Cover Image: Aphrodite Made Me Do It

Aphrodite Made Me Do It

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Member Reviews

Liked this a lot. It was a super quick read and very beautifully written. I loved how it was separated by artwork which made for a really engaging experience.

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This book of poems has touched me deeply. The way things are told is beautiful and haunting. Some texts hurt deeply but overall this book made feel optimistic and hopeful. I'm also a sucker for mythology, and how it is depicted here is marvelous!

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Aphrodite Made Me Do It is a feminist poetry collection about love, loss, insecurity, pain, and empowerment. It's also a retelling of Aphrodite's story. I read the NetGalley proof on my kindle which for some annoying reason always means that it messes up the lines and images, but I liked the design and style anyway. The poetry itself - especially the parts about rewriting Aphrodite's story far away from the male gaze - was intriguing, but it didn't capture me for long. It was a short read with beautiful words, but at the same time, it felt like scrolling through someone's poetry-inspired Instagram feed - pretty but easily forgotten.

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I really wanted to love this. it felt more insta poet than real poetry. I thought the words and images were very worldly, but for some reason it did not connect in a way I wanted/needed it to.

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Thank you for the opportunity to read this. I will be posting a full review to Goodreads, Amazon, and Instagram.

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(This work was given to me by the publisher, via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review). This poetry collection explores the way that Aphrodite is represented within ‘western culture. ‘It challenges narratives that seek to depower the goddess. Many of these poems are written from the perspective of Aphrodite. She rails at the way that popular culture has represented her as a sexualised, unintellectual being. In response to these representations, the poet presents the reader with a powerful goddess, who knows her own mind and who is very angry. This collection deconstructs gender and presents the reader with a powerful new narrative. I highly recommend this work.

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Beautiful and heartbreaking poetry that I connected with on multiple levels. Not a long read but so impactful and gorgeous. Does go over some harder subjects. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

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This was a little different from Trista's past work that I'd read, but I loved the connection and comparisons between herself and her life today and that of Aphrodite. It was a very short read, but had very powerful points and beautiful artwork throughout.

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I just couldn't connect with the poetry. Maybe it's just not for me, I tried to read the whole thing and ended up DNFing it.

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I very much enjoyed the split structure of the alternating Aphrodite/poet sections, but the latter parts fell a bit flat. The broad metaphors conferred via Aphrodite felt resonant and rich, relatable to women across time and space. A few lines had me pausing to think more deeply on the implications, which is what I want out of poetry. On the other hand, the sections from the poet's perspective were less engaging — they often read like jotted notes to self which, while possibly intentional, didn't work for me. They're written plainly and didn't offer fresh perspective. The illustrations and photos were sometimes distracting and sometimes illuminating. Overall a middling read for me. I would recommend it to a friend if I thought they could really use the message of self-acceptance but probably wouldn't recommend more generally.

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Aphrodite Made Me Do It had stunning potential, but failed to keep me engaged long enough to witness its fulfillment. I'm giving it 3 stars because while this collection was not suited for me, it might appeal to other readers! Thank you to the publisher for the early copy!

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I absolutely LOVED this poetry collection. It may be my new favorite, to be honest. Between the mythology aspect and the real, raw emotions that felt so close to what I have felt myself, I felt understood and seen in a way that no other collection of poetry has made me feel before. I look forward to delving into more of this author's works as well.

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This book was gorgeous. I love Trista Mateer's poetry but I think this is my absolute favorite thing I've ever read of her's. The art is beautiful and it addresses a lot of difficult subjects and it does a damn good job of it.

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I really enjoyed this poetry collection, despite being a bit of a patchy history with most modern poetry. The verse is moving and impactful and Mateer intersperses the poems with punchy photography and art and quotes.

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I enjoyed the different sections and perspectives of the poet versus Aphrodite. Both are strong women with different journeys but similar goals of helping others accept themselves as who they are. I have noticed that a lot of poetry recently has taken this "self-help" approach and I feel like I am starting to read very similar things, but I like that if I am feeling particularly low, I can pick up something like this and feel a little more empowered when I am through.

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First of all I have not read alot of poetry but I am actively trying to do so now. Second I struggle to find a way to review poetry correctly? So! I googled what is poetry?
First answer came back saying put simply expression of feelings using distinctive style and rhythm. In all honesty I dont think this book did have either of those. Alot of it was repetitive but not in a particularly creative way. Some pages were only one liners. In saying that one of the one liners was pretty powerful and definitely stood out to me.
Then furthur down in my google search I got the answer of, Artistic writing that's stirs the readers emotions and imagination. Okay, yes the book definitely did that for me. I highlighted alot of it, which seemed surprising considering alot of the book did have alot of content I couldn't relate to. But there was just enough that in could relate to for me to enjoy it.
For such a small book it covered alot of topics and tough topics at that. I myself connected alot with the family (mostly parent), relationship and self care content in it. It is obviously very fueled by female empowerment which I really enjoyed and the stories of Aphrodite and other godesses took it to another level. Then the art scattered throughout it really added that magic touch to it.
It was a powerful wee book that I'd love to own some day

Thanks to netgalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for a honest review

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Such a powerful and inspiring collection of poems, the author really poured her emotions into each page while including symbolic and strong metaphors to Greek mythology, especially the goddess Aphrodite. Including such raw and honest dialogues, you can tell the matters in the book meant a lot to her and that she wants to encourage others through her work.

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I loved this collection! It was a wonderful idea to present the poems/prose/story as a dialogue between the author and the goddess Aphrodite. The prose was very relatable and beautifully written, and I really enjoyed the inclusions of the visual art as well. I don't have a ton to say except for that I really recommend this book! I have a hard time with poetry normally so it's great to find something I like. I'll definitely be checking out the author's other work.

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Content Warnings: assault, homophobia, transphobia

An emotional journey of self-love, healing, queerness and womanhood.

How do I put into words how much I loved this poetry collection???

I've been wandering and getting lost on my own personal journey with Greek mythology recently and I've been enjoying the experience. I've been listening to a mythology podcast, reading the Percy Jackson series and Lore, Olympus comics. I read Warriors, Witches, Women while reading Aphrodite Made Me Do It, finishing them both on the same day. I've been learning bits and pieces as I go, finding which goddesses I identify with. It's been such a lovely journey for me and this poetry collection only added more magic to it.

The poetry captures so many experiences of being a queer woman in today's society, of what it's like to be a survivor of abuse and how hard healing from society's firm fist can be.

But it also shows how this experience mirrors that of Aphrodite, how her emotions are not too different from ours.

Throughout reading it I did wonder if my eARC had the correct formatting but regardless it didn't affect my reading experience and emotional connection to the words. However, it does make me want to purchase my own copy a little more so I can see for myself, the words how they were intended to be. But mostly I just want a physical copy to refer to whenever I need strength and sisterhood to remind me I am not alone, and even goddesses come across mountains in their paths.

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I was really interested in Aphrodite Made Me Do It by Trista Mateer because I've loved some previous poetry by the author and one of my reading goals for the year is to pick up more poetry so this seemed like a great place to start. The collection weaves the mythological and the personal together, which at times, is quite powerful and at other times feels pretty forced. Most of the poetry, even when it was nice, didn't feel new and even within the collection could feel a bit repetitive. There's a bit of a mix of media in here; in addition to the poems there are some photos that have text written on them, which were nice but didn't really have much of a lasting impact on me. There are definitely some beautiful lines and moments, and it was enough that I would still continue to pick up books by Mateer in the future, but as a whole Aphrodite Made Me Do It just didn't leave me with the heart-wrenching emotions I hoped for.

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