Assembly Required is the debut collection from contemporary poet, Joseph Interligi. Interligi, who is more commonly known simply as -Hooves- to his readers, works words in unexpected ways as he takes readers on a journey through the soul and back again. He makes no bones about his own shortcomings, instead choosing to embrace these imperfections and turn them into unlikely art. Sit back and enjoy -Hooves- fanciful twists on traditional word pairings while simultaneously traversing heartbreakingly vulnerable topics. A rule-breaker through and through, -Hooves- is sure to resonate with those looking for something a bit more down to earth and relatable in the world of poetry.
My Review:
Rating: 3.75/5 stars.
I'd firstly like to thank Joseph for gifting me a copy for an honest review. "I grew to be a terrible writer", words from the author himself. The whole notion that we as writers are always doubting how good a writer we are is clearly presented in this book. We rely on others to tell us our worth but Hooves put his work out into the world with so much courage that he opened his heart up to criticism. This book is the literal journey through love and heart break. Having read many female authors write about this topic I found it refreshing to see it written by a man. The way he writes about love in the first half of the book is breathtaking and it seems anyone would be lucky to be loved by Hooves. We go through the stages with him. The love that is first felt to the heart breaking end. Into the depressive state that occurs by the end. Finally into an acceptance and a moving on that is necessary to healing. I could really see the mood change when I got to chapter 6 and how dark each piece became. It would have been nice if there were more trigger warnings just so the reader is aware of any triggering pieces. Also not all the pieces seemed to flow as well as they could. Maybe tenses were a bit off in some places which made some pieces harder to read. Reading between the lines and interpreting certain pieces, Hooves has been through a lot of painful experiences that I can't imagine going through. Overall, I thought this book was good and followed a good structure but not all the poems were to my taste or that I could relate to. Amy x
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