My favourite poems were “Serenade to Surrender,” “Insomnia,” “Event Horizon,” and “July”

I found many of the other poems to be unfocused and meandering. I also noticed some were structured in a way that makes sense visually but not rhythmically, and couldn’t unsee that afterwards. Some outstayed their welcome (“Self-Diagnosis” was good but would have been more impactful had it been confined to a single page, I think.)

The whole thing felt a bit amateurish, a bit Tumblr... It is raw and tender, but in a slightly clumsy way. To be fair, Winters was in their late teens when this book was published (and some of the poems may have been written a few years prior). I’d like to read their more recent work.

CONTENT WARNINGS: disordered eating, self harm, suicidality