Corpse Beneath the Crocus

I am no expert on poetry, I don't read a lot of it. But to me, poetry is supposed to make you FEEL something. With this collection of poetry, N.N. Nelson really makes you feel her crushing heartbreak, despair and how lost she felt after her husband passed away. Her poem entitled "Love Letter" was especially powerful in my opinion.

Utterly heartbreaking. The author's grief bleeds through the page. I wonder if you can truly appreciate this book if you haven't lost someone? I really don't know but I have and it resonated strongly with me. I'll be thinking about this for quite some time. My particular favorite was early on in the collection with "Rage". I felt it very deeply. The writing style is one I think is accessible to all, even those who don't typically read poetry. I deeply enjoyed this and I hope to see more from N.N. Nelson.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atmosphere Press for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atmosphere Press for my arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

N.N. Nelson's poetry collection, "Corpse Beneath the Crocus", we are taken through Nelson's journey of grief and metamorphosis in the form of poetry and some prose. I will start off with the fact that poetry is not one of my strengths; I've always struggled with reading modern poetry and have always struggled with modern poetry in general (my expertise and desire for poetry starts and stops with the British Romantics). That said, I loved this collection. A lot. It's very rare that a poetry collection speaks to me (the last being by Su Cho from last year) and this absolutely spoke to me.

As I said, this collection deals primarily with grief and how to continue living in the absence of a loved one taken by death and it's based off of Nelson's own experiences with losing her husband to cancer. I am a very emotional person and found myself crying often throughout this collection. Nelson does a beautiful job of expressing her frustration, sadness, anger, and closure about her husband's passing. As I've tended to find most modern poetry emotionless and cold, I was surprised to find the emotion I did find in Nelson's writing. There were certainly a lot of stand-out poems that completely took my breath away with their raw vulnerability, honesty, and relatability. Like I had said previously, I cried A LOT reading this due to Nelson's ability to effectively communicate her pain, loss, and confusion at the absence of her husband. I couldn't help but relate.

I highly recommend this collection. It's a tough read but very worth it.

Stand-Out Poems: Nonsense Thoughts, September 27th, Love Letter (this and the previous selection had me bawling), I Am Not Her Anymore, Motherhood, Twat, Living Hell, and S**t (uncensored in book).

I wasn’t sure what to think before I requested this book. I’m glad I took the jump. This was a very emotional read for me, it opened up so many feelings and some sadness. This is what I want out of poetry. I want to feel something and this author did amazing!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this poetry collection. I’m new to reading poetry, but I find the writing absolutely stunning.

I didn’t know what to think when I started to read this book. It’s not my usual genre.
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. The words flowed and it was beautifully written.
It was an emotional read about grief and I had all the feels.
Thank you

These poems are beautiful, raw, emotional, and thoughtfully arranged.

Excerpt from the poem Ocean:

Grief
Is adrift in the unknown
The burning light of an absent soul
A beacon on the prow
Of a quaking vessel
Hope to guide
Survivors safely home

Expected Publication: 15 Feb 2023

Thanks a million to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC. Quotes are subject to change upon publication.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for providing me with a digital arc of this book, in exchange for an honest review.

N.N Nelson debuts with a collection of poems that are centered around the topical issue of grief, and her personal experiences with it. As a poet, she poured her heart into her work, providing her readers with the most raw and vulnerable sides of herself, while linking her pain with her life as it moves forward. Words cannot express how personal this collection is to the poet, and her strength in being able to share her despair with the world is strongly recognized by readers and reviewers alike.

This is the kind of writing that reminds me of why I fell in love with poetry. As someone who has been faced with grief and loss, I personally connected with Nelson's work in the most intimate of ways and every poem left me with a shuddering feeling in my heart. I could feel her emotions through the pages and it was as though every word that she wrote gave me a piercing look into her mind which is shrouded with darkness and a beam of light. The beam of light from her child's smile, and the beam of light that erupts from her poetry. Her knowledge on free-verse and rhythmic patterns made this poetry collection seem polished and professional, especially when dealing with such deep topics such as this.

Overall, I fell in love with Nelson's writing and I desperately connect with this poetry collection on so many levels. I truly reflected on my own life in the most personal ways and it is all because of this poetry collection. I am utterly grateful to Netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an opportunity to read this tragic masterpiece.

Beautiful collection of poetry. I loved Rage, Pandora's Box, Love Letter, and Shit - they were my favorite pieces in this collection. You can feel the emotion and transition in emotion as the collection progress. My guts twisted and I got choked up a few times. There were two moments that really stuck with me, even after reading.

"Purposefully To listen as a chorus of stars/Sings in solid bones/Connecting flesh and spirit to the music/Of space much less lonely than it sounds/Stars like breadcrumbs/For hungry souls to find"

"reject the definition of failure tattooed on my forehead/That was me, a moment ago in my last though/But I am not her anymore/A lot can happen in the space of breath and in this brief pause I choose to accept my imperfect humanity"

Beautiful.

This collection is a breath of fresh air and familiarity. It made me feel at home and heard. Reading it brought me warmth.

You can truly feel what the author is trying to convey. I caught myself a couple times getting emotionally connected without expecting to.

🔆 corpse beneath the crocus by N. N. Nelson 🔆

I feel like a terrible person getting enjoyment from this collection of poems. The grief that saturates each page was terrible but so cleverly written I couldn’t stop reading.

Favourites —> panic attack, treasure hunter, I am not her anymore, memory

⭐️favourite lines⭐️

“Poetry is sifting through a sandy pile of feelings…” - treasure hunter

“Growth begins with change and pain is the price of moving forward.” - growth is pain

4/5 would definitely recommend!

Thank you #NetGalley for my arc in exchange for an honest review. Because it’s an arc the above quotes may be subject to change.

Corpse Beneath the Crocus by N.N. Nelson is a raw and unfiltered journey through the unbearable grief of losing a loved one. These are words that will resonate with anyone who has experienced the gamut of emotions that are brought to the surface as we move through the darkness. It is a collection that will have you feeling Nelson's deep and unending pain, but will also force you to confront the agony that resides in the deepest recesses of your soul as you acknowledge the finality of the life-altering state of loss. Recommended. 4.5 stars

Many thanks to NetGalley and Atmosphere Press for an ARC.

If I could give the poetry collection Corpse Beneath the Crocus more than 5 stars, I would. It’s deserving of so much more. This is heavy stuff. If you have ever lost anyone, you know. You can feel these poems physically, in your body. (Or at least I could). The words in here are utterly profound. The book left me dumbfounded, having to put the book down just to process what I read.

This is the story of a wife and mother who has lost her husband and must figure out how to carry on for her self and her children. It details all the emotions you cycle through and how grief is a daily thing, almost like a physical pain in the body, or a parasite. How, after a loss, you sometimes can’t recognize your life or self without that person. The author even talks about the financial burdens that can come, and putting aside your own beauty and sexuality.

Pain, we come to understand, can be transformative (see book title).

I loved the line from “Lopsided Sanity” that says “I’m haunted/ By the ghost of the future I wanted.” (57).

Also, there were at least two poems, “Twat” and “Bizarre Mind,” that read like rap music in my head, they had that lyricism and pacing.

This book is not easy. The emotions of grief can be both acute and lingering. And though we may not want to approach these emotions, Corpse Beneath the Crocus makes the process of confronting loss less lonely and isolating.

My thanks to NetGalley, Atmosphere Press, and NN Nelson for the opportunity to read and review this work.

This book was very helpful and insightful. I would highly recommend for my family and friends that experience death to assure them they are not alone. This book was very powerful to my on my person loss within the past few years of loss and COVID.

Corpse Beneath the Crocus is a poetry book that beautifully captures the raw emotions of grief and loss. The author's words are powerful and moving, providing readers with a sense of connection and understanding during times of mourning. The poems remind us that it's okay to feel a range of emotions when dealing with loss, from anger and frustration to sadness and despair. The imagery used in the book is vivid and poignant, painting a picture of the pain and suffering that often accompanies death. Overall, Corpse Beneath the Crocus is a must-read for anyone who has experienced the loss of a loved one and is looking for comfort and solace in the written word.