Having slogged through Ocean Vuong’s “Night Sky with Exit Wounds” but absolutely devoured “On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous”, I had hoped I would be converted with Vuong’s second poetry collection. Unfortunately, that is not so. While I was struck by some imagery of some of the poems, I found the majority of them to have the same cadence and pace, making for monotonous reading. I suppose it’s not entirely fair to assign that critique to poetry, which should be read aloud. But to me, the mark of a good poem (and by extension, a good poetry collection) is that it’s striking when read both silently and aloud - I could only say this about a handful of poems in “Time Is A Mother”. That said, each poem is definitely brimming with emotion; while verbalised with stilted, overwrought language, it does lay bare the grief and heaviness of loss. For that, I give it 3/5.

I think some of this book went over my head. I'm not usually a big poetry reader, I do enjoy it, and have always had a fondness for poetry. I just don't think I fully understand it sometimes, like there's a depth of understanding my brain can't comprehend.

"Time is a Mother" was poignant, beautiful, and intense at times. This collection of poems delves deep into Vuong's experiences, grief, and pain. Some poems hit me much harder than others, some I didn't care for much at all simply because I couldn''t make sense of them, but that doesn't mean they weren't beautiful all the same. I always love when an author can be so deeply open and personal in their work. I could feel Vuong's emotions emanating from the words. I think this book will be most appreciated by poetry lovers and those who enjoy dissecting the meaning of poetry. I'm not sure I'm quite at the level this book is intended for, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

"I thought the fall would kill me but it only made me real"

This is my first Ocean Vuong read and I was just blown away. I read a lot of nontraditional poetry but was so enamored by the lyrical cadence of the poems in this collection, I couldn't help but read them each out loud. Vuong does such an incredible job of creating a flickering montage of imagery in your head as you read through each line–his words paint such a vivid picture.

There were so many quotes I loved that I know will stay with me, including: "My favorite/kind of darkness is the one/inside us", "What if it's not the wreck that made us, but the debris?", "Nobody's free without breaking open."

Like his debut Night Sky with Exit Wounds, this collection shows the creative power and passionate humanity of an exciting new poet. Intimate and personal while also reaching for bold statements about the world we live in - war, sex, love, death, failure, beauty. This is a collection that will haunt you long after you read it. Highly recommended.

The themes of TIME IS MOTHER are family, love, loss, and grief. Ocean Vuong does an excellent job of presenting all of the feelings that we typically experience, particularly loss. There is a lot of pain in the poems, which makes the reader emotional. You'll need to take a break in between to catch up on your breadth. This was an excellent examination of sorrow and identity, with time looming large and heavy on everyone. On the other hand, I felt the book to be somewhat political as well, consequences of war had on people (specifically author) . What is it like to be an immigrant in America? How does it feel to be a gay POC in America?

I was so excited but this book of poems was not for me. I didn’t enjoy the style or the content. It felt like rambling to me.

This poetry collection follows the author’s life after his mother’s death. The discussions of living with grief, while also wanting to move past that to live a functional life, were heartfelt. I recommend to any poetry fan, especially if you enjoyed the author’s other works.

I've heard about Ocean Voung because of one of his popular books but this was actually the first book I've read from him—and a collection of poems at that. However, sad to say, I didn't like this book as much as I thought I would. Even though I don't dabble in reading poetry that much, this was quite unfortunate for me.

First off, I have to say the author's writing was spectacular and the book was pretty much a quick read. But I had trouble connecting with all the words, the prose, and everything in between. I also found myself not comprehending nearly all of the poems at all because even though the writing was spectacular and aesthetic-esque, it didn't make sense to me at all. And maybe that's why this book didn't resonate to me that much because of how I didn't totally understand it.

Regardless of how I view this book, I think that this was still a well-made collection of poems. I might have to reread it someday and maybe I'll have a different perception then.

2.5 stars

This is a beautiful, heartbreaking poetry collection. Ocean Vuong is, in my opinion, in prime form here, and twists between the occasional snarky wordplay/aside and truly wrenching lines. It's a lot, but that's to be expected.

Ocean Vuong's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous split me open, so I was eager to read this new book. Vuong's work is so crushingly beautiful and this new poetry collection is no exception. I loved the range in these poems: sparse ones, dense prose poems, and so much in between that play with form and words. Time Is a Mother is a collection I'll certainly want to revisit.

Sadly this was kind of a let down for me :/ I love Ocean Vuong’s other collection of poetry so I was going into this with high expectations. There were some stand out poems but by and large this collection felt repetitive and tumblr-y. I think if you like his other work it’s still worth the read but alas, it was not my favorite.

I was extremely excited to read the collection “Time is a Mother” by Ocean Vuong. I have heard rave reviews about his work and really enjoy poetry.

The collection was a quick read for me. The writing is raw and gripping, however, like other reviewers, I found myself having difficulty connecting to much of the work and understanding the connection between the pieces. I understand poetry does not need to be collected or tied together thematically in any way, but perhaps that is something that works for me.

If you enjoy poetry that stings and leaves an imprint, this is for you. I am very much so interested in exploring more of Vuong’s prose in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and author for the ARC. Review has been shared to Goodreads and other media platforms.

Fans of "On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous" will love "Time is a Mother," Ocean Vuong's latest poetry collection. This collection explores themes of war, immigration, depression, and growing up LGBTQIA+, and will break your heart. Vuong's stunning lyrical writing is simultaneously intimate and distant, leaving the reader seeking more clarity and more poems. I read this in one sitting and still wanted more!

I understand and appreciate how beautifully written this was, but I often find myself having trouble connecting to poetry, hence my rating.

Since I read On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous last year I have just fallen in love with Ocean Vuong's writing. He's gotten me interested in reading poetry which I've never really done before.

I was so excited when Time Is a Mother was announced that I preordered it as soon as it was available and then decided I couldn't wait and tried my hand at getting an eARC of it. I'm so glad I was able to read this early. I don't know if I can adequately describe how beautiful Vuong's writing is. It's simply stunning. He has a way to make you feel everything he is feeling. There is so much emotion and beauty behind his words.

I can't wait until my physical copy comes in and I can read this over and over again.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group for the eARC of Time Is a Mother in exchange for an honest review.

Admittedly I haven’t read a lot of poetry, but I enjoy reading because I can explore new genres and authors. I adore Ocean’s novel “On Earth...” so was eager to explore some other content. This collection of poetry did not disappoint. Reflective, grieving, beautiful. His writing is so moving and honest. Ocean Vuong has made me appreciate poetry.

Sincere thanks to NetGalley and Random House for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 out of 5.

"i'm winning even
if it just looks like
my fingers are shaking"

a rather short collection. though i love Vuong's writing voice, this one fell flat for me.
some lines left me breathless, some were funny little pop culture references, and i liked the stream of consciousness style that seemed to permeate this little book.
i'm still a huge fan of Vuong's, but this one just didn't really hit me as much as his other published works have. i found myself a bit lost, a bit bored, a bit meh.
i would recommend this to others who like Vuong's writing, but i personally was a bit disappointed.

"i want to
take care of our planet
because i need a
beautiful graveyard"

First off, my thanks to Goodreads and RH for an ebook ARC of this title.
And to RH for letting this best selling, and MacArthur Genius, publish his next book as a book of poetry, where he started out in his literary career. Being poetry, I doubt if the sales will be anywhere near as high as his fiction debut, "On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous" (has it been 3 years already since that book was published, and excited literary readers thoughout the land?).
Plus, his poetry is rather dense, personal and not easily approachable. More from his form than his content.
His poetry reminded me of a fine cut jewel - precise, intense, and with edges. His poems here (I have not read his first book of poems, "Night Sky with Exit Wounds" - I now have it on Hold at my local PL) have themes similar to "On Earth...." - his mother, his family, his youth. And different combinations of thoughts on being Vietnamese, gay and an artist. I did not enjoy one of two longer poems in the collection at first, "Kunstlerroman" (artist's novel - recollections of becoming an artist), with its "Benjamin Button" like going back into the past. But that is a major part of Vuong - his desire to relive, to remember the details, of the past, with a wish to better understand it, and to ultimately relive and re-form it.
The other long poem in the book is "Dear Rose" - very much in the vein of "On Earth...." - a poetic letter to his illiterate mother - remembering, and reimagining, events of her life and their life. After I had finished the book the one word that popped up in my mind the most often was "plea". It is like he is pleaing to a supreme being he does not really believe in to allow him to relive his life, to do it over again - and to pay better attention to what is important to his mother and his/her family, and his friends.
As above, his form can at times make reading the poems, and understanding what is going on in them, more difficult. He often physically ends a line, adds a space, and then finishes the idea/action of the line above with the following word or words in the next stanza. It is like taking a jump into nothingness, and hoping you land on solid ground! Or, as he does a few times, breaking up words in nontraditional ways in order to give them multiple meanings (in one case "sp/arrow" - so we now have the bird, and the weapon). There are also a couple poems formatted to look/read like a page from a novel - a solid block of lines and print (it does fit that he does this for a poem composed for an artist installation).
An extraordinary addition to his youthful oeuvre - but I still do look forward to more of his "fiction". I am glad I picked this up to read soon after gaining access to it.

ARC provided by NetGalley. Thank you so much to them and the publishers!

So, I had a hard time with this. I requested this book because while I haven't read any of OV's works in full, I have adored every excerpt I've read from him. I also will fully admit I know almost nothing about poetry except for being able to look at something and decide if I liked it or not. I... am torn.

Poetry is so personal and individual. It makes it hard to review objectively, especially coming from a very casual reader of it. I really enjoyed a few poems here, but overall I felt as if most poems were all over the place, and not in the way that made OV's previous excerpts I've read so charming. They felt extremely convoluted, and after two or three readings of each poem I still would come out the other side feeling like I didn't understand anything. Maybe it's just me! Who's to say.

Many poems also felt a bit... edgy? The references to blood and awful things and the way they were written often struck me a bit... Tumblr-esque? Which is sad, because I've found OV's way with words so charming before.

That said, when the poems worked, they worked.

I'll preface this section with a personal note by saying I waited to read this ARC on my mom's birthday. It's a bit of a sad day for me, but she passed away from cancer when I was a teenager. Perhaps because of this— and perhaps why these poems read as so much more earnest and true— I found the strongest poems in this collection relate to OV's mother, and the relationship with grief that we form when we lose ours.

Overall, I do suggest people try this out for themselves!

<b>Favorites:</b>
- Amazon History of a Former Nail Salon Worker
- Woodworking at the End of the World
- Dear Rose
- Nothing
- Reasons for Staying

Ocean writes and the world stops. For a moment in time when I am alone with their words, their writing, I feel like I am not alone. That is a gift. That is pure magic.