I really enjoy NK Jemisin’s writing, and this was another smoothly written, well-characterized, fun read for me! Also Robin Miles is a great narrator. I did feel a little bored sometimes, and definitely was less interested in the city setting compared to books with a greater focus on the beyond-human world. Also, there were loads of references to Lovecraft, and I felt I was maybe missing out by never having read any of his stuff. That is fine, just took away from my enjoyment a bit. Anyway, not my favorite Jemisin but I still had a good time.

This book was ok, but I guess it fell a little flat for me. The poems didn’t offer me a lot of the things I like most in poetry - I didn’t enjoy much in the way of lyricism, unique phrases, elegant puns, fun line breaks, etc. I also hoped for more unique details about the settings, since they are places I’ve spent a lot of time and loved. The poems felt more like a basic explainer for those from far away and it just wasn’t very exciting for me. I’d be very curious what someone else thinks who has less knowledge of the area, that might make it more exciting to read.

Plume explored the history and people of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in a format that worked really well for me. The poems were fascinating and hit me emotionally as well. They helped humanize a lot of information about a complicated topic. I learned a lot that I really should have learned growing up relatively close to that area, but I suppose it’s not the pretty side of history for the textbooks. I’m really glad I found this one on the shelf of my local used bookstore! The poems are very accessibly written, even for a silly person like me who misses many metaphors. I mean, they might be full of metaphors, I wouldn’t know, but my literal reading was fulfilling enough. I also thought the structure and syntax of the poems was nice, it often sounded really nice and read smoothly. The poem structures and techniques were expertly used to convey the stories. I’d recommend this book to both poetry lovers and those who are interested in the history of the Cold War and US nuclear production.