I found Liles to be both strange and sharp. Reading these made me feel like I was back in my bio classes at Madison. There were standout lines, and standout individual poems, but not all of them sparked a strong feeling for me.

I normally prefer not to rate poetry collections unless I have particularly strong opinions either way. My feelings here were mixed.

Thank you to Yale University Press for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley.

Here's my honest take on it.

This book of poetry was truly disappointing read for a book of poetry. Despite my anticipation, I couldn't get into it. I found myself skimming through most of the poems, hoping for a spark of interest. Instead, I found myself getting bored. Overall, I didn't enjoy the book.

What an original, creative collection of poetry. I love how the writer works so playfully with language, as if they were having great fun with wordplay and intertwining art with science. I live poems that try to pierce the world of science, revealing the beauty beneath the Latin and the formulae. I only wish there was more of the poet in this collection: their first person perspective, their relationship to the subjects, their emotions. Often poets put too much of themselves in the narrative, and rarely, as is the case here, maybe not enough. Overall, this is a creative and unique collection, very enjoyable.