As a writer who occasionally attempts autobiographical poetry influenced by the formative media I’ve consumed, I was really interested to read this collection.

As with a lot of short story/poetry collections it was a bit of a mixed bag. The stylistically strong to me by far was Marrow, featuring the hyenas from The Lion King, although I also found My Mom and Mrs. Incredible Have the Sane Haircut and Beast/Boy to be interesting pieces.

Skimming the books listed under poetry and reading the words ‘Azula’ and ‘Danny Phantom’ sure as hell caught my eye.

I wasn’t really sure how much all of these pop culture references would translate into poetry but, the authors did an excellent job. I especially was a fan of all of the Avatar: The Last Airbender-centered poems. My only lack of enjoyment was just a lack of an understanding of some of the references. But, all of the ones that I did get, I totally loved.

Interested to see other work by the author.

“I am a girl searching for her savagery, / even when it’s doomed. / I am the color of envy, / and my suitor loves it too.”
What I was expecting from this poetry collection: A good time and some fun references to animated shows.

What I got: complex imagery/symbolism/form/etc and a deep emotional resonance with my own experience.

This collection focuses on how your life can be affected by animated shows, and explores profound truths of growing up and the experience of adolescence through the lens of animation and children’s television. There is so much I could say about this, but given it’s a fifty page collection, I’ll keep it short and sweet. My personal favorite poems were “I Have a Crush on Shego,” “Blackfire Ballad,” and “Refraction”.

It’s a short collection, and wholly worth your time. If you have the chance to read this beautiful blip of hope and light, please do.

ok, but what even was this. i feel like i didn't understand any of the poems or what they were trying to get at in the slightest. it was confusing and pretentious and i did not have a good time.

I really enjoyed this book. I adore pop culture references, but they can be hard to get right, especially in poetry. Because of this, I was floored when I started reading this collection. The pop culture thing really works here.

As a queer 20-year-old who grew up with most of these cartoons in the early aughts, the writing really appealed to me. I found the poems to be both hard-hitting and incredibly relatable; I imagine much of my demographic might feel similarly. The poem “I have a crush on Shego” was my favourite. It’s an accurate portrayal of something that a lot of sapphics my age have experienced. Many younger millennials and older Gen-Z people realized they were gay at a time when blatant media representation didn’t exist. Some of us didn’t really have access to language that would accurately describe what we felt, but we saw ourselves in queer-coded cartoon characters while simultaneously having crushes on them (such as Shego from Kim Possible).
I also liked the theme of familial tension — a few of the poems dove into this topic and I think they were brilliantly executed. Overall, this poetry collection made me super nostalgic.

4.5 stars

This collection of poetry recounts Gen Z nostalgia and the media we grew up with. The poems are by two different authors, but they flowed together so well I couldn't immediately tell which was penned by which. I particularly loved that each poem had the show it was inspired by under the title for those that may be less familiar with them; I don't think someone who had never watched any of the shows would get the full impact of the poetry. There is great lyricism and imagery. I think the poems later in the collection are stronger than those in the beginning.

"What wicked rituals make a man
into a man, and how can I perform?"

As a millennial with a deep love for fandom who also grew up with the shows referenced in these poems, I found the subject of this collection highly relatable. What a wonderful tribute to the beloved cartoon classics that influenced a generation!

There was a lot of interesting enjambment and wordplay that, from a technical standpoint, made the poems quite compelling, and worth reading more than once to catch all the hidden allusions. I liked how each poem seemed to create a bridge between the character or show referenced, and the author's own experience.

"I am not reverent at the altar
where he offered me anymore."

This collection also engages with queer identity through the lens of being a young queer viewer desperately searching for themselves in the fiction they love, and being influenced by what is and isn't there. That certainly hit home!

Overall: this was a beautifully accessible collection that I think will especially resonate with fans of a certain age (those who grew up in the late 90s/early 2000s), or who are otherwise familiar with the primarily referenced shows (Avatar: The Last Airbender, Kim Possible, Danny Phantom, Teen Titans, etc).

I don't normally reach out to read poetry, but this title really caught my eye. I was not disappointed. It could be the fact that I too grew up watching these cartoons, but I enjoyed reading these poems quite a bit!

If you like reading poetry or if you like any cartoons from the 90s-00s I would recommend reading this collection.

Thank you to NetGalley and Button Poetry for the ARC.

I absolutely loved this poetry collection! There was so much power and emotion in those lines that I could feel in myself. It is poems I needed when I was younger and definitely ones I needed now. These poems are so amazing and they truly moved me. I even read some of them multiple times. I can't wait to read more from this author and recommend this book to all my friends.

I grew up on the internet, just like this author did, and it was so much fun to read how the media we consume, especially the cartoons that meant so much to me, meant so much to other people. While I loved the content, the construction of the poems felt amateurish at times.

As. a young millenail/ old Gen Z cusp, I relate to this book on a very personal level. I remember when Danny PHantom was on TV premiering new episodes. I remember everything about this era.

The ATLA poems hit the hardest for. me.

Such a short and blazing poetry collection, consisting 26 poems, garnished with animation and literature references that bring out elements realism in best possible ways.

I love the overall concept of this book. Though I didn't relate directly to the poems but I liked how rich they are with emotions conveying the struggles of people of colour, children being victims of abuse, suffering of people whose sexual orientations are yet to be normalized.

A little thing i would like to mention, I don't know what poetry style they used (a lot is going on with modern era poetries, I guess), I had a hard time with the read. With the line breaks. Well i didn't know where to stop and savour before reading the next line.

I would like to thank NetGalley and the publishers for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A really sweet and thoughtful ode to our favourite characters we see on screen and how they can relate to us.

It was really touching, and my favourite parts were definitely about Zuko and Azula. There is a lot of conversation about relationships with yourself and family, and this was the light-hearted quick read I was hoping it would be. Very nice.

I really enjoyed this collection. It felt as if I was reconnecting with characters from my childhood and getting to see them from an entirely new perspective. It’s nice to read this and realize something that stood out from my childhood touched the writers of this as well and were open to using these characters to share stories of their own. Now I’m feeling very much nostalgic for media that was alongside me as I grew up and that’s a lovely place to be.

I was so intrigued by this title and description. The poems are interesting each referring to a nostalgic cartoon character. Some of my favourite poems are the ones to do with; Mulan, Shego, and Yzma. I wish there had been a few more poems in this collection but otherwise no complaints!

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providign me with an arc for an honest review!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me this free ARC.

I loved the idea at first, poems about your childhood favourite shows? I was completely sold. It was quite a fast read, didn't take me much longer than half an hour. There was something missing to this, though. I may have gone into this with maybe a little bit of a high expectation. I was expecting more. Something maybe a little bit more infantile. Something that would move me. Something that I could identify with. It wasn't the case. I was left feeling indifferent.

I applaud the use of analogies, the way the author uses the characters to express more adult manifestations. The way the cartoons were a reflection of something much darker at times. It was a very unique book, that's for sure.

I love, and I do mean love, all of the poetry I have ever read from Button Poetry. This was the exception. I truly didn't like even one poem in this book. Nothing spoke to me. I guess I wasn't their audience.

3.5 stars. I liked the poems and the take they took on the stories we grew up with. It was a quick and good read, but it just wasn't it for me. I liked the idea, the execution also was good but it isn't a favorite. I recommend this book, i hope you'll like it more than i did!

Cartoons and poems are a good combination!
Thanks to NetGalley to provide me this e-ARC in exchange my honest review.
This book caught my attencion becuase Danny Phantom was one of my favorites cartoon shows when I was little. In the moment that I read the title, I knew that I have to read it.
This is a short compilation of poems that use cartoon characters to talk about other things like be a trans people, perfectionism, domestic violence, and anger for no be what a person wants to be. I think they use cartoon character to make easy to identify certain emotions. I never had read something like this, and I think is a very interesting idea to write a poem.
I think my favorites poems are those about trans people, I as a cisgender help me to understand more how its to grown up, sometimes, without the possibility to express true self.

So often poetry seems so literary and prestigous that it isn't for young people, especially not those who look to popular culture to express themselves and see themselves represented. This collection so perfectly encapsulates how we relate to the themes we consume in media into our growth and mindsets, marrying it with lyrical and rich writing. A joy to read.