This was such a lovely poetry collection to read. I think what made me enjoy and connect with these poems as much as I did was because of my familiarity with many of the cities Fernandes wanders through in her poems. As adventurous as her poems sound due to their globetrotting nature, I found that most of these poems highlighted the more mundane moments of everyday life, regardless of location. In addition to wandering across different spaces, Fernandes wanders across time in her musings that I found evocative.

There is a playful element to many of these poems in their tone and form that I appreciated. Furthermore, these poems are introspective in nature considering the simpler aspects of life, yes, but also the complex (particularly when it comes to love), with Fernandes taking in these moments at her own pace.

I admit that I would hesitate to recommend this collection to readers who are only starting to get their footing in poetry. It’s not because the poems are difficult to understand, rather, I think this collection would be harder to appreciate due to the way Fernandes approached many of her poems. Some of them are a bit erudite in that she will be in dialogue with other poets and their works (e.g., Rilke).

I really enjoyed this collection though, and I’ll certainly be looking into more of her works.

Some favorites: “Love Poem,” “Letter to a Young Poet,” “Shanghai,” all of Part II, “Do You Sell Dignity Here?,” “Fuckboy Villanelle,” “Get Your Shit Together and Come Home,” “Phoenix,” “May to December,” “Company, Company,” and “Tired of Love Poems”

Note: Many thanks to Tin House for sending me an ARC.