Book Review: "Eighteen Inches: The Distance Between the Heart and Mind" by Mirtha Michelle Castro Mármol

TW: Anxiety, depression, death, rape, sex, abortion.

"I am a woman who lives and does everything passionately. When I love, I love hard; when I hurt, hurt badly."

It was difficult to read this book. Difficult to the point I considered stopping. It made me cry since the beginning and made me remember things I thought I was ready to let go. So, pay attention to the back cover's warning and mine: "this book might make you cry..." Even so, I regained courage and continued. Yes, I kept crying, but less this last time. The other part of the warning is also true, by the way: "{this book might] fill you with nostalgia, empower you, or even give you hope."

It's both sad and comforting to know that we are not alone when it comes to heartbreaks, even if it seems that way. Castro Mármol writes down feelings of pain and longing that we might not know how to express through letters and poems, which might seem familiar from other poets nowadays, but that have the precise words to connect directly to you, even if you are not experiencing any of these feelings.

"Eighteen Inches" is an inch-by-inch journey that shows us that love might come and go and that it can be also found again, even if it comes in a different way. I don't feel empowered or hopeful after reading it but I think it's because I'm not there yet, not because this book fails in its purpose. I'm sure that it can be just right for someone else. 

I'm eternally grateful to Mirtha, who decided to share a part of her soul to us.

I could read this book thanks to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing ;)

MIRTHA MICHELLE CASTRO MÁRMOL is a Dominican born actress and poet. At the age of five, her family migrated to Miami, Florida. She wrote her first poem at the age of six and since then cultivated a passion for poetry. She currently resides in Los Angeles, California. “Letters, to The Men I Have Loved” is her debut as an author. It consists of profound letters and poems directed to various men during different milestones in her life. Her work expresses loss, love, pain, growth, and hope.

Read More

Book Review: "30-Second Literature. The 50 most important forms, genres and styles, each explained in half a minute"

The idea of this book is excellent. I enjoyed it from the beginning. It's a perfect work for people that are looking for some light reading, for those starting their literature studies, and for people that have no idea of some related terminology.

I received this copy in a .ascm format, so I don't know how it would look in a tablet or in a physical format, but I think it'd work splendidly in a digital way since it has tiny sections that can send you to other pages with related content, as well as extra bibliography.

I would've liked the inclusion of a couple of more authors biographies' for each section and that they would've dedicated time for children's and erotica's literature since they have been earning new readers and more relevance nowadays.

If I ever see this book, I'm gonna buy it.

I could read this book thanks to NetGalley and Ivy Press ;)

ELLA BERTHOUD started reading on a journey from Tehran to London, on the parcel shelf of a Wolsey 1300 when she was five. She spent the next thirteen years reading books in inappropriate places like ski-lifts and trampolines. She studied English Literature at Cambridge University, where she read as many novels as she could at once. She continued on to University of East London where she studied Fine Art, and combined her twin passions of reading and painting by listening to books while creating works of art.

Read More

Book Review: "break your glass slippers" by Amanda Lovelace

"fairy godmother says villains almost never look like cackling witches, cruel stepmother, or bratty stepsisters, they're so much quieter than, & i think that's what makes them so menacing. in some chapters of your storybook, you'll find them hiding everywhere -even in the faces of those you hold dearest. they never reveal their true intentions until you've already trusted them too much & just like that, everyone you know has turned into a stranger."

I read "the princess saves herself in this one" back in 2016 and I completely fell in love with Amanda Lovelace's style and, if I'm completely honest, I think that book made me change my opinion about poetry books. Even so, I didn't read the rest of "Women Are Some Kind of Magic" books, I don't know why, but I did read "to make monsters out of girls" and it made sense to me perfectly again because I was in a very bad place.

Sadly, I didn't feel any connection with this book. I love the concept, and, for some reason, I love Cinderella (Disney's Cinderella), but I felt nothing. There are a couple of verses I liked but not enough to feel the same way I felt with the previous books.

There are illustrations that fit with the poems, there are illustrations that are repeated several times, but what's worse is that there are some blank pages, which makes the price of the book insane. I think they could've tried more poems or even different illustrations to make it better.

The only reason I'm giving this book an extra star is that I can see a personal evolution in Lovelace. I'm pretty sure that she's transformed from a queen into a fairy godmother whose magic spells are actually these words specially created for broken hearts and desperate souls. 

Respect! 

I could read this book thanks to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing ;)

AMANDA LOVELACE began writing books of her own, & so she did. When she isn't reading or writing, she can be found waiting for pumpkin spice coffee to come back into season & binge-watching Gilmore Girls. (before you ask: team jess all the way). The lifelong poetess & storyteller currently lives in New Jersey with her partner, their moody cat, & a combined book collection so large it will soon need its own home. she has her B.A. in English literature with a minor in Sociology. 

Read More

Book Review: "Dark Celebrations" by Calvin Demmer

"Being asleep meant an escape from feeling; being awake only brought truth and reality."

I've felt a little bad recently, so I spent more time than usual reading a book like this. What I mean with this is that this is a light reading, regarding pace and structure.

Once again, I had the chance to read Calvin Demmer's chilling stories and I'm happy to say that there's no way I can not love this book. I don't believe in the supernatural but man, I do enjoy reading about it. This book, in particular, has the exact amount of suspense that you don't need to be a supernatural enthusiast to enjoy it. Everything captivates you since the beginning, and the art by Beth Rocksteady is a win! I would've loved to see more.

Even though we are talking about different stories, the world-building is complete, you don't need a lot of character backgrounds to understand them or to understand the context they're in, which is fantastic due to normal stories' shortness. ENJOY the plot twists.

I honestly started to expect a big connection to everything in Unidentified Fatherly Object and with the biggest revelation. I knew Fred would die but after everything was clarified. At the same time, I liked all the stories on their own.

My personal favorites were:

• Labor Day Hunt
• Happy Dark Year
• Dying Valentine
• She Will Rise

And, I'm not sure about this, but it seemed like there was a reference to The Call of Cthulhu. I say I'm not sure because I haven't read the book but that was what I pictured when I read the last one.

I hope you enjoy it as I did!

I could read this book thanks to the author.

CALVIN DEMMER is the author of The Sea Was a Fair Master and The Town That Feared Dusk. When not writing, he is intrigued by that which goes bump in the night and the sciences of our universe.

Read More