Kate Baer knows how to speak to my soul, my female, mother-of-boys soul. I really try to savor her books, but end up gobbling them up faster than intended. She captures a slice of life that I relate to so well on paper, at times it feels like she's reached inside my heart and ripped out the words I haven't been able to put into something that makes any sense. I treasure that. Some of my favorites from And Yet include Late Summer in a Global Pandemic, Peter Pan's Advice, and Bliss.

How do you "rate" poetry? I feel like I get something different out of a poem each time I read it, depending on what's going on in my life at the time. A lot of these poems hit home for me, and I will definitely be buying a physical copy of this book to return to again and again.

Thanks to Harper Perennial for the free book.
I have loved both of Baer's previous books of poetry and was so excited to get to read an ARC of this one. She is able to capture such pivotal moments in an evocative way while making every word count. Her poems grapple with the past few years of COVID, politics, womanhood, marriage, parenthood and so much more. A couple of my favorites were Postpartum Questionnaire, And Yet, Sad Olympics, and Mix Up. There were a few that I felt like I didn't get or understand - this could just be that I am not a regular poetry reader. If you aren't a poetry person, I still recommend checking this book and her other works out. Her instagram is a great place to get a glimpse of her work.

Kate Baer is so good at capturing the intimate emotions of motherhood, the complexity within relationships and overall just writing poetry that feels very authentic. This is not my first book by her and it won't be my last. While it wasn't just my favorite collection by Baer, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Her poems feel simple but not gimmicky like a lot of populare free verse these days, I really enjoyed "Reasons to Log Off" and "Ideal Heaven" specifically. The first was just very relatable and the second was a perfect depiction of how the idea of "heaven" is fluid from person to person. I also really enjoyed "Postpartum Questionaire." Baer always kills it with the dope formatting! Definitely worth the read!

I love Kate Baer's work with my whole heart. Although I didn't love this one quite as much as What Kind of Woman, And Yet was still an excellent collection of poetry.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free e-copy.

Now look. Kate Baer is the only poet I read, but damn I love this woman. Almost makes me want to be a poet. What a beautiful way to make sense of (or try to, at least) the world.

I feel like a lot of these poems were more deep and required more from me to understand. Some I didn’t understand. But others I was screenshotting and bookmarking so I never ever lose them. And “The Garden of Eden: Updated Jacket Copy for the Modern World” is my favorite thing I’ve read in years. Why am I laughing so hard?

We love a woman who can speak so eloquently about the complexity of god, motherhood, womanhood, the patriarchy, and humanity. MORE POEMS NOW!

Thanks to net galley for the advanced copy. I’ll be purchasing my own when it comes out, to go with the other two (which are perfection).

It is more of a 3.5. I loved a lot of the poems in the book but they all seemed to be at the end. There were also a lot about being a mother and I cannot relate because I am not a mother but I have friends who are that would love this poetry collection. After having talked to them about what being a mother is like they have made comments about their feelings and I think this collection would benefit them. I will be recommending this book to friends and even buying it for a few of them. One of my favorite poems is "Sad Olympics" because it talks about what she does to cope with depression and its buying things and I also tend to buy things. She talks about how she doesn't want to be broken hearted but she still is even though she bought all of these things. I related to that so much. Sometimes you just have to ride through the depressive episode and hope you come out better on the other end.

I have not read Baer’s other book but thoroughly enjoy following her on Instagram and exchanging her poems with my best friend. The reply from one of us is always, “woooow” or “sooo goood.” She makes me feel seen! The best is when it’s a topic I had not taken the time observe but feels SO obvious when she says it. I saw another reviewer say that her poems feel like an inside joke between women and I think that’s spot on. This collection of poems did not disappoint - they’re a nice balance of heavy and light topics and it’s a quick read, which I always appreciate. Looking forward to reading her last book of poetry!

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Perennial for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book. I loved Bauer's debut book ao I was excited for her second one. Her writing was great and evoked emotion but I just couldnt relate because most of them were about motherhood and children. I still enjoyed it though.

I have read all of Kate Baer's poetry collections, as well as her instagram poetry. Though I think her first collection is still my favorite, this one was enjoyable as well!

A lot of the poems are in regard to motherhood and being a mother, and though I cannot relate I can still appreciate them. Some poems truly did not make sense to me, and some were absolutely perfect.

My favorites in this collection included: For My Children, 40, Baby Good, L'esprit de l'escalier, Grounds for Divorce, Influencers, These Are Days, and Beach Body.

If you enjoy Baer's other work, this is definitely worth reading!

With no surprise, Kate Baer has created another collection of poems that I absolutely adored. As a reader of her former blog, an avid follower of her instagram, and a HUGE fan of her first two poem collections, I was thrilled to receive this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

AND YET is a masterpiece, full of emotional, vivid, beautiful poems. The work in this collection spans various topics - friendship, motherhood, marriage, politics, loss, love - and each poem rings true. Whatever Kate Baer writes, I will read, and I will likely devour it and enjoy every minute. I recommend and purchase her work for my friends and loved ones - AND YET is no exception. I whole-heartedly recommend this collection to anyone and everyone.

As with WHAT KIND OF WOMAN, Baer's first collection, many of these poems will stick with me for years to come. Some bring tears to my eyes every time I read them. Some are laugh out loud funny, some touching, some heart-warming. A few of my favorites from this collection, although I had too many to count, were There Are Days, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, and Reasons to Log Off. Thank you NetGalley and thank you Kate Baer for bringing a thing of beauty into the world and onto my bookshelf.

Probably Baer's best collection to date. I think this book could be 3/4ths of its current length, but the brevity of the individual pieces helps. Lots of hits, lots of misses, but this collection seems to be her most vulnerable and most daring. Baer loves to challenge, not obfuscate her readers--a quality that contemporary poetry needs more of. You can tell that she respects and carefully considers her readers; this approach to writing poetry is what makes me always look forward to reading her collections. While "What Kind of Woman" felt inundated with themes of motherhood, "And Yet" tackles a wider array of topics (sometimes too wide), which kept me interested. I look forward to future collections from her!

I admit, when an author hits a bestseller list, I'm a little leery of whether or not I myself will love it. I'm not sure if that's the academic in me speaking, but there are some names who appear on those bestseller lists as good at "poetry," but you look at some of the stuff, and it's really just fortune cookie Instagram nonsense.

To be clear: That Is Not What This Book Is. At All.

This book is, in fact, so good, I went and ordered the New York Times bestselling book because I knew I would love it as much as this one. This book is so good that I ended up sending two of its poems to my not-poetry-reading husband (I mean, he'll read mine, and then he'll say, "That's nice" and look at me like, I love you and I don't know what else to say to you right now but good job getting it in a journal you claim is a good one but I have no barometer to agree with you on).

Baer has somehow managed to write completely readable stuff that feels so completely true but also really hits you in the solar plexus as good stuff. Yes, that's exactly it, and thank you for writing that because I feel like you wrote it exactly for me, except I'm pretty sure a bajillion other people will get it too. We all have a solar plexus (I think).

Thank you, Kate Baer, for whatever it is that allows you to see the things and then write about them in these just-right sized poems without a lot of pomp and circumstance but also with just the right amount of craft. And thank you, Kate Baer, for writing a book that somehow also doesn't have duds. So many really good poetry collections have a handful of stellar poems and some pretty good ones and a handful of duds, but these were all above the mark.

I loved this book and when it comes out (on my birthday!), I will get myself a copy so it can live with me, but in the meantime, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Note: a review of this also appeared in my stories on Instagram on 8/2/22

Advanced reader copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I am thankful to Harper Perennial and Kate Baer for sending me this ARC version.

Kate Baer's voice shines through for her second full book of poems. These beautiful poems are drenched in rich imagery, anger, confusion and revelations. In her first book of poetry, Kate proved that she mastered form and in this collection, she breaks form and norms. She touches upon themes of loss, motherhood, womanhood, love, navigating today's world and delighting, in all things, hope. Standouts for me were 'Idea' 'Halfway There' and 'When Someone Asks If I Ever Think of You'. And Yet will publish on November 8th.

Some gems in this compilation: Influencers, Daily Planet, Bliss, For My Children, Halfway There.
I liked What Kind of Woman and I Hope This Finds You Well a lot also, so Kate Baer is an auto read for me. She’s pretty consistently 4/5 stars for me. So happy I got an advanced copy.

And Yet again Kate Baer does it with her powerful, mind spinning and thought provoking works. She has a different kind of voice and still I find it to be a soothing lullaby of words I have been afraid to share myself. I find her poetry new and exciting. I can NOT wait for more.

Another stunning collection from Kate Baer, And Yet takes an honest and stark look at womanhood from so many perspectives—as an individual, as a partner, and as a mother. Her command of language allows her to navigate difficult subjects in a way that seems simple but cuts right into the reader's heart.

Kate Baer's poems aren't subtle. They aren't for the weak of heart. This collection has many poems about motherhood and each poem is beautiful, raw, and makes you feel more and more seen. I am grateful for Baer's voice and art.

with gratitude to Harper Perennial and netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Loved this collection. AND YET is accessible, yet deep. I especially enjoying the motherhood, pandemic, and social-media/news overload poems. I appreciated the wide range of structures and the natural, rhythmic patterns. Much enjoyed.

I adored Kate Baer's first book of poems, What Kind of Woman, so I was thrilled to read And Yet! Baer is back with a vengeance in her latest book. There is an undercurrent of anger through the whole experience, anger over Covid taking time from our lives, anger over the way women are treated, and more. At times I laughed out loud (like when reading Grounds for Divorce) and other times I sat with sadness or frustration. It was a different reading experience than the first book, more tension, more fire building emotions rather than softer more comforting pieces. But the poems have stayed with me, along with the emotion, which proves that it resonates. What I love is the transparency, the unwillingness to bury angst, and the way these poems will speak to women across many seasons. Thank you NetGalley and Harper Perennial for the chance to preview And Yet!