The Tinder Sonnets

by Jennifer LoveGrove

Unabashedly confessional, radically vulnerable, hyper-visible Lovegrove's sonnets sally against the long-standing and subjugating demand that “women of a certain age” be rendered invisible, non-sexual, and accept this politely. These poems refuse invisibility; instead, they confront and subvert it, often uncomfortably so, while experimenting with traditional forms like the sonnet and the conventional lyric. The Tinder Sonnets is a refusal to recede from view, to cede sexual space, to be quiet and polite. It is a messy, dirty celebration of contemporary life – dating apps, sex, difficult conversations, pleasure, disappointment, betrayal, anger, family, identity, art and life.

Genres: Poetry

132 pages, Paperback

Published April 7, 2026

About the author

Jennifer LoveGrove’s newest book is the poetry collection The Tinder Sonnets (April 2026, Book*hug Press). Beautiful Children with Pet Foxes, published in spring 2017, was longlisted for the Raymond Souster Award. Her novel Watch How We Walk was longlisted for the Giller Prize. She has two other poetry collections: I Should Never Have Fired the Sentinel and The Dagger Between Her Teeth. She divides her time between downtown Toronto and rural Ontario.

Reviews

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed these poems! Full review soon!
Thank you to the publisher for my free review copy!

[Robyn Diner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shoutout to The Tinder Sonnets for breathing innovative life into all too familiar online dating stories.

This poetic yet edgy collection is full of ironic and unflinching feminist insights that contrast folk tales, everyday objects and nature with the darker side of dating apps in ways that question how we’ve even normalized the possibility of finding loving and lasting relationships online.

Or to sample a snippet of a sonnet:

“June walls dissolve all jaune no wait — so jeune.
Mercaptan, Captain shaddock, serrated
spoon. Ten years since I fucked anyone new.
Black dress, Lou Reed, lilac heels — so cliché!
Weeks of text before we meet: covenant,
M —’ s Belgian mother, real life Scrabble champ.
Listen, sometimes the antidepressants
mean I can’t get hard. It’s not your fault. Ok?”

In the notes following the poems, LoveGrove says she had way more fun writing about online dating than dating itself. No doubt. The Tinder Sonnets are a really witty and worthy read.

♡♡♡

[Tiffany ✨️ Bergamot Book Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a selection of poems that is aggressively feminist. They're vulnerable, critical, and shine a light on how casual misogyny is, especially (but not limited to) within the dating sphere. We see through the lens of the author as she pushes against the boundaries of how women acknowledge the predator in their midst - through being used, discarded, passed over, abused and ghosted - but praised for the body and virility they provide. It's dark and heartbreaking, rage-filled and utterly delicious in how it shines a light on society, and one that often pushes women to hide their treatment in the dark, through code words, and through softening themselves. This was an absolutely delightful collection of poems that every woman should read, if only to feel seen.

*****

I was sent a complimentary advanced reader copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.