4.5 stars. This collection of poems sent shivers down my spine on multiple occasions. It caught me off guard, and swept me away. Scott's prose is mighty and somehow also so delicate. The softness of each poem paired with the tense, biting, and gripping stories left me more than impressed. I love when I find a new poet to keep following! Thanks so much for the arc, Netgalley. Pick up this beautiful work from Richard Scott when you're looking to feel something, even if the feelings are a twisted and broken. Don't forget to check your TW's.

I’m not a big poetry reader, but this collection pulled me in with its raw emotion and striking language. It explores trauma, survival, and self-determination with an intensity that lingers. The way it plays with form and language, especially in the title sequence, makes for a challenging but rewarding read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Faber & Faber for the ARC!

Richard Scott’s "That Broke into Shining Crystals" is a gorgeous collection of poems that confidently occupy the tension between trauma and beauty.

Richly intertextual, the book converses with dozens of still life paintings to look for beautiful shapes in the shadow of childhood abuse. It sounds like an impossible premise, but that impossibility ultimately feels generative. Still life paintings always have a certain kind of staginess—the light is carefully controlled, and each object feels placed to perfection.

Scott constructs poems with this same kind of precision, but rather than trying to turn abuse into something “poetic,” he allows it to fracture and fissure through his work. He presents stately, elevated language, and just when it might start to feel a little too stilted, the blunt reality of trauma rips through it and adds a jagged edge. The poems become hollowed-out cathedrals; the heightened language begins to feel meaningful because of its failure. It simply cannot undo the horrific realities experienced by the speaker.

Even so, Scott highlights a persistent optimism that feels artful in and of itself—like hope is a trained skill in the speaker’s world. When we read lines like, “True plenty is untranslatable,” it feels less like resignation and more like celebration. Language can only do so much, but recognizing its limitations opens us to its possibilities. It cannot explain away pain, but it can be beautiful if we realize that beauty isn’t a solution—it isn’t meant to be “useful.”

Despite everything, there is still life.

"That Broke into Shining Crystals" is a difficult read, and not one that I would recommend lightly, but it is a book that will reward readers who choose to excavate its many layers.