Intro:
Constellation was written by Ardra06. It is a poetry book that covers a variety of topics that revolve around the human experience. It is a very emotional book that features plenty of poems to read along with facts about the constellations and certain poetic forms.
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Detailed Feedback
What Worked:
I believe this is the first time I have reviewed a poetry book. Poetry seems to be rare on Wattpad; I never get poetry in my recommendations (not that Wattpad recommendations are very good at giving a variety of stories/genres), and I typically don't go looking for it since I don't know many people who enjoy writing poetry. So, this was a nice change of pace and also an interesting read.
What I really loved about this piece is how you explain the constellations. The book title isn't just there to be pretty, no, it matters to every chapter in the compilation. The entire book is centered around the theme of constellations, and I thought that made each poem feel much more personal, unique, and engaging. I was intrigued right from the start due to the theme of the book. I don't think I've seen many books that have a central theme in this way, so this was very interesting to see.
I appreciated the hall of honor chapters. They're a very sweet way of giving people recognition. Not to mention very creative. I can tell you put in a lot of work to give your thanks to those who have supported you, and it pays off since the poems you gave them were beautiful and nice additions to the compilation.
There were some very moving and thought-provoking word choices throughout the piece. For example, from chapter 13, "Never liked plain rain but admired the mighty, roaring rain." The repetition of "rain" works in the sentence, and the simple yet colorful vocabulary paints a clear picture without feeling over-the-top.
That's the thing about poetry that made me not get into it back when I learned about it in my creative writing class in my sophomore year. I never cared for the poems that went too over-the-top with the vocabulary and how the sentences were arranged; however, this compilation features a nice balance between the more simplistic terms and the more advanced ones. You blend them together to create sentences that are easy to understand but are also packed full of meaning.
Beyond that, it also gives your poetry a fantastic and distinct author's voice. Each sentence feels uniquely you, and I don't know if I've ever seen any writer, poetry or other, write in such a manner. Your tone stands out and I can tell you poured your heart into every word. Not just because of the subject matter, but because of the word choice, themes, and overall presentation of each poem.
Perhaps the elements I love most about this work are the themes and how many different interpretations the readers can get from the words on the page. Every poem presents a new topic that is packed with raw emotion.
My favorite one is Auriga due to how wonderfully written it is, but beyond that, the message it presents. The opening stanza is so thought-provoking that I sat there for a minute and analyzed possible meanings of the words.
The descent into madness that is portrayed through Auriga's stanzas is fascinating because it isn't portrayed in a typical way. The protagonist goes from medicine to the thrill of sin, which is an incredible concept that can get an entire movie made about it.
Overall, I think this is a great poetry compilation and I enjoyed reading it.
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What Didn't Work:
I'm not great at poetry, so I'm not sure how helpful my feedback will be; however, I will do my best based on how your work made me feel while I read it.
I'm not good with poetry structure so I cannot comment on if your structure is proper or not. What I will say is there were some lines that felt a bit clunky. For example, from the Andromeda chapter, "...realized that father only knows and does keep her unhappy."
The sentence is very thought-provoking and I like it. The only thing about it that feels clunky, in my opinion, is the "does." I feel it may flow smoother as "keeps her unhappy," but it depends on what you're going for with the sentence.
In general, there were times where it felt like extra words were in the sentence to stretch them out to match the other sentences. Another example from the Andromeda chapter, "She can curse out her father with all her might a lot...". The "a lot" feels out of place, in my opinion. Seeing as the word choice is pretty strong throughout the entire compilation, the "a lot" feels like it comes from a different story. It doesn't feel like it meshes with the rest of the sentence, if that makes sense.
Again, I liked that sentence and what it was trying to say. I like most of the sentences in this piece, it's just that some of them I feel could have had words removed to tighten them. I hope that makes sense.
I know I said I don't know poetry structure, but if I may, I'd like to give a suggestion. A vast majority of the poems in this book follow very similar structure, and I would recommend branching out more and experimenting. I read all of them, and most of them follow the four lines per stanza format. You have great poetic skills, so I'd suggest trying new forms of poetry to push yourself out of your comfort zone and expand your skills.
That's just a suggestion if you're interested, but I understand poetry is hard enough as is, and if you have a specialty, I won't tell you to stop writing in said specialty.
I didn't notice any typos or major grammar issues, so I have no comments on the grammatical side of the piece.
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Summary:
- The Hall of Honor chapters are great and creative
- Great word choice
- Very unique author's voice
- Thought-provoking themes
- Consider removing excess words to tighten your sentences
- Consider experimenting with new structures to expand what type of poetry you're comfortable writing
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Overall:
Constellation is a unique book here on Wattpad; it is a poetry compilation. Even if you aren't into poetry, Constellation offers a great insight into the constellations along with some of the origins of certain poetic structures. At the very least, you're going to learn some very interesting information that you won't get elsewhere on Wattpad. It's organized well, and the poems are incredible. I would recommend this compilation to everyone, even if you aren't a big fan of poetry. I have a feeling this piece will get you into it, or at the very least, give you information you can't get elsewhere.
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Thank you for submitting your story. It was a nice change of pace to read something so different. It was written well and I enjoyed reading it. There were countless poems that made me stop in my tracks and reread the stanzas just so I could appreciate the colorful word choice and how the sentences were structured.
I think this is a great compilation, and some of these poems should be submitted to literary magazines if you haven't done that already. Definitely reach out to a local literary magazine and supply them with the poems you like most since I can definitely see these being printed.
Please let me know if you have any questions or would like any additional reviews.