This one was not for me.
Thank you NetGalley for providing a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you for allowing me to read this book. I read a couple but didn't finish it. Sorry, this book isn't my cup of tea. But what I like is the topic that the author brought. It is something that we do experience so often (or at least for me). So I would like to give this book another try, and I will update my review.

I have never read anything written by the author. This is a collection of short stories and poems written during lockdown.

At the very start Jordan provides a contents page giving warning to any potential trigger warnings so you can easily avoid any to make this more enjoyable.

Jordan looks at humans behaviour during different times/events like loss, covid, love, death.

I did like the concept and a few i did really enjoy. But i did struggle and kept picking it up and putting it down, but i think for me this is because i was reading it during lockdown, so maybe wrong time to be reading.

Thank you to Netgallery and the publishers for providing me with a copy to provide an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and Scott and scholars press for the advanced copy of this book. I’ve found mySelf really gravitating towards poetry this year and appreciated the opportunity to read more.
I think the formatting on this copy threw me off a bit and would enjoy more with a physical copy. I didn’t find this writing style was for me but did appreciate the passion the writer conveyed.

This book was sent to me as an ARC on NetGalley. However, all opinions are of my own.
I had really high hopes for this book but it was definitely deflated. I love poetry, but I felt this book wasn’t carefully thought out. It was rambly. confusing and choppy. I didn’t enjoy the ‘breaks’ from the poetry and really didn’t enjoy the some what short stories.
Unfortunately, I really didn’t like this book.

Sadly, I could not connect with this book in the way that I had hoped. Many of the poems, while addressing interesting topics, often felt very repetitive and I quickly began to lose interest. The extracts were interesting to read, as I enjoyed reading about these topics from Wells directly, in addition to the perspectives in the poems. However, I also found that the tone of them changed quite a lot, in which they would feel very effective to begin, but some of them grew more and more informal as I read on, which almost felt as though I was reading a diary entry. There were some brilliant quotable points, however sadly I was not completely impressed with this book.

I enjoyed the poetry but felt the essays were unnecessary. It felt that this was very much a book to promote other works the author had done rather than focus on this project.

It was hard to place the voice of the author and some of the poems were very graphic. I enjoyed the commentary on the black lives matter movement and corona it was very considered, conscientious and thought provoking but overall I felt the book was a bit self indulgent and waffley. It could have been much reduced without the need of the essays and personal anecdotes.

Thank you for the arc.

A lonely Rose is book of short poems and short stories. The themes of the poems are based on last year touching on Covid, gangs , love, lies , politics, quarantine, racism, social injustice. There is a few topics that could be upsetting but the contents page tells you what the poems are called so you can avoid those if needed. Jordan Wells is rhyming is brilliant and his writing is very descriptive. I found some of the poems interesting but find others hard to get in to.Thank you NetGalley for letting me read this advanced copy

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

A lonely rose is a book of poetry and stories by Jordan Wells. I liked that this book warned of potential trigger warnings and informed you of which stories to avoid in this case. This is a fantastic idea and helps the book be more readable for those with said trigger warnings to help them still be able to read the book.
The poetry and stories within this book explore humans and our behaviours. The poems are about many dark sides to the human race such as death, depravity, loss, vulnerability, love, loneliness and even covid19.
I didn't find the book as engaging as I had hoped it to be but did enjoy some of the poems within it.

This is a short collection of poems, that study darker themes. I must say, I really liked this poetry book, and felt like though it lacked structure - it made up for in passion. It’s not hard to digest for readers new to poems.

It’s poems may be triggering to some readers, but it explores the negative and positive aspects of being human.Struggling with depression, unrequited love, and other themes. It felt a bit like Violet bent backwards over the grass, where the author wrote about what they were passionate and familiar with. It’s a good read, and keeps its reader engaged. Though it’s prose can be daunting at times.

Thank you so much for allowing me to review this ARC, to both NetGalley and the publisher!

A lonely Rose

First, I really appreciated the author stating that there would be some stories containing content not suitable for everyone. They even named the specific stories, so if you feel they could trigger or offend you, you have the option to skip. 

I loved this. It was engaging, and I connected with the poems. It was one of those books that I didn’t know I needed, especially in this trying time. The book explored many themes including love, loneliness and the human condition. They were beautifully written, seemed to flow into each other, and I really enjoyed the author’s writing. I will definitely look out for more works in the future.

"The “En” Effect.
First it’s the Engagement,
Second is the Entanglement,
Third is the Entitlement,
And then it is the End."

3.5 stars!
A Lonely Rose is a charming collection of poems and prose centred around love, loneliness, vulnerability, grief, death, COVID, etc.
I really like the poems 'Death', "Scandal They Couldn't Handle' and 'My Dearest'. Love the quote cited above!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

A lovely book of prose on the human condition. This book explores the depths of depravity and the heights of human kindness. I recommend this book for all the love poetry.