Review (Trying desperately not to spoil it and probably failing)
It is at first difficult to express in words the exact response to reading Idgie’s poetry in 'The Witch and the Wolf'. On the one hand, she captures through beautiful imagery and raw sensory feeling the fire and passion of what is perhaps a dangerous love affair. Emotions and feelings that will no doubt be all too familiar to anyone that has ever felt like this before. But for me it was the sense of longing and loss that followed, and how such feelings rip and tear at your chest when you realize that the passion and fire are over, and it’s no longer there.
Idgie’s greatest strength is not the writing, though this is not a critique of her writing which is itself beautiful in its simplicity. It is her ability to capture the true essence of raw emotion, not just in the abstract but in the chest, and heart, and stomach of the reader. As it did for me.
There is nothing negative to offer about this work, except to say that at the end I am left thirsting for more, to know more. But then again, that is also a tremendous strength of this work. It gives enough and allows the reader to fill in the rest. To place themselves in the role either as the witch whose heart is broken by the wolf's betrayal or by the wolf who is left empty knowing that he must live with what he has done to the woman he so desperately loves.
'The Witch and the Wolf' is dark in its imagery, but there is true beauty in that darkness. No doubt everyone who reads this will feel every knot and every twist of emotion. Not superficially, but viscerally, and in their chest because we have all (most of us at least) been either the Witch or the Wolf at various times. It is a tragedy, yes, but not in the greek or Shakespearian sense, but in a far more human sense. We have all made mistakes in life, some greater than others, and this captures the aftermath of living with the guilt and shame of betrayal and the heartache of being betrayed.
Rating
Poetry is often difficult to rate, not least of all because of its subjectivity. The emotions portrayed depends first and foremost on their reliability to the reader. But this work is certainly widely relatable, despite its darkness. I think my ratings will be somewhat different for poetry than for novels, which I would argue makes sense since the two of them serve very different purposes. Finally, a quick thank-you to Idgie for writing this, she is someone that often frequents my Twitter feed and someone that I regularly share a joke with online. However, do not for one second think that this review is about being nice, this truly is work worth reading, and I hope to see more soon enough.
Emotion - 10/10
Imagery - 9/10
Writing - 9/10
Overall - 9.5/10
Author Details
You can find her website here for more - https://idgiestark.com/
You can also follow her on Twitter - @IdgieStark