Olivia Gatwood

"A dazzling debut collection of raw and explosive poems about growing up in a sexist, sensationalized world, from a "ferocious" (BBC), "beautifully vulnerable" (Nylon) new talent. i'm a good girl, bad girl, sad girl, dream girl girl next door sunbathing in the driveway i wanna be them all at once, i wanna be all the girls i've ever loved Lauded for the power of her writing and having attracted an online fan base of millions for her extraordinary spoken-word performances, Olivia Gatwood is a thrilling new voice in contemporary feminist poetry. In Life of the Party, she weaves together her own coming of age with an investigation into our culture's romanticization of violence against women. In precise, searing language--at times blistering and riotous, at times soulful and exuberant--she explores the boundary between what is real and what is imagined in a life saturated with fear. How does one grow from a girl to a woman in a world wracked by violence? Where is the line between perpetrator and victim? What is the meaning of bravery? Visceral and haunting, this multifaceted collection illustrates that what happens to our bodies makes us who we are"--

Poems

Life of the Party

Olivia Gatwood aims to highlight the issue of women being objectified in true crime media. The tone and atmosphere of the poems reflect the theme, but I didn’t feel emotionally connected to the poems themselves. Not even one. 

I found the author’s note more engaging, where Gatwood discusses how true crime often focuses on dramatic, stranger-on-stranger crimes while ignoring the more common violence committed by people close to the victims. She also critiques how true crime media perpetuates harmful stereotypes and overlooks the experiences of marginalized women.

I rated it 2 stars because I appreciate the author’s intent, but the poems didn’t bring out any emotional reaction from me. 

🌟 2 Stars 🌟

Olivia Gatwood aims to highlight the issue of women being objectified in true crime media. The tone and atmosphere of the poems reflect the theme, but I didn’t feel emotionally connected to the poems themselves. Not even one. 

I found the author’s note more engaging, where Gatwood discusses how true crime often focuses on dramatic, stranger-on-stranger crimes while ignoring the more common violence committed by people close to the victims. She also critiques how true crime media perpetuates harmful stereotypes and overlooks the experiences of marginalized women.

I rated it 2 stars because I appreciate the author’s intent, but the poems didn’t bring out any emotional reaction from me. 

armoni mayes

I wanted to start reading more poetry this year and this is a good place to start if you are too. It does not require much analyzing to understand the point Gatwood would express through her poems-but that’s what i loved about it. Her poems express how awful and terrifying true crime culture is and how fascinated people become with girls that are murdered, as well as their perpetrator. There is also coming-of-age poems as well as healing and love poems (lgbtq for the win). 
My favorite poems were:  sound bites while we ponder death, ode to my jealousy, my favorite murder, she lit up every room she walked into, ode to the unpaid electric bill & 2014.

____________ "I am stirred by the poems in this book - it is a sharp, unflinching collection of poems about girlhood, wonder, casual everyday violence." Yrsa Daley-Ward, author of 'bone' and 'The Terrible' In this multi-faceted collection of odes, anecdotes, sonnets and prose, Olivia Gatwood weaves together the trials and triumphs of growing up and explores the many ways that fear and violence can be internalized in a woman's psyche. At times blistering and riotous, at times soulful and exuberant, Life of the Party is about what it means to be a girl and a woman in today’s world and the challenge of briefly being both. In powerful, piercingly candid language, Gatwood asks: How does one grow from a girl to a woman in a world wracked by violence? What happens to our bodies that make us who we are? Is this fear really irrational? A dazzling collection of raw and explosive poems from a thrilling new feminist voice.

If A Girl Screams, and Other Poems

Alba Ramos

i lit cried with the ode to the women of long island and i had to put the book down and then reread the second poem and ive marked so many poems i cant

Maria

While I appreciate the conversation that this poetry collection tries to spike in regards to the way true crime objectifies women, I found I didn’t connect to the poems in any major way. They were atmospheric and appropriate for the subject in question, but not  moving  in any way. If anything, I think I liked the author’s note at the beginning the best. There is a lot to be said about how true crime treats its victims, how it tends to romanticize the heinous tragedies women endure, how more often than not true crime tends to be presented through racist and misogynistic perspectives. I wish this collection had been a bit bolder than it turned out to be, because from the author’s note alone I was hooked. That being said here is a (rather long) passage I thought was very well put, and deserves a more thorough discussion: “I want to believe that the motivation behind most true crime is to bring to light the epidemic of women’s murder worldwide, to use nonfiction storytelling as a method of illuminating a clear pattern. But I don’t believe that. If that were true, it wouldn’t focus on crimes committed by random strangers, and instead would reveal the much more common perpetrators: men whom these women knew and often loved. If true crime were truly mission-oriented, it would focus on the cases that are not explicitly perverse and shocking, the ones that are familiar, fast, and happen at home. If true crime sought to confront the reality of violence against women, it would not rely so heavily on fear-mongering narratives of cisgender white girls falling victim to men of color. Instead, it would acknowledge that indigenous women experience the highest rates of homicide, often at the hands of white men. It would depict the stories of the several transgender women murdered each month, or the countless black, brown, and indigenous women who have gone missing without so much as an investigation. [...] True crime, while being a genre that so many women rely on for contorted validation, is, simultaneously, a perpetuator of misogyny, racism, and sexualized violence—all of which is centered around one, beloved, dead girl. It is a genre primarily produced by men.” 
I am giving this 3 stars (which I personally consider a good rating) because, like I said, I can see what the author was trying to do, and I appreciate that. I also realise that poetry is a very subjective genre, and while I may not have connected to the poems, or thought that they spoke to me in regards to the overarching subject in any significant way, doesn’t mean it won’t do it for other people.

tahmida tasmia

some of the poems were good, some made me question what on earth i was reading 

the line between criticism of the murder and violence women face and romanticisation of it becomes really blurry at about midway; that just doesn't sit right with me 

it's an interesting idea and take on rape and abuse culture but the delivery was so poor that it was agonizing to read at some points

This poetry collection explores difficult subject matter that may feel overly raw or exposing for some readers. While it aims to provide insight into trauma, the poems lean so heavily into vividly detailing painful experiences that the work tends to alienate rather than enlighten or connect with readers. There may be room for the poet to balance the desire for authentic self-expression with more universality and nuance. Additional focus on conveying endurance, growth, wisdom gained, or messages of hope could make this collection feel less gratuitous while still retaining its emotional potency.

Liana

elif sinem

The first half is incredibly forensic. What I mean by that is that, almost as if motivated by the introduction chapter, the author is just dissecting the topic with a scientific motivation and not out of genuine passion for what's presented. As a result a lot of the poems are pretty to read but do nothing. But once "the lover as a cult" hits in the halfway mark it gets charged, personal, emotional, queer (!!!!!!) and revealing. It gets REALLY good. Just a shame that it takes 60% to get to that point.

Recommended: The Lover as Corn Syrup

Maggie

The true crime poems weren’t for me. At its best when discussing girlhood, bjs and liberation. “Girl” is a masterpiece.

Jen Estrella

[...] I told you 
that when
I'm sad
i do not
eat. you
said you
did not
love me 
& i let
the forks 
turn to rust.[...]

Gabriel Noel 

ARC Given by Edelweiss for Honest Review

Olivia Gatwood really blew me away with this collection of poems. These are raw and honest pieces that delve into femininity, becoming a woman, sexuality, and accepting oneself. I am specifically drawn to the poem "If a Girl Screams in the Middle of the Night" for its take on the female experience of crying for help and the world wanting to keep it quiet. I can't wait to see what else Gatwood has in store for us down the line.

Paulina 

Charlie de Zeeuw

- TW for sexual abuse, serial killers, murder, thoughts of suicide etc.

- Quite confrontational. I made myself read it in two days which I shouldn’t have done. You really need to take a while to analyse these poems since they’re harsh, cruel en factual in the worst ways. Discussing a range of intense topics surrounding females and how they are treated by the male species in this society.

- I liked some pieces a lot more than others which was to be expected in a bundle of poetry and short stories. Sometimes the author tried to use too complicated of a manner of writing which could get confusing. 

- I would not recommend boys to read this which I wish I could. I want to be able to do so to have more of them see what their actions can cause. But this book took the very worst experiences and hyper focussed on them (with good reason since they are so day to day now). And I’ve come to know enough men to know they are not open to talk of feminism or self improvement without being left space to think they can be better than the examples given.

Life of the Party Poems

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