Cover Image: Starry Night, Blurry Dreams

Starry Night, Blurry Dreams

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

Such a calming book to flip through. It's a quiet book. Soothing. Although it's a bit of an oxymoron when the illustrations show a person hugging cactus, hair braided into the shape of a noose, or a person sleeping in a pool of water. While the pictures may show a calming atmosphere, they also show a surprising/alarming feature you aren't expecting -- especially when paired with simple yet meaningful words and common phrases we've heard all our lives.

The graphic poetry style is amazing (a similar experience to a graphic novel). The simple words are like a soothing balm to my soul. Halfway through the book, the storyline switches to the subject of being in a loving relationship and getting to know the other person. It's certainly interesting and refreshing.

This book is for the introverted personality. For the person that's hurting and in pain. Although to be honest, some pages made me feel MORE sadness. Still, I enjoyed the creative and artistic aspect. I would read more books that are similar to this one.


Recommended for ages 18 and up.

Content Warnings: Contains sad/depressive thoughts, mature themes, and nudity.

Was this review helpful?

The artwork in this book is surreal yet evocative, and the poetry that goes along with it is simplistic yet powerful. I find that I will be revisiting this book over and over again.

Was this review helpful?

This collection was really pretty but I found it really hard to connect with any of the poems. For me it was more a book to flip through for fun than a poetry collection that means a whole lot to me. Both have their own value, but because I was expecting the latter I didn't end up loving this one.

Was this review helpful?

I received an advanced copy of this ebook from the publisher for an honest review. This book is well written and the characters are described well. I really liked the illustrations in this poetry book. This is a fast paced poetry book. I would definitely recommend reading this book to anyone and everyone. This book is in stores for $19.99 (USD).

Was this review helpful?

🌟🌟🌟💫

Beautiful black and white interpretations of phrases pertaining to mental health.
Some were very cleverly interpreted, considering there were some cliche lines.
Loved that she didn't use colour, gave it that added punch.

I ended up getting the copy elsewhere as I had issues downloading the pdf....

Was this review helpful?

Was not able to download before title was archived. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC.

Was this review helpful?

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

Starry Night, Blurry Dreamsis a beautiful book of poetry and art that I couldn't stop reading. The art fits so perfectly with the poetry! The poetry is beautifully written.

Everything about this book was perfect. I loved it!!

I attend a writing course where we look at poetry a lot and I will definitely be recommending this to the rest of the class and tutor!!

Was this review helpful?

A beautifully worded and illustrated poetry collection that deals with mental health and everyday loneliness. So worth reading!

Was this review helpful?

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

Starry Night, Blurry Dreamsis a beautiful and haunting book of poetry and art that I couldn't draw away from.
The art fits so perfectly with the poetry! The poetry is beautifully written if not melancholic and emotional in places. This book just seemed to click with me and really tugged at my heart strings. The poetry covers topics such as navigating our human existence and the highs, lows, loves and losses we encounter and bare.
If you love dark asthetic artwork and emotional poetry that touches your soul, you will definitely enjoy this as much as I have.

Was this review helpful?

Thank you, NetGalley for the chance to read and review this book!

I didn't expect to like this book so much! The illustrations are very pretty and I wish they were available as prints so that I could put them on my wall! Keep in mind that when the blurb says, short captions, they mean short! That doesn't take away from the book; it's really all about the gorgeous illustrations!

Was this review helpful?

This book was a lovely collection of stunning illustrations and small motivating inspirations and quotes. It is a lovely book that I think is definitely worht reading!

Was this review helpful?

Well.... I was expecting more diversity than I got. The bodies are just all very thin & follow general standards of beauty. I interact primarily with the work of fat or inclusive illustrators so I was disappointed. I don't think Kim did this on purpose or with ill intent. But the procession of thin, white, femme bodies pushed me out of the story.

Was this review helpful?

I've never heard of visual poetry, but I am so glad I decided to pick this up. Kim's artwork is superb and definitely created to trigger an emotional response, just like most written poetry would. I related a lot to what Kim drew and surprised myself at the fact that I responded so strongly to it. I did spend quite a long time staring at each picture and marveling over the different details that when into each piece. This is definitely a wonderful book to add to any poetry or art collection.

Overall, a wonderful and visually entertaining book.

Was this review helpful?

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with this review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The book has some beautiful pictures with less poetry. I loved the illustrations but I wanted something deeper.

Was this review helpful?

Calling this a 'graphic poetry' collection is a stretch at best, and borders on a pretentiousness that is unearned by the art. The illustrations are nice, pleasant, and not terribly challenging in spite of occasional forays into darker subjects. The style is lightly inspired by surrealism, so if whales swimming in the stars is your aesthetic, you'll probably like this. I could easily see many of the illustrations as tattoos. As far as the titles/captions, I honestly could have done without them entirely, as I felt like they were more often reductive than explanatory. The art is stronger when left to the viewer's interpretation. Overall, worth a flip through at your library, but not something you're going to want to purchase.

Was this review helpful?

I might be biased because I have loved Henn Kim's artwork for a long time. But to have it all compiled is just wonderful. I can't wait to purchase a physical copy of this book. Wonderful.

Was this review helpful?

I found this book really interesting. Moody, surrealist drawings paired with moody, surrealist words. It reminded me of the kinds of things I shared on tumblr as a teenager. I don't think this book will be for everyone, but I found it lovely, haunting, and a bit nostalgic of teenage emotions.

Was this review helpful?

While this graphic novel of poetry is visually gorgeous [there is some seriously stunning artwork in this book - I was blown away over and over as I read this. SO. MUCH. DETAIL. Amazing.], this will not be for everyone. This is not a happy book. It is about wanting happiness and love and normalness, but it is about how depression and anxiety fights against all the things that we want and often wins. There is no happy ending here and if you have never struggled with the overwhelmingness of depression, you will absolutely not get this book. For me [I have suffered from depression since I was a child and anxiety since I was a teen], this book was like the author dove into my brain and then illustrated what she found there. It was deeply personal for me and while it was a bit jarring to see my feelings echoed back to me on a page, I loved this book. Someone who gets me. Glorious.

Thank you to NetGalley, Henn Kim, and Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

This was a 2.5 stars for me, I've rounded it up to 3 stars here.

This is a difficult book to review, It is marketed as a graphic poetry book but it is much more illustration heavy than anything else like this that I have read. And unfortunately the poetry doesn't seem like poetry to me, the few words given feel more like the title or description of the accompanying illustration.

The illustrations in here are amazing and beautiful. I enjoyed the book and the illustration throughout however I don't feel like I can rate it higher than this.

I feel like you should go into it expecting a book of beautiful art and just that, and then I think you would enjoy it alot more and have more realistic expectations.

A lot of the art in here had feelings and emotions and meaning behind it so some of it will make you think so I also enjoyed that aspect.

Thanks to @netgalley , the publishers @andrewsmcmeel and the author @henn_kim for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

Thought-provoking one and two line free verse poetry that could serve as excellent conversation starters or just serve as a theme to meditate on or write about. The artwork paired with the verse is paired perfectly and makes the sparse words take on even more depth. This book has many good points for introspection and creative writing starters.

Was this review helpful?