Thank you, NetGalley and Atmosphere Press for the chance to read Flowers That Die by Gideon Halpin.

"my notebook is a urinal
pen pisses in my journal"

Things like that may appeal to someone else, but this collection was absolutely not for me and I had to make myself read it.

I really enjoyed this. I was able to finish it in one sitting. Some of the poems really impacted me and I was left thinking about it for some time afterwards. However in the same effect some of the poems left me confused and I found I was having to go back and reread lines or start from the beginning because the phrasing was just too confusing for me. I will be seeing about getting a physical copy though to have and reread.

Flowers That Die confused me, being a work consisting of 80-something poems that feel like baby's-first-poetry, at once overly simple yet trying to be complex. While they are certainly quick reads, none of them really had a lasting impression on me.

Would recommend for young readers.

Unfortunately, Flowers That Die by Gideon Halpin, was a book of poetry that just didn’t work for me. The writing prose was not smooth and fluid. The poetry didn't inspire or create any emotion for me, good or bad. I was confused as to the messages of the poems. They seemed more like random thoughts that didn’t make sense. Many poems used the same descriptive words, and occasionally a poem would use a word that sounded completely foreign, or that I had to get my dictionary out to know it’s meaning.

I saw meaning and logic in some poems, but perhaps I just wasn’t the right audience for this one.

1.5 stars.

I was provided an ARC through NetGalley, Atmosphere Press, and Gideon Halpin in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

More perfect for young readers and beginners, this poetry collection has short poems revealing the emotions and the feelings of someone young regarding their life and their beliefs.

Short yet honest and personal, this collection will give you a good time reading something to relax and reflect on.

Thank you, Atmosphere Press, for the advance reading copy.