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.