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mothman_nipples's review
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
5.0
Fantastic. One of my favorite Poetry books
richardleis's review
5.0
Haunting, heartbreaking, and highly accomplished. The razor-sharp poems in Donna Lynch's latest collection mix the real and all-too-common with folklore as powerful commentary about the dangers women face, most often from men, but occasionally from themselves, too, especially while dealing with the danger and trauma. There's a mix of styles on display, including poems that rhyme and poems that contain only a few end rhymes and slant rhymes. These poems are even more powerful when read out loud, each one a crafted soundscape that sonically moves the reader through the landscapes of danger the narrators face or try to recover from. Highly recommended.
erincataldi's review
4.0
Dark, unyielding, and horror filled; this poetry collection by dark fiction author, Donna Lynch is unsettling and impossible to stop listening to. Rather than write about city girls and country girls, Lynch focuses on the county girls – the girls from in-between places, with dark back stories, and horrors abound in their back yards. Folk horror and free flowing poetry mix together to tells stories of predators, murderers, bodies in freezers, witches, grief, rage, and empty old houses. Short and lyrical, this poetry collection reads like a confessional or a diary. Narrated by the author with an eerily calm demeanor and overlayed with ominous and dark music; this audiobook may be short but is seriously spooky. Verdict – this audiobook will be not everyone’s cup of tea, BUT is perfect for those who love dark gothic poetry, true crime, or those who want to get in the Halloween spirit. – Erin Cataldi, Franklin, IN
howlinglibraries's review
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
5.0
Everything that dies
returns
and I want that to be as true
for murdered girls
as it is for frogs and salamanders
Donna Lynch absolutely blew me away with her last collection, Choking Back the Devil, so I knew this collection was going to be incredible as well, but I didn't know I could love it this much. I tabbed practically every other page in my copy of Girls From the County because it felt like each and every poem had something in it that was so important, that I needed to let it sink its teeth into me and then mark it for easy future access to return to.
Girls From the County feels like a merging of dark poetry and true crime as it follows stories that we know are true not only from the author's note in the beginning, but also because they're the kinds of stories we're all painfully familiar with, especially women, especially women who grew up in small towns where everyone knows who the devil on their street is, but nobody's willing to exorcise him.
Donna Lynch is my favorite modern poet and I genuinely cannot recommend this collection highly enough. Her work always leaves me both raw and starstruck in the best possible ways.
Thank you to the publisher for the review copy! All thoughts are honest and my own.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault, Addiction, Suicide, Mental illness, and Murder
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