Practices in Apparition

by Gabi Abrão

The second title from Gabi Abrão, a collection of short stories and poems inspired by real-life currents that take the poet from digital, to earth, beyond, and back again.

Practices in Apparition is an offering to ghosts and Gods and the vessels in which they long to be seen. Through communion with both the digital and the natural at great extremes, romances both enduring and tragically brief, theory and revelation; this collection of true stories leads readers on a hunt for the sacred, and often finds it.

Genres: Poetry

108 pages, Paperback

Published May 12, 2026

Reviews

[Karla Deniss · Rating 2 out of 5]

I guess I should start by saying that I don't think I'm the target audience for this book (I know sighswoon's twitter account but I have never followed her), so I'm not really sure why I read it. I like the cover though, and I was curious about it.

There are some moments in here where Abrão manages to say something that is almost beautiful, sometimes even meaningful, but every time that happened I immediately realized it was just some watered-down version of something Simone Weil or Clarice Lispector already said. I did like the story about Gabi sleeping with her friend, it was sweet, but in general this felt as if Jodorowsky were a girl with a TikTok addiction, which I could forgive and maybe even admire as a silly performance, but then 1/3 of the pages are just screenshots of tweets (from Kanye West, Grimes, Trump, Elon Musk, and other random accounts), which she uses to create "poems" in a very 2009 Tumblr fashion. It makes sense that Tao Lin liked this, and I think my aunt who likes dancing and howling under the moonlight would like it too.

Anyway, God can be found in quite a few books, but I obviously did not find Him in this one.

[Ruthie Earley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Gabi’s work and it has been such a treat to follow her literary developments. I loved her longer sort of short story pieces in this book so much. I loved the structures and themes as a whole. I didn’t enjoy the twitter poems and I was disappointed that it took up so much of this small book, they fell flat in comparison and it felt like filler.

[Parker Kulm · Rating 2 out of 5]

So this all started when SighSwoon (Gabi Abrão) posted a tik tok about the creation of her cover for “Practices in Apparition” and I fell in love with the cover. I did not follow her before this so I did not know anything about her or her way of life and beliefs. But I loved the cover and I did indeed fall in love with a book by its cover. So I ordered it doing zero research. She is an independent artist and I wanted to show my support and thought I would give it a read, and that I did.

I will say I like about 22% of the book, a specific number but for a good reason. There are 122 pages in this book, 41 pages of this book are entirely screenshots of tweets she has found on one page, and what is essentially black out poetry on the opposite page. Doing the math that is 33% of the book. 33% of the book is screenshots of tweets on one page and its companion black out poem on the following. That means 16.5% of the entire book is literally just screenshots of other peoples tweets, which I feel is ironic considering the preface at the beginning of the book stating “ All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission”.

Anywho, maybe this is my fault for conducting no prior research about Sigh Swoon. But I genuinely held high hopes for this book.

AS I had mentioned previously there was 22% of this book that I like; Abrão had incredibly insightful thoughts and provoking storytelling (for the little that was actually written rather than screenshots of tweets or copy and pasted definitions of various terms used as a placeholder for topic shifts). I really enjoyed Abrão’s brain, I want more of that, so I feel that maybe this could have stayed in the drafts a little while longer so that we could have more of that rather than other peoples material. The screenshots and blackout poetry could have easily just been a blog post or a Instagram story rather than in printed and published form.

[Gabi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gabi is in my Mount Rushmore of favorite chronically online writer baddies and hearing her whisper-read the story “pretend I’m a ghost” at Barnes and noble in The Grove genuinely altered my brain chemistry and I re-read that story 4x before sleeping last night hoping to dream in the floaty lesbian landscape that it evokes

[groovygab · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love her writing and have always seen myself in her in a very parasocial way. I enjoyed the longer passages, the storytelling was raw and honest and poetic. There were definitely some moving quotes, ideas, and silly spiritual laughs that I adored.

There were tweets from X turned into poems through erasure/patch writing and some landed more than others. If I’m honest I didn’t like entering the digital world through analog means but also found it a unique and artful way to integrate spiritual downloads in a medium we so often discount and demonize. She is saying something there. Poking at our resistance to it in some way maybe.

Anyway! Enjoyed the ride, gabby to gabi.

[Angelina Sutton · Rating 4 out of 5]

books are finding me at the right times again, i broke a glass last week and that might have lifted the curse

[Guðrún Úlfarsdóttir]

Ég hef lengi verið hrifin af Gabi, hún er algjör pælari. Las þessa í viðveruhúsinu í Laka í blússandi roki, og loksins var nógu fámennt til að geta lesið lengur en eina síðu í einu. Hvað þá heila ljóðabók í einni beit. Efnistökin eru trúin, ástin, internetið — góð blanda. Slakasti parturinn er gomma af tweetum sem eru svona eins og blackout poems, mikið frá Kanye West og öðrum þegar kona hans Bianca var nakin á Grammy's, sem er einhvernveginn of bundið í tíma og já, fannst það falla flatt. Annars bara ágæt.

[April Rose]

:,,)

[Anna Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

thank u gabi🙏🙏

[Mia Royce · Rating 5 out of 5]

New manifesto of my life so deeply moved inspired and curious after reading it, saw her read excerpts live in LA and she’s a magnet love her

[liv · Rating 4 out of 5]

The sixth sense meets white feather tail hawk deer hunter meets my brain

[Tharin · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a sign, of course

Stronger as omen and collage than as novel, but perfectly successful at being itself

[francisco rivera · Rating 5 out of 5]

the first thing that i noticed about the second installment from this author was hearing the evolution in her voice on the page. i have been a follower of sigh swoon and her podcast for many years now and have seen her progression, i wouldn't say in finding her own voice, because she always has been rather singular, but in making no concessions to her audience. the opening story had the conversational closeness of her podcast, but also a relaxed sort of assuredness coming in through the writing. it reads like it was written by a Cool Person Who Gets It. she starts at the plain world, the one we can all agree on, and she takes language between her hands and coaxes it, massaging the facts of the physical, to bring the mystery to the surface.

it is impressive and beautiful to me to see Gabi's ethos woven through these pages. we often don't recognize the water we're swimming in, and it's books like these that show you around, it's beautiful clear water that is fresh on your skin and tastes sweet and delicious. the most powerful spells are the ones you don't know you're casting. need to find a large sunbathe-able rock.

[Sydney Guido · Rating 5 out of 5]

gabi’s outdone herself!!! absolutely gorgeous, i loved it. ive been a pretty dedicated sighswoon follower since 2020, podcast listener, and this was perfect. something about the way she perceives things will always resonate with me, maybe it’s the fellow september virgo in me (seeing the september virgo in her 👀), and even when i don’t agree with her, i still respect the vision. also just read this cover to cover while floating in a pool which i feel….really fits the vibe, i think that would be sighswoon approved

my favorite segment was definitely “pretend im a ghost”…absolutely gorgeous.

[Ear · Rating 3 out of 5]

The actual stories and poems were lovely. The twitter section became annoying so I skipped it entirely....and then the book was nearly over.
Sometimes very on the nose, but is to be expected of internet writers I think. I still smiled in the dark in my room reading it, and some sentences will likely stay with me for months; so that's all I can really ask for.
Thanks

[Rawrdiva98 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Gabi’s POV! Been following her for ages and so happy she’s created her now second book. So brilliant and thought provoking. “Pretend I am a Ghost” is my absolute favorite passage. Incredible work!!!!!

[Syrah D · Rating 1 out of 5]

I feel like this is what happens when people who read nothing but twitter try to write books. I mean it's cool that people like the author for their aesthetic probably, but in terms of value as a writer, this is pretentious pseudo-spiritual vapid nonsense.

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, especially her anecdotes about encounters with the supernatural. I would love for Gabi to write a memoir at some point.

[Vendela Werme · Rating 5 out of 5]

practices in apparition was for me an apparition in itself to experience - a ”god” like visit. beautiful poetry that found me at the exact right place and time, best read in one go

[carissa c · Rating 5 out of 5]

body chills sheeeeeesh

[alisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

the truth is, i liked this book and found myself all over it.

[Elly Kirk]

She just gets it

[Sapphire · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love gabi and her brain, she always makes sense to me

[Vivian · Rating 3 out of 5]

genuinely half the book is other people’s tweets

other than that i enjoyed what gabi had to say and her stories and poetry, like notes on shapeshifting her ideas have a way of lingering on my mind

[erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love god ⋆˚✿˖°

[reenie bobeenie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The anecdotes were my favorite. The twitter poems were interesting, it was cool to see the transformation of them. Her strength, for me though, was in the more straight forward storytelling of her personal experiences. It read like part of a novel, or short stories, and I wished for more of them! I really, really enjoyed her writing style in those pieces.

[Fern · Rating 3 out of 5]

sometimes so true, sometimes so boring

ironically, this is the last gift my now ex gave me (he also bought a copy for himself) before i broke up with him for a second time. the book has steadied me through the ending. maybe we get back together a third time, and stay together; maybe we get back together a third time and break up for a third time; maybe we never get back together at all.

fun to read this book at the same time as grieving. the universe is winking at me all the time, just like it winks at gabi abrão

this book feels cosmically connected to tao lin’s substack, to tao lin in general ….

i hope i find my hunter

[Marina M. W. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A whimsical, inspiring, philosophical little book of essays and poetry. Gabi is a sharp observer of this world. I enjoyed the Twitter poems and the way she distills beauty from the mundane.

[Erin Bell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Can a zero star be given? The majority of the book is edited trump and kanye tweets. This book is regurgitated instagram thots by a late 30 year old woman who did not go to college, constantly talks about high school and calls herself an "intellectual". ahahaha i'm good