{"id":22618,"date":"2020-07-01T01:10:02","date_gmt":"2020-07-01T05:10:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/?p=22618"},"modified":"2020-06-26T08:47:06","modified_gmt":"2020-06-26T12:47:06","slug":"book-review-how-to-unpeel-a-monster-by-nimue-brown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/2020\/07\/01\/book-review-how-to-unpeel-a-monster-by-nimue-brown\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Review – How to Unpeel a Monster by Nimue Brown"},"content":{"rendered":"

Book Review<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n

How to Unpeel a Monster <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n

by Nimue Brown<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n

Self-published, June 2020<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This evocatively named poetry collection from Nimue Brown is one of my favourite books of the year so far. This volume offers over forty deeply personal poems on themes of lust, love, and the meaning of monsters.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I was delighted to receive this digital volume with its striking cover art. I love poetry. I love writing poetry, reading poetry, and have just recently started going to lockdown-friendly poetry events online so was definitely in the frame of mind for enjoying a new poetry book.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Even if I had not been in this frame of mind, even had I not read or heard a poem for the past decade, this new book would have left me feeling inspired and reflective. It\u2019s difficult to dive too deeply into poems in a review without spoiling the lovely surprises that are in store! But I can say that Nimue\u2019s style is highly accessible; there is no pretension and none of the \u201ctrying too hard\u201d that can spoil a poetry collection. Every piece is infused with genuine feeling, whether that\u2019s exploring the sexiness of consent, the depths of old love, or the joys of the natural world and its wildness.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The theme of monsters and the different meanings of what is considered monstrous reappear throughout the book. The first poem is the title of the book, and skin is removed like layers, or perhaps layers are removed like skin. Vulnerability and the feeling of being exposed are as raw as the subject, cleverly built around the idea of a monster that has created<\/i> a skin to protect and isolate.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Soul Retrieval is my favourite poem currently, although that changes daily. The feeling of missing something not experienced, until you experience it, then realising it was always something you were missing\u2026 I\u2019ve never read anything before that captures that feeling so eloquently. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I will return to this book again and again, because these poems aren\u2019t there to be consumed then forgotten. They need to exist and be replayed, like favourite songs, or beloved memories.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

You can get Nimue\u2019s book direct from the author by commenting over at this blog post<\/a>. There\u2019s also some intriguing info about how the cover picture was composed! <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Nimue Brown is a prolific author, with at least ten other books available to buy<\/a> ranging from volumes on modern paganism like <\/span><\/span>When a Pagan Prays<\/a> <\/i><\/span><\/span>to the fabulous graphic novel series, <\/span><\/span>Hopeless Maine<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/a>. Nimue is an active member of the pagan and druid community and the blog, Druid Life<\/a>, is always packed with relevant insight. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

You can support Nimue\u2019s work over at Patreon<\/a> or Ko-fi<\/a>, and Nimue also has a Bandcamp page<\/a> of beautiful words and music.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

To Purchase Book Click Here<\/a>.<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

***<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

About the Author:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Mabh Savage<\/span><\/span><\/strong>\u00a0is a Pagan author, poet and musician, as well as a freelance journalist.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

She is the author of A Modern Celt: Seeking the Ancestors<\/a> & Pagan Portals \u2013 Celtic Witchcraft: Modern Witchcraft Meets Celtic Ways<\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Book Review How to Unpeel a Monster by Nimue Brown Self-published, June 2020     This evocatively named poetry collection from Nimue Brown is one of my favourite books of the year so far. This volume offers over forty deeply personal poems on themes of lust, love, and the meaning of monsters. I was delighted to receive this digital volume with its striking cover art. I love poetry. I love writing poetry, reading poetry, and have just recently started going to lockdown-friendly poetry events online so was definitely in the frame of mind for enjoying a new poetry book. Even if I had not been in this frame of mind, even had I not read or heard a poem for the past decade, this new book would have left me feeling inspired and reflective. It\u2019s difficult to dive too deeply into poems in a review without spoiling the lovely surprises that are in store! But I can say that Nimue\u2019s style is highly accessible; there is no pretension and none of the \u201ctrying too hard\u201d that can spoil a poetry collection. Every piece is infused with genuine feeling, whether that\u2019s exploring the sexiness of consent, the depths of old love, or the joys of the natural world and its wildness. The theme of monsters and the different meanings of what is considered monstrous reappear throughout the book. The first poem is the title of the book, and skin is removed like layers, or perhaps layers are removed like skin. Vulnerability and the feeling of being exposed are as raw as the subject, cleverly built around the idea of a monster that has created a skin to protect and isolate. Soul Retrieval is my favourite poem currently, although that changes daily. The feeling of missing something not experienced, until you experience it, then realising it was always something you were missing\u2026 I\u2019ve never read anything before that captures that feeling so eloquently. I will return to this book again and again, because these poems aren\u2019t there to be consumed then forgotten. They need to exist and be replayed, like favourite songs, or beloved memories. You can get Nimue\u2019s book direct from the author by commenting over at this blog post. There\u2019s also some intriguing info about how the cover picture was composed! Nimue Brown is a prolific author, with at least ten other books available to buy ranging from volumes on modern paganism like When a Pagan Prays to the fabulous graphic novel series, Hopeless Maine. Nimue is an active member of the pagan and druid community and the blog, Druid Life, is always packed with relevant insight. You can support Nimue\u2019s work over at Patreon or Ko-fi, and Nimue also has a Bandcamp page of beautiful words and music.   To Purchase Book Click Here. *** About the Author: Mabh Savage\u00a0is a Pagan author, poet and musician, as well as a freelance journalist. She is the author of A Modern Celt: Seeking the Ancestors & Pagan Portals \u2013 Celtic Witchcraft: Modern Witchcraft Meets Celtic Ways.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":206,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":2,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10005],"tags":[10346,10095,10032,12074,12075,12076,10227,10075,12073],"class_list":["post-22618","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","tag-author","tag-book","tag-how-to","tag-monster","tag-nimue-brown","tag-poems","tag-poetry","tag-review","tag-unpeel"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22618","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/206"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22618"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22618\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22621,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22618\/revisions\/22621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}