"Internalize"

“Internalize”

Written by J.A. Handville

Review written by Diana Iozzia

“Internalize” is a collection of poetry by the self-published poet, Joshua Handville, a.k.a. J.A. Handville. His poetry collection is separated into two “hemispheres”, which equates to one half of the book dedicated to his past and the other hemisphere about hope.

Joshua Handville’s poetry is about mental health, heartbreak, self-worth, and how we treat others. Typically, this is not the type of poetry I am drawn to, but I agreed to read his collection and tell you my thoughts about it. To be honest, I’m not really a fan. This type of poetry is not my type, so I personally did not enjoy it that much. However, if you flock to his certain genres of poetry, I am sure you’d enjoy them.

To me, the poetry seems a bit flashy and a bit forced. Common idioms and expressions are thrown into the pages, but I would hope for a little more than that. I often hope for poetry to be a bit more imaginative, including metaphors, similes, and personification. Showing can be more effective than telling. There are a few illustrations throughout the book, but I was under the initial impression that this would be much more influenced by pictures than it was. Let me tell you which poems I enjoyed most. One interesting element about J.A. Handville’s poetry is that it had a dark, eloquent nature to it, similar to Edgar Allan Poe and the Rod Serling introductions of “The Twilight Zone”.

“Inkwell of Heartache”

“This Hard Place of Weakness and Silence”

“Torn Between Her and I”

“A World Away”

“Darkness and Light”

“Internal War”

“Perspective Change”

“Dying Embers”

“Breathe New Life”

In conclusion, I enjoyed the poetry on a base level. This poetry just wasn’t for me, but I can appreciate the time and effort.

Thank you to the writer for sending me a copy to read and review.