The Cat Community: Review Shop

Scribbles

Author - swachchatoya983 

Reviewer - Grisha2610 

I will be doing your review poem-wise and in a broad view as well. Kindly note that the poems I have reviewed are not in order as I wanted to review a variety of them depending on their lengths so that it would be as fair and as objective as possible. The following poems have been reviewed-

1. A Streak of Sunshine

2. Madeleine

3. Growing Up

4. Nemesis

5. Ode to the Wildflower

6. Vagary

COVER AND BLURB (8.5/10)

The cover is nearly perfect. I like the picture, however, I would suggest you search for similar pictures but in more of a painting format. It can be a little similar to old literature covers that resemble western paintings. The font complements the background really well so not a lot of problems here.

I love the blurb! It is poetic and reveals your style that properly unfurls inside the book. My only suggestion would be to insert some line breaks and italicize them-

In lost strains from aeons ago,

In summer winds sighing sweet and slow

In tinkling laughter just beyond sight,

Words shall sing in dark and light

I just feel it creates more of a rhythm. I don't think it's necessary to do so but I would suggest changing it just for a few days and see how it is. You can change it back if it doesn't feel right. Overall, it is great.

CONCEPT (5/10)

Although I really like a lot of the individual poems in the collection, the concept itself is very muddled. That is not to say that there is no concept and it's just a bunch of random poems, it's just that the order that the poems are placed in is all over the place. One good thing about poetry collections is that you can divide them into sections that follow different styles and concepts. I would suggest dividing your collection into four sections-

· Poems that are similar to the ballad style of writing. E.g.: A Rhapsody, An Ode to the Wildflower, etc.

· Poems with the names. E.g.: Madeleine, Amaranth, etc. (This one depends, however, as there are only two of them)

· Poems with verbs as titles. E.g.: Indebted, Growing Up, Thoughts Unexpressed, etc.

· Poems with Latin words as titles. For e.g.: Quietus, Desideratum, etc.

You don't have to even title them because it truly depends on what your mindset is once you've finished the collection. I would just suggest placing them in order this way as it just becomes more coherent for the reader.

GRAMMAR AND STRUCTURE (8.5/10)

I generally don't bother about grammar in poetry as it is not the most integral part of most poems. I only do so unless it is super egregious but fortunately, there are no problems regarding that here. Poems have always had a very free-flowing format which you use to your advantage. There are some unnecessary commas and incorrect word placements that I have pointed out in inline comments but they don't really interrupt the poems and can be easily fixed. So, overall, good job!

POEM-BY-POEM ANALYSIS

1. A Streak of Sunshine (7.5/20)

Ø DESCRIPTION (3.5/10)