Surrender: poems for healing, growth, and love

Product Information

Unfortunately, Caitlin Conlon's 'The Surrender Theory' was more of the latter than anything else to me.

While growing up, I never really understood poetry. The odd structure and the abstract metaphors left me confused. The dramatic tone and intense imagery felt forced and unrealistic. Irritated, I wondered why poets couldn't express their thoughts and emotions more clearly so that I could better follow them. Lately, I have been dealing with grief and heartbreak. And because I couldn't find the right words to describe them, I have felt confused, guilty, lost, and lonely. The Surrender Theory made me feel understood. Caitlin Conlon has followed a similar path to mine and has given words and meaning behind my thoughts and emotions. Throughout this book, I truly felt seen and heard. As a result, I feel a little less lonely than I did before. I received an advanced reader copy of this poetry collection from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Shout out to Central Avenue Publishing and Caitlin Conlon. The title - and very first - poem, which is the one I had read and loved before I read the collection, stands out head and shoulders above the rest. A few others that I really enjoyed include 'Pareidolia', 'Nesting Doll' and 'After', and while I understand that grief does different things to us all, most of the poems about it were my least favourite of the bunch. Speed Dating in the Twenty-First Century, or a List of Things You Should Know About Me That Require a Level of UrgencyI don't think all the pieces in this collection are equally strong. There were some that didn't keep my attention, making it feel a bit long. I also didn't find the use of repetition powerful in every poem. Some just came across as distracting to me. I noted "The Red Room" as one example. The color red is so striking that it paints the whole poem right away. At times I thought pieces were overexplained, one example being "Linguistics." I think the end lines identify a feeling of desperation that is already evident throughout the poem.

I want to thank Caitlin Conlon for being brave enough to share her entire self. In doing so, she has not only ignited my appreciation for poetry but also made me understand my own story and how I fit into it.THE SURRENDER THEORY is a stunning debut and beautiful exploration of grief, of love, of loss, of growth and of everything in between. Caitlin Conlon is a true gift. I probably would have appreciated and enjoyed the collection more if it was shorter, but as it is, it was a "hmmm, no" for me. Burn", her third book, was released on 4/18/21, and became a #1 New Release. "Burn" is bold, fiery, passionate, and powerful in its poetic journey through the multitudes of life, self, and love. Most of the book's poetry uses fire metaphors, imagery, and/or allusions. Stef cites "Burn" as the book that "put her on the map" as a modern poet.

I love that the poet found love after it all, and the poems to and about her partner are a lovely change of pace in this collection, but after all the death and heartache and sadness, they almost feel... Misplaced. Fortunately, a great friend of mine showed me The Surrender Theory. And because of that friend and this book, I am better able to understand poetry, but more importantly, I am better able to understand myself. See, I didn't understand poetry before because I was reading it through the eyes of a kid who had yet to experience true loss, grief, heartbreak, or any complex emotion for that matter. These are all feelings that are difficult to truly understand, let alone communicate to others. A simple and straightforward narrative cannot accurately display the effect these emotions have on a person. However, poetry seems to give you the freedom to express complex thoughts and emotions in whatever way you can.

Customer reviews

Much of the collection feels both formulaic and juvenile, and while there are glimmers of brilliance, a lot of Conlon's work in this collection falls flat to me. Authored Works: Stefanie Briar is a queer 37-year-old poet and editor from New Jersey. She is known for creating powerful, relatable, accessible poetry and prose that stands out from the crowd. Her goals are to make her readers feel seen/understood and to prove that poetry is not a dead language. Aside from her own author career, she uses her university degrees and 14 years of experience teaching English to work as a freelance editor. Poets who are publishing books of their own hire her to edit and proofread their manuscripts. There isn’t much that scares me more than my own heart, a monster of tenderness. I have an irrational fear that I’ll wake to find it perched at the foot of my bed, begging to be torn apart, consumed in the name of compassion. And that’s incredibly terrifying for a few different reasons but mainly because I’d do it. I’ve never needed an excuse to sacrifice myself for love. I’m a martyr for everything soft. I confess to you: I’d bleed for anything if it held me the right way. I confess: I have. I have.”