I’m not a poetry reader at all, so I frankly don’t even know the reason why I impulsively decided to pick this up. And I’m defProbably more of a 3.5.
I’m not a poetry reader at all, so I frankly don’t even know the reason why I impulsively decided to pick this up. And I’m definitely not someone who can review a poetry/verse collection like this in any coherent manner.
Why I can’t really articulate to you what this whole collection was about, I could feel some of the emotions behind it, especially the ones related to belonging, not being able to understand a language that’s supposed to one’s mother tongue, that feeling of displacement from the place where one belongs to etc. And the the descriptions of food and rain in particular were very exquisite. But I can’t say the same about the complete book because there were many places where I felt lost and unable to understand what the author was trying to convey, but that’s probably just my shortcoming for being unfamiliar with the format.
However, the one thing I will remember about this is the way the author plays with the Chinese language, using homonyms as a metaphor for the various emotions the narrator is going through, the wordplay giving so many different meanings than what’s being conveyed in English, and the interplay between the two languages leads to so much more conversation and depth. I don’t know if I will read more poetry by this author but I definitely feel that I got to experience this collection. ...more
I’m not one for poetry, so I didn’t even know about this post Fatimah and just discovered the book while randomly browsing. But I was totally blown awI’m not one for poetry, so I didn’t even know about this post Fatimah and just discovered the book while randomly browsing. But I was totally blown away by how much I loved it. Fatimah touches on many themes like loss of parents and home and culture, dysphoria, patriarchy, 9/11 and the aftermath of that as experienced by an American Muslim and many more, and each and every poem was very moving and hard hitting. But the ones that immediately touched my heart were the ones about the India-Pakistan partition : about the absolute devastation of what happened, the generational trauma it caused, and that hatred it gave birth to which lives on until today. Me and the author might be on the opposite sides of the partition line but the feelings and sentiments described in these poems felt very personal and I’m sure anyone from the two countries would feel the same. I’m deeply impressed by this collection and I definitely hope anyone who wants to checkout more South Asian works picks this up. ...more
There were actually two reasons I added this anthology to my tbr - the first being obviously dragons, I’m obsessed with these fantasy creatures and reThere were actually two reasons I added this anthology to my tbr - the first being obviously dragons, I’m obsessed with these fantasy creatures and reading so many stories featuring them was exciting; the second reason being R. F. Kuang was going to write a short story for it.
I was thrilled when I got approved for the ARC. But when I started reading it, I wasn’t as enamored because so many of the stories in the first half just felt okay. But as the book went on, I really came to enjoy the stories a lot more and I think this is an interesting collection to read for any fans of speculative fiction and dragons.
Below are my individual reviews:
What Heroism Tells Us by Jane Yolen
I’m not someone who understands poetry much so I don’t wanna rate or comment on this one.
Matriculation by Elle Katharine White
This one has a mechanical dragon that responds to symbols and I found it very interesting. But the story is more about how a young magitechnician has to find the funds to pay for her education and I found it so relatable to our real life issues.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Hikayat Sri Bujang, or, The Tale of the Naga Sage by Zen Cho
The story of a naga sage who has choose between his self enlightenment or family duties, this was fun and interesting and I loved the way everything is described.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Yuli by Daniel Abraham
There seem to be two parallel stories going on here but I can’t say I understood the point of either of them.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️
A Whisper of Blue by Ken Liu
An alternate world in which everything is powered by dragon breath and the number of dragons at a location determines its prosperity, I felt completely immersed in this story. It’s also a story of loss and grief while also being a commentary on the cons of exploiting resources, and I thought the author managed to balance everything very well.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Nidhog by Jo Walton
An interesting poem about a dragon waiting to rise and free all its kind.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Where the River turns to Concrete by Brooke Bolander
The dragon in this story being a water spirit and forming a connection with a human family was told beautifully and the way it ended only makes me want its continuation.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Habitat by K. J. Parker
Told in dual timelines, this is a story of endless war, cruelty and greed and how it all only destroys and nothing good will come of it. Very well written and for such a serious story, the end was pretty funny.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Pox by Ellen Klages
The story of a young girl who loves Le Guin’s Wizard of the Earthsea, wishes dragons were real and goes on a little adventure in Chinatown in SFO, this was a fun story and I particularly loved the mouthwatering descriptions of the various food items.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Nine Curves River by R. F. Kuang
Told in second person, a story of two sisters, jealousy, and sacrifice for the sake of greater good, this was so beautiful and poignant and sad, but also hopeful in some way. And the point about monsters being lonely and we humans not understanding them was quite interesting to think about.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Lucky’s Dragon by Kelly Barnhill
A story about soul splitting and dragons, I loved the idea behind this tale as well as the deep affection between the main character and her dragon. Overall this turned out to be quite thrilling as well as cute.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I Make Myself a Dragon by Beth Cato
This was an absolutely beautiful poem about a human being who has been shunned by the world trying to reclaim their life by awakening the dragon within, and pledging to be a protector for others like them.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Exile by JY Neon Yang
I’m not sure I can describe what this was about effectively but it was full of beautiful melancholy, heartbreak and acceptance. But also included was a bit of meta commentary on the ills of human desire to conquer other lands without any care for the original inhabitants. An overall wonderful story and gorgeous writing.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Except on Saturdays by Peter S. Beagle
A spin on the myth of Melusine, this story was full of loss and longing, but also about cherishing the experiences we get to have, even if they never happen again.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
La Vitesse by Kelly Robson
To be honest, this thrilling story reminded me a lot of the movie Speed with its bus full of children being chased by a dragon, and a mother and daughter trying to outrun it. Very interesting writing.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A Final Knight to her Love and Foe by Amal El-Mohtar
I thought it was a wonderful love poem until that very unexpected last line. Very cool poetry though.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
The Long Walk by Kate Elliot
Set in a world where a woman is considered dead when her husband dies, this is the story of a widow in a similar predicament who chooses to finally do what her heart desires because she is free of all her responsibilities. And what a wonderful story it is of empowerment and solidarity and taking back one’s life.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Cut Me Another Quill, Mister Fitz by Garth Nix
The story of a dragon and dragon hunting knight and puppet duo, this was an entertaining story but it also felt a bit incomplete towards the end.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Hoard by Seanan McGuire
Wow. I didn’t expect that a dragon’s hoarding habits could also manifest in this form. This was both a fascinating/terrifying story as well as a commentary on the flawed foster care system.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
The Wyrm of Lirr by C. S. E. Cooney
This poem seemed nice enough and even though I didn’t understand it completely, I liked its idea of some humans petitioning to free indentured dragons.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Last Hunt by Aliette de Bodard
Set prior to the events in the author’s acclaimed novella In the Vanisher’s Palace, this story gives a bit of background into what actually happened in the world just before the masters disappeared and I liked getting to know this. It’s still only a small glimpse but I’m glad that we got it.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
We Continue by Ann Leckie and Rachel Swirsky
A metaphor for the cycle of life and death, this story was heartbreaking but also had the important message that when we lose the ones we love, we have to find the hope and courage to move on.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Small Bird’s Plea by Todd McCaffrey
A young human girl and a young demon boy set out to save their people from each other’s destructive ways and they decide to band together - it confused me a bit in the beginning but it was also sweet, funny and had a subtle message about all species being interdependent on each other for survival.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
The Dragons by Theodora Goss
A poem about a woman who can’t let go of the dragons who show up on her porch one day, all little and vulnerable, this was very heartwarming and lovely.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Dragon Slayer by Michael Swanwick
This story had dragons, wizards and time travel and it was so much fun. And I loved how the woman are pragmatic warriors but still have to appease the men to keep the peace.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Camouflage by Patricia A. McKillip
This almost felt a bit like a young would be wizard taking his OWLS exam at Hogwarts and then traveling back in time. But I loved the whole world and the vivid imagery the author created, and the concept dealing with the importance of knowledge was very well written.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
We Don’t Talk About the Dragon by Sarah Gailey
This is the story of a young girl from an abusive home who forms a bond with a dragon, and I really loved how she felt she could share all her feelings only with the dragon and the beast seemed to reciprocate in its own way. And that ending was beautiful and powerful.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Maybe Just Go Up There and Talk to It by Scott Lynch
To be honest, this was just batshit crazy but also absolutely wonderful towards the end. However, the author also managed to show some very harsh political realities that I think could happen in real life America too. Very well thought and written.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A Nice Cuppa by Jane Yolen
This was a nice way to end the book, almost like with a cup of tea.
CW: rape, sexual assault, harassment, drug and alcohol abuse, physical abuse, effects of war and ptsd, depression, gaslighting of survivors, rapists nCW: rape, sexual assault, harassment, drug and alcohol abuse, physical abuse, effects of war and ptsd, depression, gaslighting of survivors, rapists not facing consequences
Like everyone else who has read any literature on sexual assault, I’ve known about this author’s pioneering book Speak but have been scared to read it because I didn’t think I was prepared to handle the content. But when I saw that this book was nominated for the National Book Award this year and it’s also written in verse, I decided to give it a try.
This book is essentially a memoir - the author’s honest and raw exploration of her life experiences through poetry - which made me sad, angry, hopeful and angry all over again. We get to know her family very intimately, a father ravaged by his wartime experiences, a mother who is the strength of the family but also someone who remains silent despite everything and the author herself, a bright young woman who’s trajectory of life changes in an instant when she is raped. The first half of the book is mostly about growing up in her family and the myriad struggles she faced in trying to deal with her trauma. It’s a story of distress and helplessness, but also resilience and hope and I was in awe of the way she took control of her life and decided to make something out of her trauma.
But it’s the second half of the book that really broke me. From the accounts of many school administrators and librarians who refused to let her speak or censored her book, to the numerous youngsters who decided to share their own traumatic experiences with her - it’s a harrowing read showing us the truth that is all around us but which we blind ourselves to, and a realistic picture of how things have hardly changed for the survivors after all these years. I was sobbing and raging while reading many of these poems.
There is a lot to learn from this book. I think the author makes a great case for the perils of censorship, how suppressing content only leads to more ignorance and violence, and survivors are left without any safe spaces to explore their feelings. The author also calls for everyone, especially older victims of trauma to listen to young survivors who are brave enough to tell the truth instead of gaslighting them - insisting that just because they were silenced during their time doesn’t mean we get to do the same to the ones after us. And ultimately it’s a story of survival and the hope is that anyone who is reading it might find a piece of themselves in it, or maybe a tool to help them.
To conclude, I will just say that this book is a very important read and I implore everyone to pick it up. The content might be hard to read and you might want to shield kids from such harsh material, but it’s the truth of the world around us and all youngsters deserve to know it and maybe even be prepared. I think this is also a must read for all adults, especially parents so that we can all better understand and support any survivors we may know in our lives. Just make sure you are in the right frame of mind when you pick it up and experience the pain and rage and hope. And thank you so much to the author for putting her story out there for all of us to learn from and reflect upon. Let me end with these powerful words from the author herself....
”too many grown-ups tell kids to follow their dreams like that’s going to get them somewhere Auntie Laurie says follow your nightmares instead cuz when you figure out what’s eating you alive you can slay it”...more
I hardly ever read poetry, but sometimes some books just seem so interesting that they don’t leave you until you pick them up. This is one such book. I hardly ever read poetry, but sometimes some books just seem so interesting that they don’t leave you until you pick them up. This is one such book. Right from that captivating cover, this book has had my attention and when I finally had the opportunity to participate in Read-India-Thon this week, I decided it was finally time to read it. Even if this turns out to be my token poetry book for the year, I’m so glad to have made the choice.
We all love fairytales, with damsels in distress and prince charmings and evil queens - but what if each of these tales could be explored from a different perspective? What if the princesses never needed to be saved, the prince charmings had an evil abuse so side to them, and the evil queens had a reason to be that way? The author takes on these questions and gives us a much more darker and fierce version of the classics like Peter Pan, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood etc. We get to see each of the women in these stories in different ways and the reasons for their actions. The author’s writing style is very simple and plain but effective at making us understand her thoughts and I really liked that. She also manages to tackle many important topics and themes in such few words that I thought it was masterful. I especially loved the way she talked about learning to love and believe in ourselves, to standup for our convictions, how we are complete by ourselves and don’t need a man to save us, and how we should be in solidarity with other women instead of viewing them as competition. There’s also a lot of emphasis on being both brave and kind. I thought the author brought all these messages to us in a very accessible way, even for poetry noobs like me, which is what makes this so special. Some tales make us angry, some evoke powerful emotions and some soothe and heal us - this collection has something for every kind of reader.
To conclude, if you love reading poetry or books written in verse, you should definitely check this out. If you are a fan of fairytale retellings, especially ones which explore the classics in a more feminist perspective, then this collection is just perfect for you. It is powerful, evocative, beautiful and utterly fierce. ...more
This is my 300th read of the year and I really wanted to choose something very good and memorable. Despite not being a fan of the poetry format much, This is my 300th read of the year and I really wanted to choose something very good and memorable. Despite not being a fan of the poetry format much, I’m so glad I decided to pick up this audiobook because this amazing little novel written in verse is worth all the accolades it has received and so much more.
Xiomara is a fierce rebellious teenager who is very relatable because we all have gone through that phase. Only when we start getting to know her better do we realize that her journey is much more heartbreaking. Since she has grown into her body, she has been harassed in public and in school, touched and groped and catcalled; on top of that, she also has to listen to her uber religious mother guilt her more into believing that her body is responsible for all the unwanted attention she is getting, which only makes Xio want to disappear. However, as she grows up, she starts questioning everything - why she is supposed to believe all the religious teachings that she is taught blindly, why is it wrong to like a boy and how is it her fault when she is the victim of daily harassment.
I was not sure how much of the plot could be expressed properly due to the format but the author does a wonderful job. Listening to it in her voice also makes it better because it felt like I was reading it the way she intended. After being silenced for so long, when Xio finally discovers the power of words and poetry, I really loved seeing her come into her own. All the walls she had built around her to protect herself crumpled slowly and she let us see her true feelings. The poems truly give us a glimpse into the mind of a teenage girl going through puberty - her jumbled feelings about kissing and touching, about consent, about feeling comfortable within herself and feeling strong enough to put herself out there and most importantly, wanting to do all these things even though she is not allowed to. Her character development is just brilliant and it was a joy seeing her grow. Her relationships with her twin and best friend are also beautifully written. However, I did struggle a lot with her mother’s character - she is definitely a troubled woman who lets her own personal guilt (or maybe shame) determine how her daughter should be and some might call her behavior overprotectiveness, but for me it was emotional abuse and sometimes physical too. Though the author tries to give us a sense that the mother-daughter duo are to trying to repair their relationship, I thought the ending was too simplistic and I would have definitely liked to see more remorse from the mother.
If you are skeptical about this book because of its format, don’t be. Just pick up the audiobook and let the author take you on this wonderful journey into the mind of an amazing strong young woman called the Poet X who will blow your mind with her raw honesty.