She Felt Like Feeling Nothing by R.H. Sin | Rating: ★★★☆☆

my whole life has been about waiting always waiting, always hanging on
to the tomorrows of today
or trying to figure out how
to survive the aches of yesterday

 As a note, an e-galley of this novel was sent to me via NetGalley by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not effect my opinions in any way.

Oh-my-god, did I really just give a collection of poetry by R.H. Sin a 3.5 star rating? Sigh. I'm disappointed in me too, don't worry. But, I have to be honest with you guys: She Felt Like Feeling Nothing is, perhaps, Sin's weakest piece of work to date. It's not that it isn't a good collection (it's quite good) but it's not up to Sin's typical standards and falls short in comparison to his many brilliant previously published collections of the last few years. She Felt Like Feeling Nothing had that honest, complex prose that fans have grown accustomed to yet it felt all-too familiar (align it up with some of his other collections and it feels too much like them) and maybe a little more short than desired.

I didn't hate it. Sin's honesty is impossible to hate, at least for me, and I devoured it almost instantly. I did highlight/tab it less than I had with Sin's other works in the past, which stood out to me quite a bit. You know that feeling that comes with knowing that something could have been better than it was? And then the guilt that comes for passing judgment on a poet expressing nothing more than his or her own thoughts? I guess that's the best way to describe my thoughts about She Felt Like Feeling Nothing--I wanted more, but then felt bad for it.

Onto the positives and the nitty gritty about the entire collection. As usual, Sin doesn't shy around his emotions and experiences and thought process. In fact, it feels as though he is speaking directly to the reader. Which, as always, is a sign of a good poet. I will always dig and respect this fact about Sin. She Felt Like Feeling Nothing explores the truths of something he'd witnessed in another soul and it just... you feel it.

Even in your frustration, you feel it.

There's a few aspects to She Felt Like Feeling Nothing that will be triggering for certain people. At this point, I doubt I have to tell his longtime readers this--but if you're new to Sin's prose, it's raw and brutally honest and not always rainbows and sunshine. Like with many of his past books, you see the signs of an abusive relationship at the center of his thoughts and you genuinely feel his pain.

Overall, I enjoyed She Felt Like Feeling Nothing and was reminded why I believe that R.H. Sin is one of the best male poets of our time. Heartbreaking as it was heartfelt, this collection was a nice addition to my ever-expanding modern poetry collection.