"I am an all-or-nothing type of person, which is to say i never love anyone or anything halfway- and i can't tell if that is halfway good or halfway bad."

"I will survive despite you."

"No matter the size of my clothes,
no matter how well they fit,
my body is the most
uncomfortable thing i wear."

TW: This collection discusses anxiety, depression, alcohol use, death, disordered eating, gender dysphoria, and toxic relationships.

Cyrus Parker is such a talented poet who I will continue to read and support.
They have such a way with words that is beautiful yet simplistic in a sense. This collection was no different and was such a strong collection. Overall I will be picking up whatever Parker writes in the future!

Coffee Days Whiskey Nights has a very unique concept in that on all the pages on the left side you have the "coffee days" which typically contain the more hopeful, happy poems and the "whiskey nights" which are the more insecure, unhappy poems. I loved this way of publishing the poetry, and I really think having some kind of organizational method in a poetry collection helps readers digest the words.

Unfortunately some of this collection seemed like rambling, unorganized thoughts that weren't relatable. The poems that were relatable or inspirational seemed to only be so in a vague "anyone could have said it way," that's similar to inspirational tweets that go viral, for example. Good words but unspecific, and you aren't sure where it really came from because they aren't incredibly profound. This was disappointing for me because I had been really looking forward to this collection. I think Cyrus Parker has a lot of writing potential and a lot of thoughts to put to paper, and one day when all their skills are honed we'll be blown away.

Thank you to NetGalley and Central Avenue Publishing for this advanced review copy.

This was a truly astonishing collection of modern poetry.

I've struggled with mental and physical health from a young age, so the soul shattering bluntness of the first half of this book was both a blessing and yet hard to read. I felt like the author was writing my darkest thoughts. And yet I turned the last page of this with a smile on my crying face. Why? Because the author managed to seamlessly turn this collection into a spark of hope. It was truly beautiful.

I'd also like to quickly give a shoutout to the amazing color play between the 'good' poems and the 'bad' ones. It created an atmosphere for the words, especially as I read this as an ebook.

Again, incredible. Read this.

I’ve been getting more and more into poetry (again) lately, and I’m so happy that I was able to get an ARC copy of this. Parker does a wonderful job blending brutal honestly and compassion in his works, particularly when it comes to subject matters that can be dark or disheartening. I think, to know yourself as he seems to, and to be able to portray it in a artful way, is a wonderful thing. No matter the person - who they are, what they[ve experienced, or even what type of poetry they like - a person can see the passion (or the horrible lack there of feeling) Parker conveys. The heavier bits are not depressing to the point of being too much and the positive bits managed not to sound like a fortune cookie or self help book. That’s a hard balance to have. People that suffer from mental illness or loss of any sort will enjoy this book immensely, I, for one, am looking forward to the next thing written by them!

Oh guys, how do you review poetry books?

First off, love me a book with trigger warnings UP FRONT. We need to normalize this to put into EVERY BOOK. Also, the edition ???? is beautiful ???? how ??? Stunning.

My constant state while reading this was “did I write this?” ‘cause so much sameness, but, BUT. I feel extremely underwhelmed by this. Like I’ll be “same” with almost every poem but… nothing else. It wasn’t a “omg same!! they put it into words!!” but more like a “same” and keep scrolling. Maybe (probably) it’s because I’ve been thinking and reading and writing about these topics (anxiety, depression, coffee, alcohol, binge-eating, cutting people off, feeling lonely and never reaching out, and overall selfhate) for YEARS now, but even though the book is OK it won’t make a lasting impression on me, no more than a tweet would.

My biggest problem with this book was its inconsistency, tho. There were some poems that just… I feel like they don’t belong to this book. How do you go from “I don’t know what I love anymore so don’t tell me to do what I love because nothing even excites me” to “go! See! Walk and write and read and love! Just!! Enjoy things!!” I don’t know what the author is feeling anymore. And like, I get it, I feel like that countless times in A DAY but this is supposed to be a book??? With a message or something??? I get that we are all contradictory in our feelings and our lives, but the book shouldn’t be. I don’t know if the author wanted to say “I feel you” or “just! Don’t be depressed anymore!” and it really put me off.

So, yeah. I don’t know how I’m feeling after reading it. It didn’t moved me but then again, maybe it’s just me.

Also I’m sorry, I know its fashionable now, but I can’t accept that we are wasting three pages of book in a two-lined poem. Just… no.

Such a lovely book of poetry. Tov the eye these poems seem short and sweet. To the mind these poems are thought provoking and relatable. I've used some of these poems as journal writing prompts because they just make me feel or help me begin to put words to feelings that I've had. As someone that will be shortly entering middle adulthood it was nice to read something that provided the highs and lows that you experience as you go through life and although there are highs and lows it reminds you to take a breath and just be and enjoy yourself in the moment. Great read for anyone who is new to nonfiction or poetry because it is written in a way that you can understand but also has extreme depth and covers some darker topics.

This was a short collection, but oh my god- it’s like it spoke to my soul. This read was unbelievably relatable. Parker takes you from the hope that springs from a new morning and dives deep into the trenches that present themselves at night. The work wonderfully touches on the modern millennial experience and I already can’t wait to reread it.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this book! A more comprehensive review will be posted on social media closer to the date of release.

First of all I want to thank Netgalley, Cyrus Parker, and Central Avenue Publishing for giving me a chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Reminder: if you are easily triggered with sensitive topics such as anxiety, depression, and body dysphoria, you need to practice self-care before, while, and after reading this.

In the first few poems I doesn't feel connected to it. But after a while, I begin to feel cozy while reading the poems. When it says it talks about depression, anxiety, and body dysphoria, it's actually is. It lived up to the expectations about talking those issues. The poems are so sad that it makes me want to hug the narrator. You can clearly tell by the poems that the narrator is struggling but still choose to fight and survive. This maybe a book that's so honest with sensitive topics, but it's also honestly saying that there is hope at everything. It also talks about being yourself no matter what. Even though it has some deep messages I still enjoyed it. I think this will be a perfect poetry book for people who are struggling with anxiety, depression, and body image issues.

It's difficult to write a review for a poetry collection. I really liked it and found some of the things talked about to be relatable. I'm not sure who to recommend this to though. I guess if you typically like poetry and maybe want/need something about anxiety or depression that has an ultimately positive message, then you should read this.

Thank you to NetGalley and Michelle Halket at Central Avenue Publishing for sending me this ARC.

I was immediately drawn to the title of this collection and the dark gothic cover art. I really appreciate the raw honesty in Cyrus Parker's work. It felt like the reader was getting glimpses into private diary/journal entries. I think content / trigger warnings are important so I have a lot of respect for the author and publisher for including them at the beginning of this collection. I can tell that Parker has been through a lot in their life, while this collection still has a very hopeful and uplifting tone - the poem on page 157 represents this beautifully.

Unfortunately, I could not connect with this collection too deeply as it is so short and I felt that it frequently suffered from "Instagram poetry" syndrome. While the alternating black and white pages are an interesting concept, I found it quite repetitive. Perhaps this could have been improved by adding some illustrations at points so the pages didn't look so empty.

In all I think this collection mostly proves that Parker has a lot of potential as a writer so I will look out for more of their work in the future!

Very thought provoking and emotionally raw with themes that I feel most readers can identify with. This was my first poetry book by Cyrus Parker, and while I enjoyed their book, I will say that I'm a bigger fan of their wife, Amanda Lovelace. I feel like a majority of the poems touched me and resonated with me, but others I didn't feel connected to, thus the less than stellar rating. Despite that, the book was very compelling and emotionally complex, and i feel blessed that Cyrus was able to share their views with me through their beautiful poetry.

I can't say much about this since the style of poetry just wasn't for me. I liked the premise and the title and I could say I liked what the author was trying to say. I just didn't click with the way it was written.

Cyrus Parker has a beautiful way of writing, My favorite poems were those about anxiety. I find it hard to rate a collection because each poem is unique, and tells it’s own story. I did really enjoy this collection and will be buying my own copy.

This poetry collection is extremely well written. I could relate to the poems in such a deep level that it is "insane". The writing is so inspiring that it made me want to write a book myself! However, the design was a poor choice. I can't read white text in a black background and since the colours skip so often between pages, it became nearly impossible to read those poems. In terms of poetry: 4.5 stars. Overall rating: 3 stars.

Coffee Day Whiskey Nights by Cyprus Parker opens to the sensitivity disclaimer
“coffee days whiskey nights contains sensitive material relating to the following topics: anxiety and depression, alcohol use, death, disordered eating, gender dysphoria, toxic relationships and potentially more. please remember to practice self-care before, during, and after reading.”

Just with that, I went in expecting to read a poetry collection that would be thought-provoking, disturbing, and/or memorable. I didn’t feel like I got that when I read this collection. Some of the poems became repetitive. I wasn’t a fan of the overuse of pronouns and filter/filler words because after awhile it became a noticeable aspect of the poems. I finished it thinking that it was “meh.” I’m a big fan of Amanda Lovelace’s poetry and the contemporary style so this was disappointing.
Of course, poetry is subjective and, maybe, this collection didn’t speak to me the way it might to others.

Thanks Netgalley and Central Avenue for granting my wish! I have received an eARC of Cyprus Parker’s Coffee Days Whiskey Nights in exchange for an honest review.

Overall, I enjoyed the contrast between each poem in this collection. I haven't seen this style done yet in this type of poetry. I enjoyed reading this collection, especially after hearing Cyrus Parker is the husband of Amanda Lovelace. However, I didn't really connect with any of the poems, and none of them left a memorable impact for me. A fun, easy read, but not heart touching.

I always love some Cyrus Parker poetry. I adored Dropkick Romance but this new collection has quickly become my favourite. I read this copy thanks to netgalley but have pre-ordered a physical copy because I love those illustrations and being able to revisit favourite poems easily. Having said that I did still get to experience the beauty of having the morning/coffee poems on white pages and night/whiskey poems in white text on black.

I also have a fondness for this collection because of the title and the format. I really feel what this writer was going for with the day and night concept but also I love coffee and whiskey and also consume a lot of it so I can appreciate these poems on that level too.

Some of the poems that I connected with most were those concerning anxiety and also those concerning the little pleasures in life. I really felt those poems in my soul and I loved the way they were worded. Cyrus Parker reminds us to ‘post that photo of your pumpkin spice latte, do all of the things that make you happy and share each one of them with the world because we could all use a little more joy in our lives’ and I love that.

I really recommend this book and I can’t wait to fully explore the physical copy soon!

Thank you to NetGalley and Central Avenue Publishing for sending me a copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

I feel as though poetry is so personal - and this really resonated with me.
It told a story which left me feeling inspired and hopeful. I truly felt what this poet described because I struggle in similar ways so this really spoke to me. I feel as though this has helped me, too.
This book describes that over a course of a day, between your morning coffee and your evening whiskey, your entire outlook can change. I loved that there was hope and light within the darkness. I highly recommend this. It was emotive, important, honest and unexpectedly uplifting. This was a real insight into depression which I feel was explained extraordinarily well. I loved it.

Brief but powerful. Each poem contains an incredibly honest emotional charge. This book offers a look at what it is to be in a body that you don't feel like yours, an image that in some way or another you must learn to accept and deal with. It is read in one sitting, but the memory of the experience remains.