Dear Midnight

by Zack Grey

Dear Midnight is a poetic love letter to the darkest moments. A hello to the moon. A break from the idea that love can only be found in the daylight.______________________ we are ageneration ofalmost lovers,gazing with gleaming eyesat the moon,knowing she empathizeswith our same heartsalways missing each otherby nothing morethan those few minutesthat separate darkness from daylight.

Genres: Poetry, Romance, Nonfiction, Contemporary, Love

85 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2019

Reviews

[cloot · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5

"love stays, even when people don't."

[heidi belle · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just go to therapy.

This was an absolute waste of time.

Teenage angst, terrible terrible poetry, this was definitely someone who saw the new trend of short poetry and tried to get on board, failed and honestly just wanted a poetry book published and went the lazy way about it.

I read a few that I recognized from quotes and posts on Pinterest and Instagram (this seems to be a theme amongst wannabe Atticus or Lovelace admirers) and I don’t appreciate that.

I typically quote and highlight lines I enjoyed,
not a single one this time around.

Is this harsh? Probably.
But it needs to be said so you can find your own voice, your own uniqueness, and definitely your own wordplay.

Good luck.

[Alice-Elizabeth (Prolific Reader Alice) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very minimalistic and modern poetry included in Dear Midnight. That kind of styling works well for me personally as I'm not a fan of the rambly poetry in older collections that have been published. I felt the emotional connection coming across to me as the reader. As another reviewer has picked up in her review posted on GR, there was a couple of short moments where I felt a little confused regarding the narration.

[Jessi ❤️ H. Vojsk [if villain, why hot?] · Rating 4 out of 5]

dear midnight,
I haven’t always loved you like i should

it is easy to be persuaded by the way the
sun shines as she greets me. but true warmth
is in the way you wrap my body in soft
blankets of black velvet sky when no one
else is around to case my troubled mind

The sun will always
rise & set,

but at the end of every day there is darkness

your love is not always kind,
but it is honest,
and I will lean to thrive in it
just as i do in the light

[Lashaan Balasingam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Split into three parts, this is a collection that attempts to illustrate the internal psychological struggle of moving on from a toxic relationship as you taint your life with the mistakes of the past. While some "poems" had a fun structure to them, despite their insanely short length (of maybe five words?), most of the time I came back to wondering how these got published...

Yours truly,

Lashaan | Blogger and Book Reviewer
Official blog: https://bookidote.com/

[Angy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dear Midnight is a short work of modern poetry that can easily be read through in less than an hour. I wish there were more to it; however, if it were much longer I don't think that I would have enjoyed it as much. Zack Grey's best pieces, in my opinion, were the shorter poems. Minimalism works in his favor, especially because he is able to convey so much emotion in only a few words. For example:

you smile like
helium
and i
float.

However, what I think makes Dear Midnight stand apart from its contemporaries is the creative structure that Grey has used. He plays with strikethrough, alignment, and even page coloring, all of his choices seemingly done with meaning behind it. I cannot quote his most eye-catching poems here, because it would lose its formatting and therefore lose its magic.

The book isn't perfect. I don't think it ends particularly strong, and there are a couple of other small things I would have changed if I were editing this piece. Yet this small collection of poetry has really connected with me and that is why I would give it 5/5. I want to emotionally connect with poetry, connect with the feelings that the writer has poured into the work, and I have done so here.

[Rhiannon · Rating 1 out of 5]

An entire book full of mediocre, modern day poetry all about glorifying toxic and unhealthy relationships, a heartbreak and how the guy never gets over it, and how he thinks of this one girl while he's with another.

[Erika · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm really sick of the new poetry trends. The strange and awkward pacing, the utter lack of editing, broken lines of broken thoughts and "poems" that consist of a handful of words spaced out in an attempt to disguise their mediocrity as being profound.

[Jordon Greene · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it! Every page is filled with such emotion. Grey’s words are beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time. If you love poetry, then you need to read this collection.

[Jules · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5⭐
8/10⭐

[Jason]

my 3rd poem book finished!

this one i really felt and is my favourite so far.
still the thing is that i cannot connect with the poems is about the romantic relationship. since i never got in the same situation. seem to only read poems about were the women are the one who control the male. but i enjoyed this one and will for sure recommend it!

[Jenni Sauer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful and heartbreaking. I loved the idea that was drawn out- of the pain of being left, of having your heart broken, and how that slips its way into every aspect of your life after that and won't let go.

There were a few times where the pronouns confused me- specially the use of 'she' and 'you'. Sometimes the two were used interchangeably and othertimes referenced two different people and that made it hard to follow a few times.

But overall a solid book- 4.5 Stars

[Chelsea Vincenzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best part of the book is the structure. I love how it is split. Also love some of the uniquely designed poems.

[Fatma · Rating 1 out of 5]

the cliche is strong in this one.

[Whitney · Rating 2 out of 5]

To be honest, I was a little underwhelmed. I got this book through kindle unlimited and it had great reviews, but it just didn't do it for me.

[mar✰ · Rating 4 out of 5]

lifetimes ago,
it was you.

it’s still
you.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though a lot of pages were starred and a lot of poems were marked I still feel like there was even more poetry in that laid flat for me. But, the ones I liked I really liked! Let's talk about them a little bit... There are shape poems in the beginning! I didn't expect that at all, and as someone whose very intrigued by that particular style of poetry I found this very pleasing to begin our story with. Pages 14 and 16 were my favorites. As for the ones I didn't note, they weren't bad poems I just didn't think the additional spacing and extended text added to the power of the poems.

Next, let's talk about how the book is actually set up. It's in three sections: Sunrise, Sunset, and Midnight. First off this is nice distinction to begin with. Secondly, the sections are color coordinated. Let me explain, Sunrise starts like most books: white pages and black ink. Sunsets pages are greyed down some, with the the same black ink- this on is rather fitting because dusk is often the time of day when it's harder to see not quite sure entirely bright or dark. Midnights pages then are introverted; The r pages are black and the text is white. The words in Midnight stick out in the darkness like the full moon would in the sky. Additionally, the mood is different at each of those times in the day, at least that's what I feel between them. But, also, it's appealing to both your morning birds and your night owls and I think depending on which of those you really relate to more will influence which section you gravitate towards more. For me, it was midnight.

Some of my favorite midnight pieces included pages: 60 (I love the line "We are a generation of almost lovers"), 64, 66/67*, 69/70, 78, 82, & 83.

*Its a table of contents poem! Which are always fun. This one in particular tells you the story of this actual book- so I'm glad it didn't happen in the beginning because it would have given away the entire book and its ending before we even got started. Of course, because this was such an exact table of contents to our bigger story I also found it a little repetitive. So that ones a bit of a 50/50 for me if we really talk about it.

Okay, just one more thing I want to talk about. There is one particular poem that is featured in each section of the day (pages 31, 49, and 62). This is particularly fun because the poem keeps changing. In the morning you have the poem as it is, how it started. Then during the evening it becomes a black out poem, changing the meaning. At Midnight the word regret is Italicized and that one slight change makes all the difference. Separate the poems are good, but together in a sequence/series broken up by the very time of the day makes them all the more powerful.

[Frédérique Boutin · Rating 5 out of 5]

she trace the scar on my back
with curious fingers like
she’s finally found a resting place
for her healing hands. 🤍

[Angel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the artistic layout of the book, mainly the division of the sections and the black page work with white words was a beautiful artistic choice to complement the theme of this book. However, a lot of the poetry laid flat for me and felt as if it were more of a journal than a work of art. There were a few poems that blew me away, but considering there was 80 pages and most pages were a new poem, it was rather flat. The third installment was the best for me, and almost pushed the review to three stars, but just not quite. There is a lot of basic elements that take away from the meaning of what Zack is trying to say, such as overuse of the word "very" or the element of repeating sentences, which both make an over-appearance. There is talent here but it wasn't utilized in the best manner.

[沈沈 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m in love with the aesthetic combination of ‘midnight’ and a relationship! I love the idea of the night—though I also love day—so the title already had me eager to read Dear Midnight.

I wasn’t, however, expecting what kind of poems I would find in this book... But I definitely wasn’t disappointed! In fact, this has quickly become one of my favorite poetry books!

Everything about Dear Midnight’s aesthetic, content, and visual style makes me so happy! The amount of raw emotion in each poem had me “Awe” -ing through the whole book—the good and the bad kind. It was a beautiful (yet a bit tragic) rollercoaster that I will be reading again!

[Ambrosia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Whiny

Most of the poems were the same thing just written slightly different so to sound original. Overall just fell short of what I was expecting and all felt more like an extended whine than truly insightful. Sorry!

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous

Beautiful, emotional words, really felt it. A fantastic read! One I'll definitely go back to read time and time again

[Sydney Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heartfelt

This was a creative and beautiful set of poetry. It really captured the emotions of love, heartbreak, and the process of moving forward. It was a quick but enjoyable read.

[Audrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

APR. 2024 — 5★
JUN. 2021 — 4★

[Reagan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think i’m in love with the dedication “for those who are still learning to love the dark”

[alana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dear Midnight was something I picked up on a whim. I saw it on my kindle unlimited and decided to give it a try. The poems in this book are describing a relationship. At the beginning it like a sunrise beautiful and mesmerizing. However then came the sunset. This was the beginning of the end for the relationship. Then came the darkness of midnight. This is where the grieving of the relationship came into play. I may have never experienced love but I have experienced heartbreak from losing a friend. This book just brought up emotions that I wasn't expecting

[nayezi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unfortunately, I found the poems to be rather crappy in general. I could only identify with a few of the statements, and some of the expressions were very simple and not all that expressive. I also found phrases like "when you said 'goodbye' i carved l-o-v-e in my skin just so i would never forget what it feels like to bleed your name" rather detestable. While it may be metaphorically meaningful on some level (and that more likely only by accident than actual writing skill), it's still just weird and psychotic to say.

[Marta Cleverly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I felt like I’ve read it hundreds of times already. The formatting is really really cool and I have to rip my hat to that. The poetry is very personal but not in a wow-that’s-deep-I-connect-with-that, more in a I’ve-stumbled-on-a-private-conversation

[Hallie · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

[CATastrophe · Rating 3 out of 5]

3stars
46% rating