3.5**

I’m honestly torn on this book. There were some very relatable pieces about love and loss and escapism through books, but beyond that the book was a massive mess of repetition. The book could’ve been half the size of not for the pines which were just rephrasings of earlier poems…

Not my favorite of the ones I’ve read by him, but I would still recommend it!

This book is the kind of “fake deep” stuff you reblog on Tumblr. I’m not saying that means the content is bad, just that as great as this stuff is, it feels a bit amateur-ish. Some people might really attach themselves to this kind of poetry I’d just rather reblog or retweet this kind of content.

it lives there.
silence is a home
and it houses everything
i’ll never say

—

this was
okay i liked
that there was
little to none of
the confusing breaks such
as this one

This collection was another one of heartbreak, self-love and feminism all in one package. A new addition to those was the topic of disorders, such as OCD and anxiety. I really wasn't expecting those and it was great that Sin shone a light on them.

Now, the writing is something I'm undecided on. There were rarely poems that I felt were really poetic. Don't get me wrong, they were important poems, relatable and I enjoyed some of them, but it was as if it wasn't poetry. I found a lot of the writing was basic and they didn't really scream poetic to me nor did they stand out much at all. Another thing with the writing: repetitive. I've said this in just about all my R.H. Sin reviews and I'm getting tired of saying it. There was less "they don't deserve you" and "you only need yourself" compared to [b:Planting Gardens in Graves|34325193|Planting Gardens in Graves|R.H. Sin|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1488114369s/34325193.jpg|55388464] but the same poems, same phrases were there over and over again and it just came across as stodgy.

This collection was really just a mixture of me either really enjoying the poems or downright speed-reading through them just to get it over with.

further from truth.
amazing isn’t it
the way that every lie that gets told
contains just enough truth to seem believable
but not enough truth to be true

I really liked this collection and I'm definitely intrigued to check out more of Sin's work. Like all works of poetry not everything works for me, but overall I enjoyed most of what I read. A lot of the poems focus on themes of moving on from a broken relationship, believing in your own value and finding someone who respects that. There are some that tackle mental illness. So this collection is definitely a certain vibe and not just something to pick up whenever. For the most part everything flows together, but I found the "call out" pieces jarring and just didn't mesh with the rest of the collection. That's what fell short for me and why I only gave this 4 stars. Other than that this was great.

I gave R. H. Sin a try because many of my students are really into his work. I like that his work has created an interest in poetry for many of my students, who give him a follow on social media. However, this was definitely not for me. There's something about it that didn't sit right with me. I found myself cringing at some of the words that, I think, were supposed to make me feel empowered or something. It felt repetitive and a little all over the place. There were a couple standout poems for me. For example, "i want to live on the pages / of your heart/ i want to find life / in the stories / that make you smile" I like that idea. Like anything, poetry is totally dependent on the reader so maybe this will be your jam.