The Scattered Purple Flowers - Srivalli Rekha - ★★★★

AUTHOR: Srivalli Rekha

GENRE: Poem Collection.

PUBLICATION DATE: March 6, 2025.

RATING: 4 stars.

In a Nutshell: A proper poetry collection covering varied types of poetic styles. And when I say “proper”, I mean that I wouldn’t have read it had it not been for the author. Some really good poems herein and loads of poetic knowhow. The book would be appreciated better by true poetry lovers.

Srivalli and I have been good friends on Facebook (and now Goodreads) for more than five years. So it goes without saying that when she asks me to read her book either for beta reading or reviewing and to give my honest feedback, I read it and give her my honest feedback. Even if it means that I have to shed copious tears of self-pity when she writes a poetry collection. She’s quite an eclectic writer and can pen anything from horror stories to middle-grade fantasy to mythological odes to poetry. And of all these genres, the scariest to me is … No, no, not horror… poetry. 🥴

You can still trust this review to be unbiased, but can you trust this review for its evaluation of the book? You see, I don’t understand poetry, especially modern poetry. I might read one odd poem now and then, but I hardly ever pick up an entire poetry collection, except if it is for a reading challenge or for author friends. So whatever I have written below as a “review” comes from my limited understanding of what poetry entails. And considering Srivalli’s prowess in poetry, my evaluation of her work would be like someone who doesn’t understand art trying to interpret an abstract painting – I will splutter and stammer my way through a bluffed evaluation and hope that it makes sense.

This is the second poetry book I have read by this author, the first being ‘Violets in Hand’. My feedback is mostly the same across both books, the crux of which is that many of the poems in this collection were too “poetic” for my comfort level with rhymes.

When contemporary poems are written in free verse that looks like broken sentences, I zoom across them as if I were reading prose. (This might horrify poetry lovers, but it works for me.🤷🏻‍♀️) When poems are written in traditional rhyming schemes, my brain automatically reads them in a steady rhythm like I would read music. But Srivalli’s poems have a mix of both rhymes as well as free verse, and hence would be better suited to those who do understand and enjoy poetry.

All the poems in this book were written for online writing prompts. The author mentions the prompt details, her interpretation of the prompt, and also an explanation of the poetic style wherever needed. I found her notes quite useful and many of the poems would have gone entirely above my head without her guiding thoughts. I read quite a few poems twice, once before the notes, and once after with a more knowledgeable perspective. I think my rating might have been lower without these notes because I simply wouldn’t have caught the deeper nuances of the lines.

The 70+ poems in this book come from a variety of themes, and have been grouped in sections as per their core content. Some are serious, some are funny, some thought-provoking and some relaxing. Some are even based on her personal experiences, and some, in her trademark style, are written from the perspective of inanimate objects.

The author uses not just a variety of themes but also diverse poetic styles such as acrostic, chant, nonet, cherita, cascade, and many more. (Don’t ask me what each of these mean! I already forgot, though she explained them in her notes.) It was quite interesting (and scary!) to learn that so many contemporary poetic styles exist.

Most of the sections had at least a couple of poems that worked nicely for me. The only exception was “It is Supposed to Hurt” where I didn’t like any poem, probably due to my reading preferences. (To my ears, poems sound better when they inspire positive thoughts.) My favourites were the poems that spoke to my heart, no matter what their poetic style or meter. I especially enjoyed the poems in the section named “Lost in Memories in a Place Called Home”. But my overall favourite was “Forgiveness”, coming from the section: “Shh! It's Not Personal!”

I’ve read three poetry collections this year - two for author friends and one for a reading challenge. (I hope there’s no more poetry for me in 2025. I’ve had more than my share of rhymes this year!) I can honestly say that this was the most poetic and challenging of the trio. I couldn’t breeze through it and many poems came with a lot of depth that went above my head even after reading the interpretative notes. So it wasn’t a comfortable read for me. I am sure those who appreciate poetry would find the content more soul-stirring.

Recommended to poetry aficionados. The range of topics and informative notes about the styles would also click with those who want to learn more about the technicalities of poetry.

4 stars. (3.5 stars for the poems as they were a bit too challenging for my comprehension level. An added half-star for the super-helpful notes. The first rating won't be the same for poetry enthusiasts, so take it with a pinch of salt.)

My thanks to author Srivalli Rekha for providing a complimentary copy of “The Scattered Purple Flowers”. This review contains my honest opinion about the book.

The digital version of this book is currently available on Kindle Unlimited.