Flux is an absolutely beautiful collection and I enjoyed it from beginning to end. There is something so raw and beautiful about poetry and this collection is no exception to that. Very well done and would recommend!

As a note, a copy 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.

To put Flux in one word: WOW. I'm super late to getting this posted. A year late. And I've just reread the collection and realized that, somehow, I never finished my review of it when it was first published. Don't worry, I'm ashamed plenty enough for all of us and will be grounding myself, effective immediately.

In truth, about the delay, it was mostly because I was sick a lot last autumn and winter, and when I am sick I get foggy and hare-brained. Flux deserved a real review, anyways, and not a rushed or half-assed one like it might have gotten then. It didn't click in my mind that I hadn't gotten around to reviewing it.

Flux was like reading a shared diary between yourself and a soul-mate. A friend. A tangled series of thoughts and moments that make you come to life. It's the kind of collection that you absorb just as much as its words absorb you. Which sounds trippy, and maybe a little lame, in explanation but if you've read Flux you'll know exactly what I mean by it. It's smart and influential, captivating and honest.

There was so much in Flux that made me feel deeply connected to the prose and my highlighting was a bit out of control. Carloto comes across exactly as you'll hope: genuine. And her prose is intimate to just the right degree. Flux is just pure, heart pounding revelations that will leave the modern poetry lover feeling something indescribable.

I adored this collection and look forward to hearing more from Orion Carloto in the future.

Here’s the thing. I really, really wanted to like this book. I loved the art. I loved the themes and the overrall idea behind these poems. I just couldn’t stand the writing style.

Most of the poems were clichès or two-liners. This book of poetry felt a lot like a YA book of poetry, if that is even a thing? Anyway, I feel like I would have really found solace in this book freshman year of high school.

But if you’re not an angsty teen discovering heartbreak for the first time, this book may seem tedious, even overdone. It’s been awhile since a recent book of poetry has grabbed my attention and left me with something refreshing. No – this has all been done before.

I rate this book 2 out of 5 stars…and if I’m being honest, that extra star is for the art.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

...................................................

Last night,
I was drunk
on your
words.

This morning,
I am hungover
on your
silence.

Flux is a mix of traditional poetry and Instagram poetry with some diary-like entries thrown in. Carloto writes of a broken heart and the discourse that follows when someone leaves you.

I didn’t care much for the one sentence poems that seem so popular these days, but I did appreciate a few of the more traditional pieces. I can see this striking a chord with the younger crowd; it very much reads like the experience of a first love lost.

A set of love poems, once euphoric, sometimes dysphoric, always with an absence surrounding its words, in a simple restraint, trying to free herself from the weight of a love loss. As in the poem: Last night, / I was drunk / on your / words. / This morning / I am hungover / on your / silence. This book is nice to have a drink with.

Flux is a collection of poetry, prose, and beautiful sketches. I really liked how some pages were added straight from Orion’s journal, literally. Some pages were basically a scanned image from her diary.

The author shares her grieve and broken heart through out the entire book, but with every new piece of writing, she uses a different approach of vivid imagery.

I really enjoyed the majority of this book. I highly recommend it if you enjoyed reading The Princess Saves Herself in this One by Amanda Lovelace, which you can check my review of it here.



I want to share with you my thoughts on my favorite Poems in Flux. I will do that by writing down the poems’ names + my summary of it.

Ghosted: Smart and beautiful use of words to describe Love and emotional betrayal.

Daydreaming: I read it once to be left full of emotion; I read it twice to let it all sink in.

Moonlight: What was once mine, now belongs to her.

Loss: A classical tale of ” It was never meant to be, although I was the reason the reason why you believed that we were a thing.”

Thinking of you: D&D; aka, Despair & Dreams

Unforgettable: A retake on ” Baby I am the best, so you can’t do better.”

Bloody Knuckles: Tell Me You Love Me

Chronology: Beginnings and Endings are ironically, very similar.

A Confession: The heart wants what it wants.


See, it is a pretty interesting read. Let me know if you’ve read it, or plan on reading it soon.

I received an eARC in exchange with an honest review.
2 likes

Flux contains relatable sentimental one-liner quotes, poems and prose wrote by Orion Carloto. This collection shows grieving for a lost love and self-pityingly because of it. There are several poems that are I think the best ones, and these are: Delusional, Flesh and Bone, Moonlight, Haiku, Mirror Talk, Healing, Chronology, Wildflowers, Dream On, and Melancholy.

As for one-liner quote, the remarkable one for me is, "You are a dream and I don't want to wake up." Vultures, on the other, is the most outstanding story I'd read in this anthology, Those who experienced recent breakup, lost their one great love or even unrequited love could relate themselves into the theme and content of this book.

A while ago I decided I wanted to give contemporary poetry a try, after having analyzed classic sonnets for most of my school career. Maybe this wasn't the right anthology to start with. I think I'm already too accustomed to ye flowery language to fully appreciate Carloto's poems - or maybe the simple English she uses is just strangely at odds with my understanding of romance? Either way, this collection dedicated to heartbreak can get repetitive in the long run, and the writing is remarkably unoriginal too. Most of the subject matters she writes about sound alarmingly familiar, a déjà-vu of tumblr posts and power ballad lyrics, only rather egocentric. That is to say, I still liked <i>Flux</i>. Above all, the addition of a visual component through the amazing illustrations (though not drawn by the poet herself) and the various shapes Carloto's work takes on the pages, including the mixed-media aspect! Still, I'm going for the review-equivalent of a shrug.

The cover was inviting and I do like the creativity that went into this collection of poems.
I wanted to like this collection of poetry more than I did. I'd heard so many lovely reviews of it, but as I turned each page, I couldn't get into it. My heart wasn't there. I feel like I'm listening to someone's experience with no way to empathize. It feels entirely subjective in a way that's disconnecting for me. The writing itself was alright. There were poems that didn't have any structure at all and others that held themselves together long enough for me to finish them.

It's a shame because I really enjoy poetry, but I couldn't get myself to enjoy this one.

I want to thank Netgalley and the publisher for granting my request to read this book. This hadn't influenced my review/rating in any way.
I think this is a case of 'it's not you, it's me'. This book reminds me a lot of Lang Leav's books, but it's not as good, it lacks originality and it didn't make me feel anything. For a reason or another, I didn't connect at all with the feelings the author was trying to inspire. I didn't feel the intensity of the grief over losing an important relationship, I felt nothing. Sadly, this book was not for me. The illustrations were really beautiful and the writing was alright, but it lacked spark. It felt like any other break-up poem collection...

Beautiful compilation of texts and poems that made me feel the author's pain and happiness. Her writing made me feel every single emotion she was feeling, breaking my heart through the book.
The beautiful writing didn't feel as the writing of a first-time writer's, and even though I had been awaiting for this book due to my love and admiration towards the author and was scared it wouldn't be as good as I was hoping it to be, it didn't disappoint me one bit.
Would re-read this over and over.