Poetry is so subjective that I always find it hard to review. Personally, I love this style of poetry – the stream-of-consciousness, open, raw, and vivid way that K.Y. Robinson and similar poets write just gets me, I feel it deep down and it never fails to move me. I find it so remarkable how people can use words to create images and feelings in this way, and although I know some readers find it overly simplistic, I personally find it magical.

one moment life
is more pigmented
than technicolor.
glitter flows
through my veins
and the stars
in my eyes dilate
and burst
into delusions.

K.Y. Robinson explores desire in all its forms and the need and want that we as humans have: to feel fulfilled emotionally, physically, and spiritually. A want that doesn’t always disappear if we are struggling with mental illness, if we’ve been abused or suffered trauma, if we’ve been told that we are too much, too loud, take up too much space. It’s personal and powerful and I adore the dedication – ‘to those who lie awake burning.’

when you look at me,
stars cluster in your eyes
but i often wonder if
my black holes
will swallow them whole
because deep down
i’m a connosieur
of sabotage.

If you’ve read and loved collections by writers like Amanda Lovelace, Rupi Kaur, or Lang Leav, you’ll probably love this too. It has the same power, the same rawness and pain, the same relatability that so many of us feel.

there is a universe
swirling inside you.

you have to learn to be
your own earth,
wind, fire
and water.

you are a natural
phenomenon-
not a natural disaster.

Poetry has always held a piece of my heart. So, when given the opportunity to read a poet's work, especially one new to me, I try to approach it with an open mind. Robinson's poetry is a cocktail of longing - of injustice, mental illness, desire, trauma, and need. Her poetry, while not the most grammatically correct, is painfully honest and reveals the fragile but resilient qualities of a human being. There were times, I admit, when her descriptions felt odd and out of place (especially the more sexually infused ones) but at the same time, it's her perception that makes this poetry unique. Because I could relate to some of her poems and I felt her writing style was beautiful, I was able to overlook the awkwardness of wording (and the Pepto Bismol cover).
Overall, a decent collection of poetry!

This beautiful collection takes the reader on a journey through trauma, love, loss, and recovery. I love Robinson's style and the emotion she evokes. Her poems feel deeply personal, but also very relatable. I look forward to reading more of her work in the future.

I've never read English poetry before and I wanted to try something new. When I looked up the synopsis of The Chaos of Longing, I wasn't sure what I was expecting. It sounded interesting, so that's the main reason was I requested this book on Netgalley.

The Chaos of Longing has poems about love, trauma, heartbreak and it's also divided in 4 sections. Each section has its own theme. The Chaos of Longing is so raw and honest. It's also something new for me. There were times that I was thinking and kept thinking about a certain poem, because I didn't really know what the meaning of it was. Like I mentioned before, poetry is new to me, so I don't always know how to read it and see the meaning behind it. Some poems were really obvious and others were a mystery.

I love The Chaos of Longing and I want to read more of K.Y. Robinson's work!

Thank you so much to Andrew McMeel publishing via netgalley for sending me an ARc copy of the chaos of longing by k.y. Robinson. The chaos of longing Will be released on September 26, 2017

She delt with strong and emotional topics that made me think and reflect on my own life.

I always enjoy certain poems more than others but personally i really enjoyed the majority of the poems.
Her writing style was beautiful and descriptive and i highly recommend this collection.

3.5/5 stars - ARC provided by NetGalley

This was a very well written poetry collection. I really enjoyed the four different parts, I could really sense the different tone with each poem I read. Overall, some of the poems felt lacking and a few felt simply repeated. With that being said, there were 5 poems I really enjoyed: Metamorphic, Path, Tone Deaf, Repeat After Me, When You're Feeling Low

I appreciate the poems on self love and learning to love yourself first.

**There is a trigger warning in this book for sexual trauma, suicidal thoughts, racism and sexism.**

The Chaos of Longing

by K.Y. Robinson

Andrews McMeel Publishing

Poetry

Pub Date 26 Sep 2017

I am reviewing a copy of The Chaos of Longing through Andrews McMeel Publishing and Netgalley:

This is perhaps even more difficult to review than the earlier collections of poetry I have reviewed as these poems deal with such tough issues as mental illness, abuse, survival, trauma, shame, justice.

The poems in this book, have a way of cutting to the very core of the issues they talk about.

Due to the subject matters herein I recommend this book for high-School age and older.

I give The Chaos of Longing five out of five stars.

Happy Reading.

I guess I've become immune to this subgenre. At first I was annoyed at these confessionals masquerading as poetry, but I've come to acknowledge the catharsis it offers both writers and readers.

The Chaos of Longing is a book of poetry that contains four sections, each with a different theme that surrounds the idea of loving, losing and finding yourself in and outside of relationships. In terms of what I liked, there were a few pieces here and there, but not memorable enough to want to read them over again. It's a collection that contains a lot of repetition in it's phrases and themes, so that may be why nothing stands out as a wow-moment. This collection is quite a lot like the whole modern poetry movement--no fancy metaphors, no flowery language, just simple ideas with a message (usually messages of finding ways to heal after bad relationships). This may work for people who aren't familiar with poetry at all, but I find it a little too repetitive with what's already out there in the market.

This book was a very powerful read and also very empowering. Writing the book in poetry form is an amazing idea and interesting way to get the storyline across to its readers.
the storyline is a hard topic to handle, but it is one that needs to be discussed and written about. The author is only empowering other people to speak the truth and not allow the past to dictate the rest of their lives. The author is brave for sharing her story with the readers and allowing us to experience the pain and suffering that she had to overcome to become the woman is now.
Empowering young women and men with this book will help society to learn and help combat this from continuing to happen now and in the future. I would love to read more from this author and just learn from her experience and have people realize that if it happens that it is not their faults and that they should never blame themselves.

The Chaos of Longing is a very beautiful and raw collection of poems that explores the different aspects of desire. I wasn't sure what to expect going into this novel since I never really read a ton of poetry but I picked this up on a whim and was really surprised by the beauty and truthfulness of the words. There is a trigger warning since it explores the different aspects of human desires which isn't always "pretty." All in all, a very truthful collection and one that definitely opens the eyes of the reader.

Actual rating: 3.5 Stars

This was my third poetry book that I read this year after Milk and Honey and Stuff I’ve Been Feeling Lately. I loved both those poetries and expected same from it, as the title seemed entruiging. I came to know about this title through poetry recommendations on NetGalley. However, it was way too different than the formers.


Theme and Writing
------------------------------------

The theme of this poetry was eroticism which makes it sensual in a way. But it was a little difficult for me to gasp sexuality in this genre and I was feeling uncomfortable in lot of poems (though I like Eroticas, it din’t worked in poetry for me).

This poetry collection is divided into four parts: Inception, Longing, Chaos and Epiphany. The good thing about this poetry was that the author is speaking about herself in most of the parts. She is a woman of color (WoC) and we can imagine to some point that what she might have been gone through in her childhood. A few poems shows her roots and felt like raw thoughts.

This collection is like a story where the author is speaking about her growing experience (moreover how it affected her) like lust, heartbreak, healing and self love. I really liked that how she started the book with a “trigger warning” showing that she cares about the mental health of her readers. This was really a thing to appreciate. In today’s world, where everyone is going through too much stress because of their professional or personal lives, mental health is something which is being compromised the most and often goes unattended.

It highlights another good point – effects of longing. Sometimes, we are so engrossed in something that we can’t think properly and take better decisions, like loving someone so blindly that that person often neglects the bad effect that it is having on them and thus makes them indecisive. They just become desperate.

However, writing was beautiful and felt true. I enjoyed the overall emotional journey of the author. Some of the poems were sad but in the end, it gives the perfect and hopeful message. My favourite part was definitively Epiphany. There were some poems which I liked while I couldn’t make any connections to others. Two of my favourites are below:

"

elements ii

there’s a universe
swirling inside you.

you have to learn to be
your own earth,
wind, fire
and water.

you are a natural
phenomenon—
not a natural disaster."

"

the galaxy is yours

star your own sky.
drink the shooting stars.
lasso the moon.
take a bite.
feel the juice
of self-love
running
down your chin
and laugh madly.

you’re still alive.
you’re still alive.
you’re still alive."


Final Thoughts
--------------------------------

I like this collection, not whole but definitely a few poems were good. I liked the writing style of the author and I am definitely waiting to read some more from her. If you are into poetry and like this kind of theme, then you should definitely read it.

"darling,
find passion
and self-worth within
instead of locking them
inside of men
who like swallowing keys
to keep you to themselves"

I stumble upon this poem while giving a review for another poetry book. This is the new and expanded version of this poetry collection This book was divided into four sections. It was about longing and its effect, how can we be desperate for validation, sensual stuff, and self-love.

The writing was beautiful but there's a lot of eroticisms which made me feel uncomfortable.

The Chaos of longing will be released this September 26th, 2017 by Andrews McMeel Publishing (first published May 31st, 2016). A copy was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Some beautiful poetry, but the topics were not necessarily for me!

*Trigger Warning: Sexual abuse and other issues are used throughout the book*

If you have ever faced the feeling of being used, broken as result of abuse of any kind or just want to read a truly honest, raw and emotion jerking poetry book, this is the one for you.

Robinson touches upon troubling times of multiple kinds giving them beautiful twists to end the tragic tale being spun throughout each poem, love and hate of self and others is heavily used creating imagery in our minds of events and understandings of our own created.

I can relate and really recommend if you can too.

Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

It's a collection of poertry divided into four section. It has some beautiful free style poetry which is thoughtful.
The theme of the poetry stands out with every section but I found a few ideas pretty repetitive but new.
I have recieved some lovable poems from this collection to treasure forever.
I recommend it to all the poetry lovers who have keen interest in reading poetry of such kind.

This collection has made me re-think my concept of poetry.

Since starting I got captivated by the ideas and feelings captured here, but yet after I finished I found myself lost at words. I can't remember a single poem, and there's not one thing that truly resonated with me.

While some of them are incredible and heartfelt, other poems read to me like just a scramble of words. Like a regular sentence or one of those 6am pre-coffee thoughts one put under the instagram caption of the starbucks cup... cutesy but not really poetical.

I really liked this collection but I can't say I loved it, it just wasn't the right one for me.

Would I recommend it, tho? Of course, for poetry tells a different story to each who reads it, and this might be the book for you.

Emotions can be felt through each poem but I don't seem to connect to some of them. Maybe because I am not comfortable reading some of them especially the sexual ones.

A mixture of short and long, every poem reveals an intimate detail about the author. With every page, readers are taken through Robinson's personal Inferno as she attempts to undergo catharsis to help not just herself but others like her. From "Women Like Me", "Self Love", "Melanin" to "Dear Future Lover", Robinson discusses self healing and her own personal identity in relation to her ethnicity and gender. Also, she gives advice to male readers on how to be better mates to 'Women Like Her". I highly recommend this book of poetry to anyone, and will actually be adding a physical copy of it to my bookshelf.

I really enjoyed some of the poems, mostly from the last section. Some were overly sexual. I liked following along with the author's journey as she realized the importance of self care in relationships. However, I did not really connect with the poems, as beautiful as the writing was.