Mary Oliver’s poetry makes me want to go for a walk in the woods and it makes me want to keep living. Her prose feels like my brain took a deep sigh and relaxed.

This collection is incredible! Please just read it. I can’t do it justice in a review. Let Mary Oliver hook you herself.

Thank you to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for an eARC of this book! This is my honest review.

I love Mary Oliver's poems. I found the first section of poems in this book to be beautiful and luminous. The poems in the second section had some moments that knocked me off my feet, but some of the poems didn't feel as strong or cohesive as the ones in the first section. I wasn't as taken by the last section of essays, though those too had some wonderful moments. I'm glad I read this book, and you can't really go wrong with Mary Oliver, but it didn't offer as satisfying a reading experience as some of her single volume books of poems do.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy.

See review on GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7724708889

This is a stunningly beautiful curated collection of Mary Oliver's poems and essays (and poetic prose!) Truly, if you aren't reading Mary Oliver like it is an essential part of your life, what are you even doing with yourself? It feels as if every single one of these poems ARE little Alleluias, praising the tiny and vast moments and details. "...maybe just looking and listening is the real work. Maybe the world, without us, is the real poem." If I ever need to be reminded to be present and in awe of the world, all I need to do is revisit this work.

Thank you, my goddess Mary Oliver, for your words and Grand Central Publishing for this ARC.

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for sending me a free eARC in exchange for my review.

As always, Mary Oliver’s work is lovely and thought-provoking. Her words make the reader want to get out into nature and appreciate the small moments of home life.

My only dislikes were that the book felt front and back-heavy, with the lost poems in the front and prose in the back, and the biographical essay didn’t feel like it fit with the rest of the book.

Mary Oliver’s writing is truly a work of art. The way she writes about nature and grief is so beautiful. The prose are so lyrical and descriptive. She stands to be one of my favorite poets. I’m so glad I got a chance to read this collection early. Her poems are so descriptive and transport you into another world. My favorite poem of this collection was Rhapsody. She’s writes about how she’s lost in the work of other poets and philosophers and that’s how I feel about her work.

What is there really to say except it's Mary Oliver. The GOAT. It's perfect. Read more Mary Oliver and you'll feel better. Doctors should prescribe her more. Not therapists. Like actual doctors. You go to the emergency room with a broken leg or stuffy nose and they're like "hey, here's a mary oliver poem." and it wont fix everything in that moment, but down the road it will.

Thanks for the ARC.

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for sending me a copy of this ARC in exchange for my honest review!!


If you know me you know I loveeeee Mary Oliver. At this point I’ve gone through essentially all of her published works, majority of which I’ve happily devoured. Reading her work always feels like an act of self-care.

This was no exception. In Little Alleluias, Oliver continues to assert her skill with the pen and her ability to observe. I most enjoyed the first section of the book which was solely focused on her poetry. I did enjoy some of the prose featured - including the bit about dogs, as well as some of those more slice of life moments about her and her partner Molly.

I was not a huge fan of the forwards for Hawthorne and Emerson that were included - not that they were not well done, rather, it felt like they were interrupting the flow of the book as it was.

Nevertheless, any work of Oliver’s is one I am almost bound to enjoy. I really needed this today! Thank you again Grand Central Publishing!!

Mary Oliver’s words remain her legacy. This was a lovely collection; well curated and organized. This felt more personal than much of her existing work that I’ve read, and I attribute that to her beautiful writing about her life partner Molly. The cover is stunning, very visually attractive and aesthetically pleasing. This is a difficult book to review! I thank you so much for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

OMG. How incredible.

I am a lover of nature writing and poetry, so I expected to love this given what I've heard of Mary Oliver before. I was still pretty blown away by this collection. It's amazing how she can consider the beautiful and poetic nature of an animal or plant and then perfectly describe every little piece of it in such a heartwarming yet brutal way. She uses her words like weapons.

I was very impressed by this book.

And I am thinking: maybe just looking and listening is the real work. Maybe, the world, without us, is the real poem. from Little Alleluias by Mary Oliver

“Poems either do not succeed, or they feel as much delivered as created,” Mary Oliver writes in the Forward of Long Life, which is included in Little Alleluias. I understood that truth right away from when I wrote poetry.

Mary Oliver called her work “little alleluias,” Natalie Diaz notes, “not meant to define but to praise, to rejoice in the maker and what has been made, to dare to be heard as a whisper or a shout in this immense world.”

The natural world is her inspiration. “I am a woman sixty years old, and glory is my work” every day considering the world, noticing its beauty and mystery, using words to sing the world.

“A lifetime isn’t long enough for the beauty of this world/and the responsibilities of your life,” Oliver writes in Flare.

The world asks, “Here you are, alive. Would you like to make a comment?” And Oliver replies, “This book is my comment.”

A lovely collection.

Thanks to the publisher for a free book through NetGalley.

I recommend this collection most highly. I absolutely adore Mary Oliver’s deeply thoughtful, and incredibly moving poetry.

In this collection, readers can spend time engaging with both Oliver’s poetry and prose. They will be the better for it.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for this title. All thoughts are my own.

Note: Oliver’s poetry is very accessible. No deep scholarship required.

We get an amazing blend of nature focused poetry from earlier in Mary Oliver's life, and a brief prose section where she talks about her daily life with her wife (HOW DID I NOT KNOW SHE WAS A LESBIAN?!!) and the house they built out in the wild. I love that we're getting this part of her back catalogue republished in wake of her recent passing. Worth your time.

I’ve loved Mary Oliver’s work for decades now. However, I always sort of dread posthumous collections. This one is well curated and unified in theme and content. However, it didn’t hit me as deeply as some others. It is very much in the tradition of big names: Whitman, Wordsworth, Emerson. Maybe personally, I’m just not there right now. I feel like it could be compared and contrasted to the old poets as an example of ‘done in the style of,’ in the classroom. However, some teens won’t be able to do the transcendental thinking required to make deeper meaning.

This poetry collection is a beautiful tapestry of emotion, insight, and vivid imagery. Each poem resonates with honesty and a unique voice that invites deep reflection. The themes explore the human experience with both grace and power, making every page feel meaningful. A truly inspiring and moving collection that lingers long after reading.

This book was given to me by NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinions.

I typically don’t rate poetry; regardless, Mary Oliver is the queen. Her appreciation and observation of the world is so refreshing. This book was an interesting mix of poetry and prose— some of the prose I didn’t care much about— like the essays on Hawthorne, but I enjoyed the one on Emerson.

A deeply emotional collection of poems. You truly feel the beauty and emotion in her words. Incredible observations of the natural world, intermingled with her feelings. This collection truly makes you stop, and take a moment to observe and sit with the life that is happening all around us every day.

Reading the works of Mary Oliver is a kind of meditation. Her profound observations give you no choice but to take a breath, clear your mind, and be grateful to be human.

Thank you so much to the Netgalley, publisher and the author for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of this book!

This was such a unique piece of literature. I am already obsessed with Mary Oliver’s writing style so i had high expectations to begin with but this exceeded them.
I thought that the writing was really engaging and atmospheric.
If you love to think for hours after finishing a good piece of work of art i think you would love this!
I’m so glad that i read it. I’ll think about this book for a long time.
5/5

See my full review at http://michelleardillo.com/2025/05/27/book-review-little-alleluias-by-mary-oliver/

This is a very nice collection. Mary Oliver’s poetry is so beautiful, tender and reverent. Multiple lines made me sigh because they are so lovely. I enjoyed reading her prose, too. I think the only people who would not enjoy this are people who don’t like poetry and people who already own the same collections (The Leaf and the Cloud, Long Life, and What Do We Know). Anyone who enjoys poetry about nature, the deeper questions of life, and taking joy in the simple pleasures will love this collection.

Thank you to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the free eARC. I post this review with my honest opinions. I will post this review on Goodreads, Amazon, and Instagram within one week of publication.

There is nothing surprising to me about my very positive reaction thesis collection by Mary Oliver. She always touches pieces of my heart and soul and I can easily see myself using some of these pieces in my teaching.