This book was not for me. I appreciated the theme, and personal nature of the poems on grief, but they weren't the kind of style that holds my prolonged interest. I'm sure many others will appreciate, and thank you for the ARC.

"i think the darkest parts
of anxiety
are a little like that:

it isn't there
and then it is"

Thank you NetGalley and Central Avenue Publishing for the chance to read and review To Drown as a Cure for Thirst by Blade Auden!

Long story short; I loved this book, and its going into my top reads of 2022 shelf! I'm also going to have to check out the rest of Blake Audens books! This felt like a well thought out collection, with all the pieces consistently good!

3.5-4 stars
Right off the bat I loved the dedication in this book, "I think this one is for me"; I thought that was absolutely beautiful, and I loved that you could see that theme very clearly throughout the book. There were some pieces I really loved and others I could've done without, but I do have 21 highlights (I read this on kindle).

This explores grief, loss, depression, anxiety and a lot of other very heavy topics so I don't feel comfortable getting into the specifics of what I enjoyed as they are very personal. However, I will say that if you deal with urges of self harm and suicidal ideation be cautious going into this book as it does explore the relief/comfort that it can bring at times which I fear could be dangerous if you are not in the right mindset. Actually one piece I can touch on was "I'M AFRAID TO DIE" the last 3 lines of that one hit very close to home for my trans identity, its one of those if you get it you get it lines.

TW/CW:
Self harm, depression, suicidal ideation, loss, grief, mental health/illness, panic attacks/panic disorders/anxiety, death
(these are just the ones I caught please do not take it as an end all be all)

Thank you Netgalley and Central Avenue Publishing for this ARC in exchange for an honest review