Some lovely poems and I enjoyed reading them. Not many stuck with me though, a good way to express and try to work through the themes of trauma and healing.

This short collection was engaging while reading it but nothing stuck with me that I read again which is my judget for poetry,something I want to read and read and live in

Some of these poems are beautifully written, but ultimately too few resonated with me to give more than a 3 star. It's always hard to rate poetry since collections in general are likely to have stronger and weaker works, and so much is also attuned to personal preference.

The poems I did enjoy: Glass Frog, Ouroboros, Narcissus, Rigor Mortis, Antlered Crown, Wood Frog

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5484840240
So with all the drama out there between reviewers and authors, I’d like to start by saying sorry to S.V.Segal, please don’t take this personally, but your poetry collection just wasn’t my cup of tea! Personal, I couldn’t connect with any of the poems on an emotional or mental level and they ended up just being words on pages. Now fellow readers, please do not let this discourage you from picking up the book and reading it or even liking it! In all fairness, structurally there was nothing wrong, rhythm and syntax are both sound and I have zero complaints about the actual writing style or quality. I just felt nothing well reading them and poetry for me is about an emotional, or at least mental connection to the words on the page. I thought I would like it because of the themes of disability and one’s body not being able and other health issues but I was wrong!
I got this as a review copy and I don’t feel bad with my rating it as long as I explain to other that my biases and opinions aren’t representative of the masses. They are entirely my own and you probably with have an entirely different opinion. I would love to give this a higher rating due to style, structure and quality but I’d never read it again and I wouldn’t buy it.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the e-ARC for an honest review. This debut poetry collection by S.V. Segal is a rollercoaster of emotions, conflict, and self-reflection. The reader is challenged with moments of trauma, loss, growth, abuse, and love. Segal's unique style reflected the feeling of being "Un-tethered" and I actually did experience unsettledness through a lot of his poems. The poems I connected with were authentic, vulnerable without trying and processed enough to give their emotions shape, The poems I struggled with were in pure raw form, abrupt and mired with grit, which are special in their own right but not for me. I think the collection overall could also benefit from some editing to the flow. Overall, a very unique collection and impressive for a debut!

Thank you Net Galley for providing this book and allowing me to read it in advance. I was unable to personally get into this book but that is the power of reading. There’s books for everyone. I know someone else will adore it!

Some poems were better than others, and that it is an entertaining read addressing issues of trauma, reinvestment, healing while at the same time addressing poetic darkness using powerful words for very specific emotional contexts.

"A rose by another name
Would still care vour flesh
With thorns.
Just like a rose
With any other face
Would live a thousand lives,
Then irrevocably wilt."

"(Un)tethered" is a haunting poetry collection and a deep exploration of flesh, bone, and soul. From a technical standpoint, it's a solid work – structurally the poems are interesting to read, and there's a variation of stanzas, rhymes, and themes. However, it simply did not work for me as well aesthetically. Some poems, like "No Face" (quoted above), "Space Firefly", "Strangers", and "Insomnia" did end up sticking with me, but overall it just wasn't really my thing.

Upon reading (Un)tethered by S.V. Segal, I was immediately struck by the intensity of the emotions and vivid imagery in this poetry collection. The author delves into dark themes such as trauma, depression, reinvention, and healing, creating a powerful and captivating reading experience.

Segal's unique approach to poetry is evident in the wide range of styles, tones, and subjects found within the collection. From shorter, punchy poems to longer, more contemplative pieces, the variation in length adds depth and nuance to the reading experience. I was particularly drawn to poems like "Insomnia," "A Thousand Origami Cranes," and "Rigor Mortis." These poems left a lasting impression on me with their raw emotion and evocative language.

One aspect of (Un)tethered that I found both challenging and rewarding was the author's use of complex and unusual words. I sometimes needed to consult a dictionary to fully grasp the meaning behind certain phrases. While this momentarily disrupted my reading flow, I appreciated how it pushed me to engage more deeply with the text and broaden my vocabulary. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the e-ARC for an honest review.

This collection completely showed the heart of our author and just what type of emotions they sat down to pour out. The main thing to take away from poetry is always; it’s subjective. It really depends on the person reading and what time of their life they’re reading at. I thoroughly enjoyed this read and everything I felt while reading it.

There is a disclaimer to this poetry collection by the author — gore and body horror that may challenge some readers.

True to its nature, every poem has blood and bile in some form or other dripping with other bodily juices, but done with aesthetic finesse and sensibility.

You can digest it if you are strong-willed and open to unexplored raw creativity that will make you cringe and awe at poet's description.

The titular poem has these lines:

Your scrambled words
Are the resulting vomit
Of trespassed boundaries

The poem ℙ𝕒𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕠𝕩 shows blatantly the flawed and ugly human life in its truest form in a few lines:

A bubbly cynic with nihilistic optimism
Paints life with dead dreams
And rises again from something
To become nothing

They describe blood as 'crimson rivers' and wound marks as 'black satin curtain speckled with red ink' in the poem 𝔹𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕕𝕪 𝕄𝕚𝕣𝕣𝕠𝕣𝕤.

I just loved these lines in 𝔸 𝕋𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕤𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕆𝕣𝕚𝕘𝕒𝕞𝕚 ℂ𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕖𝕤:

If being happy is a sin
Then call me holy

These poems delve deep into the human psyche and examine the unpleasant nature of its functioning unabashedly in a graphic way that will make you uncomfortable and feel disgusted about you.

You can't avoid blood in any of these poems, and will in fact throw up because of its grotesque depiction, if you think so.

Bloodlust. Lifeblood. Bloodbath. Deadpool.

They also throws light on how narcissistic the society and individual had become in Narcissus:

It takes two to tango
And two to have a dialogue
But you're stuck in soliloquy

In ℝ𝕚𝕘𝕠𝕣 𝕄𝕠𝕣𝕥𝕚𝕤, they discuss life after death and how to embrace both as it is:

If we loved the living
The way we loved the dead
The dark would just be evening
The earth simply a bed

They even talk about depression, trauma, heartbreak, syndromes, psycho-fuelled hallucinations in these poems with sadness and sensuality.

In ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕧𝕪 ℝ𝕒𝕚𝕟, floods of unwanted bile, sweat and saltwater are made as comparison and drench and drown us in blood river.

They also goes on to compare Willy Wonka and Hershey dark chocolates in 𝔹𝕚𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕨𝕖𝕖𝕥.

This is an exceptional contemporary poetry collection that has to be appreciated for its sheer imagination and bold themes and concepts in its rawest and real tone, uncensored.

You will smell, taste, and even become a vampire too, who knows, at the end of reading these poems.

Bleed red — it is the life force.

I'm a couple days late to leave my review, as it was published on April 18. There are a few poems that are my favorites in the book. These include: vampire, stomach pain, and bloodlust. I especially related to stomach pain as someone with chronic illness--though not the same kind. It's exhausting when doctors don't understand that something is really wrong.
"It feels like poisonous lead in my gut,
because I knew something was wrong
and it hurts to be proven right."
This author has a way with words, and I am so thankful for the opportunity to read this book. I'm looking forward to Segal's future works. Thank you to netgalley for the opportunity to read this, and to SV Segal for creating it.

This is the most beautiful poetry I've ever read.

I don't find myself relating to a lot of poetry, it's very specific and usually isn't heavy on me... but these poems were. I found myself tearing up at some of them because of how understandable they were to me.

I've genuinely never loved a poetry book so much.

The best poems in my opinion: Blood Mirrors, A Thousand Oragami Cranes, Crimson, Narcissus, Insomnia, Stardust, Golden Strings, Bittersweet, and Space Firefly

This collection of poetry is for those who feel nothing and everything at the same time. It focuses on dark desires, mainly bloodshed.

My favorite quote from A Thousand Origami Cranes:
“If being happy is a sin,
Then call me holy
Cuz I ain’t got no devil in me.
I got nothing in me”

I’ve never related to a book more than this one. It made me feel seen in ways you never expected another person to. Such an amazing debut from the author!

“(Un)tethered” is a snappy collection that forces you to reconsider yourself. The collection is crude and self inflicting in its blunt self reflection.

Loved this poetry collection! Beautiful, short, and sweet. Here is part of one of my favorite poems from the collection:

"Cracks and fractures
Are wisdom carved in us
By the hands of suffering.

Glass was made to shatter
And you're the most beautiful thing
That was created to break."

**Thank you to NetGalley for the free ARC in exchange for a review!**

It's hard reviewing poetry because it is 100% subjective and personal, both for the author and the reader. And I think it is so brilliant because it is usually so open to multiple interpretations, but that is also a pitfall, because sometimes it can hard to decipher the focus or value in a poem even if you want to give it the benefit of the doubt.

Segal tries out several styles, voices, and subject matters and I like the risks. I also like the variation in length, tone, etc throughout. I was never bored even when I was cringing and embarrassed because some of this really did read like 'Baby's First College Poetry Slam' stuff. The poem Caliginous Ashes was downright painful to read, and poems like Ouroboros and Narcissus just felt obvious or amateur, or try-hard.

But then the wannabe, faux-intellectual 'I have something to prove' bullshit tone would fall away and you would get real, special poems like Bloody Mirrors, Raw, etc that painted a more down to earth, grounded, meaningful voice. Poems like Bubble Snail or Wood Frog revel more in nature imagery, cuteness, the ability to be light or silly or just admire beauty or natural phases. I thought those showed more promise, personality, and taste than the edgelord stuff on every other page, and I am someone who likes edgelord stuff.

Poems I liked: Bloody Mirrors, Alcoholic, Raw, Rigor Mortis, Sinew, Bubble Snail, Footwork, Antlered Crown, Wood Frog, and Restless.

I was baffled by the poem Dragon King but it was nice seeing the writer experiment with something that was a change of pace from the rest of the poems, for sure. Mostly I wish this collection had been refined a touch more, or felt more curated. Some of these poems felt like they deserved another round of editing.

But the poems I did like made me very happy to have had the chance to read this. I do think Segal has a promising voice that deserves more nurturing although there's still plenty of room for development here.

I'd read more poems from this author even though I didn't love this 100%

Short book of poetry that packs a dark and powerful punch. While the author seems to feel everything, they simultaneously feel nothing. The poetry definitely feels self- reflecting and fueled by trauma, depression, reinvention, and the need to heal. While I enjoyed the darkness, I did not enjoy some of the poems with extra complex, unusual words that had to be looked up from almost every line- took away from the feeling of those specific poems,

I liked the concept of the book, and some general ideas in it, but the execution wasn’t what I expected it to be. I felt it was trying too much at times, and not enough at others— leaving the reader confused in both instances. I’d recommend it if you enjoy non-traditional poetry, this book is only meant for an specific target audience, and unfortunately I wasn’t part of it.