This poetry collection was absolutely stunning, I already have a copy on my bookshelf to reread over and over again.

***I received an ARC from net galley in exchange for an honest review***

I liked this collection a lot. I loved the constant theme of flowers and plants to symbolize a variety of things besides the typical 'rebirth and growth'. Swaney kept me interested in reading more and I never felt like I was reading the same poems over and over. I can't wait to see more of his work.

There's just something beautifully relaxing about reading a collection of poetry on the subject of quiet, gentle self love. That is what is to be found within the pages of R. H. Swaney's collection that is aptly subtitled as 'A Walk Through the Garden of Our Becoming'.

Through the subtitles of "Seed", "Soil", "Water", "Growth", "Bloom" and "Restore", we are offered a series of poems on this subject. At no point is this a difficult read; no content warnings are needed. I don't feel I know much about this author, though, from this collection. The main things I took away from it were that he had a tough time coming out of the male socialisation of not sharing emotions to realising that he personally needs to and that it poorly effects his mental health when he doesn't.

In that case, then, this collection could easily be seen as the author sharing his own experiences and journey on the way to self love. Unlike many other modern poets, Swaney doesn't spend any time at all mentioning past or present lovers. When he mentions other people at all, it is in reference to individuals he has seen in passing, or marginalised groups (mostly immigrants and refugees).

This sensitive and kind collection is very sorely needed and I'm so glad to have found it.

Felt more like a journal than poetry. But I guess thats what majority of modern poetry is now a days. I can see why people would like this but it just wasnt for me. I like my poetry to feel/sound like poetry but to each their own. If you like modern poetry you will probably like this!

This collection of poetry is so beautiful; I think the title fits the collection perfectly. It deals with a lot of topics/issues, including self-love and mental health. These topics are very important and reading this collection of poetry benefited both. I enjoyed the self-reflection and deeper introspection of the pieces of poetry here and felt renewed, refreshed, and seeking more exploration afterward.

Lovely seeds is an amazing collection of poems that promote positivity and learning to love yourself and growing to be the best person you can be. Highly suggest reading this!

This was a wonderful collection of poetry. I had heard of this author but never read anything by them. This collection touches on all the important stuff. While a little repetitive, I loved the authors writing and the way the book was separated into different sections. Overall, I truly enjoyed this read and am so happy to have been sent a copy from netgalley.

Wow! Wow! Wow! 5 Stars!!

Thank you to Central Avenue Publishing and Netgalley for approving me to read this amazing book.
“ Lovely Seeds” was released in November 2018 and should be on EVERYONE’S TBR list! No matter who you are, I believe that at least some part of this poetry is going to hit home, and once it does it’ll crash hard. The emotions are oh-so real with this masterpiece.

First, I must include a brief story as to the particular day that I decided to scroll through my approved kindle e-arcs and stumbled upon this beauty. I already had a tough day under my belt and was just looking for something easy/breezy to immerse myself in. I had just left therapy ( I currently have a lot going on with my family and my health ) and was feeling down in the dumps. The gorgeous floral patterns of “ Lovely Seeds” immediately beckoned me to them.

I was first introduced to author R.H. Swaney in September 2018 when I read an anthology poetry collection, titled “ [Dis] Connected.” I found that his poems and stories stood out from the others, and once again really spoke to me...especially “Beauty in the Bones” and “A Way to Leave.” I decided to follow him on Goodreads immediately thereafter, to ensure that I’d be first to notice when he published work in the near future.

From the very first few pages I felt as if his words were jumping off of the page and reaching out for my heart. He states, “ There is no shame in seeing a therapist to empty the contents of your brain to analyze the pieces more closely. Keep the appointments. Keep pursuing the sanity you deserve.” As I’m sure you can imagine, after that little brief backstory my eyes were wide with surprise as I had just gotten home from there! Was this some kind of weird sign!? Was I supposed to be reading this right here, right now!?

Throughout the entire book I found myself nodding in unison to almost everything Swaney was saying. Why, yes, I very well could envision a world where we LITERALLY wear our hearts on our sleeves. Others would be able to know when to tread lightly, when to give a pat on the back, a much needed hug, to offer a simple smile or “hello.” Swaney invites us to “ Imagine, for a minute, a severe- weather warning system for the storms in our heads. It tells us when clouds are forming above each other, allowing us to be there at the first flash of lightning and crack of thunder.” I mean, I may be going off the deep end, but couldn’t something of the sort prevent suicide, murder; accidents? Strangers anywhere at any time could form necessary friendships. I would think it would be much harder to keep secrets or tell lies as well.

Here are some highlights that really meant a lot to me and why...

1. “ I apologize for the ones who have minimized your pain.”- I suffer from a wide variety of invisible illnesses so I often hear that I don’t “ look “ sick.
2. “Sometimes the bravest thing you’ll do in a day is get out of the bed, and that is still worth rejoicing over.”- This one is pretty self explanatory.
3. “ You either pull yourself up or get pulled up. Either is a triumph.” -I have learned that having a great support system is EVERYTHING.
4. “As for the past ten years, I’ve barely been afloat.” - Me too, six years and counting.
5. “ We are like Books, torn and tattered, with stories unfinished, an ending awaits. But like Books, all that matters is the chapters and verses and the words they say.”- At the end of the day sometimes books are my only friends. They don’t judge.

The pictures are a soothing addition to the words, they are a calm reminder that bring your mind back to ground level after closing your eyes and imagining ...”buffalo hooves as your heart beat ,your chest as a blank canvas; your painting unfinished...”

I have been extremely vulnerable, I’ve been the glass he speaks of shattered into a thousand pieces, I strive to be that “ ...rogue sunflower in the field.” After I finished reading and I powered down my kindle I felt like I had poured my heart out onto the page, but I hadn’t written a thing. I was completely captivated.

Lonely Seeds is a collection of poetry divided into six parts that delivers an extended metaphor of gardening as self-care. It provides us with a fresh perspective on mental health, putting yourself first and tending to your emotional woulds, but also deconstructs the toxic idea of men not being allowed to show emotion. I found some of the pieces incredibly profound and close to my heart, and others that I simply just enjoyed for their emotions (such as 'small-town kid in the big city' and 'a walk to the rail yard'); and 'Lovely' was the biggest highlight for me. The poems are raw and contain so much condensed emotion that the author has accumulated over the years. Swaney touches upon some less-talked about topics and doesn't shy away from addressing the problem that poses.

However, as with many other newer poetry collections, I cannot appreciate this one too much as I quite often don't understand the concept of "modern" poetry. For me, most of the pieces in here were more brief essays than actual poems. There's really no rhyme or rhythm to 90% of the poems, while the rest feel a bit too unpolished. I do appreciate the occasional use of internal and imperfect rhymes, but just rhyming does not a poem make. It is a very rant-style collection that quickly gets repetitive with its message. At times I found it to be a bit too encouraging, if I may say, almost as if I was reading a motivation TED speech. It reminds me a lot of the tumblr 'self-care' culture which consists mostly of "deep" quotes on inner beauty. On the opposite hand, the collection takes a turn about halfway and begins its trek into political waters. I understand that in this day and age it is important to speak out, however, I found that it was misplaced here, but perhaps this is the marketing's fault as I was left with the impression that the collection will be about mental health. Still, it felt rather clunky when Swaney started discussing 4876 other topics when previously beating the first one down to a pulp. The inconsistency bothered me and I can't help but think that it would have been better if the author had just stuck to one theme instead of trying to cram multiple ones in a collection this small.

Overall, I may sound too harsh but I did genuinely enjoy some of the pieces. But the collection, as a whole, was not for me for multiple reasons. It's very unfortunate because I really wanted to like it, especially since it addresses topics that don't get enough attention and are not talked about as much, when they should be regular discussions.

One Sentence Synopsis: Poetry that holds your hand and encourages you to keep going while covering issues of mental health, self care, and personal growth.

Why You Should Be Reading: Swaney helps you examine life and the inherent flaws/problems that come with it from a place of love. He understands that this might be hard for you, that you might be stuck in the worst rut of your life, but he gives you perspective that allows you to move forward.

We are constantly evolving beings and this collection of poems makes sure that you don’t forget that, page after page. Combine all of this with Swaney’s gentle but powerful presence and you’ve got a book that can be read over and over, whenever you need a reminder of how fantastic and ever evolving you are.

Genres: Poetry, Mental Health, Healing

Other Books by R. H. Swaney: Quiet Remnants, [Dis]Connected: Poems and Stories of Connection and Otherwise

Learn more about the author HERE.

Buy Lovely Seeds HERE.

Add Lovely Seeds to your Goodreads HERE.

I wasn't a huge fan of this book. I found it really hard to stay engaged and want to keep reading.

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

With an influx of poetry books gaining fame (like Rupi Kaur), I spotted R.H. Swaney's Lovely Seeds cover on NetGalley and figured, hey, let's read some poetry since I was in the mood. A few of the poems hit it on the head for me. R.H. Swaney does a wonderful job making the poems relatable to anyone! Wouldn't mind this on my shelfie!

Lovely Seeds: A Walk Through the Garden of our Becoming is a poetry collection about mental health and self-love.

"I wish we could talk about our hearts like we talk about the weather, because whether or not we are okay is more important than the chance of rain."

Lovely Seeds is the first poetry collection I read by R.H. Swaney and I’m in love. I haven’t read that many poetry collections written by male poets, but male poets can express their feelings and thoughts so beautifully. In our society, men aren’t really allowed to show their true feelings or how bad their mental health is, and that’s just sad. Men are allowed to share their emotions and that’s why I really love male poets.

"I learned that boys aren’t supposed to cry. So I kept the tears inside until they became an ocean."

I think that R.H. Swaney did an amazing job in expressing his emotions and feelings, and I think that this collection is really beautiful. I also think that the cover is stunning as well as the pictures in this collection. I think that these pictures give something extra to the book!

"I want the world to see there is so much more to every single one of us underneath the pain."

I really loved this collection and I cannot wait to read more by R.H. Swaney! Make sure to check out his Spotify channel for his spoken poetry!

"Even when the hurt keeps you in bed, remember your breath and the victory in the rise and fall of your chest."

Favourite poems:
Weather Talk
Appointments
The Broken Record of Friends Who Don’t Understand
Good Morning
Every Breath is Victory
Freedom
The Music of Our Dancing Ribs
The Way in Which We Heal
Food Stamps
The Things We Teach
Suffering
The Cooling of Wax

A beautiful collection on self-love and friendship. Enjoyable read! I really liked how the author didn’t focus on romantic relationships like most poetry as of late.

“I find words written in the eyes of passersby. I collect them as I wander the sidewalks and arrange the pieces into poetry. If only I could give back to these strangers what they have given me, a reminder that we all are beautiful, despite the state of the times.”


Last month I was browsing through Netgalley and I saw this gorgeous cover. I was in the mood for a poetry book, so I requested it and the publisher gently sent it to me. I knew it would be something autobiographical, and I was very interested into the idea behind this creation.

However.

Every human being has different emotions and different lives, a poet should express every shade of these emotions and lives. I’ve always thought that a poet is someone who can read the soul of people, and has the magic to translate the souls’ sound into words. Poetry, this is very important, must be musically pleasure. Every word should be chosen with million thoughts, to be the best word in the line. I’m usually a “classic poetry” lover, which means that I appreciate the effort of the poet to find the perfect word, the perfect sound, the perfect line. I appreciate ideas that can be shared with a different set of words every time the author wants: the poet has a lot of potential in his/her hands.

About this book...
I understand the autobiography content, but this isn’t a real poet collection. The works inside are prose, not poetry. I love the link between human life and nature: every scene is powerful and intriguing, a start to wonder. However, the “poems” became repetitive every page after the first ten. The author really has great ideas, but the execution seems flat and not-creative. Repetitive quotes have meanings in poetry, but in this book they seem boring and uninteresting, banalities, common places.

The book is divided into six sections:
Seed
Soil
Water
Growth
Bloom
Restore.

As you can see, the titles show that an important part of the general idea in author’s mind is the focus on plants and nature. A poem collection grows with words, passion and a plan. In this case, the plan is to play with human and nature life idioms. I really liked this choice.
Everything begins with a person, and this person must be in peace to bring peace in the world, to express the beauty that a soul can create. When this someone finds the love, everything seems to grow fast as a plant. But the relationship needs work, water, to continue to flourish.


I’m expressing my personal opinion about poetry; even if I’m not a great fan of modern poetry sometimes I can appreciate it. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case. More than poems this works are essays, author’s thoughts about life and love. However, beautiful images cannot help me to think differently: a poem should be music. I didn’t find music in this book. Even if I appreciate the general ideas, I cannot say that I had strong feelings during the reading. And this is a shame.
Maybe this book would make someone else more happy than me, maybe I wasn’t the right audience for this one.

You can always read it, anyway, because we are all different and poetry is one of the most subjective thing in the world. Well, sometimes there is a perfect author who can express every human voice in the world, but this is another story.

"Lovely Seeds" is the epitome of self-help poetry; simplistic in form it tackles deep themes, including mental health, self-love and self-esteem boosting.

"When we are broken, we don't just tear ourselves down completely and start over. We leave the beautiful pieces as the foundation and revitalize around them. The structure of who we are remains. We just mend the holes and reinforce the walls. We add paint and give ourselves a new purpose. We don't erase our history, rather, we use it to learn and grow."

Lovely Seeds, by R.H. Swaney, is a collection of contemporary verse that strives to inspire its readers. Filled with positive affirmations through the metaphor of the life cycle of a growing plant - this is a book that will undoubtedly help people. And with carefully placed images throughout, it reaches for beauty in both text and image.

Reminiscent of Rupi Kaur and other millennial poets who've taken to Instagram with their words, Swaney has amassed readers through the medium of social media. As a result, many of the poems are very short - and while they offer epiphanies of the moment based in experience, they often lack richer poetic description. Instead of being able to contemplate or interpret the meaning behind the metaphors or images in the poem, readers are often told. This leaves me with a bit of an empty feeling; when I read a poem, I want to savor how its sounds, its images, feelings - and then interpret it on my own. While serving up platitudes of wisdom has its place in a self-help book, it becomes tiresome in a book of poetry, were focus should be on showing rather than telling.

Swaney's fans and Instagram followers will likely not be disappointed in this book, however, which is beautifully packaged. And without doubt, it is books like these that are bringing poetry out of the corner and into the limelight, attracting young people to a form that they may have had little to no experience with before. And I can only applaud this, for poetry has the power to impact the world in so many positive ways.

It is my hope, however, that the future of poetry lies in the power of what can be shown through metaphor and poetic description - and will not be lost in translation to an image perceived as beautiful, political mantras or self-help platitudes.

R. H. Swaney brings a depolarizing voice to the poetry world with this debut collection. Amongst the topics of mental health, self-love, and social progress, readers will find a soft but powerful voice that uncovers the beauty that exists inside of all of us.

Examining life and its circle from seed to withering to regrowth, the thought-provoking nature of this collection will bring readers to a place of self-exploration, reflection, and a deeper understanding of their place in the world.

I’ve recently gotten more into poetry books. While this s my first time reading a book by Swaney, I feel really inspired. Lovely Seeds is a collection of poems based around the topic of the circle of life. There are six phases, seed, soil, water, growth, bloom, and restore.

I loved the formatting and how each poem flowed from one to another. This isn’t your average or traditional poetry book. This is a book about escaping, growing, and blooming.

This book is beautiful. I was in awe as I read each page. Excellent opportunity to check out a poetry book. Give this one a shot. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Though Swaney possess some skill as a poet, I had a hard time getting into this collection. Each poem and thought blended into the next in a way that made the whole reading experience a blur.

I picked up this book after reading another poem from Swaney in an anthology. I was expecting more of a traditional poetry collection. It was not. What I did like is the central theme that follows the life cycle of a plant for seed, soil, water, growth, and restore. Each entry is short and offers bits of insight and self-esteem boosting advice and thoughts. It seems to be closer to a feel-good book than poetry. Little can be considered poetry in any traditional sense, but it does fit nicely into the "Instagram sensation" of poetry that has been popular with the younger crowd. It is well thought out, but I am not sure its poetry.