This story-through-poems collection tells of a community experiencing desertification through climate disaster, and the technology brought to and borne by the people. Both the climate disaster and the technological “solution” are uncontrolled variables – at times beautiful and esoteric, at others simply harmful.

I think I enjoyed the Notes section the most, honestly. I found myself wanting this to be a lyrical, fictional narrative instead of the skipping and jostling poetry given. While that atmosphere of disjointed experiences and fracturing narratives absolutely suits the topic, the story underneath became hard for me to find and follow, and I really wanted to invest in the characters and their affected lives and relationships. At times, reading this felt like trying to hold rain.

Having said that, there were moments of poignancy and poetry that hit hard. One of my favorite stanzas: “I do not need to consume/ continually;/ it is a craving turned habit. And one of my favorite poems in the collection was titled, Reviled, with this line: “There is a rivulet/ I actively bottle,/ beneath the formal narrative.” This is probably a collection enjoyed most as a re-read with contemplation and even as a book club, and possibly best in a print version—but I always feel that way about reading poetry.

Thank you to NetGalley and Stelliform Press for an e-arc in return for an honest review.

An intense, thought-provoking poetry collection from the future, depicting a 22nd-century world ravaged by climate change, industrialization, Cronenberg-style implants, AI robots, pollution, and other threats. Smith has the byline on the cover, but the book’s unique conceit is that it’s a posthumous collection of poems by a writer who lived through this chaos while seeking love, peace, and family amidst the machinations of a dangerous corporation called Utopic Robotics. It’s high-concept science fiction, but it all feels painfully relevant to today. Easily one of my favorite books of the year. (I enjoyed the electronic review copy so much I bought it in hard copy.)

‘Seed Beetle’ is a curious and compelling poetry collection, detailing the life of a future conservationist in three parts. Each section has its own narrative arc, making this almost more a novella in verse than a collection. The first part of this book, for me, was the most compelling: a woman in a factors building beetles to help stop desertification has agreed to a neural implant, required by the company. The poems in this section discuss not only how society has shifted in this new world, but also how technological advancement and control have changed her life on a deeply personal level.

At once deeply unsettling and worryingly believable, ‘Seed Beetle’ is a message of hope and resilience as well as a warning.

So entirely unique - I enjoyed both the narrative, and the poems - the progression in the story through the work.
I was delighted to see something presented in a different way then I'm used to. It's stuck with me months later.

Though I am not one to normally read poetry, the illustrated cover for Seed Beetle by Mahaila Smith grabbed my attention right away, and I couldn’t get the synopsis out of my head. I read this book in between re-listening to audiobooks of Martha Wells The Murderbot Diaries, and they paired well together. I’m looking foreword to reading more of Mahaila Smith’s work. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Seed Beetle is a story in poems, the writings of main character Nebula Armis in the mid-twenty-first century. It’s an Ontario ravaged by climate change and locally overtaken by the corporate interest Utopic Robotics. This isn’t an implausible near future, which makes the ideas hit close to home.

There is a strong feminine narrative that sets the tone. Part 1, “Gemma,” contains the story of Nebula’s mother, who takes a job on the factory line assembling “seed beetles,” and opts in (under some pressure) to have an implant called the Cortical Update, which is a nanotech colonisation of the human body. The kids playing around the factory-contaminated stream are also colonised.

Smith's use of language is fantastic. In “Hi! I am your Cortical Update!” there’s some humour and excellent word play, and all the while I could feel the thrum of threat: “I hunt down zombies and hide the evidence between daydreams. / I play games guessing your innermost secrets / and reorder them into anagrams.”

Nebula is a scientist and writer, and ultimately works against the corporation. I loved that the seed beetles also had a voice! And it’s not only Earth’s flora and fauna that are at risk, but polar lifeforms on Mars. Perhaps what struck me most about this book was the theme of colonisation. Mothers and children are colonised by technology, the earth is colonised by seed beetles in a way, and life on Mars will be colonised by rich oligarchs.

There’s a satisfying arc to this collection, and a lesson that time is the queen of change and will not be denied. There is both hope and despair in this book, which I think is pretty right on for the truth of the way things are. This “novelette in verse” took me to a sci-fi near future of nanotechnology and a ravaged climate, and I loved the journey.

Thanks to Stelliform Press and NetGalley for a gifted copy.

Seed Beetle is a really interesting and thought provoking collection of poems. I loved the shared narrative and worldbuilding about a late stage capitalist post climate crisis future. Smith's prose felt raw and fully immersed in the book's universe. It read like a novella condensed into poetry, there was so much contained in so few words. I just wish there was more to read.

This was a uniquely written poetry collection about a dystopian version of a future Canada altered from climate change. It gave off lots of Margaret Atwood vibes and I would definitely recommend for fans of her Oryx and Crake series. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read an early digital copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.

This is a book for readers drawn to liminal forms and layered meanings. For those who appreciate the melancholic surrealism of Severance, the lyrical density of Ocean Vuong, and the urgency of eco-political discourse. Smith’s debut doesn’t just imagine another future, it asks what kinds of futures are still possible, and what it means to care for something fragile when the world is breaking open.

In Seed Beetle, Mahaila Smith delivers a genre defying collection that blends speculative poetry with eco-political urgency. Set in a world unraveling under environmental strain, the text pulses with a quiet tension, lyrical and precise, yet grounded in the physical realities of collapse, resistance, and adaptation.Told through a nonlinear poetic narrative, the collection traces the life of a single figure navigating the aftermath of unchecked industrial decay, all stitched together to create a mosaic of one person’s struggle and persistence. The speaker’s voice evolves in subtle, deliberate ways, mirroring the broader transformation of both body and land.

Smith’s command of form is striking: the language is dense but never inaccessible, and metaphors are layered with meaning without being opaque. Moments of tenderness are balanced with unease, and the speculative elements are imaginative without ever losing emotional weight. There’s a strong sense of lineage in the work, artistic, political, and ecological, that situates it within a long tradition of radical futurisms while still feeling entirely its own.

This is a bold, intelligent debut that rewards close reading. It doesn’t offer easy answers, but it does offer care, imagination, and a blueprint for how we might think differently about survival and connection in the face of ruin.

Big thank you to Stelliform Press and NetGalley for the ARC!
now everyone please go read this!!

Excellent, original, dazzling poetry that tells a story of despair, coercion, and ultimately hope. Utopic Robotics offers a poor community in an environmentally-destroyed place the opportunity for jobs, revitalization, and healing of the land, but it comes, of course, with steep and unexpected prices. The fragmentary nature of many of the poems is perfect for the fleeting thoughts and time of the characters and narrators, and the result is a work I'd love to see taught everywhere. Perfect for book groups and classes, as well as any and all readers interested in climate change, poetry, and narrative.

Thank you to NetGalley and Stelliform Press for providing me this ARC!

An intricate, beautiful story with prose that takes place in the future. I enjoyed exploring this world so much and felt so connected to the characters. Some of these pieces made me cry and I love how Mahalia has this characters connect to the outside world.

This was a quick read, and really great for anyone who likes science fiction and poetry!

Brief but powerful collection of narrative poetry.

Severe climate devastation in a farming town brings a large corporation with promises of restoring the land. Corporate overreach leads to unexpected consequences (or success - depending on whose side you’re on).

"We are all the things we’ve ever been.
A lineage of becoming and unbecoming."

Mahaila Smith writes beautiful poetry, touching on real-world issues in a way I’ve not experienced before. A queer and femme commentary of climate change and late-stage capitalism. Plus, it has robots, oligarchs, community, nature — all wrapped into one story.

There's poetry collections with a coherent theme and then there's Seed Bettle, which uses each poem to fill in a missing puzzle piece of a story about the suffering of nature and humans under greenwashed cooperate greed. The foreword is the key element of this collection and ignited my excitement for what I was about to experience. I also loved the notes section mentioning all of the works inspiring the author to write this book. This one is for the found footage enthusiasts.

This collection of poetry was such a great surprise! The way it touched on climate in such a poetic beautiful way kept me wanting to read through this collection as quickly as I could!

In this really interesting take on speculative fiction, the author uses poetry to explore unique, futuristic voices, while critiquing capitalism and technology.

I thought this was bite sized and approachable generally, maybe a little too sci-fi-esque for my specific taste. Would be nice for someone trying to get into poetry!

3.25/5

Thank you to Stelliform Press and #NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

Esto no fue para mí. No entendí mucho, siendo justa/o... Creo que podría ser un libro de poesía increíble. Pero no me sentí conectada/o con la mayoría de estos. ¡Y está bien! Cada quien tiene gustos diferentes.

Arc review.

This was not it for me.
I did not understand much, if I'm fair..
I think it could be an amazing poetry book.
But I did not feel connected to most of these.
Which is okay! Everyone's taste is different.

Please give this a try.

Thank you to everyone involved for the arc!

A collection of poetry exploring a climate- changed future and the dangers of destructive industrialisation.
I enjoyed how the poems linked together to form a narrative of sorts, and they were beautifully written.
In the author's notes they mentioned that they were inspired by the future that Octavia E Butler imagines in the excellent Parable of the Sower, and I could definitely see its influence here.
All in all, this was a welcome surprise.

Seed Beetle by Mahailia Smith is a captivating and thought-provoking work that combines rich world-building with an intriguing storyline. The premise is unique, offering a fresh take on themes of nature, survival, and the consequences of human intervention. Smith does an excellent job of creating a vivid world that feels both strange and familiar, drawing you into its complexities.

While there were a few moments where I felt the plot could have been explored more deeply, overall, Seed Beetle is a strong, thought-provoking read. It’s a great choice for fans of speculative fiction who enjoy stories that challenge the status quo. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what Mahailia Smith does next

Thanks to NetGalley and Stelliform Press for the ARC.

So incredible. Loved everything about this. I'm speechless.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC.