Bella Vista by Emma Ruth Rundle was a good read! It didn't quite meet my expectations, though. I guess I was hoping for something a little more, but that's just me! It's a deeply personal and emotional journey about nostalgia, love, memory, and consciousness. I don't have a favorite poem in this book, but I did have a hard time choosing the one that spoke to me out of all the poems. I would have loved for it to resonate with me more, but it just didn't quite hit the mark.

Rundle's work veers a bit too far into the clutter and self of social media poetry as we know it, which unfortunately weakens the parts of his writing that I prefer. This genre is a favorite of many readers nowadays and is quite popular, but it's just not my thing. It reminded me of Rupi Kaur's poetry.

I was quite confused by the way the book drew me in with the opening sentence and then pulled me away.

*The Bella Vista* by Emma Ruth Rundle is a raw, beautifully tangled collection of poems that captures the highs and lows of romantic love. Written while touring, these poems feel like a confessional diary, tracing a relationship from its passionate start to its heartbreaking end—and, ultimately, finding a sense of peace. It's a blend of love, loss, and personal growth wrapped up in lyrics and images that hit hard. Equal parts memoir, love letter, and concept album, Rundle uses language to explore everything from music to womanhood to self-discovery. A must-read for anyone who’s ever loved or lived through a stormy relationship.

3 ⭐️

I found The Bella Vista to be relatively enjoyable, but not a collection of poetry I expect to return to often. It charts a personal and emotional journey through the wreckage of love, memory, and nostalgia. However, I struggle to pull my favourite poems from the book because, truthfully, whole poems didn't resonate with me and often weren't consistently strong enough, from start to finish, for me to attach to a single one.

For my tastes, Rundle veers too often into the confessional, quasi-deep, second-person drama and confusion of Instagram poetry. It detracts from the parts of her writing that I prefer. I realize this style is very popular among most readers. Selfishly, I wish she wouldn't go there. When she avoids that style, as in the poem Paloma, I think that her writing shines, with strong language that evokes visceral and unique images. Those moments, when Rundle allows herself to settle into a style that feels all her own, are really what have stuck with me after reading. For example, the book's opening is, in my opinion, truly beautiful:

rip up this book, my love / i wrote it for you / so that / crumpled pages of refuse worthy / thinking might lift from the floor and bloom peony and chrysanthemum / rightfully placed upon your shoulders. words and thoughts aren’t enough. / they aren’t even close to right. / i wish i’d never known any language at all other than the giving of simple gifts.

I was also struck by the image of dwindling love as a series of Matryoshkas jewels, each one smaller and less sparkling than the last. I wish Rundle had let herself sit with and explore these beautiful thoughts for longer.

Love the authors work in other facets and was very intrigued by this poetry collection. Some latched on to me more than others, but a definitely good read.

"all things in equal measure
half in pain half in pleasure"
Emma Ruth Rundle’s The Bella Vista is this beautifully raw mix of poetry, memoir, and travel journal that dives deep into love, addiction, and the search for self. Written over a year on the road, it captures her reflections on music, family, and life’s big questions. What hit me most is how some poems resonated with me; her style is both grounded and poetic, revealing layers of our social selves and relationships with startling honesty. Some passages reminded me of Bukowski's style and directness, and I appreciated the words' layout inspired by the futurism movement, floating on the page.

The Bella Vista is an interesting collection which captures a moment in time. It is cohesively structured with the black and white photographs transporting then grounding the reader in the speaker's time and place.

Rundle's work is enjoyable to read but not very memorable - it wasn't a collection I found my thoughts lingering upon after reading.

Struggled a bit to connnect at the begining. More or less some poems were relatable to certain extent.

thank you so much to the publisher for giving me an electronic advance readers copy of this collection of poetry ♥️

𝐄𝐦𝐦𝐚 𝐑𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐑𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒂 𝑽𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂. 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐲𝐦𝐛𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲, 𝐈 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞. 𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐬, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐈’𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐝.

𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓃𝓀 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓉𝑜 𝐸𝓂𝓂𝒶 𝑅𝓊𝓉𝒽 𝑅𝓊𝓃𝒹𝓁𝑒, 𝒰𝓃𝓃𝒶𝓂𝑒𝒹 𝒫𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓈, & 𝒩𝑒𝓉𝒢𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑒𝓎 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒜𝑅𝒞! 𝒜𝓁𝓁 𝑜𝓅𝒾𝓃𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓂𝓎 𝑜𝓌𝓃.

Description:
Singer-songwriter Emma Ruth Rundle writes poetry about a troubled relationship, getting older, being on the road.

Liked:
Obviously heartfelt, and meaningful to the author and her lover. I thought the best poems were about the discomfort of getting older and being in the body. The shorter poems were often starkly humorous in a way that I appreciated.

Disliked:
It’s very allusory, in a way which feels a little wooden, rather than erudite. I really wanted to like this, but I found it didn’t move me in the way her songs do.

this didn't start off strong for me, but ended far stronger. the literary imagery was beautifully handled, not to mention the stunning pictures and cover

"La Bella Vista" es una colección que explora las emociones complejas relacionadas con el amor, tejiendo escenas inquietantes y nostálgicas a lo largo de sus páginas. Aunque no resonó conmigo personalmente—demasiado de esa estética de Tumblr y nostalgia—tiene algunos poemas destacados como "Paloma" y "Goodbye Horses."

Me pareció especialmente interesante la imaginería relacionada con el espacio lineal y las drogas; esos elementos añadieron profundidad e intriga a la colección. Creo que este libro podría atraer a lectores que disfrutan del estilo de Rupi Kaur, ya que comparte un paisaje emocional y una calidad visual similar. Si te gusta la poesía que evoca una estética específica y captura las sutilezas del dolor del amor, esto podría ser para ti.

This is a beautifully and emotional collection of poetry. It feels like each one tells a story I can see myself in. Beautiful!

The bella vista is a poetry collection that depicts the pains and strains of love. Each poem creates a scene that is eery and mournful. This is amplified by the images that accompany the poems.

I am very fussy when it comes to poetry and I do not think this collection was for me. It gave the tumblr aesthetic and nostalgia factor that I don’t love in poetry, but had a few stand out poems like ‘paloma’ and ‘Goodbye horses.’

I enjoyed the depictions of lineal space and drugs, thought these were the most interesting aspects of imagery within the poetry.

I would recommend this to readers who are fans of Rupi Kaur.

Thanks to #netgalley for the ARC of this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Unnamed Press for the Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review!

So, let me start by saying it is not by any means the worst body of poetry I've read. Some of the imagery was very interesting and creative. I could definitely tell the author was trying (unlike, say, Gabbie Hannah or somebody.)

I did not, however, think this was a particularly special collection. While the poetry was fine it often just fell flat or came off as pretentious. Then, there was one poem which I absolutely hated which I will show you all.

"the 27 club are alive and well and singing

people don't really kill themselves over things like that

but i read you can die from a broken heart"

Yeah. It just kind of rubs me the wrong way... Anyways. The photography included was a nice touch but kind of bland. Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

Favorite Poem: Poem From An Unsent Postcard

The Bella Visa was quite an unexpected surprise. Some poems were so close to what I lived through and felt that it was as if they had been written for me.
Emma Ruth Rundle has a writing style both simple and poetical, keeping close to reality while unveiling the complexity behind our social selves and relationships.
Some poems in the collection were reminiscent of Beat poets, in her chosen topics and angles in which she perceived the outside world.
The pictures were an interesting choice, and I really enjoyed the ways in which she played with space.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance digital copy in exchange for an honest review!
As a fan of Emma Ruth Rundle's music, I was intrigued by her debut poetry collection.
Drawing inspiration from her personal and musical history, the poems explore love, loss, and self-discovery in a reflective, lyrical manner. However, despite my appreciation for her artistry in music, this collection didn’t resonate with me. The writing felt flat, and the accompanying photographs didn’t add much to the experience. While I admire her creative versatility, the emotional depth of her music didn’t quite translate into this poetry for me.

I have been on a journey with poetry and finding collections and books of poems for my patrons that they will be able to connect to and find a bit of themselves in. In Bella Vista, Rundle takes her readers on her journey of love that ebbs and flows as the photos seem to provide a glimpse into the psyche and mind of the poet. At times I felt her anger and at other times her hope and love. Overall, The Bella Vista was an interesting journey and I would like to see this book in print form and see how it resonates with being able to see the pictures on pages rather than my Kindle.

I'm not a fan of this book. It comes across as self-absorbed, and the author tries to make the mundane seem more extraordinary than it is but is seriously missing the mark. Many of these poems seem like she's trying to make word count. The photos in this book aren't great; they look like those you accidentally take when moving your phone around and accidentally take a picture. If you're a fan of her music, you might like this book, but as someone who knows nothing about her, I wouldn't recommend this book.