Varied, dexterous, and tender poems.
Hilton’s beguiling poetry collection explores childhood, parenthood, love, and loss.
The author received a Kirkus Star for her YA novel Little Miss Chaos(2016), and its coming-of-age themes can also be found in her first poetry collection, which draws deeply from personal experience. Hilton presents shifting perspectives, as found in the title poem, which opens the collection: “Tossing / a ball. / Good to be / ten again” leads to the lines “Memory / makes eighteen-year-old / son newborn.” This poem is a slideshow of reminiscences, with the last line laconically capturing the crux of memory: “At any given second / we fall together through time.” A number of poems feature the poet’s deceased father, a farmer, and Hilton expertly uses stacked imagery to build readers’ understanding of her dad’s character, including his strengths and frailties: “His scent: musk / cologne, sweat, / smoke. Hard work. / Insulin bottles / syringes scattered / on kitchen table.” Other poems, such as “Day to Day,” celebrate how writing imbues life with purpose: “Barely / surviving. / Until / I pick up / my pen.” Hilton is a strikingly versatile poet, experimenting with such forms as haiku, tankas, and villanelles. “Musing,” written in tercets, is an example of how her often sparse language has the power to shake readers into awareness: “Look hard at your life, / each moment is a poem, / hold it in your hands.” Similarly, the quintain “Learning from Lucy,” a wry summary of C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, proves an unforgettable celebration of female resilience: “Brother, a snitch, / tries to derail his / sister’s Hero’s Journey. Learns / Lucy’s courage burns through ice.” Even Hilton’s most personal poems present liberating, universal truths. In “Shame Not Hers,” she speaks to her younger self: “all the shame she picked up, / carried for a long time, / never belonged to her.” The poet’s deft skill, combined with her endearingly compassionate approach to life, makes this debut well worth reading.
Varied, dexterous, and tender poems.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 978-0-9962371-7-8
Page Count: 70
Publisher: Hidden Owl, LLC
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.
The sequel to It Ends With Us (2016) shows the aftermath of domestic violence through the eyes of a single mother.
Lily Bloom is still running a flower shop; her abusive ex-husband, Ryle Kincaid, is still a surgeon. But now they’re co-parenting a daughter, Emerson, who's almost a year old. Lily won’t send Emerson to her father’s house overnight until she’s old enough to talk—“So she can tell me if something happens”—but she doesn’t want to fight for full custody lest it become an expensive legal drama or, worse, a physical fight. When Lily runs into Atlas Corrigan, a childhood friend who also came from an abusive family, she hopes their friendship can blossom into love. (For new readers, their history unfolds in heartfelt diary entries that Lily addresses to Finding Nemo star Ellen DeGeneres as she considers how Atlas was a calming presence during her turbulent childhood.) Atlas, who is single and running a restaurant, feels the same way. But even though she’s divorced, Lily isn’t exactly free. Behind Ryle’s veneer of civility are his jealousy and resentment. Lily has to plan her dates carefully to avoid a confrontation. Meanwhile, Atlas’ mother returns with shocking news. In between, Lily and Atlas steal away for romantic moments that are even sweeter for their authenticity as Lily struggles with child care, breastfeeding, and running a business while trying to find time for herself.
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-668-00122-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
A book begging to be read on the beach, with the sun warming the sand and salt in the air: pure escapism.
Three woman who join together to rent a large space along the beach in Los Angeles for their stores—a gift shop, a bakery, and a bookstore—become fast friends as they each experience the highs, and lows, of love.
Bree is a friendly but standoffish bookstore owner who keeps everyone she knows at arm’s length, from guys she meets in bars to her friends. Mikki is a settled-in-her-routines divorced mother of two, happily a mom, gift-shop owner, and co-parent with her ex-husband, Perry. And Ashley is a young, very-much-in-love bakery owner specializing in muffins who devotes herself to giving back to the community through a nonprofit that helps community members develop skills and find jobs. When the women meet drooling over a boardwalk storefront that none of them can afford on her own, a plan is hatched to divide the space in three, and a friendship—and business partnership—is born. An impromptu celebration on the beach at sunset with champagne becomes a weekly touchpoint to their lives as they learn more about each other and themselves. Their friendship blossoms as they help each other, offering support, hard truths, and loving backup. Author Mallery has created a delightful story of friendship between three women that also offers a variety of love stories as they fall in love, make mistakes, and figure out how to be the best—albeit still flawed—versions of themselves. The men are similarly flawed and human. While the story comes down clearly on the side of all-encompassing love, Mallery has struck a careful balance: There is just enough sex to be spicy, just enough swearing to be naughty, and just enough heartbreak to avoid being cloying.
A book begging to be read on the beach, with the sun warming the sand and salt in the air: pure escapism.Pub Date: May 31, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-778-38608-7
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2022
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