As I mentioned in the post for the other volume of poetry I reviewed today, I feel something of an obligation to read a book of poetry now and then because I published one myself. Poetry is a tough sell these days and is in fact a dying art in terms of publishing. I actually find that strange, because in this modern world of short attention spans and sound bites, you would think that poetry would do well. On the other hand, sound-bites tend to be the lowest common denominator, which is the very antithesis of good poetry, so maybe that's why it doesn't do so well?!

This does makes me wonder though, if poetry has become too disconnected from real life for its own good. It used to be that poetry rhymed and while as a kid I never did quite get the non-rhyming ones, as an adult they made a lot more sense. I'm not advocating for rhyming poems here although I personally have no problem with them. For some reason - the leading suspect is disdain - they're out of fashion these days in poetry books, but are an area of endeavor that seems to have been usurped not by greeting cards, but by popular music these days. Perhaps, when all is said and done, this is what rap music is? I don't know! I'm not a fan of rap, but it does seem to be the natural if belated heir to the beat generation of the forties and fifties.

I would definitely advocate for poetry that's more accessible, and especially that's accessible to children, who are actually being spoiled by growing-up learning only that a poem has to rhyme line for line. A poem can rhyme in many more senses than the last word in the line: it can rhyme in sense, in meaning, in feeling and in other ways. This is the heart of poetry, and it's something children do not learn. They're taught exactly the opposite with nursery rhymes and rhyming children's picture books, which makes it hardly a surprise that when those children become adults, they don't pay poetry much mind, associated with childhood things and put away as it evidently is.

This particular volume was a pleasure to read, although it seemed a little odd to read in the front of the book that it was a work of fiction! It was the standard disclaimer, but when related to a book of poetry that's hopefully pulled from the author's heart and soul, what can that mean exactly? I wonder!

The first poem, "Espejitos" (Mirrors - that's what living in Texas will get you!) was highly topical and had #MeToo written all over it; not literally, but in the words of Doctor Who, "Give me a crayon and some time...." The book has a butterfly image superimposed on the text, appropriately a glass-winged butterfly, but I have to say that parts of the image were so dark that they obscured the text. I'm not sure if this was intentional. If so it was an interesting effect: a poem about women being undervalued, effaced, unseen, retired to a haunting mirror image, abused, and then being further abused by something as delicate as a butterfly?

There were other poems accompanied by images, but none of those seemed to interfere with the text like this first one did, except perhaps for "Wind-up Girl", which featured a picture of a ballerina collapsed almost like a tortoise retreated into a shell. The picture was dark and the text white, but some of it disappeared into the tutu it must be reported! Maybe this was the #MeTutu movement? The poem and image very-well recalled the dancing girl in a music box and how captive she is.

I really liked several of these poems, in particular "In rejoice of Kindred Grief", "Two Young Wives", and "She learns How to Disappear." I particularly liked "Woman" which in its succeeding line echoing the previous reminded me so much of some of my own work and harks back to what I said above about rhyming in ways other than matching the last words of each line. I will quote a small section of this to illustrate:
I split myself apart
parting seas
seaward bound prow
prowling wood hewn rough
rough as the chill of
children...
There's no rhyme here in words as such, but there is rhythm in how the first word of the next line catches the last word of the previous one and reinterprets it, continuing the poem. This is very much to my taste and something I like to bring to prose when I can, if I can. It's especially apparent in my parodies where I feel no need to constrain myself, so for me, it was a real joy to read it here and see how well done it was.

The book is quite short, only some forty-six pages of which only thirty or so are poems, but it says a lot in that small space - itself evoking the small space some women are forced to occupy in this male-dominant world, so even that worked. I can't claim that I loved everything in the book by any means, but poetry is like a box of chocolates...no, I won't go there! Suffice to say there was more enough to love, and I commend this as a highly worthy read, full of heart and meaning.

This collection of poetry were a quick read - at only 30 pages it's an easy read that you can fit into your lunch break. I enjoyed some of the poems in the book, however i don't always lean towards romantic poetry and there were a few I didn't connect to, but overall I'd say I don't regret reading it. I feel people don't read poetry as much as they do fiction/novels, so I'm always open to explore modern poetry books and poets.

↠ Rating: 3.5 stars

“We live in a world of unfulfilled fairytales.”


Glimmerglass Girl is a collection of poetry that mainly focuses about women and being a woman. As it states in the beginning there are a huge variety of different women on earth and not everyone will be able to relate to the same things. That being said there were a number of poems in here that I deeply connected with and will forever be rereading.
I loved Walrath's writing style and although there might be room for approval it was refreshing to read. Now, where this collection went a little wrong for me was with the size, to me it just felt too short. It had barely started when I reached the last page and for that reason I was not really able to get fully emerged in the mood. That is really the only critique I can think of.
Another thing I really enjoyed were the illustrations throughout the book.

All in all I really look forward to keep reading Holly Walrath's work!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a really nice collection of emotional poetry about womanhood .
While I didn't connect directly to all the text I could still appreciate it for its meaning.

Written In a uniquely deep and expressive style.

Nice use of words and language in these moody and atmospheric yet very readable poems. I liked the incorporation of drawings and photographs as well. A good collection!

Taking into consideration that I am a novice when it comes to poetry, I found this a little hard to follow. The style of writing is absolutely beautiful and lyrical but I did find myself reading it several times so I could grasp the entire poem and meaning. I believe that someone who follows and has more understating of poetry would LOVE this book and I would absolutely recommend it to them

While I can see that there is both talent and meaningful use of language in these poems, I can't say that they particularly spoke to me or stirred my emotions as I feel great poetry must.

Glimmerglass Girl is advertised as a feminist collection of poetry exploring the struggles of womanhood. While the language and wording was beautiful, this collection just wasn’t for me.

Normally when I read poetry I can develop a connection with the poet, however I found it difficult with this one. It didn’t seem like my type of poetry. Overall, it was not a bad book, however it did not connect with me.

Holly Lyn Walrath’s ‘Glimmerglass Girl’ is a steady descent into self
August 3, 2018

“My Glimmerglass Girl is merely a shadow of myself, so I ask only that you hold her gently, for she may slip away before you have come to fully know her.”

Holly Lyn Walrath opens her collection with this subtle entreaty, and the words set the tone for the rest of her work—a searching, ethereal book of poems.Glimmerglass Girl

Glimmerglass Girl, just out from Finishing Line Press, covers a variety of themes, but centers around the search for self-knowledge and self-recognition. This search’s incarnation is decidedly feminine, and includes moments of profound solitude, as well as the motion of being in relationship to another.

There are meditations on heart and soul, with a tender probing of loneliness underneath. Many of the poems have a mirrored and echoing quality—they seem to come from the borderlands of the psyche, where who we know we are meets the subconscious and mysterious currents below.

While I spend most of my writing time on short stories and longform fiction, I’ve been drawn to both reading and exploring speculative poetry of late. Walrath’s collection was a chance to see what that art form can do when it comes to delineating and illuminating a life.

The obliqueness of the speculative elements in this collection calls to me. I resonated with Walrath’s choice to approach the subject, herself, from strange angles and surprise moments of quietude. I wonder if it is perhaps the only way to learn something new about oneself.

It’s clear that Walrath understands something profound about living, about what it means to choose self-examination again each moment. Her poetry shows a patience for the murky process of internal discovery.

Here are a couple of my favorite lines:

From “She Learns How to Disappear:”

She memorizes little spaces she could hide in— / the white place between letters on the page / the dashboard radio like a golden dias.

From “I am Going to Find the Unicorns:”

Not the human’s idea of them, / all bright purple and cheeky. / No, the real ones. Blood and horns / and teeth.

Find Walrath on Twitter @HollyLynWalrath or visit her website www.hlwalrath.com. I’ll also put in a plug for her newsletter The Weird Circular, where she curates speculative writing calls for submission, and offers prompts and writerly advice. It’s where I found out about her collection in the first place.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

"Glimmerglass Girl" is a fragile yet strong collection of the various faces that women face in love, life, marriage and self. Walrath 's imprint is in every line and you can read that some of these poems are closer to her than others as they feel a part of her in the way the lines are presented.

It's an interesting mix of fragility and toughness while hinting at lines of self exploration among the images that create a lyrical, rose hued imagery that can stay with you for hours long after reading it and considering that I read very little poetry, that says about the writing prose. I'd very much be interested in reading more from Walrath as her writing progresses.

Thank you to Finishing Line Press, Netgalley, and Holly Lyn Walrath for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Glimmerglass Girl was the first poetry collection I read by Holly Walrath and to be honest I didn't really like it. I couldn't really relate to the poems and the poems weren't that interesting to me. I do have to admit that I still haven't read that many poetry collections, 17, but I just didn't didn't feel it.

I do however have 2 favourite poems:
In Rejoice of Kindred Grief
Wind-up Girl

„Glimmerglass Girl“ was introduced to me as a feminist poetry book and the cover was so absolutely stunning that I had to have it!
So I dove into the well curated words, a world of sorrow and learning, darkness and understanding! The pictures to underline the poems were a bit retro and I liked that! (Though I would probably have chosen not pics from other people but maybe herself, to underline the words right?)
Holly chose all the right words, so many beautiful words to embrace her story and show the world the fragility and yet power of womanhood. It was a good poetry book, but still It didnt amaze me for one big reason:
I felt so much sorrow and regret in those poems. A feminist book should show young girls how to love yourself with all its struggles and problems, but still presenting how beautiful womanhood it. I couldn’t find that here. I only felt sorrow for the time lost and the decisions not made. I loved the poem where she ate the moon and a baby came out, that was for me the most beautiful description of motherhood I could find. It seemed like she had to hide herself a lot in her past and it is good to speak about that! People need that. But I think Holly must be a super strong woman, with a big heart and an even bigger Head full of beautiful words, that should have been more present in my opinion!
Still I enjoyed the poems and would recommend it to poetry lovers over the world!

Glimmerglass Girl is a collection of writings about being a woman, death, alcoholism, self image and more.

I have to say that I had a hard time connecting with most of these writings. Maybe it's the timing of when I read the book, but it just wasn't for me.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Finishing Line Press for giving me the opportunity to read an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This poetry collection was very special in that it had modern feel but also reminded me of classic poetry. I don't really see modern poetry collections that have wording this whimsical. I really enjoyed some of the poems, but I couldn't connect to many of them. That only speaks for my personal experience though and doesn't take away from the beautiful feel of the overall work and the lovely combination of words and drawings.
I would definitely recommend this collection to anyone who is into poetry, be it classic or modern or feminist. This collection has something for everyone.

The poems that really spoke to me personally were the following:
The Art of Loneliness
Heart as Seen Through Camera Obscura
Behind the Glass

This is my first time reading the poet. I enjoyed some of the poems in this collection. They explore familiar themes of female identity in the modern world, relationship, love and abuse. Despite the sometimes grim subject matter the poems are written in a whimsical almost fantastic style. This is where it falls short for me. I felt the style was too light and didn’t compliment the subject matter. Glimmerglass Girl didn’t gel for me. The poems are interesting enough, well written with some lovely writing. Unfortunately, none of them left a very deep impression with me.

First of all I want to thank to Finishing Line Press via netgalley for giving me an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion.

This book is a compilation of poems that claim to describe the modern woman.

This is not one of those books I can say I devoured. I read it quickly for sure, but I did not devoured it.

I considered some of the poems beautiful, but overall I did not feel much affinity for what was written, I could not connect emotionally with the book.

This is one of the reviews that cost me the most, because reviewing poetry is very difficult, since what for me may be reasonable, for someone else can be excellent.

My favorite poem was "The Art of Loneliness". And one of my favorite quotes: "You may learn to sleep throught the night, warmed by the tought of your own existence".

Despite this, one of the pros of the book is that it does not present "made phrases", a.k.a those typical cliché phrases, which usually happens in poetry books. On the contrary, in the middle of the poems there are incredible phrases with a lot of potential to be spread and become iconic (and let's face it, they'll be AWESOME in the descriptions of instagram photos AHAH).

Would you recommend this book? Yes, but perhaps to a more mature audience that can relate to what is described.

Maybe when I gain another maturity I will reread the book and feel the affinity I expected to feel now.

So I decided to give 2.75 stars, because it deserves neither a 2 nor a 3. But in the final I will round and give this book a 3.

Glimmerglass Girl
by Holly Lyn Walrath
Finishing Line Press


Poetry
Pub Date 03 Aug 2018


I am reviewing a copy of Glimmerglass Girl through Fishing Line Press and Netgalley:

Poetry is one of the hardest genres to review because a poem can have a different meaning to every reader l:
In this short collection of poetry Holly Lyn Walrath explores love, marriage, abuse and self harm of the body, death and alcoholism through a woman's heart who has experienced them in on one way or another. It does this while taking the reader on a fantastical journey through the world of fairytales and unicorns. A world where feminity is both as powerful and delicate as a wing glassed beauty.


I give Glimmerglass Girl five out of five stars!



Happy Reading!

Fantastic prose! I would recommend this book to anyone who loves great poetry! It is so hard to stand out in the world of poetry where every line is a rhyme of simple words like you, do, too, and through! It was refreshing to find poetry that actually tells a great story! Thank you for allowing me early access to this ARC!

Thank you Finishing Line Press for providing an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Glimmerglass Girl is a poetry collection which focus on women. Their struggles, dilemmas, relationship, love, abuse and alcoholism. The writing was whimsical and refreshing. Each poems may appear light and fantastical but it conveys a deep and serious message. These kinds of verses are challenging to analyse and to reflect on. Once I finished, I reread it in a gradual pace and I have troubles connecting to it. However, there are a few poems I liked: The Art of Loneliness, She Learns How to Disappear, Premise of the Heart, Blue Cadillac and Woman.

I'd like to thank my dear friend Shealea for recommending me this poetry collection. <3