While this collection deals with heavy topics such as grief and overdose, I found myself distant from the poems. There were times when I thought that some of the ideas across multiple poems could have been reworked into one stronger poem instead.

Incredibly moving and powerful poetry about McCadden's brother and his ultimately fatal struggle with addiction. The poems are really well done, with a calm, almost detached voice that gives them a haunted quality. Loved the unique forms in the "Reverse Overdose" poems.

Thanks to NetGalley for the download!
"and soon, he does what rivers do, he becomes a monster,"
A few years ago, I too felt almost felt the loss of a brother, and though the moment was brief, my family vowed to never mention it again. This lovely collection of poems says the things that I can never put into words. The love between siblings is something very fragile and precious and the author does a wonderful effort at conveying that.

This chapbook that deals with loss and grief, you can really feel what the author is feeling. Losing a brother must be really hard, and I felt their pain.

When I read the description to this book, I expected a poetry collection that would be emotive and moving. That wasn't the case at all. Instead, I found the poems quite confusing, they didn't flow very well and so the pace was off making it difficult to read. I wasn't emotionally affected at all, and overall I'm just disappointed.

A collection of poems about tremendous loss, exploring the complexities of grief within a family when compounded with drug addiction.

Trigger Warnings: overdose, drug addiction.

I received an advance review copy for free via NetGalley. I am leaving this review voluntarily 📚

McFadden is a very moving and very talented author. I look forward to seeing some of these poems in a future anthology. This poems in this collection have a bit too much repetition. Some of the repetition may have been intentional, but didn't work for me.

Keep This to Yourself is a striking reflection on the loss of a brother to a drug addiction and overdose. Kerrin McCadden plays with form and punctuation, forcing readers to be careful in how they approach each poem, similar, perhaps, in the ways one might approach a loved one who needs help but can’t or won’t admit it. These poems will stick with you a long time after reading.

incredible poetry collection touching on grief and family, i loved this a lot and will definitely recommend

In this reflective poetry chapbook collection, “Keep This To Yourself ” (2020) themes of addiction, grief, and loss are explored following the overdose death of her beloved brother: Kerrin McCadden, teaches high school, she is an award winning poet, and lives in South Burlington, Vermont.

This collection opens with the abrupt matter-of fact poem “When My Brother Dies”: her brother was placed on life support as his family gathered at the hospital for the final goodbye. The translucent death: the “wasted away death by a hypodermic needle” isn’t the same as the motorcycle deaths, locked-in- jail deaths, or shot-by-a gunman death. The sugar water tears, the river that flowed somewhere else.

The back story of her brother’s life is explored in multiple segments titled: “reverse overdose: iii”. McCadden and her brother were adopted, their mother perhaps unable to have children due to a heart condition. It seemed like they were loved, supported and cared for within their adoptive family. Their father, a hockey player, took her brother to his games. The ravages of addiction had taken a toll on her brother’s young adult life. McCadden rescued her brother’s dog from his filthy apartment where he was found eating garbage and linoleum flooring. Still, her family had hoped her brother could recover. Although her brother’s name had been added to the statistics of 72,000 people who had died from drug related causes, he will be remembered in this memorable collection. The lovely and unique artwork featured on the cover of this chap book is from the painting “Garlic Saint” by Allison Goodwin.
**With thanks to Button Poetry via NetGalley for the ADC for the purpose of review

This was a very confusing poetry collection. All I know that happened was that her brother overdosed, but had absolutely no feelings toward it. I am not sure if this is a true story or not, but I just was not a fan of the writing and I felt like the story could have been a lot better in the way it was presented.

Maybe if this collection was longer and had a better writing format, I would have enjoyed it. Sadly, this was not a collection I enjoyed at all.

A decent short collection of poems reflecting on the writer’s brother’s struggle with drug addiction and eventual overdose and death.

I’ve read quite a few poetry collections published by Button Poetry, it’s one of my favorite publishers so it’s no surprise that this collection is only 32 pages. I just wish it were longer. I love McCadden’s writing style, and just how open she was. She delivered a very powerful message about the grief of losing her brother over an overdose. The way that she was able to incorporate childhood memories with her grief was well written. Which in turn can be helpful for other people navigating through their own grief.

“Listen. My brother is a ghost. I keep thinking, I am not a sister
anymore, though others assure me I still am.”

This collection is a series of poems about the poet’s childhood memories of her brother, of being a sister, all entangled with the pain and loss of his addiction and eventual overdose.

I’m incredibly lucky that so far in my life I haven’t had to deal with a big loss, so sometimes I can feel at a distance when reading about grief. I can feel a spark inside of how terrible it will be but there is a safety glass between us. This collection felt so honest that the safety glass was removed. Death is always hard but these poems capture beautifully the pain and hopelessness of a death that feels so unnecessary and yet inevitable all at once.

Keep This to Yourself is incredibly short - around 30 pages - and I would love to have read more, for her to have explored further. The poetry in this short collection is understated but that doesn’t mean it isn’t powerful and I’m sure they will stay with me for a long time - impressive for something so brief.

ARC provided by NetGalley but all opinions are my own.

this made me miss a sibling i never had.

"I draw him on every sidewalk to inflate the numbers, to give my brother to everyone. Inside the outline, I do some math. I add him to seventy-two-thousand and subtract him from me."

as an only child, i cannot fully comprehend how much losing a sibling must hurt but i could feel from these poems that it's a lot. the poems are all from the perspective of a sister who lost her brother to drug addiction so:

tw's for: drug addiction, overdose.

i loved these poems and i am a little surprised because i am very picky when it comes to modern poetry. so this is closer to a 4.5 rating but for now i will leave it at 4. might change it to 5 soon who knows.

I really liked this collection. It was powerful, making it hard to read at times by giving such a strong look into living and loving an addict. McCadden relives her brothers overdoses and her loss in this collection of poetry leaving you feeling everything they feel.

This is a short but poetry collection about losing a sibling who was addicted to drugs, and the grieving process that follows. The author's voice conveys the short but powerful message of the love and pain and unease and worry and despair and memory and regret that come with this experience.

Though the message was powerful and meaningful, this specific type of poetry wasn't quite my preferred style - it felt more descriptive than reflective. That said, it's a relatively quick read so I still recommend this to anyone who is personally dealing with addiction or knows somebody else who is.

Thanks to #NetGalley for the free early review copy of #KeepThisToYourself.

Keep This To Yourself is a touching poetry collection that talks about the experience of losing a loved one to addiction. While it's a short collection, it is powerful in its painful message. I think this collection could touch anyone who has not only lost someone to addiction but also those who have ever loved an addict. If you enjoy poetry, are an addict, love an addict or know an addict I strongly recommend this collection.

heartbreaking and relatable. This book of poetry talks about addiction and grieving. McCadden being the sister of an addict, she relived each time he overdoses.

Oh my god! Words cannot describe how raw this book of poetry is, and how deeply I felt the pain of the author. The wording is simple enough to be accessible to all, which is always a bonus when it comes to poetry, yet even those simple phrases carry such tremendous weight... I feel like I need to take a few moments to fully process what I just read. A wonderful read, and one that will rip your heart out and make you count your blessings.