Thank you so much to Elektra Flowers and @netgalley for sending me a copy of "The Tarot Cycle: Poems for the Apocalypse" in exchange for an honest review.

Amid the saturation of the contemporary poetry we see today, this book definitely delivers more than its peers. Although it would be useful and an entirely fitting experience if you are well-versed with tarot cards unlike me, I feel like I got the message in every poem, nonetheless.

It is lyrical but not condescending. Straightforward at times but flowery on parts when it needed to be. But what I really admired about it is, it talks beyond romance, it talks about the profound and the mundanes of life.

I'm a new poem reader and certain stuff can be hard for me but not this, this was beautiful and delicate and each poem made its way to my heart .
I loved the idea of every poem being a tarot card and how they depict different things.
Will definitely buy a physical copy and read it again

Thank you NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for the chance to read and review this ARC!

This is one of those collections that will get mixed reviews, mostly because poetry is an intensely personal thing. For some reason, this really did appeal to me, I think partially because I did weirdly enough find a connection with my own deck today (the first I’ve ever owned) and I can understand the magic that comes from them. This is a very quick read and I would have liked that the author have put together a longer collection (although I have reviewed collections and said that that things should have been removed) so really whoever reads this will have a different reaction based on mood.

All in all, I would recommend this little collection!

3.5
The idea of poems based on the tarot cards is really unique and lovely ! The book is really short and has a generally nice enchanting vibe and many parts are really beautiful . I didn’t really connect with most of the poems, or get any particular feeling from any of them though — and i personally think poetry is all about what reading it makes you feel. My favourite is probably ‘wheel of fortune’. The books is fairly good and i would recommend it !

What I loved about this poetry collection was the way that all the poems came together to tell one overarching story based on the symbolism of the tarot cards. I did not fully understand the references and this book would definitely be better for someone with a strong knowledge of tarot. I wish the book was slightly longer as it was quite quickly over and done but overall it was a witchy collection of poems that I really enjoyed.

I was very happy to be able to read this through Netgalley! This was a fun, short poetry collection based on the 22 Major Arcana tarot cards. The poems were nice and short, and I love that the cover is a gold illustration of a tarot card.
Great poetry collection, I'm looking forward to reading more from Elektra Flowers.

A very short collection of poems based off the Major Arcana in a tarot deck. The imagery and themes were beautiful and lush and the writing style flowed really well! The subtitle "Poems for the Apocalypse" made me think of these poems as a sort of story told before a big event or battle. It's as if I sat down for a reading before the end of everything, and this is what I would be told. It's a wonderful way to read this collection.

I would have loved to see more poems for Minor Arcana cards in the collection or even interpretations of the cards reversed forms.
My favorite poems are: "The Hermit" and "Temperance".

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This collection is laid out the same as the major arcana, with one poem for each card. Some longer than others. I was excited because I enjoy myself a bit of tarot, and it is spooky season after all. But this collection really did just leave me wanting. I felt they were fairly standard, fine—although the writing style was absolutely brimming with lovely metaphor in some cases, but many others felt like flat. All of the poems did draw from the themes of their associated card at least, which was interesting to see if you know enough about tarot. It’s quite hard to put my finger on why I found it so lacking overall, but unfortunately, I did.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This collection is laid out the same as the major arcana, with one poem for each card. Some longer than others. I was excited because I enjoy myself a bit of tarot, and it is spooky season after all. But this collection really did just leave me wanting. I felt they were fairly standard, fine—although the writing style was absolutely brimming with lovely metaphor in some cases, but many others felt like flat. All of the poems did draw from the themes of their associated card at least, which was interesting to see if you know enough about tarot. It’s quite hard to put my finger on why I found it so lacking overall, but unfortunately, I did.

Thank you Elektra Flowers, BooksGoSocial, and Netgalley for the ARC for an exchange of an honest review. As someone who is interested in both poetry and tarot, this book is fabulous. The author did a great job to make all the major arcana pieces coming together, with some words popping up in different chapters. The chapters that stand out for me are The Hierophant, The Star, and The World. As they mentioned the ghosts and the lilies. It's a short and easy read. Love it!

I really quite enjoyed reading through this small collection. Elektra is a poet with a beautiful grasp of imagery, and I would happily look forward to reading more of their work.

As someone with a baseline understanding of what each tarot card means, and who does not practice myself, I appreciated this collection as a window into understanding what each card may intend -- almost like a beautiful, useful book depicting each card's use through metaphor. After reading, I found myself forming an appreciation for how tarot cards, like poems, connect and resonate with individuals in different ways. The poet carries certain images and moods through the collection with repeated phrasing, and this repetition is mostly effective when placed in close proximity to emphasize intention. Where the repetitions are further apart, it could come off as a lack of ideas later on in the collection, or be lost on the reader as repetition at all. But in general, the closeness of the collection as a whole works well with this technique, as it is not overdone.

As a whole, I enjoyed the poems which were character driven more than those which were more abstract. I enjoy grasping a clear connection, be it through prose or metaphor, and some of the poems in this collection were a little more wide angled with the images they discussed, or a little to quick at reaching their end, for someone like me without a large historical grasp on tarot. Though I do recognize I may not be the perfect or most intended reader. With even my limited tarot knowledge, I very much liked the poem for the Fool card, and thought the humanization here was immersive. As a side note, one which I was very glad at myself for noticing!, I appreciated that the poem's character is depicted clearly as choosing to step off that ledge. As I'm aware, some tarot illustrations imply an accidental fall, quite inconsistent with the card's inherent meaning.

Additionally, accompanying illustrations would have been especially helpful.

All in all, I thought the size of the collection was spot on for a swift read that worked well together as a whole, was immensely enjoyable, and provided beautiful concepts and imagery the whole way through.

I have been reading tarot for over 25 years, when i read the first poem on The Fool, I thought wow, that's an interesting way to look at it. Excited i started to read the other cards and was quickly met with disappointment. The Devil card which has so much depth and information, was given two lines as i recall. And some of the poems didn't even fit the cards themselves, leaving me to wonder if the author really understood tarot at all.

This ideal had a lot of potential that wasn't taken. There could have been better poems for each card and the author could have include that full tarot deck and not just the major arcana. The minors in each suit tell their own story from card to card. The author really missed a great opportunity as could have been deeper and filled with more substance.

This reads like the author wrote this in an afternoon. I was greatly disappointed, the full potential of this idea wasn't harnessed sadly.

This book is very light and can be read in half an hour.

Thank you Netgalley and BooksGoSocial for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Elektra Flowers for early access to this collection of poetry.

The Tarot Cycle: Poems for the Apocalypse is made for lovers of tarot and for those who understand the symbolism behind each of the major arcana. This poetry collection weaves a story out of the cards themselves and I loved the vivid imagery Flowers provides for readers. I have a limited knowledge of tarot and for the major arcana that I do know, it was a treat to read and see the author's interpretation. This would be a fun collection to read while looking at the physical cards and thus interpret both the cards and poems for yourself.

A very cool concept for a poetry collection, with a poem inspired by every card in the tarot deck. I really enjoyed the mystical/surreal atmosphere and pleasing rhythm these poems had, especially in the month leading up to Halloween! My personal favourites were "The Hermit" and "The High Priestess".

(Thanks to NetGalley for an e-ARC)

Un libricino molto carino ma anche molto corto: una raccolta di poesie a tema arcani maggiori che ci racconta il percorso di crescita personale di Elektra Flowers, che si ritrova prima in un bagno di lacrime per colpa di una persona uscita dalla sua vita, ma poi riesce ad uscirne grazie al suo fanciullo interiore. Il risultato finale non è una persona allegra, ma sicuramente più stabile e con esperienza:

Devo dire che, a parte la lunghezza, ho trovato alcune parti ripetitive ma soprattutto i tarocchi sono solo una lontana ispirazione (e da studiosa del campo, un po' mi è dispiaciuto per questa esca).

Poesie preferite: Morte e Stelle

3.8

“Let them love what is more than themselves, let them love in a way that belongs to no one else.”

It is a short poetry collection where each poem is named after one of the taro cards. Matching the imagery of the cards to poems is such an interesting and innovative concept which i had to read! Even though i personally didn't connect to many of the poems, the author's writing style was so indulging that i couldn't put it down. Mystical and magical undertones, lovely descriptions, references to ghosts and deeper meanings hiding in a very limited sequence of words is truly admiring.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me the e-arc.

This book is a collection of poems based on the Major Arcana tarot cards.

I don't really know what I was expecting with this collection. Many of the poems are beautifully written, but I didn't really connect with them thought I would. I'm just starting to learn about tarot cards, so perhaps I will revisit these poems when I know a bit more to really understand them. Some poems that stuck out more than were: "Death", "Justice", and "The World".

I read an advance copy (thank you NetGalley). I really hope that the final edition has imagery accompanying each poem. I think that would bring this collection up to four stars for me.

I’d like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for this e-ARC.

I’m into tarot and I like reading poetry, so this was a good read to me. I really enjoyed it! Very quick read.

Thank you to Net Galley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange of an honest review. "The Tarot Cycle" Poems for the Apocalypse" is a poetry collection with a very interesting and innovative approach, something people into spirituality would most definitely will be intrigued by. It is a very quick read, which I personally do not like so much, but many people might enjoy shorter poetry collections. I like the concept of the book, I have never seen anything like this before. The writing style is very powerful and mysterious, yet flowery at times, which I truly enjoyed. The poems tend to get a bit repetitive. At times some words were used only to add to the mystery, but they did not really fit or lacked in meaning in the particular context. People interested in both poetry and Tarot will most probably love this poetry collection!

In The Tarot Cycle, Flowers provides us with a short collection of poems organized and themed after the Major Arcana in a standard tarot deck. The organization is excellent, the poems do somewhat tie together, and the theming is done fairly well.

A handful of the poems could have used some workshopping to tighten things up or move a few things around, and while that doesn't take away from some of the perfectly crafted poems (of which there are a few), in a collection with fewer than twenty-five poems, each one matters.

I do think this is collection that's worth going back to. In fact, I think it will get better as the iterations go on. There are threads I picked up on reading through once, but I'd imagine there are more threads tying specific poems together that I'd pick up on if I read through again.

Overall, a solid collection from Flowers, and I'll be reading more from the poet.