I've been on a poetry kick so I was excited when I saw this one. This is my first book by this author. I truly wasn't expecting something so raw and sad. The aspect of "Currently listening to:_____" at the end of each poem was so interesting and I enjoyed having more insight into the author's mind.

A beautiful collection of poetry covering the many ups and downs of life in the 2020's as well as life with mental illness.

Though some of the poems presented as being a bit on the cliche side, there were many more works that were beautiful enough to make you pause to absorb them and then go back to reread them.

Thank you for the ARC netgalley. This was a stunning collection of poems that was so interesting to read. As a kid who grew up in the era of cassette tapes, this was a fun look back into the good ol days. I am a fan of her writing style and will be checking out her work in the future.

Alicia Cook links poetry with music in an exploration of a range of experiences. Cook chooses words like precious stones to arrange in each entry — a collection well worth reading.

This was a raw and insightful set of poetry, delivered in a unique and creative way. The first set of poems (Side A) were in traditional format, while Side B were blackout poems. Every single poem also contained a “currently listening to” song. I loved this unique approach of connecting music and poetry, as it just added another layer to the already vulnerable collection.

Some of the poems were brimming with relatability and depth, while others felt overly simplistic for my liking, but overall, I enjoyed this read.

(Thank you NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for a free ARC in exchange for this honest review.)

Thank you Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This might be my last book I'll read from this author. Her poems are quite a hit or miss for me. Some are good and pretty relatable. Others just fell bland and a bit of a mess.. This one is good except for the side b which felt completely "meh".

I didn't realize this was the conclusion of a collection until the literal end, so I didn't have any context for this author/her work. That said, this was still a great collection. Half of these were "regular" poems, and half were blackout poems. Each poem was accompanied with a song that the author was listening to. I loved this piece of it, and honestly, I want this playlist. There was an incredible amount of feels in these, and I honestly feel like I need a few read-throughs to really take these in as there are so many poems - and that's a good thing! Thanks to NetGalley for the early look at this January 2024 release!

Wow! This was everything! I need this in physical form like now!! This one hit home throughout like 30% of this book. I have so many screenshots from the poems in this that I’m going to use to as encouragement and honestly I’m sad I wasn’t able to keep this arc:( but I was still really happy to be able to read it because this one really really hit home for me.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing me with an ARC via NetGalley for an honest review.

The third and last of a mixtape poetry series, The Music Was Just Getting Good is 184 poems paired with songs. There are 92 poems and 92 blackout poems, divided between Side A of the collection and Side B (a break in the book). The poems are labeled track one, track two, etc. with the paired songs at the bottom of the poem. And the songs will be compiled into a playlist on Spotify to listen along to when the collection is released. The poems deal with heavy material such as domestic abuse, death, grief, mental health struggles, and others. Some of the poems are from the perspective of suffering from those situations, but there are also many healing poems so the collection is not too sad or weighty, in my opinion. There are also some poems that focus on other themes, but the collection does start with a reminder to take breaks if you need to.

I loved the song pairings so much. There are so many artists that I would not otherwise have considered listening to or know about. The songs are a fun collection themselves, from a song in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer musical episode to Kendrick Lamar to Kelsea Ballerini and many others.

The poems are in a variety of formats and structures. I think that the poems were also paired to the different structures in a great way. The stanzas versus verse paragraphs or free verse poems match the meaning and vibe of the poems and augment the messages. Most of the poems are pretty short but they pack a punch for sure.

The poems are not super high in imagery, more matter-of-fact and direct which works for the situations that the poems discuss. There were some poems that really stood out to me. Track Sixteen on Side A really captures the older sister's life and pairing it with Surface Pressure from Encanto was perfect. Track Seventeen on Side A resonated with me on living with a constant, intrusive internal monologue. Track 58 on Side A was a really wonderful reminder that when living with mental health issues simply trying is progress and that celebrating the small victories is important. The poem was really universal, some of the poems feel quite personal, but this one and others could resonate with anyone who has similar experiences. Track 83 was a look at setting boundaries for yourself while caring and loving others which can be something that is really overlooked, but so important for self-care. Though I really liked some of the poems on Side A, Side B, the blackout poems made from the Side A poems, were all really good. Reading both sides made the blackout poems really powerful, even though they are talking about different things, and the song pairings on this side were even better. I struggle with blackout poems sometimes as in the wild they can feel so disconnected, but this whole collection sang together.

This collection was a great combination of poems and songs. And the poems really flowed together moving through the sides. The themes, while frequently quite heavy, did not overwhelm and did not mire the reader in the feelings, tying the sad with the uplifting. I liked this collection a lot.

I am not a poetry person, but I really enjoyed reading these and then the mixtape side B version with other messages was so creative and well done. I love that Cook put what song she was listening to at the bottom of each Track.
What a creative and good into back into the poetry world.

A few of my favorites

Track Five
Track Five Remix “I will love you in the afterlife, no matter how lonely”
Track Fourteen
Track Thirty-One “Grief is like a yawn— contagious; involuntary triggered when we see another person in mourning. We grieve their loss. We bury our dead all over again. We imagine loss we haven’t lived through yet. What is both frustrating and comforting about the ripple effect of the grief wave is that it happens because our hearts are linked.”
Track Thirty-Nine
Track Forty-Six
Track Seventy-Six
Track Ninety-One “I am not brave. I am patient with my panic”. “ I’m not brave. I’m purposeful. I’m patient. I’m disciplined in the art of doing things scared”.
Track Ninety-One Remix “Brace sadness activates brave art”.
Track Ninety-Two

This is my second book by the author and I couldn't be more impressed. I love the idea of there being two sides in this book, Side A and Side B, like a cassette tape. I love how the first part is normal poetry and the second half is blackout.

Really enjoyed the concept of this poetry book. I loved that there were two side 'A' and 'B', similar to a mixed tape. Side A was just normal poems, while Side B was blackout poetry. I have always loved blackout poetry, so I was really intrigued with Side B.

Overall, the poems were good, and there were some poems I resonated with. A great read for those who love unique modern poetry.

Just to preface this, I am a HUGE fan of Sorry I Haven't Texted You Back, so when I learned about The Music Was Just Getting Good I SPRINTED to NetGalley to download it. I finally had some time set away last night/this morning and devoured this book. I sobbed, I laughed, I threw my kindle 3 different times. If you were the person in middle school/high school that wrote quotes/song lyrics on your notebooks or collected sad quotes on your pinterest boards, this is your book. If you want to feel every emotion you can imagine and have a playlist to go along side it, this is your book. And if you love poetry that doesn't hold shit back, this is your book. Read the trigger warnings, but give it a chance, it might make you cry, but you'll feel a lot better afterwards.

The added layer of song to match the poem elevated the message and emotion of each work. It gave the reader a sensory opportunity to resonate with the author’s experience and their own. The journey of grief is non linear and vulnerable, just like these poems.

Yes, I would totally agree that some poetry in this collection do sound a little too childish and forced. However, as someone who has been reading the author’s work for years now I would say the author has come a long way and it’s been reflected in the writing in most of these poems.

If you are someone who feel like you are the only one suffering and lonely and misunderstood, I would say books like this help when nothing else can. If you love works by Amanda Lovelace, just go for this collection when it comes out.

Thank you, Andrews McMeel, for the advance reading copy.

I found this poetry to be a quick, interesting read! The language was clear and likely relatable to many readers. I enjoyed the two parts and themes of redemption, resilience, and moving forward. I didn’t love the “blackout” style at the end though. While i overall enjoyed this read, it felt like it was missing something.

A great collection of poems. I was particularly intrigued by Side B with the remixes, as Cook transforms song lyrics into lyrics of her own making by blacking out words. I wasn't as impressed with Side A and didn't find it as attention grabbing as its latter half, but the collection is a great read regardless.

I have not read nor enjoyed poetry so much in a very long time.

With grief fresh in my heart, some of these poems reached deep down into my soul.

Side A was fantastic and it took me a poem (or 3) to realise side B was a blackout version of side A. This new concept of blackout poetry was intriguing.

Mental health being explored made this even more poignant. Nothing, not a thought, not a feeling, not a doubt, was left out. The pages came alive and at some points I could not breathe. Some points I needed to stop to just cry and let that heavy grief lift slightly. Some points made me laugh.

Track 31, 34 and 70 are my favourites. They spoke to me the most.
31: "so when one person dies, a little bit of everyone they ever touched dies along with them"- I cried, no, I sobbed, with the realisation that my heart will forever have a missing piece, and nothing can ever fill that hole.
34: "I am not desentized, I am burnt out" "overwhelmed... tired... exhausted... hives... snapping... apologizing... weird dreams... crying... feeling like the end of the world is at my doorstep" - I felt seen. I could exhale that breath that I've been holding on to for too long. I felt hopeful.
70: "When you hear their belly laugh, smell their scent, swear you see them in a crowd, and your brain forgets for less than a second and you lose them all over again"- the cyclical nightmare that seems never ending. I feel less alone, less crazy, that it is not all just in my head. My thoughts and feelings are valid.

The only reason I do not rate this as a 5 star is that I would have preferred for the blackout to be after the original. 2 sides of the same coin, or should I say tape, yet I had to flip back and forth. I understand why it was done this way, for flow and continuity, however I wanted to see both sides together

Finally, the music- rhythms, tunes and lyrics, made this book of poetry so much more interesting and emotional. Each song enhanced the meaning of each line, and deeply (in no other words that I can use to describe this feeling) tickled my brain!

4.5/5 stars

Thank you, NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing, for letting me read The Music Was Just Getting Good I'm exchange for an honest review!!

I think this is a really good poetry collection! I love the cassette tape structure, where Side A has 92 poems, all titled "track 1", "track 2" and so on. I could really relate to the narrator a lot of the time, and I saved so many of these poems as bookmarks! How er, Side B was my favourite, as all of the 92 tracks here were blackout poems! I loved reading those, and it's inspired me, as I now want to rest to create some blackout poems myself!! As much as I enjoyed Side A, I wouldn't have minded if the entire collection was blackout poetry... 😁

Solid collection, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 from me!

There are 92 poems in the first part of the book. They are based around grief. I found them a bit depressing, I didn't feel much hope or reassurance from them. Some are well written and really hit you. Others seem like they are just making up the numbers.
I really liked the 2nd part of the blackout poems. To see a quote appear from within the text was really interesting.