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I don’t always read poetry, but I won "It's Getting Harder and Harder To Tell the Two of You Apart" by Casey Renee Kiser and Johnny Scarlotti through a giveaway on LibraryThing.

And if you are already familiar with my “reading rules”, you know I try and read every single book I have ever received, because it’s only fair. And sometimes, the most unexpected books and the ones we don’t actively search for tend to surprise us the most. That happened with this book as well!

"It's Getting Harder and Harder To Tell the Two of You Apart" is written by two authors - two amazing writers of poetry, who have a very similar style of horror and suspense, but also very distinctive differences in their writing style too. The book is split in two parts, and we get the chance to explore both worlds. 

<b>Part 1 - Casey Renee Kiser</b>

The first part of the book was written by Casey Renee Kiser, and my favorite poem was “I am not a ghost yet”. It is morbid and powerful, and I loved the way the feelings and scenes were amplified in a morbid sense. I love the brutality of the writing. 

<b><i>“Everything was beautiful the day you died”,
You said as you touched my cold hand. </i></b>

<b>Part 2 - Johnny Scarlotti</b>

I could instantly see the difference in the poems between the two poets, but at the same time, also admire how similar their styles and themes are. I find Johnny’s writing very creepy, much creepier than Casey’s. Especially when the mood suddenly changes and the random “haha’s” and “woahh’s” in the poems appear.

<b><i>Now I’m dashing through the park clipping
Children’s kite strings
Ha ha, that’s what you get, you little freaks!</i></b>

It felt like I was reading the secret diary of the Joker. Either him, or Pennywise. It was so fucked up, but it read as the new normal, which is what a psycho would think and feel. It was creepy, it was wrong, but at the same time it satisfied my curiosity. I think that may be the same curiosity that makes me watch true crime shows, crime confessions and old interview with Ted Bundy. And I really enjoyed it. 

If I could change anything about my experience with this book, I would have read this for Halloween. I think it would have been the perfect experience, next to a lot of red candles and dim lighting, alongside some quiet creepy music. 

I would recommend "It's Getting Harder and Harder To Tell the Two of You Apart" to all fans of horror poetry - it is dark and twisty, brutally honest and creepy, and it will pull you over to the dark side, even for a day. 
  
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Sam (74 KP) rated The Poet X in Books

Mar 27, 2019  
The Poet X
The Poet X
Elizabeth Acevedo | 2018 | Fiction & Poetry
8
7.8 (6 Ratings)
Book Rating
I actually didn’t flick through the book before buying it, so I didn’t realise that the whole story is told through poems. I was a bit unsure with this to begin with because I tend to struggle quite a bit with understanding poetry, but I was glad to see that this was really easy to understand!

I wish I’d had this when I decided that I really hated poetry throughout school and college because I feel that this teaches how form and structure can change the mood a poem better than any teacher can explain it to you. The form is constantly changing throughout the book and it always reflects the poet’s mood, which I found fascinating.

I do feel that the format did hold the plot back a bit, mainly because the plot had room for development but I felt that it was held back by being written in poetry format. There were a few parts that remained ambiguous because of the format meaning that events were sometimes lacking in detail.

I loved X, she’s strong and won’t let anyone tell her what to do, and she really just needs some love. However, it did annoy me how Aman took her back straight away after the way she treated him. I found that part frustrating because she acted horribly to him, but he seemed to just not care. I also wondered how she even had friends with the way she treated people around her. I understand that she had family problems, but she was absolutely horrible to some of her friends but they still stuck by her.

Even though I did get frustrated by these things, it didn’t stop me from enjoying the novel. The format made it fun and I did somehow finish it all in one day because it had me hooked.

It’s definitely worth reading, especially if you are into poetry – or even if you’re not!