Official Review: Treading Water by Anthony Bedford

[Nikolas Farmakis]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Treading Water" by Anthony Bedford.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Treading Water by Anthony Bedford is a collection of poems related to depression and ADHD. The author’s purpose is to describe the emotions and thoughts of a person suffering from ADHD, depression, and sorrow through poetry. The poems in the text are written in free verse using simple language, yet the themes in the book are very profound.

The poet starts this collection by sharing a poem named ‘once upon a time’ that describes a companion that guides the author through life. Furthermore, the writer discusses how people’s lives are gradually degraded, burnt, and consumed. He also uses the metaphor of sinking to display the horror of depression. Moreover, in his poems, he writes about being out of focus, but he also explains the significance of proving critics wrong and ignoring them. Another one of his poems is called ‘demons’, where the poet discusses how he is running away and hiding from these evil demons, but he is so weary and tired that he can barely breathe. The author also describes how brittle his life is, adding that his soul is a pile of charred burnt bones and ashes.

There were a plethora of wonderful attributes in the poems I read. More precisely, I encountered no grammatical or typographical errors in the text, hence this book is professionally edited. Additionally, the poems contained some vivid metaphors, creating emotion and drama in the text, thereby engaging the reader in the book. Besides this, originality and uniqueness were clearly present in the poems because the poet expressed himself creatively. What I liked most about this book was the author’s ability to successfully capture the severe problems associated with ADHD and depression in a realistic, yet also poetic manner.

What I disliked most about this book was its lack of cohesiveness and rationality. I thought that the poems were confusing and incoherent, as many of the poems’ meanings were ambiguous.

This book is best suited for readers suffering from ADHD who love poetry. The author may also appeal to readers that face depression, mental illness, and autism. Only adult readers can read this book since it contains some profane words. Readers of all religions can appreciate the poems in the text.

All in all, I rate this book with 3 out of 4 stars. I deducted a star because of the confusion and ambiguity in the poems I read. However, I refuse to give this book a lower rating, due to its originality, realism, and impeccable editing.

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Treading Water
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[Aaronphiri+]

This book sounds quite interesting to adults but with poet in it even teenagers can enjoy it since depression can also be experienced in teenagers

[Dayodiola]

Poems are insights based on emotion and thoughts that will be an add on experience for others.

[Elvis Best]

I believe that both depression and ADHD are important topics in today's world. I commend the author for writing poems centered on those topics. I enjoyed reading your review, too. Good job!

[Zainabreadsnow]

Hmm I find your review very interesting. I'm sure the ambiguity might be because of how poetry is a very subjective experience. Thank you for the review!

[Merix]

One great in this life, is having someone u can trust. Having a companion to urself and fully trustworthy, then u've got nothing to loose.