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

I loved how unique this book of poems was. This is how poety is supposed to make you feel. It was so relatable

It was an engaging and fun read and I really liked some of the poems in this one a lot! Overall though, I was a teensy bit disappointed because I had such high expectations from this one.

I am working through and clearing out my list of galleys and unfortunately was unable to read this due to it being archived.

Review in a bullet-point format:
- I think this is a hit-or-miss type of poetry collection; and unfortunately, for me, it's more of the latter.
- I liked the concept of incorporating tracks and designing the collection in the style of a mixtape with two sides, but ultimately, the writing just seemed rather lackluster for me.
- The imagery was pretty overdone and seemed to offer weak images.
- None of the pieces successfully elicited any significant response from me. In fact, most pieces seemed rather bland and forgettable.
- A lot of the tracks just read like a person / having a conversation / with an imaginary person / but with line breaks / in random places / which / doesn't really strike / me as poetry.
- The blackout poetry wasn't my cup of tea either. I couldn't see any purpose behind the art. To me, it felt like meaningless aesthetics.

Disclosure: I received a digital ARC of Stuff I've Been Feeling Lately from the publisher (via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review.

I always enjoy reading poetry, sometimes there's a miss, and sometimes someone really nails it. This was fantastic, split into 2 sides, emotional driven, depressing, joyous, and I enjoyed every second of it.

I did not get a chance to read it before the PDF expired, so I am not reviewing this. I'm sorry.

A perfect choice for readers looking for the next "Milk and Honey" - "Stuff I've Been Feeling Lately" will appeal to millennials and Gen-Xers alike. Alicia Cook's voice is engaging and relatable.

I really loved this book. A total page turner, and I almost couldn't get enough of her words.

'Stuff I’ve Been Feeling Lately' is Alicia Cook’s self-published book, said to be written “over the course of 14 days” and well, I sure as hell can see that it’s been written in 14 days.

To be clear, I do applaud Cook for writing this collection to financially help the Willow Tree Center, but I will only praise this collection where praise is due. I had a lot of issues with this collection and the first one is that there is an abundance of over-used imagery. Again and again there are imagery like “car wreck”, “comb through…memories”, and “sharing a cup of coffee”, and usually, I’m fine with them, but goodness, everything feels like it’s been done to death in this collection. Moreover, the inclusion of songs for each poem is brilliant but I think that the songs should be there as a suggestion of amplifying the already present strengths that a poem has, not to bolster it because it’s weak and needs something else to make it strong.

Also, I don’t like how there’s a lot of telling here. In ‘Track Four’, there’s the repetitive “I love her…” followed by reasons why the poet loves this person. In ‘Track Ten’, we’re told that the persona has “…become accustomed to using moving boxes / as makeshift coffee tables”, and in ‘Track Sixteen, the persona states “The new normal is rarely an easy adjustment and / never truly feels, well, normal”. I’m not against telling in poetry, but there’s just too much of it. It makes it sound less poetic and more prose-like. As another example, lines like “You always want one more day. / You always want one more picture / as the old ones begin to fade” don’t sound poetic to me at all (‘Track Two, lines 1-3). Like, where’s the flow? Look at this stanza in Dylan Thomas’s poem ‘Do not go gentle into the good night’:

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Read it out loud (or find audios of others reading it) and you will hear how it flows beautifully with one’s voice. Then, go back to this:

Just because I don't trust you
doesn't mean I have trust issues.
Just because I won't commit to you
doesn't mean I have commitment issues.
Just because I watch what I eat
doesn't mean I have body image issues.
Just because people have left my life
doesn't mean I have abandonment issues.
Just because I yearn to grow and evolve
doesn't mean I have identity issues.

I know exactly who the hell I am. – Track Fourteen

Seriously, I picked up this book to read poetry, not “poetry”. I had a lot of hope since I’ve read some of the poems beforehand (as in, from the internet and not the current one I have) which I really liked. However, many were clichéd and even the blackout poetry couldn’t make this collection better. Seeing the direction popular “poets” and aspiring ones heading towards today really breaks my heart. When many of us who are alive now, are dead and the future generations are studying the poems of our time. When the future generations are comparing us to poets ranging from Sophocles and Homer to Alexander Pope, William Wordsworth, Emily Dickinson, Sylvia Plath, Allen Ginsberg, Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou, Ezra Pound, and Yang Lian, I hope that the groups or movements that our time has created is not called the ‘black mark’ of the history of poetry.

I really enjoyed the few poems that I read from this collection and I would recommend the book based on that. I will be seeking out a print copy of this to read in the future.

Unfortunately I didn't have the chance (time) to read this

This is a very interesting book. I like poetry first, and also there are so many modern poetries do not carry the meaning, however, it becomes superficial, lyrical. But this poetry makes me feel like connected, and I like it's sensitivity. Grateful to have the chance to review it.

I've really got in to poetry recently but this doesn't feel stale or like anything I've read before. Beautifully written and cleverly laid out like an old school mixed tape to a lost love.

I thought it was quirky, clever in its execution, and ultimately very moving.

Oh, this is a must read book of poetry! It was completely unique and spoke directly to many of my own thoughts and feelings. It was unlike any poetry book I've read before with the author's original poems paired with songs and then "remixed" as blackout poems.

The collection touches on a variety of topics: grief, loss, identity, and love. There's definitely something for everyone and even not, the author's words just hold so much power that you can't help but feel moved. I honestly felt like some poems were written just for me and that's why I loved this book so much! It cracked my heart open and made it bleed with emotion. Beautiful, beautiful stuff!

I now want to purchase a physical copy of this book because there's nothing better than being able to hold it to your heart. Plus, the blackout poetry was difficult to read at times. I enjoyed it even though I had to squint and zoom in, but I think my experience would have been better if that wasn't the case. Then again, this was a PDF review copy so I can't complain.

I can't recommend this gorgeous collection enough! Poetry lover or not, this is a book that people from all walks of life would enjoy. I know for sure it's one that I'll come back to again and again.

The concept and structure of this book is what makes it unique and stand-out in the myriad of poetry collections for me; the mixture of simple and black-out poetry with the addition of songs that accompany each poem is amazing!

Cook’s writing is so personal, there are times when you actually doubt that you’re not reading her diary instead of poetry – it feels like she’s spilling her feelings rather than words when writing. The poems are a sundry assortment that deal with love, grief, self-doubt, nostalgia, healing, growing – all things that everyone can relate to; you’ll be in love, experiencing a heartbreak, walking barefoot in your family home and fighting all of your demons whilst reading this collection!

Unpopular Opinion: Although I enjoyed both the sides, I loved side A much more than side B for some reason. Side B in no way "redeemed" side A for me because I was already blown away by Side A.

The cause that this book supports is also a reason which added in my adoration for the writer. Highly recommend this book; short, very readable, and very relatable.

Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review.
Thanks to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the opportunity to read and review Stuff I've Been Feeling Lately by Alicia Cook!

This book consists of poems labeled Track One through to Track Ninety-Two. Each poem is followed by a song the author was currently listening to when constructing the poem.

My favorite poem is Track Fourteen:

"Just because I don't trust you
doesn't mean I have trust issues.
Just because I won't commit to you
doesn't mean I have commitment issues.
Just because I watch what I eat
doesn't mean I have body image issues.
Just because people have left my life
doesn't mean I have abandonment issues.
Just because I yearn to grow and evolve
doesn't mean I have identity issues.

I know exactly who the hell I am."

That is a slam dunk of confidence and well being!

There are two sets of ninety two poems. The first set is each full poem with a coinciding song. The second set is a remix of each of the previous poems, in order, with specifically chosen words to create new, smaller poems with a different song that matches the remake better.

This book is full of healing poems that feel like a balm applied directly to your heart! I plan on purchasing this poetry book for the patrons at the high school library because I know several students who will appreciate the heartfelt words pouring into each poem. 5 stars!

I am going to be the woman you fear.

As of late, I've been expanding my poetry shelves and when I came upon Stuff I've Been Feeling Lately, I knew I had to give it a read. Something about the format is appealing to me and I had a feeling I'd love it. I didn't know just how much I would. Not only is the format told in a way that sparks my interest (mix tapes and poetry?!) the prose is so full of life that I found myself short of breath on more than one occasion. I kept saying this, this collection is modern poetry at its finest.

Alicia Cook has a way to her words that leads us readers to her thoughts. Straightaway, what she writes is what we feel. It's so easy to connect with her and there's this sense of honesty to every word that is impossible to describe. Poetry is all about connecting us to a person's heart and soul and Stuff I've Been Feeling Lately is a total nod to this. You're embraced by this intimate look at her life. The good, the bad, the everything. I loved exploring every minute of it and finished it in one sitting because it's just so good.


I smiled often. I cried during some moments. It's everything you'd expect a collection of poems to be. There was a bit of nostalgia in some words; the songs, too, held a glimmer of the past for me. I think that beyond the power of Alicia's words, the songs really kicked things up a notch because we can connect so easily to both of these things on their own. But together? Together it makes the experience more powerful and ties us into something new.

For example. Rent. The references to Rent connected me to the words far more than anything else did. If I'm there, if I'm describing myself, that musical is somehow always involved. It changed my life from the moment I saw it and anytime I hear it, it's like I'm alive once more. So seeing a bit of appreciation thrown towards it--and how it connects Alicia to her life and past--was something that drew me that much closer to it all. Something about its reference moved me. It didn't define the collection or what she portrayed in referencing it but it did tie it together.

Reviewing poetry is so hard because it's everything all at once. So I'm going to leave my review with a glimpse at one of my favourites from the set--and leave you with the hope that it takes your breath away and captivates you like it did me. You can't want anything more than to feel connected with the words and Things I've Been Feeling Lately is one of most relatable and complete feelings in the world and definitely one of my favourite discoveries this year. It's a rare release that gets better the longer you read it and I can't get over the feeling of a journey that came with it.

“You always want one more day.
You always want one more picture
as the old ones begin to fade.
You always want that one final hug
to have lasted just a tad longer.
You always want the fondness
of the remember-whens
to outnumber the might-have-beens.
You want more years, more months,
more weeks, more days,
more minutes, and more seconds.
You want the happily ever after
you always thought you deserved,
but the only thing actually promised
in this life is uncertainty.”

Is there anything more true than that?

This poetry collection was thoughtful, inspiring and beautiful. It still amazes me how poets can make me feel emotional while using just a few words or sentences, and Alicia Cook definitely did this, too.
The added 'remix' to this collection (black out poetry of her own poems) was very original, and touching. I loved every single poem, and every single second I spend reading this.