In Starry Night, Blurry Dreams, Henn Kim pairs her wonderful black and white illustrations with a short phrase. The combinations are sometimes poignant, funny, dark, and wistful, but always are clever and creative.

This book held my attention from cover to cover and I read it straight through.

My thanks to McMeel Publishing for introducing me to this artist/poet by allowing me access to an ARC of the book via NetGalley. The book is slated for publication on 3/15/22. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and are freely given.

2/5

I picked this up but didn't finish it as it was a little dark and my mood had changed a lot from when I requested to review this, unfortunately. People will definitely love this but it wasn't the right time for me to read this.

Starry Night, Blurry Dreams is a graphic poetry book by popular South Korean illustrator, Henn Kim. I was drawn to this book by its cover and upon reading the first few pages, realized that it was a graphic poetry book. There are very few words in here, but the images speak volumes.

I really enjoyed the illustrations. The lack of words allows the reader to interpret each piece in their own way. I love how Kim incorporates nature into his work. Each piece is stunning and tells a story beyond the few words presented. Thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

***Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review***
Visually stunning! The lack of words speaks volumes when paired with Kim's unique illustrations. Makes you think and dream.

I don't think I'd call this a poetry collection. Maybe visual poetry, but not poetry in the classic sense. Every single illustration is visually stunning and I'd actually be interested in owning this boo in physical form too.

Review copy provided by the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. There's something so intriguing about poetry that is primarily an image. I loved the artwork, and I thought the taglines on them were very accurate. I would definitely recommend this to other people, and it makes me interested in seeing what other visual poetry books there are out there.

This is a collection of drawings accompanied by short lines of poetry that are often wordplay related to the images. They focus on capturing daily life and strong emotions. Things like morning coffee, heartbreak, and creativity are all covered here.
I really enjoyed looking at the art in this book. It's a unique style that captured my attention. Most of the pictures involve a woman and some sort of object, and some are pictures of a couple. I definitely would say the art is the main draw to this book and the writing is supplemental.
There wasn't anything very new or shocking in this book, but it was a nice experience to read and made me stop to reflect on each drawing. I'd recommend it to people who enjoy simple drawings and self-reflection.

Surprisingly dark, with mental health, impossibility of love and loneliness far outnumbering visual jokes on everyday sayings.

In a black and white style Henn Kim draws a world full of lonely, melancholic figures. Sometimes they try to hug cacti, sometimes they stare in a portal of planets conjectures by a book, at times they represent two people, but always with a fear of abandonment somewhere at the background. Although short on text Starry Night, Blurry Dreams is much more serious than I expected, and also less sweet. Highly stylised but not shying away of serious topics, giving me the feeling of being right back in a lonely, rainy day as a teenager.

Starry Night, Blurry Dreams is a collection of beautiful illustrations with corresponding captions to provide further context. These illustrations delve into topics such as love, loneliness, and the general ups and downs of what it means to be human.

The illustrations to the book are the real star. Some are clever, some are funny, and some will entirely tug at a piece of your heart that "understood this feeling" but never had words or images to express it. The illustrations were impeccably done and provided so much more depth and breadth to the captions on either side of the pages.

While I was a bit disappointed that the words themselves weren't "more," I appreciated the simplicity and how they contrasted yet paired with their associated illustration so well.

Overall, this was a really fun but heartfelt collection that I think any adult reader could enjoy and appreciate!

''to read is to dream''

I bumped into this book thinking it was a poetry book, but I came out very surprised with the quality of these beautiful drawings, that I suddenly finished it reading. A really pretty discovery to end the year.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read this before publication date.

I requested this book simply because it seemed quick and light and it ended up being not quite any of those things while surpassing my every expectation.
I was right in this not being a word-heavy book: it consists of an illustration and a word or expression that gives it a title. I thought the illustrations were absolutely beautiful, the perfect commute or after work read because they only gave you as much as the reader wanted to get while being so aesthetically pleasing that they could only make a day better.

Thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for this DRC.

Rating: 4/5

Me gusto mucho el arte, la poesía era demasiado simple, simples textos que acompañaban las imágenes.
Creo que si solo hubieran imágenes, seria difícil de entender, como que la poesía lo complementaba.

Hmmm... Normally I don't take to these books, that have an illustrative cartoon and a comment/caption/title, with the whole building to a 'woe is me' statement, time after time until you hit the end (or the back of the bin with it). But this has to go down as one of the more artful. There often is a kind of self-serving showiness about such books, but whereas many might be 'glum, glum, shouty glum, handbags', here nothing seems to get as dynamic as shouting. I am sure these images have more impact for how static they are.

So we have a female floating in space, or with their head in a giant pencil sharpener, or they're trapped in a jumbo bottle. Some might want to turn their life into the contents of a giant martini glass, others might know the world is pell-mell topsy-turvy, and as a result have stripped and got into the washing machine ready. Yes, some of the imagery is rather odd, but what struck me as odder was the wardrobe on display here – often the lass is in her skimpies, or a swimsuit, or rocking a cropped-off funky furry jumper ending way above her waist. Such honesty(?) and exposure doesn't seem to tally with the reluctance to show a face.

A chunk in the middle certainly seems more likely to produce emotion, with a male character and love the theme, but again these are static images. One has time stopping, indeed, as they're sat in the way of a giant clock hand (cf them streaming away through the gap in the hour glass together, when time goes too fast). With night and space one motif, and blooming flowers symbolic of a lot as another, we even get a whale as a focus for some of the later works. All prove the artist can be expected to draw pretty much anything – these have the clear simplicity and immediacy of advertising images, and we end with something that is a lot more than the 'woe, woe, my cat, woe' cartoon book. Classy.

This was just what I was looking for. I highly enjoyed this one. I really enjoyed the writing, format, and length.

I highly recommend for fans of visuals and poetry.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to review.

I wasn't sure what to expect from a graphic novel mixed with poetry, but this was great. The art was simple but beautiful. As a big reader I especially liked the graphic for "to read is to dream." It was just perfect. I've been thinking a lot about what my next tattoo would be and a lot of these are great contenders, simple but with lots of meaning.

This book contains really sweet yet powerful poetries, it's like punches sugercoated(do i make sense?!)
The art and the illustrations are really pretty and simple. The poems varied from topics of heartbreak to womanhood and I'm so happy I was able to read this one.
But like it is with all poetries, I felt like some were very impactful while some were bland for me.
The plus point for me was how crisp and short the poetries were, they were what kept me going.

Starry Night, Blurry Dreams contains a series of photos with short and sweet captions. It may sound simple, yet it is very powerful. The art is beautiful and detailed and each relates to the sentence on the next page. The only thing I wish was that I had read this in book form or at least bound correctly instead of a PDF as scrolling through the pages made me feel disconnected between the poem and the picture. I wish they were more connected, but I know that will be fixed in book form. Poems about hurt, love, break-up, womanhood, and mundane days.
4/5

This review is being published before the release date (March 15th 2022)

“Who are you when you’re alone.”

Friends, I’m not going to lie to you… This cover and title got to me. Don’t ask me how, don’t ask me why, but yeah, I got really emotional when I stumbled across this arc on NetGalley. I’ve said it a few times before, but I’ll say it again, I truly believe, with my whole dang chest, that pieces of literature come into our lives when we need it the most. And for whatever reason, somewhere in the catacombs of my mind, a piece of me was screaming that I needed to read this book. As fate would have it, the NetGalley gods smiled down upon me and blessed me with this arc. And wouldn’t you know, I consumed the contents of this book immediately.

Starry Night, Blurry Dreams is a collection of poems playing with words and their representation with imagery. The poems are short, incredibly short. Sometimes the lines are about one to two lines and may only have a couples words to them. Which is why it was so easy to read through it. This book truly is a quick read and perfect for light reading during your morning routine or when you’re trying to unwind at night.

If I had to describe this collection with one word, that word would be ‘human.’ Henn Kim’s writing pulls from dreams, love, heartbreak and sadness, and just life in general, as a whole. Despite the simplicity of this collection, it was very easy to feel a connection or have certain poems or imagery resonate with with oneself. And I think that’s what I love most about this book. Even though it’s a fast read, it was so easy to feel seen or feel the tickling of something familiar about it all. Whether it was through the poems itself or the illustrations throughout this book.

And speaking on the illustrations, they’re stunning. There’s so much details and sometimes I found myself staring at them, wondering if they’d reveal any hidden easter eggs within them. Each images could be seen as individual pieces of art, hanging in a museum on display for the world to see, with their own story to tell. Yes, I think that’s probably the best way I can describe it. Like an art gallery and you can’t help being overcome with ‘awe.’ And I think any first time readers of this collection will fall in love with the artwork throughout this book. Truly, they fit so beautifully and honestly, I don’t think I can picture this book without these illustration in it.

“A heavy heart is hard to carry.”

If I had to point out one thing that impacted me and my reading of this book, I’d have to say repetition. There’s a definite cycle within the pages of this collection and at times poems seem to repeat or feel very similar to one another. It may be the repetition of themes or maybe an emotion, but I think for many readers, myself included, that feeling of repetition is going to be a struggle.

Overall, I enjoyed this poetry collection very much. As I mentioned before, I truly believe pieces of literature come into our life when we need it the most and I definitely needed this book. And I think there will be many readers who will fall in love with this collection, whether it be for the poetry or the illustrations. Truly, it flows so nicely, like a calm river. And if you’re in search of a quick read then I definitely think this is one book to put on your to be read pile.


The quotes above were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.

I was expecting more poetry from this. The illustrations are gorgeous and very clever, but we just get a line to accompany each of them, as if it were the title of the illustration. I missed having more of a poem to go with each drawing.

Starry Night, Blurry Dreams by Henn Kim beautifully weaves together the poet's sharply observed and introspective words with arresting black and white illustrations, making for an immersive, thought-provoking, and unique reading experience that takes on an almost surreal quality. Eloquent musings on the universal themes of loneliness and longing are only enhanced by the evocative visuals, making for an altogether beautiful immersion. I am certainly intrigued enough to seek out more of Henn Kim's stunning work in the future.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for an ARC.