I’ve been reading a lot of poems since May last year, when I realised my inbox was flooded with poems. It still is, but I’m reading one every month to get it to a manageable amount. So far I’m trying to diversify the genres I read so there’s a little bit of variety, but I’ll be doing Poetry Jan, where I read poetry throughout January and hopefully find a few favourites.

Feel free to join me!

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A Lens Without a Face
by Maddisen Alexandra

get it here

BOOK SUMMARY

Reflection is the best medicine for soothing the pain life deals. To dance with the forgotten ideals society so selfishly disposed of means to be free. I have a colorless lens waiting for someone to see through…101 lenses to be exact. Each one craves exploration. Each one requires a personal narrative to breathe.

BOOK REVIEW

5 STARS

*An e-copy was given by the author in exchange for an honest review.

I can’t compliment this book enough.

A Lens Without a Face is a poetry collection with 101 poems, and all the poems are numbered instead of given a title. The author stressed time and time again to reflect, and even left a page blank after every poem for reflection, notes, or drawings to challenge the reader to be creative.

The titles for each poem was revealed at the end which was something new to me. It creates a sense of mystery, and lets the reader read and consider the poem instead of judging it because of its title. I really appreciate how it makes you try to understand where the author is coming from by reflecting on your own experience. Just as how the author intended.

I really can’t write a review that does this collection justice. Almost every poem makes my jaw drop in awe. All I can is that Maddisen Alexandra is a very skilled poet and a writer.

The poems had a very artistic way of showing our society. It is very visual and heavy on imagery, yet somewhat delicate in its way of choosing words. There were so many brilliant lines and great technique. For most poems I’ve read, I admire it for their flowery words and fun rhymes, but this, each line was crafted carefully. I don’t think I’ve read any as good as this.

One thing is certain, is that the poems feels very personal as if I’m reading a diary, and sometimes I don’t even know if I should be reading it. It deals with mental illness, observations of the world, pain, divorce and hope. Towards the end, there were the list of titles, and some of these titles are the best titles I’ve heard. It really shows the poet’s fun personality with titles such as ‘Peace Out My Homeskillet Biscuits’ and ‘*Cue Epic Mic Drop*’. It was a great way to end the collection.