Love & Misadventure

Wait, this is a joke, right? How could this book possibly have so many high ratings?

While doing research on contemporary poetry, I recently came across an interesting NYT article about the rise of “Instapoets”—newer poets who have found an audience on social media sites such as Tumblr and Instagram. In many cases these poets are selling huge numbers of books, far above what is normal for poetry, and Leav is one example of this. Based on this book, I am scared to try any of the other poets mentioned in this article.

Several other reviewers have said this would appeal only to 13-year-old girls. Having once been a 13-year-old girl, I'm not even sure I'd agree. Each of these very short poems reads as if written by an especially immature preteen. They are shockingly bad. I was able to finish this book only because it's so short.

If the following poem, a typical example from this collections, does not appeal to you, be warned:


A Rollercoaster

You will find him in
my highs and lows;
in my mind
he'll to and fro.

He's the tallest person,
that I know—
and so he keeps me,
on my toes.


And it just keeps getting worse and worse:


His Cause and Effect

He makes me turn,
he makes me toss;
his words mean mine
are at a loss.

He makes me blush!

He makes me want
to brush and floss.


These are not cherry-picked examples of the worst. They're ALL like this.

The one positive thing I have to say is that Leav's illustrations are fine. Not my style, but serviceable if you like that sickly sweet sort of thing.

That NYT article said Leav gained much of her attention when her poem “Closure” was shared on Instagram by one of the Kardashians. So I guess I should have known right then. I still just can't believe this is so popular. No wonder poetry gets such a bad rap. Truly a painful experience.

4.8

As the title suggests, this book is about the concept of love and romantic relationships. The beginnings and the end of a relationship. The hope for love, the regret over mistakes made, the pain of having been left. At times, it felt like this book was telling the story of the narrator's love life over time, of maybe two or three different relationships, especially as the book is split into three parts, Misadventure, The Circus of Sorrows and Love. Yet at other times, the poems seem to not be related to the one that came before, or the one after. A poem of the end of a relationship coming between two poems about happiness in a relationship. It feels very much like it's open to the interpretation of the reader whether there is a story here, or individual poems that fit into three themes.

Leav writes with simplicity that is wonderfully misleading. There are, of course, metaphors, but they feel almost obvious or every day, so there's no confusion on my part in what Leav is getting at. Most of the poems are quite short; two or three stanzas with three or four lines each. Simple, short. But they each pack a real punch! There is such raw emotion in each poem and it's hard not to feel it!. I may not personally relate to each poem she wrote, but they spoke to me in a spiritual level. It's impossible not to be moved by the honesty that Leav has poured into her words, and the grace with which she writes. They are so powerful, it's a very emotional read.

I don't know very much about the composition of poetry. I couldn't even tell what Leav's poetic style is. Saying that, there are obvious patterns to some of her poems; the length, the rhymes, the rhythm, and even I can tell that Leav has a wonderful talent to be able to say so much, so powerfully and beautifully while still sticking to the bounds of the poetic style, especially when they're so short.

Love & Misadventure is utterly a beautiful book of poetry, and I am so, so glad I stumbled across this gem. I can't wait to to emerse myself into her second book, Lullabies.