I read this poetry collection out of sheer love of Atwood’s writing and having read all her fiction, but have to admit going in that I’m not a big reader if poetry. Until now. Atwood’s brilliantly chiseled language and deeply personal reflections draw you into her imaginative reflections. She moves from somber thoughts about welcoming death to passionate embrace of life’s best moments. She nimbly moves from feminism to vampires, from reflections of an Earth that no longer includes you in death to the wonders of newly emergent September mushrooms and October pumpkin carving , Atwood gets you to read slowly, deeply inhaling her language much as you would the delicious scent of apple pie straight out of the oven.  Dazzling!

Great for fans of poetry, Atwood's fiction, mythology, and women's stories in general. These accessible poems touch on everything from aging to ancient fears with Atwood's incisive phrasing and delicate attention to detail.

I loved this book. The poems are melancholy at times, and moving -- I definitely had to take breaks, because their musings on the passing of life and time made me sad at points. But at the same time, they are filled with truths, written in intersting twists of words, and I enjoyed them. In contrast to a lot of the "internet poetry" out there these days, Atwood is definitely a master of her craft.

This book was just not for me. I loved The Handmaid's Tale and The Testaments so I wanted to give this a try. I just could not get into these poems though. Maybe it wasn't these poems but poetry in general that isn't my genre?

Dearly is a lovely collection of poems. It is a book any Margaret Atwood or poetry lover will want to add permanently to your collection of books.

Margaret Atwood’s newest poetry collection, Dearly, is as powerfully reflective it is deeply discomforting...and completely worth reading.  

Her poems are written in simple free verse that reads easily—like someone’s inner thoughts—and lends a gentle pace to stanzas.  Covering topics ranging from bodies and aging to nature and the environmental harm of today’s plastic consumption, Atwood is endlessly poignant without feeling inaccessible.  

Perhaps it’s the grotesque nature of some of her metaphors that ground her work so efficiently in reality.  Dearly is a stunning read for the end of the year.

Dearly by Margaret Atwood is a phenomenal treasure trove of poetry. Dearly is twice the length of the average collection, and really stands out for what it is. Featuring themes of women's rights, memory, bereavement, and environmental issues it brings all the weight one has grown to expect from any of Atwood's writing.

I would recommend this to you all, whether a typical poetry reader or not. While the poems do have layers if you're wanting to dive into them they can also serve as cut and dry messages, making it perfect for those new poetry readers out there. 

Atwood never disappoints.

I am not a big poetry reader, but was excited to get a review copy of Dearly. I enjoyed savoring this collection, reading just a few poems at a time and honestly wish I'd had a physical book to flip through and really experience each poem slowly. Some of my favorites were: Late Poems, Salt, The Tin Woodwoman Gets a Massage, Plasticene Suite 1, and Dearly. I'll be revisiting those for sure.

Thanks to the publisher for providing an ARC through Net Gallery in exchange for an honest review.

Oh Children

Oh children, will you grow up in a world without birds? 
Will there be crickets, where you are? 
Will there be asters? 
Clams, at a minimum. 
Maybe not clams. 

We know there will be waves. 
Not much life needed for those. 
A breeze, a storm, a cyclone. 
Ripples, as well. Stones. 
Stones are consoling. 

There will be sunsets, as long as there is dust. 
There will be dust. 

Oh children, will you grow up in a world without songs? 
Without pines, without mosses? 

Will you spend your life in a cave, 
a sealed cave with an oxygen line, 
until there’s a power failure? 
Will your eyes blank out like the white eyes
of sunless fish? 
In there, what will you wish for? 

Oh children, will you grow up in a world without ice? 
Without mice, without lichens? 

Oh children, will you grow up? 

In Dearly, Margaret Atwood provides us with a collection of poems that are both new and previously published. That are wide-ranging and personal. That explore themes of grief, loss, sorrow, and at times are harrowing and full of despair. And then there were others that conveyed hope and our current realities.  One thing I will say is that the selection of poems for this collection, the first in over a decade, were thoughtfully chosen and crafted. A sign of our times. In the poem above, “Oh Children”, Atwood asks the question on the minds of many, what will happen to our children? Is there a future for them? 

I was provided a digital ARC by NetGalley and Ecco in exchange for an honest review. 

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75/5 stars !

Margaret Atwood's latest release is a beautifully penned poetry collection, and I honestly didn't expect anything less. While some of the pieces have been published elsewhere (despite the second half of the title), the 57 poems cover a wide range of topics, from a large section devoted to the reality of climate change and speculative fiction about our impending doom, to aging/death, and even one poem devoted entirely to slug sex. Yes, really.

This book like much of Atwood's work is a little disquieting, yet beautiful and precise. Many poems focus is on death which within a year marked by death or the threat of it is timely. But her poems of the wildness of nature definitely harkens back to her childhood yet can speak to even the most dedicated city dweller. The poems require interpretation sometimes but are well worth it.

I am not a poetry person, but I was willing to give this a try. I enjoyed some of the poems but to me, most of them felt like notes for a larger piece of writing that were begging to be expanded into a story. Some of the twists and turns were provocative, but others just puzzled me. I think Dearly was my favorite.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book.

I thought this was very okay. I'm not a huge fan of poetry, but I enjoy Atwood's writing so I thought I'd give this a try. Compared to other poetry I've read, this did not stand out very much.

Great example of why I try to read out of my comfort zone (and encourage others to do so). I'm not a huge poetry person and I didn't really enjoy the writing style of Atwood's Handmaid's Tale, but I really enjoyed this! Enough that I'd consider purchasing a copy. As with any collection/anthology, some parts were better than others, but overall I enjoyed the themes/descriptive language.

Margaret Atwood's first poetry collection in ten years felt to me like a vignette of quiet thoughts and memories, with little secrets tucked inside and in between. Atwood has a talent to make simple passages feel palpable and real, admittedly to the point where I found myself repeating lines out loud to just see how they tasted. The poetry is tight, and rarely did I feel like it moved on to rambling, or if it did it felt honest and necessary and complete. I found myself most affected by a series of poems in the latter half of the collection that focused on plastic and the toll we ultimately will pay for the little niceties we collect/use in our lives.   
   Poetry is not typically something I delve into, but I would definitely recommend this collection to those who, like me, have enjoyed Margaret Atwood's work, or enjoy reading works that feel honest to the human experience/ condition. 4.5/5. 
Thanks to Harpercollins and NetGalley for this digital ARC of this lovely poetry collection.

Is there anything Margaret Atwood can't write well? I have been in awe of her novels and short stories since I was in my late teens, but this latest collection of poetry shows that I have ignored a crucial part of her ouvre.

I bought the hardcover and the audiobook and allowed myself to be lulled by the author's words as I swayed in my hammock. Before I knew it over an hour had gone by and I was done with the book. The poems are wry, at times fantastical, and always sharp. This is a collection I will revisit and savor more slowly next time as I identify which poems are my favorites.

I enjoyed the Handmaid’s Tale but I didn’t know she wrote poetry. I was excited to dive into Dearly and thank NetGalley for the ARC. In all, I found this collection very endearing. I was highlighting line after beautiful line and taking the time to digest my favorites. Some poems hit me more strongly than others (I will probably never love zombies) and some hit me hard. None were too short or too long. I will likely reread several of these poems between now and it’s publication date. 
#book review

I liked this poetry collection enough but I didn't love it. I also didn't connect to the poems which is important for me when it comes to poetry. Or to make me feel something. Even though, I didn't connect with them, I think others would enjoy it.

This new poetry anthology by the legendary Margaret Atwood is divided into sections and there were some sections that I really liked more than others. To be honest, there were times when I slogged through chapters and kept going only because I had an ARC to review and because it's Atwood. Towards the end of the book, there were poems that I really loved, though. The chapters aren't titled, but one of the later chapters deals with the environment and "Oh Children" was a really wonderful and heartbreaking addition to that.

Oh Children.

Oh children, will you grow up in a world without birds?
Will there be crickets, where you are?
Will there be asters?
Clams, at a minimum.
Maybe not clams.

We know there will be waves.
Not much needed for those.
A breeze, a storm, a cyclone.
Ripples as well. Stones.
Stones are consoling.

There will be sunsets, as long as there is dust.
There will be dust.

Oh children, will you grow up in a world without songs?
Without pines, without mosses?

Will you spend your life in a cave,
a sealed cave with an oxygen line,
until there's a power failure?
Will your eyes blank out like the white eyes
of sunless fish?
In there, what will you wish for?

Oh children, will you grow up in a world without ice?
Without mice, without lichens?

Oh children, will you grow up?

I bookmarked many of the poems in the later sections to come back to or share with family members. While some poems didn't do much for me, it's a great anthology with some poems that were so good it pulled the rating back up for me.

I read a digital ARC of this book via NetGalley.

A quirky, thoughtful collection of musings on everything from cats to slug sex to plastic to climate change to children. I thoroughly enjoyed this collection. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!