I was very excited for this book for two reasons:
1. Greek Mythology is my favorite
2. Trista Mateer is one of my favorite current poets.

Sadly, this book let me down. I understand you can’t win them all but I was really rooting for this one. The writing was eh, a lot of repetitive ‘poems’ (more accurately I’d say essays, maybe? Statements?) that reminded me of the “I will not..” statements you used to have to repeat while in detention in middle school.

I also wasn’t the biggest fan of the photos with doodles/quotes. It felt out of place like the book had empty space so she dumped them in and called it a day. Although with that said 2 out of my only 3 favorite lines came from photos. So maybe they were the best part?

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy!

I was super excited to be able to read this ahead of the pub date as I am a big fan of Trista Mateer's words. I loved the inclusion of art in this collection. Many of the pieces are quite simplistic, especially in terms of style, but there is a strength in every page. There is a piece or a line that will reach out to every reader, either as a gentle hand on the shoulder or tight fist around the heart. Mateer's words are beautiful, raw, and bring new life to the stories of familiar figures like Aphrodite. I can't wait to snag a physical copy for my shelf at home.

Some nice poems, but on the whole given this is supposed to be about female empowerment I wasn’t keen on a lot of the author/poets views here and found some to be offensive to me as a feminist, yeah I get there are different types but unfortunately some of the views weren’t for me. Not for me at all unfortunately

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

" *I didn't forget how to fight for myself.
I forgot that I could. * "

This was everything that I needed right now. This poetry collection explore a lot of different topics surrounding femininity and more. It dose it in a way were it's not only surface level. No, I felt that.

I really like the way Mateer expressed herself as well as choices of words and writing style. It is written in a pretty way but convey real, hurtful and dark topics which is my favorite combination.

I also really liked the red thread through out the story always connecting back to Aphrodite and how the people have painted her for years, in the same way we have painted women.

Beautiful.

*thank you Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC for an honest review*

1 / 5 stars

I was loving this book at first. I loved the way it told me to write my own story, that it's ok to let go and be unapologetically me. Then the author went on a rant about women lying about rape and how she's worried for her boys life and how a mans career can be ruined by a lying woman. (insert eye roll here) Even worse, she said her daughter didn't matter in this equation. Ummmm, I'm pretty sure she does because in the grand scheme of things men rape more than women lie about being assaulted. It's facts. And instead of teaching our boys not to rape the author seems to be going for, "Let's not believe the women because we can't ruin this poor man's career."

It just made me feel like this author is out of touch and using her queerness to get away with saying stupid and ignorant sh** because diversity. Spoiler alert, I'm queer, I'm bi, I'm Latina, and those things don't make it so I can say stupid sh** about rape culture like this author did. Because of this author I'm now on the hunt for some good poetry to cleanse my palate. No thank you Aphrodite Made Me Do It.

This is a really nice short collection of prose and poems about self-growth, self-acceptance, and healing.
The author resurrects Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, to tell the story of the wild goddess Aphrodite was before she was forced into obedience, her stories were re-written, and she became the embodiment of beauty and love.

<blockquote><i>"I wept at what became of my name."</i></blockquote>

The author uses Aphrodite's tales to show how women were always forced to morph, bury themselves, to become <i>acceptable</i>. She uses her example to provoke women to be loud, to be heard, because we aren't born to stay quiet. This book teaches you a lesson on love; how the most important kind of love is the one that you give to yourself.

It talks of abusive love, sexual assault, queer- shaming, being insecure and afraid to love, being afraid of being hurt again. It also talks about body image, mental health, and healing.

<blockquote><i>"The battles you fight will not always be loud, bloody affairs. Sometimes they will happen in your own home. Sometimes they will happen in your own head. Just remember: you have in you what it takes to overcome."</i></blockquote>

I enjoyed more the prose that the poetry in this collection. The thoughts the author shared with us are very powerful and I admire her determination and fearlessness to being able to speak so freely.

<i>Thank you to NetGalley and Central Avenue Publishing for providing me e-ARC for this book in exchange for an honest review. I solemnly swear that all opinions are my own.</i>

Prose poems can be hit or miss for me, but this collection has a really interesting premise, the language is engaging and the experiences are unfortunately all too relatable. I’ll probably even get a copy when it comes out.

Recommend (with caveats) for: Anyone who is or has struggled with healing from trauma. lovers of mythology who are interested in a rightfully and righteously angry Aphrodite.

Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to read and review this before it’s official release.

A back and forth between author and Aphrodite in poetry. Some are a decent and nice length, there are some on the shorter end. The voice of the author and what would be Aphrodite take some hits to issues the are relevant to them and around them.

I am afraid this is simply not for me so I dont think I can adequately judge it. I have read many modern day poetry but this jist wasnt right for me. I cant put a star rating so will put 3 stars to be in the middle.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC!

I really enjoyed reading this. It is thought provoking and has some REALLY good messages in it. I could see this being analyzed in a college creative writing and/or literature class. It has a lot of beautiful pieces that could be discussed at length.

I'm not exactly sure what I'm supposed to rate this book. It's not exactly poetry or prose...but it's not a sort of self help book idea. I know it's supposed to be a woman empowerment book. which is a good thing because in this era we do need more books like that, I just think it had a hard time making a big point. The art/images were great, but they were scattered weirdly across the pages and made it hard to follow the story line, which flopped between this person, Aphrodite, and other narrators I think? It was all very confusing and the format didn't help at all. Because of that, I don't think I can give this a rating because I'm not sure what exactly went on. It had some great quotes, and a nice concept, but the execution didn't do it for me. Since I have to give a rating, I guess I'll give it a two stars.

*ARC kindly provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*
"Aphrodite Made Me Do It" has officially entered the list of my favourite collections of poetry and prose.
The author, Trista Mateer, reflects on her past self and her struggles regarding love, relationships, inclusivity and many other important topics.
Her thoughts were intertwined with Aphrodite's throughout the entire book in a beautiful and empowering metaphor.
Love is often seen as nothing more than a weakness, something frivolous even, but it's probably the one emotion that gives us enough strength to face whatever life puts us through, wether this love is directed towards someone else or towards ourselves. In Aphrodite's words: "To sing of love is almost always to sing of war".
I loved the comparison between the greek myths and the modern life struggles. It made me appreciate a bit better the spectrum of emotions, which now looks somewhat extraordinary if even a goddess experiences it and has to face the same injustices that we do.
I could go on for HOURS talking about this book, but I don't wanna over-explain my thoughts on a collection of poetry, something that should be felt rather than read about.
I would totally recommend this book and I know for a fact that I will read again some of these poems and thoughts.

Trigger warnings:
At the beginning of the book there's a page in which are listed all the trigger warnings for this book, something that I REALLY appreciated. They were particularly necessary as sometimes it covered very complicated topics, using a sarcastic tone/speaking through society's voice and it may look like some really harmful things are being said by the author, but that's really not the case! But even then, they're still quite triggering.
I'll list here the same tw's that were contained in the book: body image, sexual assault, rape, eating disorders, queerphobia, emotional abuse, physical abuse, gore, blood, death, fire.

This poetry collection was really different from her first one, even though she talks about being bisexual here too. But she talks more about the struggle that every LGBTQ person is facing, especially in the South (Kansas). She also deals with subjects such as love, breaking up, struggles and sexual assault. The poems are easy to go through and it can be read in one sitting. I also really like the drawings of the tarots cards and collages present throughout the collection.

Thank you to NetGalley and Central Avenue Publishing for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Aphrodite Made Me Do It is a beautiful, woman empowering prose poetry book with art included throughout.

This is a book of dialogue between the goddess Aphrodite and the poet discussing love and hate and I honestly do recommend giving this book a go!

They made me a Goddess of love and then vilified me to loving freely.

Poetry means different things to different people and definitely mean something deep and empowering to the writer, so "rating" poetry is always difficult for me.

I praise the author for her candor and realness, the pops of art were beautiful and interesting.
This book kind of reminded me of a phenomenon that was popular close to 15 years ago, where people could send in a post card with a secret written on it in hopes that it would be posted on a website, or published in a book.
... I felt as tho I was reading Mateer's secrets.

A beautifully written collection of poetry that made me feel as though I were speaking to Aphrodite herself.

*Thank you to the author and Netgalley for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

4 stars

I'm always apprehensive when it comes to poetry. It's not a genre I find myself gravitating towards, even if it centers on topics which I think I could relate to, as I usually end up glossing over the passages because I just <i>don't get it.</i> I feel like sometimes in poetry people try so hard to say so much in one little paragraph they end up not saying anything at all. (To me, anyway - that's not to disregard that it could be meaningful to someone else.)

I was glad to find that this book of poetry was easy to read, and took me slightly by surprise at how much I enjoyed it. It was a refreshing approach to poetry that intertwines greek mythology into its powerful storytelling. I'm grateful to have been given the chance to read it!

4.25 stars ⭐
"I have this dream where I don’t have to keep coming out over and over. Where people don’t think my sexuality is a phase unless I can produce a girlfriend on command. Where people stop asking me who fucks better: men or women. Like those are the only options. Like the answer wouldn’t be a gross generalization. I have this dream where people aren’t always waiting to say, “maybe you haven’t found the right guy.” Where I don’t imagine them jumping out from behind doors and bushes and shower curtains to say, “I hope you get over this in time to have children of your own.” I have this dream where all of my queer representation isn’t murdered on TV. I have this dream where my queer friends aren’t murdered on the news. I have this dream where I feel safe. In rural Kansas. At my grandparents’ house. In a gay bar. At Pride. I have this dream where I only write you love poems and none of them have to say, “I’m so glad we’re alive.”
THIS BOOK HAS TOUCHED ME IN SO MANY WAYS

This was such a beautiful collection of poetry. It touched upon sensitive topics which was hard to read about, but I managed to make it to the end. Between the lovely words and the graphics, I can’t help but give this 5 stars

There are periods in my life when all I need is for poetry books like this to exist.
It is an authentic dialogue between the poet and Goddess Aphrodite on various themes like love and hate.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC! I appreciate it dearly!