Official Review: To Hear Your Voice by Carol Kappes

[Elizabeth Pass]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "To Hear Your Voice" by Carol Kappes.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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To Hear Your Voice by Carol Kappes is a collection of poems. I like that the book is organized into sections, such as life, nature, and emotion. Most poems are a page or less, though a few extend onto a second page. The preface promises that some poems will “change your thoughts on ways to see things in a different perspective.” Unfortunately, it didn’t deliver on said promise.

Many of her poems consist of repetition. In the poem, “When You Hear the Word ‘Colors,’ What Do You Think,” she starts the first twenty lines with the words, “I think of the colors.” The last line is the only one different. She does this again in several other poems including, “Hate Is a Strong Word-,” “What Hurts In Loneliness Is…,” “The Olympics,” and “Life As Little Steps.” Many of her poems consists of lists. “Your Mind” is a list of things not to do with your mind including, “lose it,” “anger it,” and “destroy it.” “Take Control Of Your Habit-” is a list of bad habits including, “Drinking,” “Gambling,” “Overeating,” and “Cheating.” A few of her poems seem to be from greeting cards she’s written to her children or husband. There are a few short blurbs thanking her blog supporters over the years, and the end consists of interviews she’s had with people online.

The information on the cover states, “Written Verse of the 21st Century Inspirational and Motivational.” Unfortunately, I was neither inspired or motivated by any of her work. I found nothing particularly enlightening or thought-provoking. There wasn’t a single poem that I read that made me stop and think. They weren’t terribly written, there just wasn’t anything especially interesting about any of them. My favorite poem in the collection was, “A Love Bonded.” It was the only one with a clear beginning, middle, and end. Most others didn’t have any sort of arc to them at all, and the lines within them could have been written in any order without changing the overall effect.

It’s hard to comment on the editing of poetry since there’s a lot of room for artistic interpretation. There are a few circumstances where words connected with a dash had an extra space (such as “well- being” instead of “well-being”). At the bottom of each poem is a short informational blurb with the year it was written and, sometimes, why it was written. Often she writes, “inspired of” instead of “inspired by.” I spent some time looking up when to use, “inspired of,” and I’m fairly confident it was used incorrectly. There’s a lot of missing punctuation throughout the book. It can be excused when there’s no punctuation in the entirety of a poem, but that’s not always the case.

I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars. I didn’t give it a one because I don’t feel like it was awful, and it seemed some time went into the organization of the book. I couldn’t give it more than a two because I didn’t find it interesting, I won’t be reading it again, and I wouldn’t consider passing it on to friends or family. I would not recommend this book to true lovers of poetry, but if you’re looking for ideas for what to write in a greeting card, I might suggest flipping through this collection.

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To Hear Your Voice
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[kfwilson6]

I would not recommend this book to true lovers of poetry, but if you’re looking for ideas for what to write in a greeting card, I might suggest flipping through this collection.

I just have to say I thought this last comment of yours was quite funny. I would not have thought to take a book of poetry and use it for inspiration in writing a greeting card. Maybe the author should work for hallmark instead of trying to publish compilations of poetry. Sorry you didn't enjoy this.

[kandscreeley]

Well, I definitely won't be reading this one. I'm not really into poetry to begin with. Since you didn't find it interesting, I doubt that I would. I do appreciate your information, though. Thanks for taking the time to read this one.

[Elizabeth Pass]

Thank you, kfwilson6! I'm glad my humor is appreciated.

Thank you, kandscreeley! Someone had to.

[AmySmiles]

I won't be reading this one, I just got through a rough poetry book myself. While I enjoy poetry I can't deal with sloppy work. Thanks for the honest review.

[Elizabeth Pass]

Thank you, AmySmiles!

[Fuzzy456]

I will not be reading this book as I am not an admirer of poetry. Your review was very honest and forthcoming. So sorry you didn’t enjoy it, I‘ve read books that were a struggle to get through so I can feel your pain. Nice and through review.

[Elizabeth Pass]

Thank you, Fuzzy456.

[topdan30]

This sound like a rough poem book which offers little. Thanks for the review.