Very very powerful book.
Emotional but also soothing. Brings a calm and connection.
I learnt a lot and got a huge amount of much needed comfort and connection from this book.
I’ve bought it and I love it. Thank you

Lunar Tides by Shannon Webb-Campbell is a nice collection of poems that explore ones position in the current world in relation to the world, the moon, society, and our changing hearts. You can feel the grief and pain in the poetry along with the questions that going through such things bring. I wasn't blown away by any particular passage but the collection all together felt emotional and complete.

Sectioned into the different moon phases - liked that. Poems are really good. Like the pace of the collection. Poems are small to over a page.

LUNAR TIDES by Shannon Webb-Campbell

an expansive poetry collection which explores the primordial relationships between love, grief, and water, structured within the lunar calendar.

Expansive and enveloping, Webb-Campbell’s collection asks, “Who am I in relation to the moon?”

Which in turn evokes a very meta question: who are we in relation to the natural world? As Jane Austen would say, “What are men compared to rocks and mountains?”

These poems explore the connections between love, grief, water and the moon.

The collection is structured like the lunar calendar, into moon phases, like the cycles of life, or the stages of grief.

“What phase was the moon when she left? / How high or low were the tides?” This short couplet begins the collection and likens the phases of the moon to the phases of life, asking who are we when we pass? Will our goblet be full or empty?

Lunar Tides follows the rhythms of the body, the tides, the moon, and long, deep familial relationships that are both personal and ancestral. Originating from Webb-Campbell’s deep grief of losing her mother, Lunar Tides charts the arc to finding her again in the waves.

The poems in Lunar Tides seek to define grief, and ultimately find a path toward healing. We, all of us, have two mothers: Our human mothers, as well as our Mother Earth. To understand that connection is to understand ourselves.

“Earth energy shoots through your body / you inner garden hydrates / vines grow stronger to your mother”

The poem Bloodstone New Moon associates breathwork with healing energy. Breathing is used as a way to connect with a higher power, and, in this case, with her mother. Though the physical channels are different, we may still connect to the ones who have passed, as Webb-Campbell suggests.



“Webb-Campbell explores the idea of ‘mother’ as meta-origin birthplace/home and also the literal mother of the poem’s speaker, who is grieving her own mother’s death,” Angela Maria Spring,

Written from a mixed Mi’kmaq/settler perspective, this work also explores the legacies of colonialism, kinship and Indigenous resurgence. Lunar Tides is the ocean floor and a moonlit night: full of possibility and fundamental connections.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shannon Webb-Campbell is a mixed Indigenous (Mi’kmaq) settler
poet, writer, and critic. She is the author of Still No Word (2015), recipient
of Eagle Canada’s Out in Print Award, and I Am A Body of Land (2019;
finalist for the A.M. Klein Prize for Poetry). Shannon holds an MFA in
Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia, and a MA
in English Literature at Memorial University of Newfoundland and
Labrador, and is pursuing her Ph.D. at the University of New Brunswick
in the Department of English. She is the editor of Visual Arts News
Magazine. Shannon is a member of Qalipu Mi’kmaq First Nation and
lives in Kijpuktuk/Halifax in Mi’kma’ki.

3,5/5

Shannon Webb-Campbell uses this collection to speak about her birth, her mothers and grandmothers, the presence of oceans and waves and tides within her life, and her relationships.

I wanted to like this so much! But I didn’t really understand or process most of it so it didn’t really hit me as I wished it would.

It’s a nice, sweet and short book. You can read it in a single sitting although you may need more time to process each poem.

The poems were very intelligent and beautifully written but talked about or written in a way that I didn’t understand or couldn’t find myself relating to. I felt like I wasn’t smart enough to read this collection, so it felt kind of unaccessible to me.
In other words, I’m just too dumb to fully appreciate this work haha

The poems that did resonate with me did hit very deeply though. I love reading Canadian authors works as well as First Nations authors. Webb-Campbell brings a refreshing perspective and I really liked her poems about and relating to grief.

As I said, this book was very sweet, I just wish I understood more of it.

There were some poems in this book that were amazing but a lot of them just felt meh, didn't love, didn't hate.

The book was split up by the lunar calendar but the poetry didn't actually seem to actually change due to that, so they essentially seemed like just headers even though in the description they seemed like more.

Overall 3 stars

Thanks to @netgalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Shannon Webb-Campbell, Book*hug Press, and Netgalley for this advance reader digital copy of Lunar Tides for an honest review.


"Here's the thing about vulnerability:
there's no denying its instincts"

I was drawn to this small book of poetry through the title's reference to the moon, a forever gravitation of mine. I was delighted to see the interior of the book processed through all of the phases of the moon, as well.

The poetry in this book fell very middle of the road for me, which I was surprised about. There were some stunning lines (like the above) that etched themselves like ink into my heart and my soul as soon as I read them, and then there were pages on pages where I felt I was looking at collections of first draft pieces that hadn't been workshopped to finesse yet.

Goodreads Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4633853611?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1

Amazon Review:

Twitter Review: https://twitter.com/wanderlustlover/status/1512767126670614529

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sometimes I read a literary piece and once I close the pages, I am filled with this weighty sense of sorrow and emptiness. I felt that way once I closed Lunar Tides; a gripping personal poetry collection weaving topics of death and life, grief, family ties, and the environmental effect of our surroundings. I adored how the moon's phases were interwoven into the pieces and the inclusion of quotes from other literary figures. Poetry is a genre that I love dearly and find incredibly difficult to review. Poetry is such a profoundly individualized experience and no two readers will relate to a piece in the same way. Still, as I have been delved in grief for many moons I found a doleful comfort in Shannon's balance of delicate and wildly raw prose as she crafted poems of her history and her experiences and the things she wished could be different. There were so many lines and poems I adored, that I couldn't pick one that I favored over the others.

As with any poetry collection, I think it's vital that readers go in with an open mind that not every poem or even the poetry collection as a whole will relate to them and that's okay. I did not relate to every poem of Shannons but every poem was written with aching honesty and vulnerability, one that I wholly admire. This collection is one that will linger in my mind for quite some time, it is not a collection I feel I will forget.

Rating: 3.5/5, rounded up
(Gifted a copy on NetGalley in exchange for a review)

A collection of poems focusing on grief, the moon, and the contrasting feelings of disconnection and reconnection, “Lunar Tides” contains several gems. Though the collection might feel broad at times (they are not grouped by a specific theme like bargaining and acceptance but divided like the phases of the moon), several of the poems moved me. Inevitably one of these poems will strike something, even if the reader is not grieving a lost loved one, and Webb-Campbell earns the more comforting pieces. I would be eager to try more of Webb-Campbell’s work.

As a poetry collection, this was a mixed bag for me. There were a few gems, but many of the poems felt a bit like drafts rather than polished final products. The poems are organized into sections titled after the lunar phases (ie Waxing Crescent, First Quarter, etc) but I struggled to differentiate the sections. Any of the poems felt as though they could go in any of the sections. The collection as a whole sticks to just a few themes, which gives it a cohesiveness, but then it begs the question, why the sections? Full Moon ought to feel markedly different from Waning Crescent in tone or in theme, but they all felt the same. I will add the caveat that what I was reading was not the final formatting which does make a big difference in poetry and that my experience may have been missing key components. Some good poems and on the whole an enjoyable read, but I sense some missed opportunities.

Well, this was stunning. What beautiful language and what a beautiful collection of loss, longing, and becoming. I am officially a fan. There is a bit of magic in-between each carefully chosen word.

From 'Rising Tides' - "moonlit pinnacles edge waves / unifying rhythms of longing / a shadowy future of plain sand / a moment defined by touch"

This book was semi-enjoyable. I will tell you that the author started off with an amazing poem entitled “Time: A Biography.” If all of the poems throughout the collection were this good, I would have given the book four or five stars, however, the collection only went downhill from here. The author focused a lot on the moon and the tides throughout the book, as anticipated and expected, however, they were so hung up on the metaphysical and ethereal mood of the book that it was nearly impossible to figure out what the hell the author was talking about. My favorite poems were ones that were only loosely related to the moon and the tides because they were the only ones where I actually knew wtf was going on.

The poems I enjoyed were:
Time: A biography (5 stars)
I told you I don’t believe in soul mates (3 stars)
East versus West (4 stars)
I am pulsar (4 stars)
Centerline (4 stars)
Lemon came in the night (4 stars)
You were never a visitor to this world (5 stars)

All the rest of the poems were ones that I would give either 1 or 2 stars. I know this seems like a negative review, but if you are REALLY into the moon and poetry or particularly want to read poetry from someone with a connection to First Nation tribes then I think you will enjoy this collection (I did want to read poetry from someone with a connection to First Nation tribes, but I still didn’t enjoy it, so proceed with caution). Otherwise, I think it would be wise to pass on this one.

Unfortunately this book of poetry just wasn’t for me. There were too many with only four lines, which seems like a stanza instead of a completed poem. Many were dripping with too much superfluous adjectives to find connection with me as a reader. That said, I specifically enjoyed Post Scripts & Moon Tea, Dear Elizabeth Bishop and Mother’s Ruin. Those ones were captivating and had the other poems had the depth and the detail as these 3, the collection would’ve been a hit for me.

‘Lunar tides’ is a love letter to home. A nostalgic collection of new age Romantic poetry exploring heritage, our relationships with our mothers, and of course our modern resurgence for loving the earth. A must read for poetry lovers who have been yearning to reconnect with nature and their bodies.

I enjoyed the way these poems were divided into moon phases. I thought it was a very interesting way to separate the parts. Aside from that, I thought the writing was good and enjoyed my reading, however, it was not my favourite poetry book I've read. Despite this, I would probably pick up another book by her.

Thank you to NetGalley, Shannon Webb-Campbell and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

A beautifully written collection of poetry in relation to the moon and its different phases. I fell in love with each and every poem.

I really couldn't connect to these poems.I really really wanted to love them, and the themes of the moon intrigued me - however other than the titles, there didn't seem much connection to the moon and it just felt like a gimmick.
The poems just felt very surface level, and just didn't get me feeling anything.

The following review will be posted on Tuesday, March 29th, a week before publication. It will be shared on Twitter and Instagram between that Tuesday, and the publication date (Tuesday, April 5th), but the review has already been posted on Goodreads. The blog post includes links to pre-order the books and to its Goodreads page, so readers can add it to their to-be-read books.

Genre: Poetry
Actual Rating: 3.5 stars
Content Warnings: Grief

If there’s one thing I love about this poetry book it’s the theme that was followed. The fact that this book was closely linked to the ocean (and the moon) made me really enjoy it. But it was not the greatest poetry collection by any means.

Some poems were immaculately creative and meaningful, but then parts of them made little to no sense. Is that the new theme with poetry books? Because that’s been the case with the last few poetry books I’ve read (both ARCs and already published books). I know art is subjective, and I bet the nonsense parts move some people, but there were parts of some poems that felt like they could’ve been left out of this collection.

Let’s take an example from early on in the book, with the poem “Tides”—which was actually one of my favorite poems because it was one of many that mention whales, and I work with marine mammals for a living. It almost ends like this, which I loved:

“if whales are deep thinkers, do they know
it takes one day and 52 minutes for a point
on earth to be noticed
by the moon?”

Then to be followed by:

“humans believe logic is time

we’re all shift workers

here on the lip of Atlantic”

??? Excuse me? The whole poem was flowing so cohesively right up to the last 3 lines, which felt out of place compared to the pace of the rest of the poem. And this is not a solo occurrence, this kind of weird narrative kept coming up throughout this book. And if you ignored those parts I would even dare and say this could’ve been a 5-star poetry book for me, but with all the intrusive thoughts and nonsense verses, it just really wasn’t.

I haven’t talked about nonsense verses yet, not really. But an example of this can be seen in the poem “Sea Change”, where there’s a verse that makes no sense no matter how you spin it:

“if whales have everlasting memory
then what does the moon recall?
some say grandmother”

First, what does whale memory recollection have to do with the moon? Second, what does it have to do with a grandmother? Third, and most importantly, what was even the purpose of this poem as a whole?

I know it sounds like I’m being unfair to this book, but these things happened constantly and were too repetitive to ignore. Also, this poetry collection was so heavy on the imagery that sometimes you lost track of what was being told in the poem. Sometimes too much is actually too much.

Ignoring my criticism of this piece, I would actually recommend this book a lot. I would recommend it for poetry readers that are looking for a book that’s mid- on everything. It’s mid-sad, mid-clever, mid-happy, mid-length, and mid-life-changing. It’s perfect for a quick airport read or a break between emotionally-charged books.

If you click here, you’ll be redirected to Goodreads, so you can add the book to your TBR list.

Or you could click here, and be redirected to Amazon, so you can order the book.

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: April 05, 2022

Lunar Tides is a collection of poetry centered around the moon and it's phases, broken up into the segments corresponding with the moons cycle. Webb-Campbell speaks on the beauty of the moon and it's relations with our bodies, the earth, and how they become intertwined. Poems range in relation to each phase, going through themes such as colonialism, death and grief, family, and relationships. The over arching theme of how water ebbs and flows in relation to our 70% watered bodies is well developed and creates a momentum to keep you wanting more.

It's well written, albeit a little over-flowery for my personal taste. Fans of Mary Oliver will appreciate the connections with nature Webb-Campbell weaves into the verses.

My favorite poems are: "Tides", "Liminality", and "You Came Back On A Full Moon."

I absolutely flew through this poetry book and looked every second of it. The connection to the moon and her life was so well written and spot on.