Official Review: Between Moonbeams by Kyla McDaniel
Posted: 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!
******
Between Moonbeams
View: on Bookshelves
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!
******
Between Moonbeams
View: on Bookshelves
