The Last Unkillable Thing by Emily Pittinos

This is a review of the poetry collection, The Last Unkillable Thing by Emily Pittinos. I gave this 2.75/5 stars.


Themes and General Thoughts

“How much of enjoying a place is destroying it?”

These poems all follow different directions but seem to culminate upon the central theme of mourning. I felt that some poems were clearly stronger than the others, and there was only one that I felt completely drawn into. There seemed to be a lack of flow in many of them, and the style of some (specifically the ones with colons separating every few words) didn’t work with their story.

Every so often, the poems seem to fit together, they flow nicely and towards a common goal, but then it derails again into something that just doesn’t seem to fit.

My favorite poem was “Trembling on the Skin of a Droplet”. This poem embodied what I had hoped to see more of in the collection. The storytelling hit the nail on the head and the writing worked wonderfully to create a beautiful sense of imagery and further the narrative.


Writing

“Winter is what endures.”

The writing style did not feel consistent throughout the entirety of the collection, which in some cases worked, but often did not. I felt jarred by the first few poems, they didn’t create that hook or tangible connection that they should have to invest people into the story.

About a third of the way through, the writing style seemed to change, but this was a welcome change, as I much preferred these poems and wished that the collection started with one or two of them to actually immerse me into it.

Some of the writing is more abrupt and oddly worded with no apparent purpose, which breaks the trance the story should hold, making them less enjoyable.

There were some beautiful lines and quotes scattered throughout, but they felt few and far between.


Final Thoughts

“What is barren to one is shelter to another.”

While this collection was not for me, I did see so much opportunity and room for growth within the stories that I would be willing to check out future work from Pittinos.

If you have read this, I would love to hear your thoughts on it as well!


Disclosure: I received a download of this book from Netgalley. All opinions are my own. 

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