Here you go, dude, this was one of my favorites @ImperfectARA

______________________________________________________________________________

Poetry Book Review: Catoptric Tristesse

Author: ImperfectARA

Title: Catoptric Tristesse

First thoughts on the title: soooo I actually had to look up your title name because I had no clue what in the world it meant. But it roughly says "the sadness that you'll never really know what other people think of you, whether good, bad or if at all—that although we reflect on each other with the sharpness of a mirror, the true picture of how we're coming off somehow reaches us softened and distorted, as if each mirror was preoccupied with twisting around, desperately trying to look itself in the eye." Which otherwise would be a mouthful if the word didn't exist. So good on you but at the same time I kinda doubt that many people know what your title means right off the bat 9 out of 10.

While it is a good title people may just ignore it because they don't know the definition/what it means and titles is one of the big ways to grab your reader. I know the definition is in the summary but people also don't read the summaries, usually, it's title first and if the title doesn't click for them they skip right over the book. I should know I spent my first year on wattpad with people thinking my book Alpha & Omega was a werewolf book instead of the title being a reference to biblical mythology.

Cover: so while I do kind of like the cover I feel like it doesn't work for your type of book. The reason being that there are probably a bunch of other poetry books that use the same style or even the same exact cover. So due to overuse, it loses the important meaning it carries to your story specifically and instead makes it feel generic. 5 out of 10, try picking another cover that embodies everything you feel and think about your book because at the moment it feels very middle of the road.

Summary: "When you write from the heart,

They are your work of art.

Whatever pattern,

You choose to do it doesn't matter.

The pen and your paper are your instruments,

That would create brilliance."

catoptric tristesse: (n) "the sadness that you'll never really know what other people think of you, whether good or bad"

Thoughts: Oh boy I truthfully love this summary, it flows beautifully and it short, sweet and to the point. Bonus points for the title definition in the summary because before I looked it up I thought it was a French word or something. It also establishes a sort of kinship with your reader if the reader is a writer. They see the summary and say, "holy crap I can relate to this so much." Which prompts them to read further. 5 out of 5.

First and second impressions:

1: I don't think you need the definition again on the authors note since you already posted it in the summary, but not everyone reads the summary so I can understand it is your choice whether you want to leave it in or note. It seems that most of your poetry focuses on love & loss, dealing with depression, mental illness, and abandonment of which two of them are my own personal fears. While the I do believe a lot of people have used those themes to death in their poetry it is always nice to see someone else take on it as no one's thoughts one hundred percent match someone else. On a more light-hearted note as I was reading your poetry I listened to music to help me focus (ADHD) and Face your fears by  Hikaru Utada came on, nothing important I was just happy with the timing.

2. I'm going to tell you something that ties into a couple of your poems when I was a kid one of my favorite games to play was Animal crossing and as a kid, I was constantly afflicted with depression, insomnia, and anxiety. Usually, I would wake up late in the night and just play it, and since the game ran on an internal clock it would also be night in AC. But at night the moon would be out, you could hear the gentle chirping of crickets practically feel the cool air on your skin, however, the animals in your village would more than likely be asleep so you were alone. And that's the feeling I feel when I read your poem the moon, I could feel the cool air on my skin. I could see the giant white sphere glowing above the horizon but I could also feel the cold loneliness.

You're incredibly good at drawing your readers in using unique words and letter placement to keep them invested. You have an incredible talent to set the scene the reader is in with just a few words, such as in your poems: The moon, On the edge, let you go and cherish. I especially loved the letter placement and use in the poem jealousy, especially when I noticed what each letter spelled out. If I had one complaint it would be that a few poems it slightly sing-songy which causes me to read to them more like music lyrics. 10 out of 10.

Grammatical rating: 4 out of 5, while most of your writing is properly punctuated I did see a few missing commons here and there. If you can't read a full sentence without needing to take a breath then it probably needs a comma okay?

Genre Ratings:

Poetry category: 4 out of 5 for symbolism sometimes your messages were subtle such as in the moon and on the edge other times the symbolism was more heavy-handed such as in beautiful rose and family. There was never really in between such as the message being there you just have to read it twice to realize it, which I believe is actually called fridge brilliance/ Fridge Horror. Which means the more you think about it the symbolism can have either amazing or horrifying connotations.

10 out of 10 the flow and creativity scale, although sometimes it flowed so well that some of the poems sounded more like song lyrics. As I already said I thoroughly enjoyed your ability to set the scene for the reader in so few words. The moon especially being my favorite out of all of your poems for personal reasons.

Subgenres:

Angst: So the word you were looking for was angst instead of pain, and oh boy is there some well do angst here. I'm usually a sucker for this sub-genre along with hurt/comfort it's my jam. And I love the way you did the angst here both emotional and mental, it makes the reader feel as uncomfortable as the poem's protagonist but your amazing writing style keeps them hooked. You can truly feel what the pain our protagonist feels. Since I don't have a rating for this sub-genre I'll give it a 5 out of 5.

Overall score:

Title: 9 out of 10

Cover: 5 out of 10

Summary: 5 out of 5

First and second impression: 10 out of 10

Grammatical: 4 out of 5

Genre:

Poetry Category 1: 4 out of 5

Poetry Category 2: 10 out of 10

Sub Genre:

Angst Category 1:  5 out of 5

Final Score: 9 out of 10 while there are a few things that need tweaking here and there your book it practically perfect. I absolutely loved it and it was an enjoyable read which drew me in and kept me hooked with its scene scripting and pure creativity.