I had the chance to read other books by this author before, but this one is my favorite so far. This time I could actually feel his emotions on each page. Some poems were better than others, but still, it was a good read.

Who knew that few words could evoke such emotion?

Thank you NetGalley for an arc. I'd recommend this book to those who love poems.

This book was...weird. As in, I honestly thought for a while it was some kind of joke book. Or some kind of hipster "so hideous it's ironically good" crap. It's honestly that bad and that weird.

It read like it was written by either a teenager (melodramatic language, cliche one-liner platitudes, bizarrely graphic content) or by someone who *thinks* this is what POETRY should be (odd structures and rhyming schemes, nonsensical punctuation, awful metaphors).

Listen, I love poetry. I read a lot of it. I studied it in college. I'd like to think I can tell when something is well-done but not my taste versus when something is just bad. In this case, I really believe it's just BAD.

The moment I came across Michael Faudets first book, I took a new turn in poetry. The moment I knew that Michael Fudet and other poert Lang Leav shared a passion together I was mesmerized how their poetry spoke to each other. Faudet poetry is mesmerizing, steamy, sexy, and leaves you naked for more. I enjoy reading Faudets work through his social media but was glad I was able to get a glimpse on his new work. Recommend? absolutely. Will you get hot and steamy? ABSOLUTELY

I am beyond disappointed with this. What I love about poetry is the emotions it translates and we connect with but, with this collection, there was none of that. It focused too much on the physical aspect of relationships and when we got to the "Kitty Club" I just gave up.
Seriously, what did I just read?

I have been wanting to read this book for the longest time, even in general wanted to read one of his books because I knew they would be good and this one didn't disappoint me. Not a lot of people like poetry and I think many don't because the ones they have been given to read aren't all that emotional or powerful to read. This one definitely is amazing, to say the least.
My favourite poem in this book is 'Stay Together' . If you get a chance to pick up this book you should read that poem. I also quite like his writing style as it flows with the next poem and you write such a small amount of words but feel so much. I quite like the way he describes people and how he links in animate objects to feelings and memories.
In conclusion I recommend this book to 15+ because it does have sexual descriptions inside and you have to be mature and old enough to understand what the words sing.
5/5 It is worth multiple reads because you will always find a new concept and perhaps create another outlook on life.

As a note, an e-galley of this novel was sent to me via NetGalley by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not effect my opinions in any way. (4.5 stars out of 5)

Oh, I've been so overwhelmed with wonderful poetry lately. All this prose, all this intimacy, makes me feel full of some sort of emotion I can't quite express. Michael Faudet is, as per usual, exquisite in the way his prose comes to life. There's something fulfilling about even his shortest of expressions and I cannot get enough of it. I mean that--it's not as though his work is flaw free (no one's is) but at the end of the day it accomplishes everything it was meat to do.

I loved the way that intimacy--far, wide, casual--was explored. There were many standouts that I can't wait to highlight in a physical copy upon its release because, much like with Rupi Kaur, Sabrina Benaim, Amanda Lovelace, Lang Leav and Alicia Cook it's impossible to not feel something at every turn of pen. Isn't that what we all love about poetry to begin with? To fell--compelled, related, understood. To learn.

Smoke & Mirrors accomplishes something that is truly captivating to readers. Not overly explicit, not understated, not anything other than what it is and was meant to be. I loved nearly every page of this release and can't wait to get my hands on more work published by Faudet because it just crackles with fiery life. That sounded dumb. I'm just really hyped, okay?

A must-have for all lovers of prose. This is one of the best releases of 2017 in terms of poetry.

It was alright, but I felt like I've read most of these lines before ("impossible to resist", etc) in the first two books. I wrote down a few words, however:

"There were so many paths I could have taken in my life (...). Perhaps I should have followed my instincts (...). I ended up choosing the path of least resistance. The one that looked the easiest. Only to discover it was made of quicksand."

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Sadly, my own computer is damaged and I have been unable to download this copy to read. I am genuinely interested in Michael Faudet's work having previously read Dirty Pretty Things.

After hearing so many good things about this author’s previous work I was excited to read this.
What first captured my attention about this book was the cover it’s stunningly designed and follows a similar theme to the covers of his previous two books.
As the author states Smoke & Mirrors is a collection of short stories, poetry and prose. Every line is written beautifully, you can tell the author is passionate about every word he writes.
I enjoy reading poetry books as they give me a chance to indulge in raw emotion, and this was certainly a book filled with emotion. Reading through the carefully formed pages made me feel as if I was getting a welcome glance into the authors life.
The book does have sexually explicit elements which may not be to everyone’s taste, I admit it was a bit too explicit for my liking, although there are many passages that aren’t explicit at all.
Overall this was a pleasing read, I’m glad I got a chance to read it and look forward to seeing future work by this author.
My personal favourites from this collection are: I Wish, Stay Together, and Love Yourself.

Smoke & Mirrors is the second Michael Faudet book of poetry I've read and I seem to like this better than his first one. It has a mixture of short stories and poetry all dealing with relationships, falling in love, sexual, emotional, life in general. It definitely is worth the read if you didn't really feel connected with his other works and want to give him another try.

I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I crossed my fingers this collection will be my cup of tea. It's a variety of poems, quotes and short stories and honestly, it slightly improved. It's good Michael Faudet's erotic poems were toned down and explores more on love and relationship. Some of them are cheesy and cliché, some stood out like Pathways , A Long-Distance Relationship, The Hanging Tree and Nobody's Fool. However, there's one piece I didn't like: The Kitty Club. It's ridiculous.

Just within this year, I was able to read the first two poetry books of Michael Faudet and I was quite disappointed, thus I have to rate them low. But this latest and soon to-be-published poetry book of Faudet is very impressive! I can count a lot of poems that are remarkably well-written most notably Destined To Be Yours, Love, and A Beautiful Deception. Once released, I would definitely obtain a copy because this is for keeps.