Love Looks Pretty on You by Lang Leav | Rating: ★★★★☆

As a note, a copy 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.

Lang Leav does it again! I don't know why people get so bent out of shape for the various degrees of poetic self-expression, but once more I'm baffled by the dim quality people approach prose and how quick they are to cry, "This is not poetry!" to something that is merely not their cup of tea. It's such an odd quality to possess, but we're not here to talk about that, are we? 

 Love Looks Pretty on You is another beautiful and simply told release to add to Leav's ever-growing collection. As always, her prose is light and fast to the point, without lacking any weight of emotion. I cannot help but to always marvel at the quality and impact that so few words could ever possess, and Lang Leav is certainly one of the leaders of her generation of poets. This isn't "Tumblr Poetry" (I will forever scoff at such a term--who are you guys kidding?!), it is one woman raising her voice and expressing herself through prose and I really and truly respect Leav for it.

Blizzard by Mikayla Elliot | Rating: ★★★★☆ (4.5)

As a note, a copy 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.

WOW. Mikayla Elliot does it again with the next enthralling release of her The Black Ice trilogy: Blizzard. Just when you thought things couldn't get more thrilling, action-packed, or mysterious, Elliot makes the stakes at an all-time high, leaving readers grappling with where the story went and just what the implications will be for the third installment.

Where we left in Snow, there were a lot of questions left dangling just in front of us. The betrayal of Zachariah, the fact that Eliza is technically Neva's mother, Neva is left reeling from the death of all but one member of her family, a niece who is presently missing and presumably in terrible danger, by the hands of her long-gone husband. Elliot packed a lot into the climax of Snow, leaving us all breathless and intrigued at one comes next--fortunately for readers, Blizzard is just as complex and richly written as its predecessor and will, once again, leave us longing for more. 

 

The Cottingley Fairies by Ana Sender | ★★★★☆ (4.5)

As a note, a copy 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. The Cottingley Fairies is magical and charming, I am overwhelmed by its sweetness. It is everything I hoped it would be and I cannot wait to share it with my goddaughter upon official release. Ana Sender takes these familiar real life events and puts a delightful spin on the effects of lies, truths, and the magic of childhood storytelling.

Kids will be smitten with The Cottingley Fairies and their parents will be just the same. Not only is the story simple and fast, the minimalist illustrations will tug a smile at your lips. I thought that the way that Sender told the story, as an almost retrospect from one of the girls in her later years, only added to the magic and atmosphere of it.

I really, really enjoyed this and that aching feeling of how we once viewed the world as children, to how we view it now. The Cottingley Fairies is a winning combination of childhood joy, imagination and magic, with a hint of how out of control falsehoods can really get. 

There Are Girls like Lions by Cole Swensen | Rating: ★★☆☆☆ (2.5)

As a note, a copy 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.

While I didn't totally hate There Are Girls like Lions, and found a good few poems to be thought-provoking, new-to-me and powerful, the collection as a whole just didn't work for me. Not completely. I found that the foreward was wonderful, that there were some standouts in prose, but the better portion of this collection felt choppy and incoherent. And I'm so, so, so disappointed in myself for just not connecting with it full-time.

But, it happens. My experience with There Are Girls like Lions wasn't fully negative but it wasn't exactly positive, either. In the better moments, there were various poems that made me nod my head in something like encouragement or agreement. In its lesser moments, I spaced out and had that nagging thought: am I going to finish it? In its in-between moments, I had just enough curiosity to finish the collection and consider what I was feeling.

Lord of the Butterflies by Andrea Gibson | Rating: ★★★★★

As a note, a copy 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.

I know I've said it a hundred times over this year, last year, and several years before but: Lord of the Butterflies is a standout. Truly one of the best poetic releases of 2018. The thing that makes Lord of the Butterflies so poignant? Simple: Andrea Gibson.

And Gibson's voice is very important to note. Because if there is one thing you should know about them before you read Lord of the Butterflies, it's that Gibson's prose has a presence that is potent and prone to getting under your skin in the way that only good poetry can. You'll feel. You'll cry. You'll smile. You'll be. Lord of the Butterflies treats you to any emotion imaginable.

Which is to say: they know how to hit you right in the soul with their words and that's the sign of pure brilliance in poetry. Gibson takes you by your collar and leaves you reeling from their honesty. I was honestly dizzy with emotion the moment I finished this collection and then I did something I so rarely do upon finishing a book--I went back to the start and read it again.

Snow by Mikayla Elliot | ★★★★☆ (4.5)

As a note, a copy 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.

Snow is everything I wanted it to be and then some. Unique, enthralling and positively stunning, Snow set a new standard for not only vampire stories, but for how a trilogy should begin. In short? I adored it and devoured it once I got into my reading groove. Mikayla Elliot is a force to be reckoned with and a highly promising voice in fiction.

As far as worldbuilding goes, Elliot is only just getting started when it comes to the world(s) Snow is set in. It is as crisp as winter's air. I am intrigued to see where she goes with it in the next installment and have high hopes in the pace that she is developing both the world and the stories within it. Snow has a lot to offer, but if there's one thing you should know of it is that the writing Mikayla Elliot offers us is incredible.

One might shy away from Snow due to the genre becoming less and less appealing in the aftermath of, let's call it, vampire mania, but you should know that this isn't your typical vampire novel.

It's a Lonely Love by Hunter Summerall | Rating: ★★☆☆☆ (2.5-.8)

As a note, a copy 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.

Before you go looking at my star rating and thinking, "Oh? Two stars? Must not be good!" bite your tongue. That's not true in the least. It's a Lonely Love is pure self-expression and one of the many levels to poetry. Something about it reads very quickly and cuts bluntly to the point from the very start, in a way that will certainly connect with its readers--in particular, its younger readers.

While it wasn't especially my cup of tea, while I rated it less than I'd expected, that means f*ck-all. Something not being my personal preferences essentially means nothing, because that is art and art, and taste, are subjective. Take a drink every time I say that in my reviews.

Here's the basics. Hunter Summerall bares all with it and you'd be silly to not respect it. The collection is solid, both in its self-expression and the gloominess of one relationship. Every poem reflects a different level of human emotion and its complexities, keying up the reader with tension and respect, sympathy and compassion. You can't help but to want to give Summerall your support because the way that the prose connects with readers just works.