I was positively surprised by this collection. Even though I didn't like it as much as I thought I would, its originality was really captivating that I finished it in one sitting. I loved the writing style and the themes about identity and love. All kinds of love that were mentioned made it really interesting and an honest collection, but I just couldn't connect with the feelings that the poet was describing.

Thank you NetGalley for the free ARC.

I was really intrigued by this book’s description - a love story in poems about one woman’s coming out, coming of age and coming undone? Sign me up!

While I really enjoyed reading this, I’m not someone who naturally gravitates towards poetry nor do I really understand the nuance that goes into writing it. It’s always felt like another language to me. Millner’s style is easy to understand and I loved the flow of her poetry but I do think it sometimes prevented me from getting fully immersed in the story (this is 1000% a me problem not something I would change about the book).

There were times where I wish there was more detail provided to really give the gut wrenching moments fuller gravity. But as a deeply personal story, I feel like this book speaks its truth while also taking care of its narrator.

This won’t be my favorite read of the year but it was a solid 3.5/4 stars.

I didn't like this as much as I thought I would. It really powerfully portrayed this relationship, but I felt like the couplet theme held the poetry back a bit: my favorite parts were the small chapters in prose.

I really wanted to like this one but the writing fell flat. I preferred the vignettes but they still felt lacklustre. The collection had good themes and ideas that flowed nicely.

This was a quick, light novel-in-verse that dealt with a personal exploration of a lot of different subjects and life experiences. The reflections on writing, queerness, living, relationships, and love all really resonated with me! I loved it!

Thank you to the publishers and NetGallery for the e-ARC!

What a brilliant poetry collection this was! I am not used to reading poetry ARCs because I never thought I could write a review for poetry. However, with a debut as beautiful as this one, I knew exactly what to write.

If you like queer poems, this is for you.

If you like raw poems, this is for you.

If you like poems in general, this is for you because it really has all the components of great poetry which are intelligence, honesty and being relatable.

From the moment, I read the proem I was hooked. This is really a good and easy read and is highly recommended.

Thanks to Netgalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for this ARC in exchange of an honest review.

Couplets by Maggie Millner is a novel written in “rhyming couplets and prose vignettes.” I am deeply unfamiliar with both, but I was hooked by the cover and the description, “a dazzling love story in poems about one woman’s coming-out, coming-of-age, and coming undone”. I didn’t know what to expect past that, but it didn’t work for me at all. I’m not sure if it was the structure, I heavily preferred the vignettes to the poetry, but found a lot of it overwritten. I liked the use of second person in the vignettes but the story itself is somewhat overdone for me. I know every story doesn’t have to be universal and it’s better to lead with empathy, but so much of the ‘plot’ felt detached from any feeling at all. It’s a very short book but there were lots of lines that took me out of the reading experience completely. I know it comes down to personal taste, but lines like, “I’d expected cream, or cream when I’d expected semen,” and “This was why I liked to keep two of her fingers in my body while we slept. I longed to be her property. I wanted her to smell me in her nail-beds all day long.” felt so oddly sensationalized and unaffected. I didn’t find any of it emotional and I couldn’t become invested in any of the narrative. 1.6 was my favourite section by far, but other than one hilarious line in 2.4, I found the rest boring and incredibly hard to read. I don’t know if my expectations were too high or I was too unfamiliar/personally uninterested with polyamory or the structure lost me, but I didn’t feel like this book had any impact. The writing felt like someone thinking they were doing a lot more than they actually are, but I know I’m in the minority here. It didn’t come across as sincere to me, everything felt wrapped up and faux-serious, and hidden like it was all an inside joke. Even though it’s a linear story with a very internal focus, I still felt like nothing had changed at the end, even if that’s factually untrue. It wasn’t a story that felt lost, exactly, but more that everything together held no importance to me. The structure meant that everyone was unnamed with all personal details stripped apart. It felt like an outline of a life with a bunch of ideas projected onto relationships after they were over. I think there is something there, I know that Millner’s work is beloved and most reviews are glowing, but whatever it is it did not resonate with me. I really hate writing negative reviews and I’m glad most people seem to be enjoying this one, but I don’t think Couplets is a book that will stick with me or that I’ll come back to.

This was a 3.5 star read for me, or thereabouts. I'm always here for queer literature, so that's initially what drew me to this as I was unfamiliar with Maggie Millner's previous work. She's certainly got a gift for storytelling and a clever way with words that helped propel me through this within about an hour or so. I wanted to keep reading, to see what was going to happen, to get to the inevitable crash that was set up from the very first page.

There's an intensity that is intrinsic in LGBTQIA+ lit, particularly involving two cis women, likely because emotions run very high in these relationships (yes, higher than in straight relationships, in my experience). Millner really conveyed the push/pull of these connections well, and I loved that.

However, I did deduct two stars as the technicality of some of the writing — references to other writers/works, citations, etc. — really pulled me out of the emotional aspect. I appreciate that's an important part of the narrator's experience and personality, so I can't say it should have been removed, it just didn't work for me as well.

This was the breath of fresh air that I was looking for. I'm not big on romance, but to be honest, I wouldn't necessarily call this romance; instead, it conveys a realistic glimpse into relationships and life when it doesn't exactly go as planned. I am so thankful to Maggie Milner, FSG, and Netgalley for granting me advanced electronic access to this book before its publication date of February 7, 2023.

Our unnamed narrator is having a life crisis of sorts, as she's happily in her heterosexual relationship but is curious as to if there is more outside her metaphorical window -- the more equating to seeing women. Positioning her male partner with this trial, he agrees to let her explore this sexual conquest. Ultimately, she falls in love with another woman who is not interested in monogamy or relational ownership.

I believe Maggie Millner is a true genius who can evoke such hurt and feeling in her writing, where I'm rooting for the main character's selfish love wants and grieving when her relationships meet their demise. I know it's early in January, but I could see myself prioritizing Couplets as a favorite for the year.

A wonderful debut collection! Couplets is a departure from the contemporary poetry I'm used to reading, but I thoroughly enjoyed the prose and structure style. It was a delirious, audacious, and brilliant read. I can't wait to see what Maggie Millner writes next.

Creative unique the authors use of structure style. A story of love obsession personal discovery.The authors style is creative emotional drew me in .An author I will be following.#netgalley #fsg

This debut is a love story in poems. It explores different identities, self-discovery, polyamory, desires, and limitations. Couplets is beautifully written and full of life. I love how every poem offers a relatable yet unique perspective and will stick with you!

Definitely worth picking up when it comes out in February. Thank you NetGalley & FSG Team for the ARC!

Overall loved the writing style for this. I love the way the author used language, style, etc. to create a specific reading experience. The overall story got a bit lost, from my perspective, throughout.

Thanks to NetGalley and the FSG team for this arc!

This was brilliant. A love story told through linear poems. Typically I find poetry collections somewhat disjointed, but this story flowed so beautifully, describing the highs and lows of two significant relationships. I loved the prose and enjoyed the content. I will definitely read more from this author!

a wonderful debut collection! i have long admired maggie's poems and i was so happy to read an ARC of this book. i think this collection is of the poet's poet variety-- i can see the analytical and poetic moving together. i loved how quotes from other poets existed IN the poems rather than as epigraphs. it's a collection of conversations between the speaker and their two partners but also the speaker themselves and also all the poets they mention.

a fabulous beautiful book of poems!! i genuinely loved it and would definitely recommend. i liked the format a lot and i thought it was very thought provoking

Couplets by Maggie Milner is a quick read but it will stick with you. I loved the way that the author played with structure - the poems varied from serious to silly and everywhere in between. Overall it was a delight!

Thank you to Netgalley and Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux for the ARC - Couplets will be out 2/7/23.

thank you so much FSG & netgalley for the advanced read!

3.5 stars, rounding down cus it's not quite a 4 for me. there was a lot i really, really loved about this short book. the prose was amazing - clever & gutting, so many intense lil lines. even though it was told in poems/vignettes, it had a pretty easy-to-follow plot, with interesting characters/dynamics that were relatable for me, which i liked. explores polyamory, queerness, lust, love & loneliness.

i honestly preferred the vignettes to the couplets/poetry - esp when the poetry was rhyme-y. i often felt that they even read more poetic than the poems. i did appreciate the poetry (and it made me wanna read more again in 2023), just not as much. and i wish it was longer. i have a hard time w/ ~novellas~ (if this classifies as one) i think, they always leave me slightly underwhelmed.

'once in a while, there would flash before you an image of yourself from the outside - toward whom, for the briefest moment, you'd be able to feel something like indifference. just a person. just a pronoun. just the form you saw the world through,
soft and warm and waiting to be used by you.'

There's a lot of emotion packed into this short book: love, desire, obsession, disappointment. Brilliantly written.

Contemporary poetry is a genre I don't dive into often. This just wasn't for me. Thank you netgalley & the publisher for the ARC, in exchange for an honest review.