An engaging, well-wrought collection that provokes thought.
This debut volume of poetry offers commentary on personal, social, and political matters.
In his book, Kamali brings together 28 free-verse poems, some of them rhyming; the pieces have varying lengths, from two lines to several pages. Many have the cadence, rhyme, repetition, and rhythm of spoken-word poetry, a form well suited to the political and social concerns that often motivate them. In “the ferris and the wheel,” for example, nearly all of the stanzas begin with a line that taps into the concept of wokeness: “and when it occurs.” Realizations include, for example, “that nations are gangs / and nationalists / gangsters.” While crucial, these understandings also have limitations; the danger of identifying only “the unrighteous other” can be “the self-righteous self.” The poet concludes that “there never was a ferris / —it was mostly just wheel,” a compact image suggesting that the underlying structure’s rigidity has less power than its unity. Many poems upend the expected, often in spare lines used to aphoristic effect. In “what the wise man neglected to mention,” a poem of only four words, Kamali writes that “this too / shall last.” By twisting an adage around, the poem allows readers to consider the paradoxical nature of ephemerality that’s eternal and perhaps find comfort from that idea. Besides politics and philosophy, the collection also deals with more personal matters. In the romantic “peek a boo,” the poet connects a game played with infants to lovers’ ability to see each other’s deepest selves: “how we look / in each other’s eyes / as if to say / I know / you’re in there.” It’s powerful in its simplicity and clever, too; the title adds spaces to peekaboo, subtly alluding to the slang endearment “boo.” Some poems are accompanied by uncredited photographs and artwork that can feel more random than illuminating.
An engaging, well-wrought collection that provokes thought.Pub Date: July 8, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-09-611409-3
Page Count: 49
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Sept. 15, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
An entertaining book, adeptly written and easily read.
Nine women—four mothers and five daughters—experience tragedy, joy, and hope in two book club meetings held three years apart.
Three college friends, Mariella Marciano (now an opera singer), Grace Townsend (a minister), and Elin Mackenzie (a corporate lawyer) are joined by a fourth, Jamie Price, one-time nanny for Elin’s daughter. The women have been close for decades, texting regularly and meeting periodically for weekend book retreats. But during one weekend in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, when they’ve been joined by their daughters, there’s a tragic accident. After a day of drinking, Jamie’s twins, Kathleen and Meg, head out for ice cream on a rainy night and their jeep flips and crashes into a tree. Fast forward three years, and the women come together again for a book club weekend, this time in Mariella’s vacation home—a villa in Lake Como. The twins no longer speak to each other, and the other women are on tenterhooks worrying about what might happen during the trip. But what follows are long days of food, love, and personal growth as the friends talk books, hopes, dreams, and the future. Still, each keeps part of herself hidden, while contemplating sharing their secrets with the others on the final night of the trip. This is a book seemingly made for the screen, with lots of bickering, wine, and dishy revelations. With such a seemingly overfull cast, the authors do well to make each character memorable and distinct—but none of them has much depth. And rather than focusing on mother-daughter relationships, as might have been expected, it’s romantic love—both old and new—and the marriages of two of the women that drive the story forward.
An entertaining book, adeptly written and easily read.Pub Date: April 20, 2026
ISBN: 9780316580595
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2026
This fresh reworking of a Greek myth will resonate.
An otherworldly Latinx retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth set in the South Bronx.
Pheus visits his father in the Bronx every summer. The Afro-Dominican teen is known for his mesmerizing bachata music, love of history, and smooth way with the ladies. Eury, a young Puerto Rican woman and Hurricane Maria survivor, is staying with her cousin for the summer because of a recent, unspecified traumatic event. Her family doesn’t know that she’s been plagued since childhood by the demonlike Ato. Pheus and Eury bond over music and quickly fall in love. Attacked at a dance club by Sileno, its salacious and satyrlike owner, Eury falls into a coma and is taken to el Inframundo by Ato. Pheus, despite his atheism, follows the advice of his father and a local bruja to journey to find his love in the Underworld. Rivera skillfully captures the sounds and feels of the Bronx—its unique, diverse culture and the creeping gentrification of its neighborhoods. Through an amalgamation of Greek, Roman, and Taíno mythology and religious beliefs, gaslighting, the colonization of Puerto Rico, Afro-Latinidad identity, and female empowerment are woven into the narrative. While the pacing lags in the middle, secondary characters aren’t fully developed, and the couple’s relationship borders on instalove, the rush of a summertime romance feels realistic. Rivera’s complex world is well realized, and the dialogue rings true. All protagonists are Latinx.
This fresh reworking of a Greek myth will resonate. (Fabulism. 14-adult)Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5476-0373-2
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
BOOK TO SCREEN
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