4 out of 4 stars
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For The Love Of Sanity by Lindsay Musgrove is a powerfully intense and soul-baring collection of poems that opens readers to the complex mind of the narrator. It mostly highlights the emotional turmoil and tumultuous mental state of the speaker whose pain and angst is, at times, most palpable.
Taking a free reins approach, Lindsay’s book does not use any page numbers or a table of contents, and the collection of prose poems are not separated by any titles. This and some recurring subjects gave the whole collection a continuous collective feel despite the sometimes drastic change in theme and mood.
The majority of the poetry tackles heavy subjects that often unapologetically venture into thorny and dark territories. From dealing with suicidal ideation, depression, feelings of abandonment, self-loathing, and loneliness, just to name a few. The book also includes much lighter and uplifting poems that cover stage fright, self-doubt, and trusting others with your vulnerabilities. Most of the poems were direct while others seemed to hold both literal and figurative meanings.
Seven out of the twenty-three poems stood out to me most (including the second poem, which saw a narrator dealing with bouts of depression, feeling misunderstood, and fear of solitude. The sixth poem saw the narrator breaking away from the madness (mental issues) but still finding herself unfortunately confined to a mental cage. In the seventh poem, the narrator finds her voice and sense of empowerment through the art of writing. The tenth poem was an absolute favorite of mine because it dissected the tribe mentality and all its drawbacks. I liked the thirteenth poem for its rebellious mood and the narrator’s resilience in breaking free from chains that were meant to break her and keep her in the same place. The sixteenth poem spoke of unrequited love, abuse, and self-empowerment. Finally, the twenty-first poem embraced diversity and spoke of the reality that our similarities are far greater than our differences.
Though the novel is listed as having a total of twenty-five poems, I only counted twenty-three. This made me wonder if my copy was missing anything. That being said, the book appeared to be professionally edited; I only encountered one minor error while reading. This collection of poems is great for those who have a genuine appreciation for poetry and for those who have ever felt alienated, as well as struggled with and anxiety and depression. All in all, I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars.
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For The Love Of Sanity
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