Book Review: [Dis]connected; Cur. by Michelle Halket.

I actually started reading this by accident - I'm trying to be a little more easy-going about my reading habits, and not feel like I have to follow a schedule. Seeing as there was no way I was going to read everything I planned for February in such a short space of time, I decided to just pick something from my NetGalley list hat intrigued me!

SOURCE: NetGalley
TYPE: E-Read

TITLE: [Dis]Connected
AUTHOR: Cur. by Michelle Halket
SERIES: [Dis]connected (#1)
PUBLISHER: Central Avenue Publishing
PAGES: 256
GENRE: Contemporary, Poetry, Short Stories, Fantasy

RATING: 4/5 Stars

Blurb:

Humanity exists in a hyper connected world, where our closest friends, loves and enemies lie but a keyboard stroke away. Few know this better than the poets who have risen to the top of their trade by sharing their emotion, opinion and art with millions of fans.Combining the poetic forces of some of today’s most popular and confessional poets, this book presents poems and short stories about connection wrapped up in a most unique exercise in creative writing. 

Follow along as your favourite poets connect with each other; offering their poetry to the next poet who tells a story based on the concept presented to them. With poetry, stories and art, [Dis]Connected is a mixed media presentation of connection, isolation, love and loneliness.

I Liked:

• There were some really enjoyable stories in this collection, based upon poems written out for them by the other contributors! My stand-outs included: 'Parietal Eye' by Nikita Gill was a wonderful story about grief, loneliness and dragons; 'Terra Firma' by Sara Bond followed a group of post-apocalyptic travellers looking for a safe haven; and Amanda Lovelace's 'Small Yellow Cottage On The Shore' was a favourite containing Selkies, sea magic, f/f relationships, and feminist themes!

I Disliked:

• There were of course stories in this collection I didn't enjoy quite as much, though each was still good enough that I could follow and appreciate it. I think my least favourite thing about this otherwise well-executed creative writing exercise was the challenge to include lines from the poem in the story. Most of them felt very shoe-horned in, like they didn't belong.

Overall Conclusion:

This was an unusual exercise that I think worked quite nicely. Each contributor was challenged to include some art, three poems, and a short story - all of which were based upon each other's work. Everything was tied nicely together with the central theme of 'connection'. I liked that most of the stories included references to something otherworldly, and I enjoyed the diversity in characters and contributors.