Amanda Moore’s collection captures the nuances of relationships relating to motherhood, and being a daughter, with twists related to nature. There are layers meanings and metaphors throughout her lines, and it’s a collection that is easy to spend time with.

REQUEENING, a poetry collection that centers on the roles of women, takes an interesting look at womanhood by tying together the structure of a beehive and what happens when a hive must adjust to a new Queen. I thought this collection was quite different from other works I’ve read that touches on similar topics and there were several poems that really resonated with me.

I thought the most powerful poems were the ones centered on a woman’s role as a mother and the difficult dynamics women experience with their daughters as they grow up. I also found Moore’s poems where she discussed her cancer diagnosis to also be incredibly powerful.

All together this collection was really special to read. There were a few poems early on that did not resonate as much with me, but I thought the second half was really well done.

This was a beautiful collection. Such a vivid exploration of being a woman. These were easy to follow and make connections to. I find it so important to feel connected to the meaning behind the words and this delivered..

This was a beautiful collection of poetry, and especially relevant and touching to me, as I'm in a similar season of life. I think women in midlife would thoroughly appreciate these poems. Highly recommend this collection!

I can not describe how amazing Requeening was. I loved the representation of the queen of a beehive throughout the collection but you never felt like it was always happening, I would sometimes forget that being a queen was a part of the poetry because I just felt so empowered the whole time. It wasn't just like feeling like a queen, I felt like a goddess that no one would be able to take me down.
I kept taking my time while reading the collection because I would go to it whenever I needed an upbeat attitude and whenever I felt myself going into a slump I would pick it back uo!!

This book is fantastic. It is an exceptional portrayal of motherhood, which feels fresh in the poetry form. Ditto for the portrayal of diagnosis and illness. The location (NorCal, surfing, SF beaches) resonated with me, but I believe it transcends site. The collection has a quiet muscularity, which isn't the trend in poetry right now, and for that, I really appreciate it. It doesn't scream, rather it makes it's case, point by point.
Side note: the cover is lovely.

(currently editing a review for Tupelo Quarterly, will post when it goes live)

Amanda Moore uses a running (though not omnipresent) metaphor of honeybees, their queen, and the hive throughout her collection of poems entitled Requeening. How one responds to the collection will depend greatly on what one looks for in their poetry.

If you like to poetry more on the “poetic” (we know it when we see it) spectrum between poetry and prose, this may not be the collection for you, as the poems are pretty prose-y. Pretty much all of them, but some more formally, as they take the structure of a haibun, a Japanese poem that combines a prose poem and a haiku. Here is a taste of the prose-heavy style:

As teenagers, you would drive Illinois/ back roads to drink beer, make out,/ and talk about the places you would travel./ All that corn might have looked like future/ to the two of you, stretching and vast and topped/ with the bit of silk you imagine life grew into.

Or
Yet I don’t despise the bike that broke his leg/and dragged us into knowing. At night/when I replay in dreams the afternoon/that flipped us both to the curb, sick wail of ambulance/ and everything that followed, I don’t always say Stop./ Don’t be a jackass ...

This isn’t to say Moore doesn’t make use of poetic tools (outside the haiku moments). She does, but they call less attention to themselves here. You still, for example, get the occasional alliterative like “husk of hive” or the consonance/alliteration of “too fat to fly” or the consonance/assonance of “mere metering are; a deception sheathed in steel.” But don’t look for a lot of rhyme or off-rhyme, or a lot of elliptical or compacted language. On the other hand, if you prefer your poetry more prose-like and more direct in its statements (not quite Billy Collins but close to that style), this would be a good choice.

Metaphor, too, obviously is employed, as Moore keeps cycling back to those bees and in particular the queen, which is appropriate given the book’s arc itself deals with a female cycle of motherhood and woman-becoming, with a central focus on the relationship between the speaker and her daughter from birth to the teen years (though other women make appear as well). Grief as well rears its inevitable head, nicely foreshadowed by earlier moments where the speaker muses on mortality. The grief is followed, eventually, by recovery, which is partly at least how we arrive at the title.

Moore has an honesty and complexity in her speaker’s views toward the relationships in her life, including motherhood, which is neither idealized nor presented as a horror show. Moments of tender love are followed (sometimes even immediately) by more fraught moments, as when the speaker wakes her tween daughter for school: “When her eyes flutter open, it is to scowl at me, but when she rides again toward the crest of sleep, she burrows toward me: her first comfort.” Always the push and the pull.

I confess I do prefer my poetry more on the other end of the spectrum, but still I managed to highlight a number of lines that struck me either for their originality of language or their particular phasing of a sentiment/idea, lines like “the nave of me replete” or “the caul of her sleep.” Meanwhile, the narrative arc and thematic threadline enhanced the reading experience, making this an easy recommendation even if it’s not exactly my preference.

I tell myself I enjoy poetry, but I find I’m intimidated when faced with a full book of poems. Nonetheless, the concept of a collection focused on bees and the hive mentality of life caught my attention. I tended to enjoy the poems which leaned heavily into bees and facts about insects.

Otherwise, there were a handful of poems which stood out to me in this collection, but I struggled with the poems around the pains of motherhood. I felt that many dealt with teenagers and having children grow away from their parents. Often, this view felt smothering toward the child, and I frequently found myself agreeing with the daughter in her attempts to push away her mother. This book is helicopter parenting in poetry form.

Reading the poems in a digital format was somewhat wonky as the line breaks were irregular. It wasn’t quite Rupi Kaur, but the line breaks weren’t Whitman either. I found the poems about independence and illness to be the most powerful and flew through those sections. The book frequently flits between heavy and lighthearted. In short, it’s a collection of life.

Thank you to Ecco Books, Amanda Moore, and NetGalley for this eARC copy of REQUEENING (Pub date: 10/26/21)

The poems in REQUEENING center themselves around motherhood, women’s roles, illness, death, grief and more. These themes often weave themselves around bee metaphors in the poetry.

As it is with most poetry books, there were some poems that I was more drawn to than others in this collection. My favorite was the poem BAD AT BEES, where the author relates an artist who puts broken figurines into bee hives to her own life. I did find some of the other poems to be confusing, and it was difficult for me to tell if the order of the poems was supposed to reflect a linear timeline or a singular story. I never understood what was happening in a narrative sense (which I’m not sure if that was intended by the author or not).

However, the writing is so thoughtful and beautiful on each of these poems, and I think that they could be relatable to many. There are many trigger warnings though, notably: death, chronic illness, grief, struggles in motherhood.

3.5 stars
I have read much better poetry, but one specific poem sticks with me, about a real artist who places broken objects in a beehive, and takes them back out with comb in the empty spaces. It touched me, and if all of the poems made sense like that I would have rated it 4.5.

🐝 Requeening: Poems by @amoore5272 🍯 ⁣
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Beautiful and exact, this collection of poems covers a myriad of subjects from beekeeping to sickness to motherhood and more. The language is precise and imagery grand, which makes sense why Ocean Vuong chose the collection as a National Poetry Series Winner. ⁣
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As always, some poems have a more lasting effect than others, though I will admit some of what I’ll call “the illness poems” are striking a little too close to home for me right now as my grandmother is currently undergoing medical treatment for chronic illnesses. ⁣
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One line, the last, stuck out to me the most: “I don’t really know what I’m doing most days. I just like to touch fear.” This might be my new teaching motto for this year and years to come, if not my overall life motto. ⁣
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The collection is a deep meditation on any of the subjects it covers and is not, or was not for me, a quick read. It requires you to sit with the poems and may even have you digging up some information. The poet is skilled and the labor is obvious and well done. Thank you to @netgalley and @eccobooks for the advance copy. The collection goes on sale 10/26/2021. I’ll repost closer to the pub date. ⁣
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📖 #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #booksta #books #bookish #readwithme #booksofinsta #booksofig #instabooks #bookclub #Requeening #AmandaMoore #Poetry #NationalPoetrySeries #AugustReads #2021Reads #readersofinstagram #readersofinsta #readersofig #readers #reading #bookrecommendations #booksonbooksonbooks #bookshelf #bookchallenge #bookworm #booknerd #guysreadtoo 📖

This was a really interesting piece of work! I found a couple of the poems misplaced, but overall there was a nice storyline. The writing was beautiful, and enjoyable to read! I would definitely recommend this book!

This was a delicious set of poetry that followed along well with the bee theme. Although some of the poems seemed a bit misplaced, I enjoyed the overall concept and execution. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for well-written poetry.

This is an interesting collection of poetry, in various styles/formats, that portrays the cycle/path of a woman's life, struggles, illnesses, death, birthing, children, care giving, friendship.....sort of in relation to, or highlighted by a beehive's life. Poetry can be hard for me to appreciate sometimes, & I found the first few poems a bit challenging to see where this was going, but I found my way fairly quickly....& it all laid out in a direction that I could follow & understand, & came to appreciate.....& in that, I think the author does really well! Yes.....I appreciated her view, the light she cast, on this look at life. I bet most women would find something to relate to or appreciate in these poems.
I received an e-ARC from publisher Ecco/Harper Collins, via NetGalley, after offering to read it & post my own fair & honest review.

actual rating: 2.5 stars rounded up, perfectly average reading experience

I'd like to thank NetGalley, Amanda Moore, and Ecco (the publisher) for allowing me to have an advanced reader's copy in digital format for this book in exchange for an honest review.

Wow. This was a rollercoaster, to say the least. Amanda Moore covers topics such as loss, hospitalization, stress & anxiety, and many, many bug facts throughout this collection of poems. This journey through life as expressed through her work is unique and established over and over again through the selections you read.

<b>I'd like to say before beginning to break down my rating that upon finishing this, I'm not sure if I was the target audience for this work as someone who is about to enter their third year of undergrad. Reviews are biased pieces of work. Please take my review with a grain of salt, or even two, as some of the things discussed in this book very much did not align with my life experiences so far.</b>

+1: bug facts; if nothing else, the first ~half of this book does have some really cool bug facts, very likely as allegories for Moore's life or lives Moore has observed.

-1: breakdown/structure; I did read this in a digital format, so I'm sure the structure of the actual poems will make much more sense once this is printed, but I really wasn't a fan of the overall sectioning and breakdown of the poems to begin with. I don't know what necessarily was wrong with it, it just wasn't to my taste.

+1: short and sweet (mostly); most of the poems provided in this work were no longer than about a page, which is always nice when reading poetry.

-1.5: stakler-y vibes?; I don't know how to explain this, but the poems when mentioning a child gave me very much stalker/helicopter parent/don't grow up yet vibes and I was really not about that. I don't have much explanation beyond that other than those poems gave me bad vibes. Like, I would have to stop reading for the day after reaching one of those poems bad vibes.

+1: arc; I'm glad I received this as an arc, because I likely wouldn't have picked it up otherwise. Broadening horizons is always a good thing :)

+1: use of literary devices; my creative writing professors would love this book, if not for it's slightly out-there content (in relevance to my life and experiences as a 19 year old) then for Moore's use of almost every poetic literary device in the book. I can almost guarantee that some of these will be used by professors in advanced poetry courses at different universities.

This was really beautiful and I fully enjoyed the imagery of the bees. It was far more meaningful and had a kind of conjuring effect that I haven't been able to find with other modern poetry.

"the sands her entry
the messy record
my grandmother keeps: a family
in objects. All the things

and none of their stories: the deeds
we did to get them, what we kept
and what we stole, this past
we’ve made from pilfered dust."


A collection that goes all the way to the horizon and down into the earth. Poems ruminating on family, ancestry, life. Moore traces the relationships of women, though birth, sickness, and death, relationships with mothers, daughters, grandmothers, and long-distant, unmet aunts.

Through long, winding poems she showcases the blood and the joys and the agonies of motherhood. I enjoyed how the poems lept around from birth to toddler to teenager, then back again to nursing. Moore expertly, with vivid, brutal details, exposes the rawness of being a mother, of practically losing your own body. She captures seemingly small moments of one's life and teases out the thoughts lurking underneath. There are hints of her love and her marriage, but this collection is mostly surrounding female relationships: it could be expressed as an ancestry of motherhood.

I enjoyed the framing of bees and honey.  It reminded me of THE HONEY MONTH but with an earthier, more in-this-world feel.

"I hate how I sound when I say things like “Yeah, I keep bees in my backyard,”or “Yeah, I surf most mornings,”“Yeah, I’m a poet,”as if I’m any good at any of it. I don’t really know what I’m doing most days. I just like to touch fear."

Requeening by Amanda Moore is an amazingly vivid collection that explores the various roles a woman might play through their life. With a unique poetic writing style and colorful imagery, Requeening was a delight to read.

While not all poems were about bees specifically, you could see how the author perfectly intertwined womanhood with the structure of a beehive. Moore has a very classical poetic style, essay like and lyrical, leading to a mixture of long (sometimes hard-to-catch) poems and shorter, hard-hitting ones.

A few times, I had trouble catching the meanings of poems, but poetry is very subjective so I don’t doubt that others would have had a much easier time. I still enjoyed this read very much.

A section of the poems ended in what I believe to be (but could be wrong about) haikus, which was very interesting and definitely not in the norm. I had never read a Haibun until this collection came along. It was interesting to see a bunch of poetic styles I, a poetry reader, had never once heard of, and it made the collection all the more entertaining.

That last poem specifically hit me hard.

I think this was a nice, classical-vibes collection that will definitely suit the poetry market.

I was reminded again while reading this that poetry is so subjective! Every reader will take something different from this collection, which is probably my favorite thing about poetry--it’s both universal and personal!

I personally found this to be a collection of poems that says what it means. Though these selections are lyrical and evocative, I didn’t detect much metaphor or hidden meaning throughout. I didn’t spend a minute or two after reading the majority of these to think about what might have *actually* been said because I felt it was already explained. These read almost like small snippets of stories or essays, all set on conveying events as they happened through a lens of beauty & emotion.

I enjoyed reading Moore’s creative thoughts on various stages of womanhood, her snapshots of marriage and motherhood, her take on sickness and loss, and the importance of leaning into the changes we inevitably face as life continues moving forward.

Thank you, NetGalley & Ecco Books, for the ARC!

I picked up this book because of the bee cover & title. Unsurprisingly, the bee poems were my favorite. They were complex and interesting. The rest of the book was a bit disappointing. While Moore's craft is evident, I just didn't find many of the poems interesting and kept putting the book down. As a cancer survivor, I expected to love the poems about chemo/survival, but I just didn't find them having an interesting perspective.

The themes of this collection are incredibly interesting: the cycle of life, growing, dying. I truly wish the bees were a stronger motif. Also, I realize I'm probably not the ideal audience for this collection; the motherhood poems fell flat for me.