This is a copy provided by the author in exchange of an honest review. Thank you to him!

This book was sructured with two other books, the blue and black notebook, that took two decades to reunited a couple of poems. These ones are set of multiple ideas and thoughts captured by Justin in his twenties. By this permise I felt in love by the way that Justin presents his poetry and by reading it I could say now that this feeling never faded away.

“I am too old to be in the state of imagination

I am bleeding away the false ideas I was taught”

First of all, I would like to thank to Justin the kindness to let me reading his thoughts about the world and how his prespective about the people, the relationships and the past are dimensions so denses. His poetry is multifaceted and full of meanings that bring to us a autoreflection and introspection of how we deal with life, people and ourselves.

It was a really great book that shows up sensitive themes, like alienated society that lives by numbers, the people who aren´t true to themselves, the love and others bonds etc.

“I no longer know if I am real

or in product testing”

Justin is a great observer and this culminated in him criticize the things that he sees in a curious way, leaving rhetorical questions to all of us. This poetry is full of meanings and carry a lot of immagination and last but not least it is beautifully written!

I recommend this book to all the people who likes to enjoy a good time reading and reflecting about society and how we easily distract ourselves with bullshit.

“What is life if not chaos ?”

Happy readings,

Next to a Book.

https://nexttoabook.wordpress.com/2018/09/04/review-of-chemically-coated-personalitties-by-justin-rawdon-lipscomb/

This book needs to be mulled over, like a glass of wine. There is a rustic beauty to the words and it's almost like I can see the soul of the narrator as I read through the words. I loved the connection between the titles and the poems, they were very aptly suited together. Sometimes I was unable to figure out exactly what the author was trying to say but the titles made it easier to see or figure out what it all might mean.

Poetry for the complexities and the multitudes of layers that shape our lives, Chemically Coated Personalities is a heavy read, but one that brings forth a phenomenal new voice in the world of poetry. Whilst I didn't connect with as many poems as I would've liked, I can honestly say that there is at least one line within each poem that resonated with me on some level, whether it be something I identify with or simply appreciation for Lipscomb's talent for writing.

A highly recommended read, but perhaps not for beginners. I have only slight experience with poetry and this was occasionally a little too much for me, but overall I thoroughly enjoyed it, and the poems I listed above will stay with me always.

Lipscomb’s poetry is striking. Many poems land with something like an emotional punch. Even those that I may not have connected with, or enjoyed, contain an element, a line, or something that stood out. Especially striking is the foreword, and the open discussion of his process, his reliance on his notebooks. As a teacher, this is something I’d definitely share with my students - it’s revelatory and inspiring. One of the greatest strengths of these poems, however, is their titles. Each title demands you read the poem, just to see how the poem expands on that idea. Of course, it’s not always the case that that happens, but that’s okay, as the titles often serve as tiny poems of their own. Lipscomb’s first collection of poetry guarantees that you’ll be watching for more of his work.

I quite enjoyed this book of poetry. A lot of the imagery and symbolism was very fresh, making for evocative and interesting poems that kept my interest throughout the whole collection. There were a couple things about this collection that really stood out to me-- I was very drawn in by the foreword, which was the story of the two notebooks that the poetry came from. The second thing of note was the titles of the poems: they were often unexpected in ways that made you spend more time on each poem, helping direct you to see new and interesting levels of meaning that you otherwise would probably not know to seek out.

Interesting observations from the author as he reflects on life and lets his thoughts flow from pen to paper.