Cover Image: The Smallest of Bones

The Smallest of Bones

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Member Reviews

These poems missed the mark for me. The description of an ossuary of small poems really hooked me, but the content fell a bit flat. The best parts of this collection were the large paragraphs describing the bones, it was simply the disjointed nature of the poems that followed that threw me off as a reader. Even the description says it: the poems cover gender, violence, sexuality, love, etc. It's a lot. A more cohesively themed set of poems would fit this design, and provide a better skeleton for the book.

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2 stats ⭐⭐


First thing first and that's I liked the cover of this story.

Second thing:
I was excited to read The Smallest Of Bones because of the themes that are there in this poetry but those excitement doesn't live long.

This was presented very differently and I liked how there were explanations of different titles. That part was interesting.

Now coming to the poetries, in simple words I couldn't relate or felt the words or emotions. Or I think this poetry book isn't for me. I was rather confused most of the time than understanding it.

I will give the author her due credit for writing poetry on such versatile themes but sadly it didn't touch the mark for me.

It was a short read so I finished quickly so that's there.

Thank you, NetGalley, publisher, and author for providing me an ARC of this book.

This book is going to be published on 26, September 2021.
Review wrote on 1, August 2021

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I am a big lover of biology and am currently studying biology, so I really enjoyed how the author combined biology with poetry. Poetry still isn’t a favourite genre of mine so this book does not stand out to me, but if you love biology and/or science you will definitely enjoy this as the writing is superb.

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This is a cutest, weirdest and short book about BONES! The poet covers a part of bones in our body and it weave with themes like romance, love, pain, sex and identity. It's a quick read and I enjoyed.

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I received a complimentary copy of this title from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed are my own.

I think I'm very spoiled when it comes to poetry. I must be, because all of this "Instagram" style poetry is just not for me.

This was one of the more enjoyable poetry collections I've read recently. I wasn't entirely sure what to expect with the genres being "poetry" and "horror," It's definitely an odd mix.

There were some poignant, quotable moments in a few of them, but there was a surprising amount of technical medical jargon that didn't quite mesh with the poems themselves.

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*Thank you to Netgalley and CLASH Books for sending me an e-arc in return for my honest review.*

4 out of 5 stars

A book full of poems inspired by bones. Sounds weird at first I admit, but this is very much worth the ride. The author manages to weave facts about bones that sound rather dry when you look at them out of context into an exploration of trauma, love, death and sexuality. The poems captured me completely and I couldn't look away from start to finish.

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I thought it was so interesting that many of these poems were inspired by human skeletal anatomy. It felt almost like adding flesh to the skeleton to make a poem. Something about that concept I just love.

I liked the slightly darker tone of using bones, it fit really well with some of the more sinister descriptions throughout the collection e.g. 'where the demon's tongue is rough like a cats', and the over all tone of the grittiness of human emotion.

I also appreciated the feminist overtones to many of the poems. 'Because even our bones are made for what men want. Because as hard as we try to be sacred, they can always use us for sacrifice.'
and
'What we call beauty and pain are not so different.'
These are some of my favourite lines.
The clinical definitions of the certain bones the following poems were inspired by was also helpful and enlightening. Especially discovering some of the Greek/Latin stems of the words.

As with every poetry/small story collection, not every poem resonated or was my cup of tea, and that's absolutely fine.
Unfortunately the e-arc reading experience was a little confusing as I don't think the formatting was the final corrected version, which sometimes made it difficult to discern where one poem ended and another began and also to understand the flow of the poem.

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The Smallest of Bones is a quick, uneasy read that may linger with its audience beyond its brief runtime. The poems it contains are individually small, but feel cohesive in a way that creates a sense of a larger narrative--much like the parts of a human skeleton do.

This is an exceptionally well-structured collection. Its division into segments headed by descriptions of a particular bone very effectively heightens the sense that all of the tiny poems are working together to support the poet's overall vision, thereby heightening the impact of each individual poem.

Not every poem quite resonated inside my own ribcage--but then, such is the nature of poetry collections. The real standout for me was "there are few places left," a poem which I think will remain a part of my thoughts for a long, long time.

I would recommend this collection to fans of bones, queer horror and love, and frank discussions of trauma, abuse, and the lingering impact of blows both psychic and physical.

I received a free e-ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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thank you to netgalley and CLASH books for an e-arc of this collection. this does not affect my rating.

"hiding our hearts is easy when we have so many bones."

i'm trying to branch out and read more poetry and this collection is definitely a good one to start with. while it wasn't the best poetry collection i've ever read it was quick and enjoyable.

the synopsis promises the collection to be "haunting" and "dark", however, the poems were just too short to feel remotely like that and the writing was very simple and insta-poetry-esque. while that is not necessarily a bad thing, it's just not my favourite style of poetry and those adjectives don't quite suit the collection as well as it could.

"but pain is like a melody you can't forget."

the collection attempts to cover themes such as: love, romance, relationships, queer sexuality, religion, death, demons, ghosts, bones, gender, and darkness (from the synopsis.) i found that it covered some better than others, particularly: relationships, ghosts, bones, gender and darkness.

it was clear that the main focus here was gender, focusing on women in abusive relationships, but since i am not a women nor in a relationship i cannot fully say how well it was portrayed.

"if you keep listening to what they tell you you are, soon enough you become that thing."

i really enjoyed the start to each new section of poems, they described different bones, their etymology and anthropology as well as the poets take on how they relate to women. as for the poems themselves, the ones that i enjoyed the most were:
- god doesn't interest me
- no one else will remember
- i am grasping at bits of bone

many of the poems, though, felt like stretched out, nonsensical metaphors or were incomplete but due to poetry being a very personal thing i cannot really comment on the nature of the poems.

overall, it was a nice introductory poetry collection and i do recommend checking it out upon release which is september 26th 2021! - 3*

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Firstly, I wanna thank NetGalley and the publisher for granting me the opportunity to read this as an arc.
Secondly, I have to admit that my feelings about this book are mixed.
It's no secret that I absolutely love human anatomy, it's not so either that I immensely enjoy poetry. The combination of these two should've been the perfect collection for me.
Now don't get me wrong. When I say it wasn't perfect, I do not at all mean that it was anything short of beautiful, but rather it had a few minor flaws. For instance, some of the poems seemed too raw or just simply too simple (!) for me. They lacked a certain sophistication.
However, What some poems lacked in sophistication and complexity, the others compensated for in conciseness and the author's marvelous talent in painting a detailed picture of women's struggles with mere words.
One other thing that's worth mentioning is how absolutely amazing the prologues about various bones were. Holly Lyn Walrath had done her research and had done it thoroughly.
With all of this being said, I would recommend this book to anyone who generally enjoys short poems.

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I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Smallest of Bones is a poetry collection consisting of bite-sized poems covering a wide range of topics from: love, romance, relationships, queer sexuality, religion, death, demons, ghosts, bones, gender, and darkness. The poems are arranged along the structural format of a human skeleton, starting from the cranium and working down to the temporal bones of the body. Each skeletal section is introduced to the reader through a mix of scientific, historical, mythological, and etymological information on the bones with the author adding their own personal interpretation at the end. The poems themselves are minimalistic, with the intention of stripping back the layers and exposing the raw essence of the self.

Initially, I was intrigued by the unusual format and premise of this collection. I generally tend to dislike contemporary poetry especially those that emulate the Rupi Kaur style of writing: lowercase lines that don't follow rules of grammar or punctuation; short, easily digestible verses that look great as social media quotes but are so superficial in their meaning that it rarely warrants any kind of in depth analysis. This collection of poetry, despite its interesting format, follows more or less in that same vein.

These poems are neither “haunting” nor “dark” ; they barely skim the surface of a topic before erratically flitting into another. The poems touch on some serious themes such as queer sexuality, gender, female body, violence and abuse in a relationship, etc. without offering any insight. Rather than “raw, honest, and powerful” it feels very shallow, superficial, and insincere. I felt no connection to any of these entries and they left no lasting impact.

The writing itself is so vague as to be devoid of any logical meaning; the metaphors stretched to their illogical limits come off as endlessly pretentious. What feels like an attempt at being profound ended up slightly comical in an ironic way. I imagine these are the type of poems Jughead from Riverdale might end up reading in his spare time. Poetry is, by its very nature, a deeply personal experience open to reader interpretation. But when the poems themselves are a confused mess of half baked metaphors, vague to the point of incoherence then it hardly warrants any further analysis.

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"Hiding our hearts is easy when we have so many bones"

Few words carry vast and complex meaning, like the smallest of bones carrying the heaviest burdens in this body of poems by Holly Lyn Walrath...

Poetry has always been the hardest genre to review for me as the experience is so deeply personal to every reader. In this case, I might also be highly biased as a med-student with a fascination with all things body and anatomy. Add to that the exploration of themes such as gender, passion, relationships, death and ghosts, and you have something completely up my alley. Although almost impossible, I’ll try to split this review in an “objective”, and a completely subjective part, in hopes of helping more readers assess if this is the right fit for them.

“Objectively”, I like to judge poetry mostly on the question of does the form support the content. In this case that is a definitive YES. The poems are minimalistic and structural, mimicking an almost skeletal form. They strip the described experiences down to the bone, leaving the reader to reconstruct the body around it.
Each poem is made up of a short introduction of a bone and its function and structure in the body, followed by a musing on the above mentioned themes that somehow relate to this particular bone. It makes for a coherent and logical structure throughout that hold the poems together like ligaments.
For this structure to work however, it’s key that the lay-out of the pages is exactly as intended, which in the e-book isn’t always the case. I hope the publisher will be able to fix this issue, so that Kindle-readers can experience the poems as intended as well.

The more subjective reason I related to this collection has to do with my personal experiences. As a soon-to-be-doctor, but also a cancer-survivor and patient with a chronic degenerative illness, my relationship with “the body” is… well… complicated. I adore the human body; its intricacies, its strength and its deeply flawed fragility. I’m also terrified and filled with dread over it. This collection mirrors that feeling somewhat. It’s haunting and simultaneously filled with apprehensive love.
All in all, I truly hope this collection finds its audience. Some readers will find it too bare-bone, but in the hands of fans of this genre it’s an absolute masterpiece.

Many thanks to the author and CLASH Books for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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This is a short collection of some very deep, thought-provoking poems based on different bones in the body.

Each poem starts with some information about the bone itself before launching into an emotional poem covering different topics such as loss and sexuality.

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This was a very unique short collection. I Really enjoyed the connection between human emotion and experience to the bones in the body. I have not personally seen a poet do something quite like this (though I am a poetry novice), so I found it to be a really interesting way to break down some of the topics and connect them to the physical body.

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Thank you to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A beautiful, different kind of poetry that has lovely and dark poems within itself.

The book talks about love, death, bones and skeletons, gender, ghosts, relationships, women, pain,... It talks about many things. The author writes it in a way, in general, so beautiful and dark— the author does it so well! (In general, in my opinion) I loved it!

It's a different kind of poetry I am used to read. Despite this is not the kind of book I am used to read, I loved it anyway.

The author takes the dark sides of life and transforms it into art. And it's beautiful.

There are also references to mythology, which I absolutely adored!

This book comes out on 26th September 2021, so stay tuned!

#TheSmallestOfBones #Netgalley

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Almost like chapter titles, major bones of the body are detailed, breaking up the many poems. Each with an explanation how bones protect vital organs. Bones, caging the body from harm. What a wonderful notion that bones may cage our feelings in a flight to protect from emotional harm.

I had high expectations for The Smallest of Bones since I loved Glimmerglass Girl so much. Even though I had an idea of what to expect from this author, I was overwhelmingly surprised. The truth is, I love this new poetry book even more, maybe. It's hard to say, I love them both. Holly Lyn Walrath gets to the grit, writes from a familiar perspective and reveals secrets without shame.

I started reading before I looked at the description to give myself a chance to feel it. In these words, I read loss, grief, yearning, regret and anger. Feelings that are common I suppose with most. Expressing them, letting them out, getting to the height of the pain, is more difficult and uncommon.

It is always possible the author did not intend what the reader gets from the words. Maybe that is what makes poetry what it is, something to read, take it in and let it move you. Any way it moves you, is ok.

For me, poetry is a sense of soothing, understanding and comfort. Though the words may seem weird, maybe morbid leaning toward macabre even, they are moving. The words moved me and I felt connected to them. Words saying exactly what is not easily said aloud.

The cover is captivating and pulls at me. It caught my attention and I wanted to know what this poetry could be about. The title fits what is inside. A thought, an idea that bursts with every verse. The poems are beautifully styled. The subject matter is striking. I absolutely love it.

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These are sparse, sensual poems,. The themes of death and gender are treated in a dark way sometimes with an angry tone; others are more whimsical, and often explored with the use of flower imagery which contrasts with the harsher imagery of skulls etc. The use of the personal pronoun throughout, and the shape given by anatomy, make this a cohesive body of poetry which I enjoyed reading.
I received an advanced reader copy. Thank you to the poet and publicist.

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In Holly Lyn Walrath’s collection, The Smallest of Bones, Walrath uses the very foundation of the human body, our skeletal system, to explore the individual’s tendencies to push against structure -- the constant, to create an identity that is honest and self-assured. Walrath moves us through the body and the self, investigating self-repression, self-incrimination, and self-expression.

“If you slowly bend a bone / over time inch by inch / it deforms until It molds / to your hands” from the Smallest of Bones by Holly Lyn Walrath

Walrath’s tiny poems navigate life’s challenges -- identity, relationships, emotions, pain – in her uncanny style that not only resonates with the reader inherently but wows them with lyricism and otherworldliness. She grapples with the duality of feminism and submission, sexual identity and social expectations, and self-doubt and self-acceptance. In the end, she strategically connects these tiny pieces to create a complete image of wholeness.

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I do enjoy poetry, but unfortunately, this collection of poems is just not for me. While I did enjoy reading something outside of my usual range, the style and flow of the poems simply wasn't one that I personally enjoyed.

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A small collection of poetry that uses the bones of the female body to guide the reader. It felt like a lot of the popular Instagram poetry in format and flow. However, I think the author found real depth in some of their poems.

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