An insightful but overstuffed collection about addiction.
A volume of poetry deals with addiction and trauma.
In this collection of 125 poems, Hunter portrays the constant emotional struggle that accompanies the fight against addiction. “Today is a new day / The drugs say they will not be denied / I’m going to do my best to resist / And if they should win / At least I know I’ve tried” ends the unambiguously titled “I’ve Tried,” an apt representation of the hopefulness and brutal honesty that permeate the volume. Faith and trust in God are presented as key, but other poems are keen to show the nuances of those striving to move beyond their vices. “Don’t Take it Personal” urges patience with those in recovery and shows how singular the process can be: “It’s the side effects of the medicines / That’s altering my mood / Everyone has problems… / Sometimes I overlook others / And all I see is me.” The book shines when it focuses on this kind of self-awareness. The collection brims with exceptional insights into the frustrations addicts face and the difficult process of recovery. Though it never advocates bad behavior, the work doesn’t go into the specifics of what those grappling with trauma do to those around them—a fact the book is straightforward about in “Secrets,” confessing, “I only tell half the story / The rest I won’t admit.” The majority of the poems utilize basic rhyming couplets or a simple abcb rhyme scheme. This gives them an alacrity reminiscent of street-corner freestyle, particularly useful when illustrating the manic anxiety that comes from negative thinking and the battle for sobriety. But the collection gets very repetitive, as many of the poems share similarities that go beyond the thematic, telling the same story of hitting rock bottom, finding God, and starting over. This can quickly become tedious. Furthermore, some standout works, like “Agape Love,” feel out of place in the volume. Though this is an editing—not a quality—issue, it makes the book feel unnecessarily monotonous and less cohesive.
An insightful but overstuffed collection about addiction.Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-982252-11-3
Page Count: 138
Publisher: BalboaPress
Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.
A lifetime’s worth of letters combine to portray a singular character.
Sybil Van Antwerp, a cantankerous but exceedingly well-mannered septuagenarian, is the titular correspondent in Evans’ debut novel. Sybil has retired from a beloved job as chief clerk to a judge with whom she had previously been in private legal practice. She is the divorced mother of two living adult children and one who died when he was 8. She is a reader of novels, a gardener, and a keen observer of human nature. But the most distinguishing thing about Sybil is her lifelong practice of letter writing. As advancing vision problems threaten Sybil’s carefully constructed way of life—in which letters take the place of personal contact and engagement—she must reckon with unaddressed issues from her past that threaten the house of cards (letters, really) she has built around herself. Sybil’s relationships are gradually revealed in the series of letters sent to and received from, among others, her brother, sister-in-law, children, former work associates, and, intriguingly, literary icons including Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry. Perhaps most affecting is the series of missives Sybil writes but never mails to a shadowy figure from her past. Thoughtful musings on the value and immortal quality of letters and the written word populate one of Sybil’s notes to a young correspondent while other messages are laugh-out-loud funny, tinged with her characteristic blunt tartness. Evans has created a brusque and quirky yet endearing main character with no shortage of opinions and advice for others but who fails to excavate the knotty difficulties of her own life. As Sybil grows into a delayed self-awareness, her letters serve as a chronicle of fitful growth.
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780593798430
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
A dark and twisty look at just how far one woman is willing to go to find inspiration.
A struggling writer finds an unexpected muse when a mysterious man shows up at her cabin.
Petra Rose used to pump out a bestselling book every six months, but then the adaptation happened—that is, the disastrous film adaptation of her most famous book. The movie changed the book’s storyline so egregiously that fans couldn’t forgive her, and the ensuing harassment sent Petra into hiding and gave her a serious case of writer’s block. Petra’s one hope is her solo writing retreat at a remote cabin, where she can escape the distractions of real life and focus on her next book, a story about a woman having an affair with a cop. When officer Nathaniel Saint shows up at her cabin door, inspiration comes flooding back. Much like the character from Petra’s book, Saint is married, and he’s willing to be Petra’s muse, helping her get into her characters’ heads. Petra’s book is practically writing itself, but is the game she’s playing a little too dangerous? Does she know when to stop—and, more importantly, is Saint willing to stop? Hoover is no stranger to controversial movie adaptations and internet backlash, but she clarifies in a note to readers that she’s “just a writer writing about a writer” and that no further connections to her own life are contained in these pages—which is a good thing, because the book takes some horrifying twists and turns. Petra finds herself inexplicably attracted to Saint, even as she describes him as “such an asshole,” and her feelings for him veer between love and hate. The novel serves as a meta commentary on the dark romance genre—as Petra puts it, “Even though, as readers, we wouldn’t want to live out some of the fantasies we read about, it doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy reading those things.”
A dark and twisty look at just how far one woman is willing to go to find inspiration.Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2026
ISBN: 9781662539374
Page Count: -
Publisher: Montlake
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
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