A stirring yet rudimentary examination of failed love.
A debut volume of poetry explores love, loss, and suicide.
Described as “a poetry journal,” this collection opens with a piece of flash fiction entitled “THE TWO OF US: A STORY.” It describes a young girl vomiting in the bathroom at a college party. Inebriated and distressed, she castigates herself, asking, “Why can’t I be normal?” To her surprise, she is suddenly confronted with the image of her own body, “cold and unresponsive,” on the floor. Outside of the stall, she finds another incarnation of herself fixing her makeup. The tale introduces various themes found in the poetry that follows. Many poems, such as “THE END,” deal with breakups and the ensuing feelings of worthlessness: “Because if you go, it is the end of my fucking boring life.” Others approach thoughts of self-harm and suicide, as found in “THIS IS HOW I DEAL WITH IT”: “Maybe I’ll slit my wrists / Or cut my thighs.” But other poems, such as “BIRTHDAY SHOOTING STAR,” hope for a better life: “I want to be loved in such a way that my soul is consumed.” Glimmers of hope are nevertheless unusual in a collection dedicated to “those who have a hard time loving themselves.” Some readers will strongly identify with the female protagonist’s feelings of ostracization and her desire to numb her pain with alcohol in “THE TWO OF US.” The idea of her dividing into other “selves” is thought provoking, but the plot remains underdeveloped. Unfortunately, R.F.’s poetry often lacks nuance. The poet identifies fundamental sensations, like pain, but does not unpack these feelings using vivid language. In “THE ROOM,” R.F. writes: “Cry next to him, with the silent noise / Of a love that has died; A love from anyone. / Abandoned in a cold room / Immersed in a sea of pain / Sabotaged by the waves of loneliness.” While the oxymoron “silent noise” captures the void forged by loss, lines like “Immersed in a sea of pain” seem cliched and insufficiently explorative. The result is a collection of poetry that repeatedly circles emotions but rarely provides trenchant commentary.
A stirring yet rudimentary examination of failed love.Pub Date: March 19, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-69870-028-1
Page Count: 118
Publisher: Trafford on Demand Pub
Review Posted Online: May 2, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Have tissues ready as you read this. A small package will do.
A love story about a life of second chances.
In Nassau, in the Bahamas, casino detective Vincent LaPorta grills Alfie Logan, who’d come up a winner three times in a row at the roulette table and walked away with $2 million. “How did you do it?” asks the detective. Alfie calmly denies cheating. You wired all the money to a Gianna Rule, LaPorta says. Why? To explain, Alfie produces a composition book with the words “For the Boss, to Be Read Upon My Death” written on the cover. Read this for answers, Alfie suggests, calling it a love story. His mother had passed along to him a strange trait: He can say “Twice!” and go back to a specific time and place to have a do-over. But it only works once for any particular moment, and then he must live with the new consequences. He can only do this for himself and can’t prevent anyone from dying. Alfie regularly uses his power—failing to impress a girl the first time, he finds out more about her, goes back in time, and presto! She likes him. The premise is of course not credible—LaPorta doesn’t buy it either—but it’s intriguing. Most people would probably love to go back and unsay something. The story’s focus is on Alfie’s love for Gianna and whether it’s requited, unrequited, or both. In any case, he’s obsessed with her. He’s a good man, though, an intelligent person with ordinary human failings and a solid moral compass. Albom writes in a warm, easy style that transports the reader to a world of second chances and what-ifs, where spirituality lies close to the surface but never intrudes on the story. Though a cynic will call it sappy, anyone who is sick to their core from the daily news will enjoy this escape from reality.
Have tissues ready as you read this. A small package will do.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780062406682
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
A heartbreaking, laugh-provoking, and absolutely Ephron-esque look at the beauty and fragility of everyday life.
A woman faces a health crisis and obsesses over a local accident in this wonderful follow-up to Sandwich (2024).
Newman begins her latest with a quote from Nora Ephron: “Death is a sniper. It strikes people you love, people you like, people you know—it’s everywhere. You could be next. But then you turn out not to be. But then again, you could be.” It sets an appropriate tone for a story that is just as full of death and dread as it is laughter. Two years after the events of Sandwich, Rocky is back home in Western Massachusetts and happily surrounded by family—her daughter, Willa, lives with her and her husband, Nick, while applying to Ph.D. programs; her widowed father, Mort, has moved into the in-law apartment behind their house. When a young man who graduated from high school with Rocky’s son, Jamie, is hit by a train, Rocky finds herself spiraling as she thinks about how close the tragedy came to her own family. She’s also freaking out about a mysterious rash her dermatologist can’t explain. Both instances are tailor-made for internet research and stalking. As Rocky obsessively googles her symptoms and finds only bad news (“Here’s what’s true about the Internet: very infrequently do people log on with their good news. Gosh, they don’t write, I had this weird rash on my forearm? And it turned out to be completely nothing!”), she also compulsively checks the Facebook page of the accident victim’s mother. Newman excels at showing how sorrow and joy coexist in everyday life. She masterfully balances a modern exploration of grief with truly laugh-out-loud lines (one passage about the absurdity of collecting a stool sample and delivering it to the doctor stands out). As Rocky deals with the byzantine frustrations of the medical system, she also has to learn, once more, how to see her children, husband, father, and herself as fully flawed and lovable humans.
A heartbreaking, laugh-provoking, and absolutely Ephron-esque look at the beauty and fragility of everyday life.Pub Date: Oct. 28, 2025
ISBN: 9780063453913
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 17, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
PERSPECTIVES
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
