Squall

Chad Norman’s use of imagery all throughout is gorgeous. Squall is a weird, poignant little collection of poems inspired by Mary Shelley, and Lord, does it really embrace the Mary Shelley aesthetic. The language is incredibly powerful, particularly in the pieces that focus on womanhood and childbirth. Accompanying the language are striking art pieces that are peppered throughout. Bizarre but effective, the actual images and the verses themselves work well together and really complement each other.

The actual download of this galley on my Kindle app was not great, though. Terribly confusing formatting, which I understand is not the author’s fault but rather the fault of whoever is in charge of digitizing these and getting them prepared to be read. Very difficult to follow along.

As a fan of Mary Shelley's work, I enjoyed how the author, Chad Norman, conceptualized how she would think and feel given the topics covered.

This is an interesting collection of poetry. Not quite for me, but I know people that would really love this idea.

While reading Squall: Poems in the Voice of Mary Shelley, I found myself in an other-world of course. Not one where fairies live, or maybe but not the kind of fae I am familiar with. Perhaps it is a world where monsters are made and then living in regret. This world created with these raw, erotic and exotic words (and images) certainly has a surreal fealing. There is a darkness and haunting tone, sometimes sexy, sometimes depressing. The telling is rich, strange and captivating.

Words to describe this poetry: Chilling, sexy, erotic, strange, macabre, dreamy, hellish, terror, haunting, dark, depressing, sad, sensual…

This will be the last Netgalley I review. The format on my kindle is terrible. I read this to fulfill my promise. I had borrowed 2 books and both had a problem with the format for my kindle. It was extremely difficult for me to read but it is well written and deserves high marks for its content.

I was able to listen to an excerpt on Netgalley. The listening was incredible and I was under the impression it would be offered as an audible. As far as I know at this moment it will not be offered as an audible and I was disappointed that I was not reviewing an audible.

Squall is mature reading with images and definitely has a dark genre or flavor. Not everyone will connect with this style of writing. Poetry is one of those creative edges and not everyone will agree with how I feel when reading this work.