Sadly did not finish this, although I loved the concept it wasn't quite for me! Thank you for the opportunity to review.

This was an enjoyable read and I would recommend it. thanks for letting me have an advance copy. I'm new to this author.

It is a good poetry collection but sometimes I felt a little bit lost. I didn't understand some of the metaphors and I found myself rereading some of the poems to see if it helped.

This collection of perry brought to you by Elana Wolff was good for the most part. It was written with some real beautiful parts but other parts felt forced and just didn't fit.

This poetry collection was unfortunately not for me.

While there were some deeply intellectually poems in here relating to nature, the future, identity, and self, I still had a hard time connecting to any of them, and the flow and writing style just wasn't my style nor for me.

I believe this collection is for some people, as people draw something very different from poetry individually, and so I definitely feel that a great many people will be able to connect with and draw emotion from any number of poems in this book.

Just not my cup of tea.

Everything Reminds You of Something Else is a collection of poetry that focuses on relationships, how we view them, the connections between people and how our experiences can change the light in which we view our relationships. I found this a quick and interesting read.

For a really colorful cover, I was hoping for a more entertaining read with a bit more oomph? Unfortunately, my eyes pretty much glossed over as I read through this collection.

I think a lot of the pieces lacked depth, not in the sense that they totally lacked meaning but in the sense that they seemed to not have any relational significance. The poems just felt really disjointed from anything, in my opinion. I wanted to establish some kind of connection with them, but I never did.

I really struggled with this collection, and if I'm being honest, I don't really remember any highlights or memorable passages. Despite that, I think this is really just a case of it's-not-you, it's-me. I'm fairly certain other readers would appreciate Everything Reminds You of Something Else more than I did.

Disclosure: I received a digital ARC of Everything Reminds You of Something Else from the publisher (via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review.

Actual rating: 3 stars

I had kind of expectations from this poetry collection, but yes it failed miserably. I have never read much complex poetry, so this collection was more a sort of "not for me". From the first poem itself I was not able to understand anything. The poet used so many complex words that it made it more difficult to understand. Apart from 2-3 poems I was not able to connect to anything and they just went over my head because of the hard language.

This book is certainly not for the people like me who enjoys reading poetry of Rupi Kaur or Alicia Cook. But yes if you can easily relate to a difficult kind of poetry, then you can certainly try this. As I said they didn't really work for me but they might be for you.

I'm very into poetry and I either really love or really hate a poetry book, but I felt very...indifferent about this, which doesn't happen much. The words just felt like words. I didn't think they were BAD, I just didn't find them resonant. I don't know if it's because I was the wrong person to read this book, or if it just was the book itself, but regardless, it wasn't for me.

Poetry is incredibly hard to critique because each individual reader’s experience is unique. Everyone gets something different out of it, and a style that might work for one reader might not work for another. This is one of those collections that I believe really backs these things up. Wolff’s writing is very beautiful and I’m sure, for that reason, there are many people who would enjoy her work. Her unique view of the world shines through in the way she interprets and records small snapshots of life. Her imaginative and whimsical style is juxtaposed against her use of more serious topics and issues. However, for me, this particular collection fell a bit flat and did not affect me in the way I think it was meant to.

To be completely honest, I did not understand many of the poems in this particular collection. What would normally be an extremely quick read took me much longer than anticipated, since I was attempting to decipher some sort of meaning in each obscure poem. There were only a handful that I understood, and the rest felt very choppy and disjointed. I spent most of my reading experience feeling very confused and searching for so much more than I was able to find. I love diving into and interpreting complex poetry, but this style of writing did not click with me, making it just a bit too difficult to understand. Though Wolff’s writing is clearly skilled and her style may work for some readers, I was unfortunately not one.

A great collection of poetry. The writing is wonderful and conjured up really great imagery. Recommended for fans of complex poetry.

I think I've burned myself out on poetry books because I wasn't really feeling this one so much. There were a few poems and lines that I did like, but most of her references flew over my head.

A thought-provoking metaphorical masterpiece.

I would start with saying the title explains it all. Everything does remind you of something else and this collection made me feel and experience that more than anything. There's a poem in here that incorporated topics like transgender, suicide, eating disorders using animals (at least I think that was what it was), if this didn't convince you already to read this collection I don't know what will. The best thing about this collection was how allusive it was - no boundaries, no clear-cut meanings, everything a practical mystery - every piece was what meaning you gave to it and what lessons you learned from it, the author didn't tell you anything, didn't impose anything. Accomplishing this in poetry is not only difficult but incredible and I absolutely adore the author for this.

Vivid imagery and excellent use of metaphors - the practical highlight of this collection that made even the intangible, dense poetry pieces beautiful and beloved. The power of a metaphor is so thoroughly explored in this book, I can't even! There were times I could hardly believe how the simplest of ideas were transformed into complex, meaningful matter, by appropriately making use of this neglected figurative device. It impressed me. Period.

The themes of this collection are so random and relatable; it includes everything from nature, weather, love, eating disorders, body image, mental health, everyday routine things (going to the bar, art gallery, for a walk), perceptive musings - just a sundry assortment of everything I could possibly think of, written in a form that I loved to bits. Special mention to important themes like looking beyond material reality, that are hardly probed in the collections I've read and were put together in this collection so effortlessly. I don't really focus on the titles while reading poetry collections, but this collection changed that because the titles were not only a key factor in understanding the piece but crafted masterfully to be so apt and fitting for every single piece.

The structure of the poetry was unique and captivating as well; it was filled with constantly changing formats which was refreshing. The use of visual symbols like these ">" "<" was frequent and for some reason even though it reminded me of mathematics which I hate, I still liked it. See, there is an example of "everything reminds you of something else" - amazing poetry reminded me of the subject I loathed haha.

“out of form > disorder” – Riding to Ronda (one of the best examples)

However, this collection was simultaneous with forgettable for me. Even though the poetry was beautiful, except some favourite pieces (Metamorphoses, The Stunt Bear, The Bell Tree, Lo, Update on nearness, Thin Girl, Meridian, Elemental, Think of a name for the bird in the glossy photo, K, Belt of living things: A Zodiac Suite, Cuy, Strand, World Light), nothing really stuck with when I really wanted it to. I really really wanted it to. Maybe it's just me and my disintegrating memory. Although, a short collection, it took me quite some time to devour it because of the fact that the poetry didn't give itself away easily; I had to scour through each piece to understand it and though at the very least, it was an adventure in itself, and I honestly enjoyed it, at times, it was annoying to some extent as well. Poetry doesn't usually takes me this much time to read and this did but that can also be accounted for this being a riveting collection. I don't know. I'm conflicted here.

Furthermore, Wolff has a habit of switching from one thing to another in a poem frequently and even though most of the time it made sense, there were times when I was left completely confused which was devastating. I did notice that this collection had an added surprise for me: exquisite vocabulary, yay! I realize though that the complicated words and syntax might not be everyone's cup of tea and did make this collection less tangible (even I had to search the meanings of some words), thus, that and the out of the blue fillers in this collection added to this being a 4 star instead of a 5 star read.

Overall, Wolff's voice is original and elegant and this collection is definitely worth a read but I wouldn't recommend it as an introduction to poetry for a non-poetry reader, it's too complex to be that.

Personally this turned out to not be a book I really connected with. I love poetry but I'm really still discovering what kind of poetry that is.

I'm not really the biggest fan of this collection. To me, there wasn't much that linked them together as a collection and half of the poems made no sense. The writing also wasn't my style. There were a couple poems that stood out to me, but the rest are forgettable. Maybe someone else would enjoy it more, but I personally didn't.

It took me a while to get through this one because it was crazy how the poet used SO MANY complex words! I think half of these poems just went over my head because I couldn’t understand them.

I mean, I did enjoy the way the poems were written but because they were so fancy, I couldn’t really fall in love with any of them.

For me the beauty of poems lies in it’s simplicity so this poetry collection was not my cup of tea. However, if you enjoy fancy words then definitely pick this one up. It could be a bit of a pain for people who don’t generally enjoy poetry but don’t let that stop you from trying it out.

This is one of my favorite books now. I just love the way the author wrote this story. And somehow I found lots of similarity with my own life in this book. I definitely recommend it to everyone to read it. :))

Elana Wolff is a celebrated award winning Canadian writer, in addition to “Everything Reminds You of Something Else” she has written several collections of poetry and a book of essays. With other poets she has co-produced additional volumes of poetry, and translated some into French and Hebrew. Dividing her professional time she has taught English at York University in Toronto, and at The Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

Whether Wolff turns her attention to mindfulness that feature the natural elements of nature, animals, earthly motion, atmospheric conditions, or a summer voodoo lily plant-- her writing highlights imagery of linear poetry styles. Favorite poets Rilke (Elegy of Six), multiple sections of Franz Kafka’s, and the strength of Biblical Sampson were mentioned.
The poem “Cord” describes gasses, heat, radiation: (the song) “We Are Stardust” Wolff continues on to say we are bats, roses, and poetry. A diagnosis arrived (not specified) and a visit to an art museum followed, (at an unnamed location) where paintings, watercolors of ships were seen, with conflicting waves. The poem “Thin Girl” tells us about an anorexic girl, who is taunted by a stranger, spritzes and perfumes herself while wondering if she would be more lovable if her hair were longer. “Elemental” is a poem of abstract sadness, the glowing wings of a bird (from the book): “Lithium was in the beginning,/ elementally light. Its salts have happened down/to us as remedy for depression. We have slept by the black dog.” The poem then moves to the direction of a pond, the souls who love the shape of a name.

Other poems titled “Air”- “Meridian” – “Promontory” –“Azimuth” – “Quadriptych” opens with “Come midnight friends and fill up the bar.” before dissolving into a smoky observations of distortion. “Think of a Name for the Bird in the Glossy Photo” -- while working on a collage art project, (at 2:00 am) the artist reflects on madness. “The Innocent Spin of Dreaming Real” and “Theory of Dreaming” – of finding solace in a winter garden, ”Lifetimes pour before me”. A hunchback girl, air thickness, dissolving into a paranormal experience.
I could use one word to describe my first impression of this collection: “Trippy”. It is helpful for readers to have basic knowledge of mental illness, as Wolff doesn’t directly address the subject matter of mental or emotional instability. Read carefully, these poems fit together for the best and highest level of understanding. ~ With appreciation to Guernica Editions Inc. via NetGalley for the direct e-copy for the purpose of review.