3 stars
Overall, a good collection of short poetry. Various topics are covered and themes quickly emerge including recognizing one’s worth and letting go of what hurts you. One issue I generally have with poetry of this nature is that the short format often fizzles out. Too often short poetry feels like the beginning of an idea or a snippet of a poem rather than a full one. This collection does a great job avoiding this. Despite the short format, many of these pack a punch. They are concise and tight, using their length to add power to their message.
This is the first collection I’ve read from Sin. There were many poems I really enjoyed and backed fully. Others felt a bit awkward or misguided. At the start of the book I expected to rate it highly but by the end there was quite a bit of repetition that made me lose interest. It was still a good collection, but harping on the same messages and themes pulled down the rating for me.
There is quite a bit of advice given to women specifically in this collection. There were some great empowering messages. However, some felt slightly odd coming from Sin. Words of encouragement were mixed with messages about men needing “to step up or lose their women to men like me.” Lines like that made his intentions feel a bit tainted. He presents himself as a nice guy helping women, but also as deserving and slightly entitled. This contrast felt a bit problematic. The ones in which he provides advice without bringing himself into it felt stronger.
For the most part, Sin creates many fantastic images and gives helpful reminders to his readers. There were a few misses for me in this collection, but overall I enjoyed it.