Love & Misadventure

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.