If I come away from this thinking, "Hooray, what a fun read!" Well, that would say something awful about me or the poem. The fact that I come from this mildly traumatised like the way I felt after watching Audition means the author did their job and did it well.
If I had one critique, it was that without stanzas, I couldn't post a reader response to the section in question. But I realize that's a purely stylistic choice and doesn't impede on my reading experience overall.
Rating: 4.5 stars
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Kara's Reviews
Random[OPEN] This journal catalogues every book I've enjoyed on Wattpad (rating: 3-5 stars) including both reading requests and books I've chosen myself. As I simply skip over the stories that aren't my cup of tea, I don't give bad reviews. Regular update...
