Reviews: DROPKICKromance by Cyrus Parker and Planting Gardens in Graves II by r.h. Sin

DROPKICKromance by Cyrus Parker

My Rating: 4/5 TARDISes

Series: Standalone

Date Published: March 6^th, 2018

Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing

Pages: 176 pages

Source: Publisher

Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

Synopsis: “dropkick this broken heart and make it feel again.”

From pro-wrestler-turned-poet Cyrus Parker comes a poetic memoir that tells the tale of two relationships. The first half of DROPKICKromance focuses on a toxic, long-distance relationship the author was involved in for several years, while the second half focuses on Parker’s current relationship with poet Amanda Lovelace, who penned a beautiful foreword for the book. This collection takes you by hand and brings you on a journey through first love, heartbreak, and learning to love again.

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*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

This collection ended up being a really lovely read. It is split into two parts. The first part deals with a relationship Parker had that was quite harmful and toxic. The second part focuses on his current relationship with fellow poet Amanda Lovelace—a much healthier and loving relationship. His story is a fascinating one to hear and this format works very well to convey the deepest emotions he experiences during these events. His words are raw and powerful as he gives his readers a very personal look at his life.

It is incredibly brave when a poet delves this deeply into such personal matters and I commend the fact that he went and put himself out there like this. I believe his words will inspire and benefit many readers. The messages within each poem are not solely autobiographical—they serve to remind us that we are all human and that, thought we may feel alone in our journey through life, we are not. I am definitely a fan of Cyrus Parker’s work and I look forward to reading plenty more of it in the future.

Planting Gardens in Graves II by r.h. Sin

My Rating: 1/5 TARDISes

Series: Planting Gardens in Graves #2

Date Published: July 10^th, 2018

Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing

Pages: 224 pages

Source: Publisher

Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

Synopsis: From the beloved author of Whiskey, Words, and a Shovel comes the second volume in his newest series.

r.h. Sin continues his bestselling series with Planting Gardens in Graves II, another powerful collection of poetry that hones in on the themes dearest to his readers. This series celebrates connection, mourns heartbreak, and above all, empowers its readers to seek the love they deserve.

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*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

I think this is going to be the end of my journey through r.h. Sin’s work. It really is just not for me. I enjoyed the first few collections I read by him and was quite hopeful, but as I read the others, things went downhill. To be honest, I feel as though I am reading the exact same collection of poetry over and over again when it comes to his books. Not only are the topics repetitive, I swear there are some poems that are the same but worded slightly differently. That is the overall feeling that this collection gives.

It is very clear that Sin definitely has a talent for writing as his words tend to be quite beautiful. But the style he writes in pulls one’s attention away from that. His poetry can be hard to get into because they are quite choppy. It is not entirely clear why he cuts off lines where he does as there is no real powerful, emotional effect that comes from it. This causes me to become disconnected from the words and meaning, therefore taking away a lot of the desired impact.

As I have said in the past, it is nice to see a man writing poetry that speaks on the strength and beauty of women and does make an attempt at promoting equality. However, what bothers me is that there is still this feeling I get with some of his poems that he is portraying us more as an object or possession rather than as a human. That slight arrogance also remains, as he writes about how terrible all other men are and implies he is the only one worthy of being with a woman. I apologize if this review sounds like I am ranting in any way—it is absolutely not intended to offend or to criticize the author as a person. Both his writing and his treatment of subject matter just really rub me the wrong way.

Mini Review: She Felt Like Feeling Nothing by r.h. Sin

She Felt Like Feeling Nothing by r.h. Sin

My Rating: 1.5/5 TARDISes

Series: Standalone

Date Published: April 10^th, 2018

Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing

Pages: 144 pages

Source: Netgalley

Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

Synopsis: From the bestselling author of the Whiskey, Words, and a Shovel series comes this poetic reminder of women’s strength.

There are moments when the heart no longer wishes to feel because everything it’s felt up until then has brought it nothing but anguish. In She Felt Like Feeling Nothing, r.h. Sin pursues themes of self-discovery and retrospection. With this book, the poet intends to create a safe space where women can rest their weary hearts and focus on themselves.

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*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

This is r.h. Sin’s newest collection, and though it was slightly better than Planting Gardens in Graves, it still felt incredibly underwhelming. Once again, my biggest complaint is the repetitiveness of the subject matter. I feel like the more collections I read, the less engaged with the text I become. And I absolutely hate to feel that way because I truly believe Sin could be a good writer and feminist voice.

Rehashing the same topic does not do justice to what skill he might have as a writer, and it overshadows the way he is trying to capture complex emotions in such a short space. I am feeling like less and less heart and substance is being put into these words. His use of the short, simple poems or phrases is feeling even more forced and random—it is not contributing to whatever sincerity or impact he is attempting to convey.

This time around, Sin put in some connection between some of his poems, making a bit of a story out of them. While I absolutely love that idea, the only problem with it was the fact that every poem is essentially the same, just worded differently. In fact, that was the case for the entire collection. The more I read his work, the worse my opinion becomes—mainly because of the predictability subject-wise—but also because it comes across as patronizing and self-absorbed.

While reading his work, I always come to some point where I feel like he’s treating us more like objects or—dare I say it—”mansplaining” our emotions, and even what it’s like to be a woman, to us. These poems feel less like speaking up to empower women and more like Sin bragging about the fact that he thinks he is the best man/partner in the world because he is supposedly the only one who understands absolutely everything about women.

I realize that my reviews of his collections are getting extremely repetitive, but they are reflecting the exact same feeling I’m getting from his work. It is the same condescending, somewhat contradicting, and occasionally crude musings on the same topics in every single collection. He needs to be more unique. We need more of the originality that I believe he could be capable of giving. I am interested in reading his Whisky, Words, and a Shovel trilogy of poetry collections, but going forward, I am not sure that the chance of me picking up any of his future works will be particularly high.

Review: Planting Gardens in Graves by r.h. Sin

Planting Gardens in Graves by r.h. Sin

My Rating: 1.5/5 TARDISes

Series: Standalone

Date Published: February 6^th, 2018

Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing

Pages: 272 pages

Source: Netgalley

Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

Synopsis: From the beloved author of Whiskey, Words, and a Shovel comes the first volume in an all new series.

r.h. Sin returns with a force in Planting Gardens in Graves: a powerful collection of poetry that hones in on the themes dearest to his readers. This original volume celebrates connection, mourns heartbreak, and above all, empowers its readers to seek the love they deserve.

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*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

My r.h. Sin saga continues. After reading A Beautiful Composition of Broken, things went even more downhill when it came to this particular collection. It started off well enough, with short but sweet, impactful poetry. Each poem had the nice flow and depth that he has always showed, and the way he words everything is beautiful. There were even a few poems that touched on very different topics than the rest—some of the most powerful ones being about his own experiences with other types of love than romantic. However, every other poem was exactly the same as what he usually writes, thus making it feel like all of his collections are identical.

This time around, the style of short but powerful lines did not work in his favor. Many of the poems felt incredibly choppy and forced, like he had cut off each line at random rather than with a specific purpose. There was a sizable loss of depth due to the way that was carried out. Another strike against the collection for me that ties into this was how much subtlety he lacked when it came to conveying the messages in certain parts of his work. This stripped away anything poetic about those poems and, therefore, they lost their emotional impact. This is entirely personal, but some even felt rather crude to me.

Once again, he remains stuck on pretty much the same topic for the entire collection, each poem feeling like a differently worded version of the others. And while his focus on the strength of women is nice to see in literature, he simultaneously portrays men as being horrible and himself as being the only one worthy of being with a woman. I appreciate the feminism he is trying for and, of course, love the fact that it is becoming more prevalent in the literary world. But what I in general will never appreciate is anything that lifts any group of people higher than another—that is not what feminism is about or how equality is achieved.

Overall, the majority of this collection unfortunately failed to accomplish what I believe he was trying to. Speaking as a woman, sometimes his poems are affirming, but after awhile, I began to feel like he was treating us like we are possessions rather than humans. I believe Sin has a talent for writing beautiful poetry, but that does not come across as well when he refuses to diversify his subject matter. The few poems that touched on love that isn’t romantic were wonderful and refreshing. In the future, it would be great to see him focus more on that, even aspects of his life and more personal experiences.

Mini Review: A Beautiful Composition of Broken by r.h. Sin

A Beautiful Composition of Broken by r.h. Sin

My Rating: 3/5 TARDISes

Series: Standalone

Date Published: July 25^th, 2017

Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing

Pages: 480 pages

Source: Netgalley

Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

Synopsis: r.h. Sin, bestselling author of the Whiskey, Words & a Shovel series, returns with a collection of poetry and prose meant to remind the wounded that they are, in fact, beautiful in a way society may never comprehend.

A Beautiful Composition of Broken is inspired by some of the events expressed artistically by Samantha King in the bestseller Born to Love, Cursed to Feel. It serves as a poetic documentary of the lives of people who have been mistreated, misunderstood, and wrongfully labeled in a way that limits them in this world. The author’s most personal volume yet, A Beautiful Composition of Broken builds a conceptual bridge between r.h. Sin’s earliest work and his forthcoming series, Planting Gardens in Graves.

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*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

I am so conflicted over this collection of poetry. Having enjoyed the previous two collections of r.h. Sin’s work that I’ve read, I really wanted to love this one. And at first, I was once again pulled in by his words. Unfortunately, my expectations were a bit too high, and I ended up feeling very disappointed by this collection as a whole. The quality writing that I have come to expect from Sin is definitely there, but the power and impact of his words is severely lacking.

The biggest issue that I have with this compilation is how incredibly repetitive it is. At the very beginning, the poems are deceptively unique. They are extremely reminiscent of his previous works, but not so much that they are completely uninteresting to read. However, it quickly goes downhill, as each poem begins to feel like the last—variations of the same exact story. Nothing is inherently bad about the poems themselves—they are still well-written—but the ideas and themes in them repeat to the point of monotony.

This collection feels very much like it is made up of cookie cutter poetry instead of many distinct pieces that come together to form a unified work. Everything ties together, but this is due to the fact that each piece comes across like it is the same exact poem articulated in a different way. It sucks out all of the emotion in the message he is trying to convey through his words, and things begin to feel forced. The poems start feeling cheesy rather than meaningful, and they take on an unappealing hollowness.

There are still plenty of redeemable qualities about r.h. Sin’s poetry, particularly the general beauty of his words. With his talent, I feel as though he could easily do so much better than this. If he varied his topics, even staying within the theme of love, betrayal, and eventual empowerment, this would have been a much more interesting and impactful reading experience. This has caused me to lose some enthusiasm about reading Sin’s work, but I will still be giving some of his other collections a try.

Mini Review: Rest in the Mourning by r.h. Sin

Rest in the Mourning by r.h. Sin

My Rating: 3.5/5 TARDISes

Series: Standalone

Date Published: December 6^th, 2016

Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing

Pages: 128 pages

Source: Purchased

Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

Synopsis: The calm before and after the storm. Rest in the Mourning is a steady and profound stream of conscious thoughts and emotion. Documenting unhealthy relationships and why the heart ends up in the hands of those deemed unworthy. It speaks to the heart’s ability to hold on to relationships that no longer deserve our energy as well as what happens when we are ready to let go. Rest in the Mourning is about self-care and self-love.

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This is the second collection of Sin’s poetry that I’ve read and, like Algedonic, I enjoyed it quite a bit. It is formatted in the ever more prevalent style of writing very short poems or simple phrases rather than longer, multiple stanza poetry that most people are used to. It is a particularly tricky style to write well, as that type of poetry can come across as disjointed or shallow more easily than longer poems. However, when it is done well, it can be surprisingly powerful and touching. Though it did not captivate me in the way that Algedonic did, I still had a rather positive experience with Rest in the Mourning.

I have spoken in my other review about r.h. Sin’s talent for writing, and that shines through once again in this collection. His main focus is on the strength of women, but this still makes for a universally relatable read due to his beautiful writing and depiction of the common highs and lows of life. Sin knows how to simplify what can be very complex emotions, and the message he conveys is that of affirmation and strength. Just like the first experience I had with his work, I felt that he did a nice job of focusing on every human’s power to heal themselves in the midst or aftermath of hardship.

However, this collection, compared to his last, was not very unique. Every poem focuses either on women—or, less frequently, on himself—finding their true worth, and removing themselves from toxic relationships. There is nothing inherently wrong with the topic, but I feel that there needs to be some sort of variation, however small. You can still connect your topics together in some way to give the collection as a whole one theme, but I found none of that here. So while the way he worded things was beautiful, overall, every poem felt a little repetitive. I am still interested in reading more of his work, so I definitely will continue to do so.

Mini Review: Algedonic by r.h. Sin

Algedonic by r.h. Sin

My Rating: 4/5 TARDISes

Series: Standalone

Date Published: December 12^th, 2017

Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing

Pages: 128 pages

Source: Netgalley

Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

Synopsis: Bestselling poet r.h. Sin, author of the Whiskey, Words, & a Shovel series, presents a poetry collection that illuminates the transformative power of emotional pain. 

Algedonic is an aesthetic outlook on pain and pleasure. Complex emotions simplified into poetic interludes as only r.h. Sin can express. With his trademark of giving simplicity to some of the hardest of emotions, Sin reminds us all that there are often two sides to an emotional story and sometimes the pain transforms into something beautiful, something less problematic and maybe something that reignites a feeling of pleasure.

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*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

This was my first experience with r.h. Sin’s poetry, though I have heard many people raving about his work for quite some time now. And I must say, I was not disappointed in the least. This particular collection follows what has become a very popular style lately—short poems or phrases that pack a big emotional punch. While it can be quite a risky way to format poetry, as it ends up being extremely hit or miss depending on the audience, it can also be a very powerful and thought-provoking reading experience.

Even though I am a huge fan of longer poems that I can analyze to death, I have actually found myself really captivated by this style lately, and this collection is no exception. I found Sin’s writing to be incredibly beautiful. This is a short but sweet collection that is perfect for anyone, whether they are new to poetry or already well-versed. The themes presented in every bit of text are relatable—utterly human—and exceedingly poignant.

Sin’s ability to pare down complex and, at times, confusing feelings, both positive and negative, really shines through. He shows that it is possible to capture the vastness of human emotion in the smallest of spaces. His words make you think about how we are not as alone as we may feel—that we are all intrinsically linked by common experiences of pain and pleasure. He reminds us to step back and focus on the beauty of life and the light in the darkest times. I thoroughly enjoyed this collection and look forward to exploring more of his work in the future.