Official Review: Between Moonbeams by Kyla McDaniel

Brendan Donaghy · Post by **Brendan Donaghy** » 02 Aug 2019, 09:37

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Between Moonbeams" by Kyla McDaniel.]

3 out of 4 stars

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The dust jacket of Between Moonbeams informs us that these poems ‘tell the story of one girl’s inner thoughts and emotional struggle through a year with depression, anxiety, and attraction.’ This bleak period in writer Kyla McDaniel’s life seems to have been triggered by her encounter with what the dust jacket describes as ‘the age-old question that continues to be a complicated mess.’ It is the question of whether or not ‘guys and girls’ are able to be ‘just friends’.

The writer’s ‘emotional struggle’ is told through a combination of blackout poems and free-verse, with the former far outnumbering the latter. I have to confess that I was unaware of the concept of blackout poetry before I picked this book up. For those of you in a similar state of ignorance, I should explain that blackout poetry is created by taking a page of text, from a newspaper or a book, and redacting most of the text on the page. The words that remain form a new work of art. The blackout poems in this collection range in length from a few words to several lines. They do not have titles, which is a minor irritation, particularly when one realizes that the page numbers of the book do not run in sequence. I can only assume that this is supposed to reflect the fact that the poet’s life is in a state of turmoil. Some readers may be comfortable with that, but it does make it more difficult to find a way back to a particular poem.

I would argue that the dust jacket summary of this book simplifies the contents almost to the point of superficiality. The story that emerges from these poems is one of a young married woman struggling to deal with feelings of attraction towards another man. There is no doubting the spark between the poet and her ‘friend’. She talks about ‘an initial attraction’. When she feels ‘his palm upon the inside of my hand I melted’. She acknowledges that ‘the connection was dangerous’. She describes him as ‘my weakness and temptation’. In ‘Examination’, perhaps the best poem of this collection, she writes ‘you are the hardest test that I have to pass’. In dealing with these feelings, she wrestles with issues such as commitment, religious ideals, weakness, and temptation. In my opinion, this is a much bigger deal than whether or not people of the opposite sex can be ‘just friends’. It is possible, of course, that the poet herself finds it difficult to accept the reality of this liaison, preferring instead to regard it as a friendship that becomes complicated.

I enjoyed the free-verse poems in this collection much more than the blackout poems, but that could just be a personal bias thing. I like traditional poetry. I like hearing the poet’s own voice, which is missing in the blackout form. In some of her own offerings, Kyla McDaniel demonstrates that she has a voice that might be worth hearing. ‘Examination’, ‘Hanging Out Revisited’, ‘Sheets’, and ‘Just Fine’ are all examples of this. I finished reading this book wanting to hear more from her.

The physical appearance of this book was something that I disliked. The use of so many blackout poems in one collection makes for a dour book, in my opinion, as it means it is predominantly the color of the black redactions. In addition, the book uses single-sided printing, which means that every second page is blank. Again, this does not make for an attractive book. Of course, other readers may well see in the physical appearance of the blackout poems a hint of the chaos and darkness the writer is trying to capture.

The book seems to have been edited to a professional standard, as I found no errors. There are no profanities and nothing sexually explicit in the book, but the themes explored in the poetry mean that it is probably more suitable for adults than for children. I would give it three out of four stars, deducting one star for the appearance of the book. A word of warning to anyone thinking of purchasing this collection. There is another book of poetry for sale on Amazon with exactly the same title, and a very similar dust jacket, so be careful how you order!

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Between Moonbeams
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Cecilia_L · Post by **Cecilia_L** » 03 Aug 2019, 12:43

I think I would dislike the blackout poems you describe and also agree that this seems more suitable for adults than children.

Erin Dydek · Post by **Erin Dydek** » 03 Aug 2019, 14:39

Thanks for the information about blackout poems. I was not familiar with the term. Your description of them, however, has me picturing a ransom note from a crime movie. With that image in mind, I understand why this book may have a rough appearance. The free verse poems sound worth reading; too bad there are not as many of them as the blackout poems. Thanks for the review!

Kelyn · Post by **Kelyn** » 04 Aug 2019, 08:52

Thanks for the explanation of blackout poetry; I had no idea what it was. It sounds to me like the book is formatted, as you suggested, to reflect the darkness and chaos in which the author finds herself entangled. I don't know if I would like the blackout poetry style, but it sounds unique enough for me to want to give it a look. Thanks for the detailed review!

Post by **kandscreeley** » 04 Aug 2019, 09:29

I think I would find the blackout poems interesting. Still, the subject of this one isn't of extreme interest to me. It's an interesting concept for a book though. Thanks.

Brendan Donaghy · Post by **Brendan Donaghy** » 06 Aug 2019, 06:51

Cecilia_L wrote: ↑03 Aug 2019, 12:43 I think I would dislike the blackout poems you describe and also agree that this seems more suitable for adults than children.

Thanks for commenting!

Brendan Donaghy · Post by **Brendan Donaghy** » 06 Aug 2019, 06:53

Everydayadventure15 wrote: ↑03 Aug 2019, 14:39 Thanks for the information about blackout poems. I was not familiar with the term. Your description of them, however, has me picturing a ransom note from a crime movie. With that image in mind, I understand why this book may have a rough appearance. The free verse poems sound worth reading; too bad there are not as many of them as the blackout poems. Thanks for the review!

The ransom note image is quite accurate! Thanks for commenting.

Brendan Donaghy · Post by **Brendan Donaghy** » 06 Aug 2019, 06:54

Kelyn wrote: ↑04 Aug 2019, 08:52 Thanks for the explanation of blackout poetry; I had no idea what it was. It sounds to me like the book is formatted, as you suggested, to reflect the darkness and chaos in which the author finds herself entangled. I don't know if I would like the blackout poetry style, but it sounds unique enough for me to want to give it a look. Thanks for the detailed review!

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

Brendan Donaghy · Post by **Brendan Donaghy** » 06 Aug 2019, 06:55

kandscreeley wrote: ↑04 Aug 2019, 09:29 I think I would find the blackout poems interesting. Still, the subject of this one isn't of extreme interest to me. It's an interesting concept for a book though. Thanks.

Thank you for commenting!

Erin Painter Baker · Post by **Erin Painter Baker** » 07 Aug 2019, 11:20

I haven't heard of blackout poetry, though I have done what I call spam poetry (taking the contents from spam emails and comments and arranging them in a way to create a poem), so I can see the appeal of this method. But like you, I think I would probably prefer a book that is primarily the free verse/author's own voice, and less the blackout poetry. Still, this book sounds interesting, and in my quest to read more poetry, I will definitely consider picking it up.

Dee_218 · Post by **Dee_218** » 07 Aug 2019, 14:12

Amazimg how I love poetry but I have trouble even figuring what these terms are. I guess one has a long way to go. But thank you for a great review. Sounds like an interesting set of poems.

Brendan Donaghy · Post by **Brendan Donaghy** » 13 Aug 2019, 01:44

esp1975 wrote: ↑07 Aug 2019, 11:20 I haven't heard of blackout poetry, though I have done what I call spam poetry (taking the contents from spam emails and comments and arranging them in a way to create a poem), so I can see the appeal of this method. But like you, I think I would probably prefer a book that is primarily the free verse/author's own voice, and less the blackout poetry. Still, this book sounds interesting, and in my quest to read more poetry, I will definitely consider picking it up.

Spam poetry sounds like it's along the same lines as the blackout version - and it's a very creative use of spam emails! Thank you for your comments.

Brendan Donaghy · Post by **Brendan Donaghy** » 13 Aug 2019, 01:47

Dee_218 wrote: ↑07 Aug 2019, 14:12 Amazimg how I love poetry but I have trouble even figuring what these terms are. I guess one has a long way to go. But thank you for a great review. Sounds like an interesting set of poems.

Blackout poetry isn't something I'd seen before either, so maybe it's not that mainstream at the moment. That's my excuse anyway.

Thanks for taking time to leave a comment.

nooregano · Post by **nooregano** » 14 Aug 2019, 00:18

This is a really interesting theme for the book to examine. Furthermore, is there even a clear division between romance and friendship, or is it all a spectrum? I'm glad you liked the content, if not the visuals, of the book. Thanks for this wonderful review, Brendan!

Brendan Donaghy · Post by **Brendan Donaghy** » 14 Aug 2019, 03:05

nooregano wrote: ↑14 Aug 2019, 00:18 This is a really interesting theme for the book to examine. Furthermore, is there even a clear division between romance and friendship, or is it all a spectrum? I'm glad you liked the content, if not the visuals, of the book. Thanks for this wonderful review, Brendan!

It sounds like you'd really enjoy this book. I certainly did, especially some of the free verse poems. Thank you for taking the time to post a comment!