Black Book of Poems

This poem book is great, not a kindle copy but was easily downloaded and overall a great poem book.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Hunanyan prefaces the poetry collection by saying: "A key component of good poetry is honesty; much of the poetry in the world doesn't speak to people because it is forced and pretentious. If what you write is true and honest, and you put some actual effort into it, I believe people will respond to it".
Full of rhythm, emotions and images, "Black Book of Poems" stands out by being painfully sincere and contemporary.

There were poems that were beautiful, thought-provoking, poems that reached my emotions. However, there also were poems that felt stale, cliché, and like too much effort was put into rhyme instead of bringing something across. I'd say this collection is worth reading, because in the end the good poems definately outnumbered the poems I didn't like!

I also seem to be one of the few who like the short stories. I loved how they give a glimpse into someone's world, and leave the rest to the imagination of the reader.

Name: Black Book of Poems
Author: Vincent K. Hunanyan
Genre: Poetry
Source: Netgalley
Rating: 4.5/5
Review:
First, I would like to thank the publishers and Netgalley for this book
"For things are never what they seem"
I am really impressed that the poet has asked us to interpret his poems in our perspective. This is the true essence of poetry. Each one of us can different meaning of the same poem.
Beautiful poem reaching to us revealing dark theme of the society. I really liked this book of Poems as it conquests through life, love, death and experiences.
The two short stories at the end are really unexpected. The last story was heart-touching and got me in tears.

"I want to hide and disappear,
For even though I’m not alone,
With hundreds souls inside my home,
I find no inner peace at all."

This was so much darker than I anticipated, but I actually enjoyed it. The highlight of this book were the short stories at the end, I wanted more of them.
The poems are pretty emotional, they have feelings, emotions and flow pretty well together.
This was a solid book, I would definitely read more of this author.

I really enjoyed reading this collection of poems. They are genuine and easy to read and enjoy. Just because they are personal and straightforward. They are short and precise and easily relatable. The poems talk about everything that's the author is or seemingly is! However, some poems are a bit confusing as I could not get what the author is trying to express. Otherwise the whole collection is so enjoyable to read.
And yes, the ending of the book is somewhat unexpected! Short stories it says, but rather I find them too 'poetic'.
Overall, it's a good read. I wish the cover was better than this.

Thank you #NetGalley for the book #Black BookofPoems

3.5 stars

I liked this poetry collection. It's so beautifully written. There were some heavy topics discussed in which you could really feel the emotion of the writer.
To my surprise there were also some short stories at the end of the book and I loved them! I know it's actually about the poetry but I think I liked the short stories even better.

I received an advanced reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

This is a beautiful but dark book of poems that reach into your heart, soul and mind and really get your attention and make you think. The poem titled The Little Boy actually made me weep - it relates to innocent children dying from a war that they should be protected from.
Please do read this book you won't regret it!

Thanks netgalley and the respective publishers for sending me a copy.

Splendid ! ! !
5 shining stars! ! !
Highly recommended especially for poetry lovers.
This poetry book is entangled various topics in great shape and poetic device.
Poet shows high level of poetry in almost all poems and it went through veins. You couldn't control yourself to connect and feel the exact circumstances with your life.
The way poet has described the topics would truly gives you another angle of perception.
I was so happy while reading it.

Favourite poems and lines :-

*I AM
I am the cause of my decay,
I am the end of my desires,
I am the legs that walked this way,
I am the hands that lit this fire.
I am the mind that thinks I’m fine,
I am the reason that is absurd,
I am the diamond that rarely shines,
I am a sea of empty words.
I am the anger that wants to scream,
I am the pain that wants to cry,
I am the climax of my dreams,
And I will live, and I will die

*REASON/
TREASON
Using reason is high
treason Change your
coat after the season
Raised awareness
leads to fairness
Much is
said—nothing is
done
Too much thinking
leads to drinking
Carry on—all shall
be gone.

This read does indeed bring about the vulnerability of the mind with its steady seamless flow. Every poem communicates to the whole and to be countenanced. In the midst of a laugh, you can still recall some sombreness as if the author did this mechanically - Hadi Atallah, author of 'Rosemary Bluebell.'

This book was an easier read than I thought it would be, according to the heavy topics and dark promise of the cover.


Don't undestand this as a critic that says it's not dark enough. Topic-wise, it is, definitely! The themes of hardship, loss, war, even their affect on children are there, they cut deep, you get a lot of thoughts from this collection. What I mean is that this little poems are written in a light, almost-childlike manner, with classic good ol' rhyming - and somehow the whole collection sounds like it's way less serious than it actually is.


When I started reading, when I was only by the first couple of, maybe 10 or so poems, I thought 'wow, this IS my kind of poetry', and I enjoyed it thoroughly, loved how many thoughts they provoked, and I was so happy about the (in today's poetry) so rare rhymes that make poetry sound like music in your head.


With time I felt like they were maybe a bit too alike. It's wonderful that they sound good, but they sounded somehow similar to me, and because of that, I had to concentrate on actually catching the meaning of the words.


It doesn't mean that at the end of the day these are not-so-good poems, or that I didn't like them. Separately, I LOVED all of the poems in this collection. They're superb! A whole collection at the same time was a bit too much for me, though, as it seems. This is a book of poems that - if I would buy it - I'd put on the shelf, and would every other day take it down and would read one poem.

I really loved this ollection of poems.
Thank you to the publisher for giving me this free copy to read for an honest review.

I enjoyed this a lot. I love the topics that it covered like having alocoholic parents and some being more focussed on religion.
I do have to say that I found some poems very disappointing. It was like reading a beautiful story and then you notice the author has run out of ideas and just fucks the ending so to say. I wish some poems seemed less rushed in the end or sloppy. I enjoyed every single one of them though.
When I started reading the collection of poems I was thinking "These poems could be songlyrics" And alas I notice underneath some have the "(Written for the guitar)" under them. I loved seeing that, since I think this author has great lyrics writing potential.

I might look into reading more from this author after this. Thank you for giving me a free copy.

Rosencrantz and all his friends
Hang themselves for greatest ends
Godot at last reveals his face
But leaves again in loud disgrace

Lovely, bitter, calm. Poetry as it should be: unexpected and soul-stirring.

I enjoyed this a lot! It was my first poetry book with poems that rhyme so that was really interesting and gave everything a whole other touch to it then all the other poetry books I've read before.
The rhymes really made me enjoy this a lot more than I would have without them.
I really liked a couple poems in particular, two of them were about war and literally send a shiver down my spine.
The other one starts like this:
I think I'm fine, but um suppressing;
These feelings, I can't explain.
This play I'm in is quote depressing,
And acting's never been my trade.

Pretentiousness is our foundation,
To hide our weakness and pain.
Our eyes reveal our desperation,
And the attention that we crave.
...

After the poems in the book are also a couple of short stories, which were also the first short stories I ever read and I have to say I like the combination of the poems and then the stories later on.

There are some really good poems in this book and then there are some that are just meh! However, overall I truly enjoyed reading this collection of poems. I also really love the name of the book.

No matter what I said
Or rather didn't say
You were the one
First of its kind

If death should claim me
In my youth
Or when I go insane
These lines must tell you
That I loved you
Every single day."

Thank you NetGalley and Andrews McMeel for providing me with an e-arc.

As a collection encompassing poems and short stories revolving around love, loss, pain, abandonment, depression and religion, this collection is darkly brilliant, thought-provoking and a worthwhile read. I connected well with some poems and enjoyed the short stories but there are a couple of things that did not work out for me in this collection:
1. The rhyming: I am not a huge fan of this style but write it really well and I will give you all the stars. I assume that the reason why the rhyming didn't sit well with me is that they made me break the connection I forged with a piece at some point and felt a bit forced into the piece.
2. Incomplete: I connected so well with the emotions behind some poems but some felt like they were lacking the soul they should have.

This is solely me, as far as I know, because most of the reviews I found were and are filled with high praises for this collection and I have mixed feelings about this book but I am sure that this is a collection that is worth reading! Maybe, you might even end up not agreeing with me so don't hesitate to give this one a try!

A great book of poems, I was able to relate to.

They bring a mixture of feelings from joy, loss, sadness and hope.

I’d like to read more by this author