“The Universe of Us” and “Dirty Pretty Things” Review

If you’ve been reading my past book reviews, usually I focus on reviewing fiction. However, I do appreciate poetry, and so I decided to review both “The Universe of Us” by Lang Leav and “Dirty Pretty Things” by Michael Faudet this time! I’ll start by reviewing “The Universe of Us” first, and then “Dirty Pretty Things.”

• “The Universe of Us” by Lang Leav

Here’s the summary about “The Universe of Us” as found on goodreads:

“Lang Leav presents a completely new collection of poetry with a celestial theme in The Universe of Us.

Planets, stars, and constellations feature prominently in this beautiful, original poetry collection from Lang Leav.  Inspired by the wonders of the universe, the best-selling poetess writes about love and loss, hope and hurt, being lost and found.  Lang’s poetry encompasses the breadth of emotions we all experience and evokes universal feelings with her skillfully crafted words.”

The writing style of “The Universe of Us” does an incredibly good job of writing multiple about love while keeping it easy to read, making the poems accessible for pretty much anyone to understand without having to look deeply into it.

What I also enjoyed about the poetry in this book is that they’re generally short, which can be nice if you don’t have much time to read long, winding poems like Milton’s “Paradise Lost” or anything from Plath’s “Ariel.” Despite the short length of the poems, each of them bring about some interesting metaphors and images, proving that less can be more.

Overall, I’m rating this 5 out of 5 stars. I’d recommend it for those who don’t want to struggle their way through winding, complicated poems and prefer something short, sweet, and to the point.

• “Dirty Pretty Things” by Michael Faudet

Here’s the summary about “Dirty Pretty Things” as found on goodreads:

“Dirty Pretty Things is the much anticipated book by Michael Faudet. His whimsical and often erotic writing has already captured the hearts and minds of literally thousands of readers from around the world. He paints vivid pictures with intricate words and explores the compelling themes of love, loss, relationships and sex. All beautifully captured in poetry, prose, quotes and little short stories.”

It’s obvious from the beginning (as well as from reading the summary) that this book is highly not-safe-for-work. Do not, I repeat, do not bring this as leisure reading in public. The vast majority of the poems have explicit sex themes (some emphasize it more than others) and profanity (especially the f-word) is used in them as well, though not to the point of it being overly excessive.

Despite the vast amount of sexual poetry, I really enjoyed the writing style of the poems. Faudet does not shy away from any topic covered in the poems, whether it be sex, masturbation, fantasies, love and so on, and he writes them well. The short stories were the highlight for me, and I enjoyed the imagery he used in all of the pieces in this book.

Overall, I’m rating this 4 out of 5 stars. I admit I didn’t enjoy this one as much as “The Universe of Us,” but that was probably because I’m not as used to reading something so erotic. I recommend it if you’re into some very interesting imagery and a bold approach to any of the subjects covered in it.