What an absolutely unexpected surprise! I am incredibly grateful to Rachel Tockstein of PRH for sending this arc my way.

I have to admit that until very recently, I haven’t sought out poetry books. I didn’t know what to expect with this one, but Sullivan’s vignette-style poems just made me want to dive deeper into a genre I’ve largely sidestepped for years. I wasn’t planning on feeling so connected to her and the way she wrote. Incidentally, I am also from Ohio, and also moved to the Pacific Northwest, and these unexpected overlaps that I shared with the author truly magnified how connected I felt to the writing.

Sullivan has a way with words that embody not only her own experience but can be taken an applied to the experiences of so many. With themes including fitting in, friendships, family, change, heartbreak, career transition and struggle, gratitude, and self-exploration, there is so much here that a wide range of readers can relate to.

I’m looking forward to more collections from Sullivan in the future!

I don't read a lot of poetry but the cover of this book drew me in. I appreciated Sullivan's words and how the poems told stories. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. Four stars.

2.75 rounded up bc I’m pretty sure it’s a debut and there aren’t too many reviews yet and I just don’t want to be THAT person
Really only about half of this was poetry with interspersed vignettes, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing but I wasn’t expecting it. I thought there were a few really great poems in here but I didn’t care much for prose and some poems didn’t work for me.

It’s possible I wasn’t the right audience, although I loved the premise of this and I do love poetry. This just wasn’t my jam but I’m sure it will be other people’s.