The Gravity of Existence

Wow! What an amazing book!!
Would love to read more from the author.
Thankyou netgalley for the Arc!

If you are looking for a collection of poems where there are metaphors to the future, magical stories in the style of the Brothers Grimm but without falling into nihilism. These poems are for you, once the ink has touched the syllables turning them into words they become magic and remain as a tattoo.

It has a surreal, magical style but keeps you reading until time becomes part of the reading.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is my type of poetry. Sng has a unique voice, blending pieces from sci-fi, horror, and fairy tales to create analogies to her own experiences with mental health. She ties together each story in “acts” to make the collection more cohesive. I loved it. It feels like something that was written directly for someone like me. A few of the poems I had to revisit to fully analyze what they were about. In a way, this adds value to the collection and benefits from re-reads. I recommend this for any fan of the aforementioned genres and for those interested in mental health!

I began exploring poetry last year, and this collection is unlike anything I’ve encountered before. I know that poems, just like prose, are available in any genre, but the chance of reading a dark fantasy/sci-fi/horror poetry collection is something that I didn't anticipate would happen sooner since I was not actively looking for works that are far from contemporary fiction and LGBTQIA+ poetry.

I started the book with the fear of being overwhelmed by long verses filled with macabre images and unfamiliar references. But Sng proved me wrong. Through very short poems, the horrors of a post-apocalyptic future and the mysteries kept by fairy tales are conjured. Sng also asserts that she's an experienced poet by showcasing a perfect balance between personal sentimentalities and thought-provoking philosophies.

The book also plays with our claustrophobic and "astrophobic" thoughts. It recalls how suffocating existing could be and how big our responsibility is as breathing creatures. These feelings are evoked by the poems which for me are like screen captures of sci-fi films and excerpts of high fantasy novels.

There are only a few things that bothered me while reading the collection. Some poems are too short; thus, sometimes, it's hard to determine their context. In my opinion, wide readers will also notice that the themes are already prevalent in the genres touched by the book, and appreciating the poems' uniqueness might be difficult at first. Despite these, I'm sure that you'll recognize that Sng presented a creative exploration of the most beloved stories in the world of sci-fi and fantasy.

(Thank you to NetGalley and Interstellar Flight Press for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.)

Thank you netgalley for this collection of poems! This book was honestly so good i loved the collection of poems and the spooky and horror behind them it was such a quick read but it was a good little journey and i LOVED the spin on the princess stories that we all grew up watching it was nice to see a spin on it. This collection of poems had so many different kinds of horror and spooky vibes to it i felt like every page had a different type of eeriness if thats a word LOL! Now this is the type of poetry i LOVE!

I really loved this book. A lot of them reminded me of darker, more traditional fairytales. Slight criticism only - some of the poems felt too short

3.5 rounded up

This is a poetry collection on a variety of themes. The imagery used is great, and often I found myself surprised at the turn it took. Some of the themes are: The End, Ghost Stories, Real Monsters and more. A very fun collection of poems which I will likely read again and a very fun one to highlight certain favourite poems from.

<i>I was provided with a complimentary copy of this poetry collection from Interstellar Flight Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, which I leave voluntarily.

"Creating a new world / Full of rage-filled ghouls / Bent on protecting little girls" (A Better World)

The Gravity of Existence is a masterfully crafted collection of poems ranging from fairytales to space exploration, but all grounded in the very real pain of day to day survival.

I really enjoyed how minimal these poems are! It can be so difficult to balance the right word choice for shorter poems, especially freeform, and Sng nails it. My top favorites were: Little Red in Haiku, Alice in Wonderland, The Werewolf, Basilisks, The Siren, Magic, and The Gift.

I truly enjoyed this collection, so much so that I wish each section had been split out into their own collection. I would read and reread Sng's work about fairy tales and folklore if it was every extracted and extrapolated upon, I think the minimal approach to it worked so well! I also felt the same about the science and space focused poems, there was clearly a story weaving through each piece and would love an entire collection containing more of those.

This was a wonderful read! I can see myself picking this up again before it's full release in December and I can't wait to recommend it to some of my friends who enjoy the themes in this collection.

Thank you to NetGalley and Interstellar Flight Press for providing me with a copy for an honest review!

This book of poetry was very enjoyable. Best if read aloud. Can't wait for the next book from Christina Sng. #TheGravityOfExistence #NetGalley

The Gravity of Existence is a haunting, lyrical collection. Christina Sng’s poems simultaneously embody and disembody grief, pain, fear, and loss. What on the surface seems like a collection of horror stories in verse and classic stories retold houses at its core a sincere interest in death and its effects. I enjoyed Sng’s unique use of form and meter and her freedom with length (or brevity). A few of the shorter poems had me puzzling over their meaning, without more to interpret the shorter poems sometimes fall flat. Nevertheless, I think this is a collection I will return to - it caused me to think both outside and inside myself as all the best poetry does.

Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advanced readers copy of this book.

Poetry dripping with melancholy, unusual and not always relatable, but I found bits that strung my heartstrings and made me tear up and even chuckle couple of times.
Short and sweet, sad but not too depressing.
I have no words fitting to describe such personal poetry collection, you just have to read and experience all of the words yourself.

I enjoyed the short length of the poems and reading them was smooth, while at the same time I could savor them. The themes were quite unexpected at times, but they appealed to some old memories I have; others have been interesting to imagine and to visualize.

In some ways I found them very simplistic, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. All in all, I can really say I enjoyed reading these poems.

Thank you!

//3.5 rounded up

i actually really enjoyed this.
the poems are little fragments of thought, descriptive and intentional.
they're short poems but i really enjoyed them.

the book is cut into sections, each section having it's own theme which i loved.
put shit into perspective for me.

some of the poems were really whizz-bangs, man.

"longing
to be extinguished
every single day
thousand-year-old ghost
still trapped at home"

and

"clinically dead
the brain dreams
in remnants

sky full of stars
wishing
i could live
long enough
to visit them all."

in my opinion, no line was wasted. i found the flow really nice, the breaks were appropriate, and the themes were delightful.
themes were:
Prelude, Real Monsters, Childhood Tales, Ghost Stories, The Enlightenment of Science, In Sickness In Death, The End, and Requiem.

i will definitely read more by Sng. this, though a short collection, was made with love, i can tell, and was beautifully put together.

definitely recommend this to poetry lovers.

I enjoyed this far more than I thought I would. All of the poems individually are interesting, but reading them together creates an entire universe of dread and fantasy. It wasn't a long read but it was a wild ride.

An absolutely brilliant collection of tiny poems, each on a world or person or place in its own. Reading this is like turning a kaleidoscope of re-fashionings of old lore and tales over and over, every new sight a dazzler. Sng's writing is carefully curated, every word doing work, and is a delight to read and take apart to see the cleverness beneath. A must for anyone who likes poetry, dark stories, and smart, smart writing.

4/5 stars

TWs: Death, blood, gore, grief, trauma

A small poetry collection that gave me inspiration to write stories about monsters and people in towers, much more than spoke to me about life. I really enjoyed it and I hope to read more from the author in the future. Some of my favourite poems were 'Escape', 'A Better World', 'Fears', 'Electroconvulsive Therapy Session One' and 'The Graveyard'.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an arc of this collection in exchange for a review!

As someone who does not often read poetry, I was slightly worried when beginning this collection that I would be overwhelmed and confused by the prose and style of this book. Fortunately, I was very pleasantly surprised! Sng has a gorgeous writing style that manages to pack a lot of punch in short poems that still do not feel overwhelming.

This collection showcases poems on horrors, fairy tales, sci-fi, and relatable contemporary experiences all at once. This collection also manages to capture the unique grief of living when others do not, and of grieving your own future while still alive. I particularly loved the focus on monsters and the dichotomy of them being both protectors and those doing harm. I truly wish some of these poems were longer as I would have loved to learn more about the world that Sng has crafted, and I will certainly be checking out more of her work in the future.

A collection of poems that create an intriguing story surrounding fairy tales, sci-fi, and monsters. Inspirational. The perfect addition for the horror section of your bookshelf.

The Gravity of Existence by Christins Sng is a collection of horror poetry aptly described as “tiny terrors”. Each of the short poems in the book is a slice of fear designed to make you think about the world and the monsters that inhabit it.

The collection is divided into sections including “Real Monsters”, “Childhood Tales”, “Ghost Stories”, “The Enlightenment of Science”, “In Sickness, In Death”, and “The End”, and is framed by a “Prelude” and “Requiem”. Although I was less interested in the alien and apocalyptic poems, I delighted in her series of fairy tale poems including “Little Red in Haiku”, “Snow White”, “Sleeping Beauty”, and “The Wizard of Oz”. The poems are almost shocking in their brevity as they allude to the untellable aspects of the story. I gasped and laughed at her simple but powerful rendition of “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” which reads as follows: “after their walk / the bears discover something / tastier than porridge”. Sng’s sparse style forces you to imagine the atrocities she alludes to so that the poems stay with you long after the words have been digested.

The collection is dark and filled with eerie humor, but there is hope in the poems as well. In one of my favorites, “A Better World”, Sng writes “I cast a magic spell / To manifest my grief / Creating a new world / Full of rage-filled ghouls / Bent on protecting girls”.

Christina Sng is a three-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author whose collection, The Gravity of Existence, will give you the chills and leave you aching for more. If you enjoy small bursts of horror poetry that will linger long after the lights have been turned out, this collection is for you!

Thank you to NetGalley for a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

A collection of tiny terrors from Bram Stoker Award ® winner Christina Sng. The Gravity of Existence is a weight lifted, a monster freed, a princess with sneakers, a spell for a better world. From one of the leading voices in dark verse, this collection delights in the misunderstood, putting a new spin on werewolves, basilisks, sirens, ghosts, aliens, pandemics, fairy tales and myths. Sng gives new voice to classic heroines and the result is terrifying, magical, and fantastic.