The Gravity Inside Us: Poetry and Prose

by Chloe Frayne

From rising Australian poet Chloë Frayne comes her newest poetry collection, The Gravity Inside Us .

Gathering inspiration from a life of travel, hope, long-distance relationships, healing, and adventure, Frayne invites readers into her world. The Gravity Inside Us is an ode to whatever it is we carry that pulls us in and out of place, and speaks so insistently of fate. Through writing about her own experiences, this book is a reach into that space.
 

Genres: Poetry, LGBT, Audiobook

224 pages, Paperback

Published April 6, 2021

Reviews

[Natalie all_books_great_and_small · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an audio book version of this book to listen to and review via netgalley and the publishers.

The gravity inside us is a beautiful collection of poems that reflect on love, lost love, heartbreak, sorry, moving on, finding yourself and much more.
I found the physical copy of this book fantastic at the beginning and end but a little stagnant in the middle, however upon listening to it I liked the middle section of poems much more relatable and likeable. Which goes to show that poetry should be read aloud!

[Natalie all_books_great_and_small · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

The Gravity Inside Us is a book of poetry and prose about love, heartbreak and loss.
I really enjoyed the beginning and the end of this book but the middle dragged and got repetitive for me as in the poems all seemed to be about the same person and the same thing over and over again.
Apart from that I really enjoyed this book and would recommend for anyone who has or is experiencing a break up.

[Larisa ♡ · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing me with an audio version of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I've always had problems understanding written poetry, so I thought I might give this collection a try since I got the chance to get it in a form of an audiobook. I thought hearing someone read it out loud would make it easier to focus and hopefully understand what the artist wanted to say. This book was narrated by the author Chloe Frayne. That made me very excited because I thought nobody could transfer emotions as good as the author herself. However, I felt like most of the time she talked too fast and if not, it was very quiet and unclear and again, hard for me to understand. Besides that, I think she lacked a lot of emotion. To be exact, I did not feel an emotion in her voice even once in a little bit over an hour of listening. I actually needed to put in the effort to listen, rather than just relaxing and taking in what was being said. It was a little bit stressful. Once I finally focused hard enough to actually understand what was being said, the music interrupted it. I really didn't like the music. I think it was so unnecessary and didn't add to the book in any way other than as a distraction. I could barely ever determine when one poem ended and when the other one started. I sadly can't say that something from this book is memorable. I don't think it is about the writing itself, I got to hear a few beautiful lines, but the bad narration ruined it for me and I am sure that I missed on a lot just because I was struggling with listening.
Apart from that, I could not relate to what was being talked about. Her experience of heartbreak was very different from mine. I could not see anything in this book, other than an obsession with an ex-girlfriend and not accepting that it is time to leave her behind. I hoped to get that conclusion in the third part of the book because the second part talked mainly about the relationship itself, but no - the last part was, in my opinion, just the same.
I am really sorry to rate this book so badly and write such a bad review, but my experience with this book was very bad. If you are interested in reading this book, I would recommend getting a physical copy.

[Skyler · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed several of the author's poems, especially ones that were sea or nautical-themed. I enjoyed the beginning and ending most. The middle was a bit slower for me to get through. I found the use of 2nd person to be tiring, even though it totally works for poetry, it just began to feel like she was speaking to the same person over and over again.
Overall, it was enjoyable and I would recommend it to someone who is maybe going through a breakup or experiencing their first breakup.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for an electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

A poetry collection with focuses on love, hope, adventure, and longing, this anthology is lyrical and demands that the reader reflect on the words to allow the depth to truly set in. Frayne writes about her own experiences and seeks to connect with those on the other end of her words. Chapter titles include "a beckoning," "saltwater words," and "a home for an ocean."

I found myself connecting with many of Frayne's words, but this in particular stuck with me:

I have given love
every chance
I've ever had.

I won't spend
a moment
of my life
regretting that.


I find that this poem also portrays the driving forces behind the anthology. With that said, I absolutely recommend this, especially to those who enjoy lyrical poetry and seek connection through words and literature.

[DeAnne · Rating 5 out of 5]

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

I wasn't sure what to expect going into this one, but the description I read had me thinking it would be the type of poetry that I usually enjoy, and I was right. Frayne uses beautiful language and imagery in each piece, some varying from a simple few lines to full prose. Most of the pieces were centered on love, both finding and losing love - with special emphasis on long distance relationships. I really enjoyed the flow and progression throughout the collection and how the themes shifted over time as the author discussed the wide range of emotions that are twisted into any relationship.

[des · Rating 5 out of 5]

9.0 ON CAWPILE

The publisher kindly provided me with an arc through Netgalley.

I LOVED THIS. So many beautiful poems and so many I just felt inside my heart. Even if I didn't have the same experiences as the auhor I could still reasonate with them. Also finally a poem about "her" and that was just nice because all poems about "hims" just hit different for my lesbian self.

My favorite:

I hope
the light
is finding you
even (especially)
when you do not
have the strength
to go
looking for it.

[Bryan L · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. I do not usually read poems but I wanted to try something new and the beautiful cover was enough for me.
Chloë Frayne brings her heart for all of us to see it.

“There are poems against my skin; all the places you have been”.

This being the first book I read from her, but we can see she is talking about lose, love, heartbreaks and the difficulty of finding a place where she belongs. But it’s the gravity that connects all of us with all those things, with other people and their feeling.

[Nektaria · Rating 5 out of 5]

*I received an eARC from the publisher via Netgalley (thank you so much!) in exchange for an honest review*

4.5 stars to be more precise

I found this poetry collection to be quite beautiful! Most of the poetry focused on love (sapphic one, YAS) and the inability to forget about a past love after it's over! Therefore they were quite sad and some lyrics were pretty wow! However, they got a bit repetitive and too similar at times!

[Kennedy Coffin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the entire concept of this book. Maybe it's just because I feel very deeply, but this author pulled out such unique depths and levels of my emotions pretty consistently throughout this entire book.
I think the writing is absolutley beautiful and incredibly creative.
I'd reccommend this selection of poetry and prose to anyone who wants to feel something.

[Christine Picard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lu sur une plutôt longue période, quelques pages à la fois. J'aime BEAUCOUP le travail de l'autrice, elle est authentique et ses textes viennent toujours me chercher intensément.

Je le relirai, assurément. J'y reviens toujours :-)

[Melissa Melfessity · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolute new favorite poetry. I think i tabbed every other page. These pages spoke to me on a level i didnt even realize i needed. Wow.

[Sabina · Rating 3 out of 5]

"As long as
our hearts
are paper
and our hands are ink,
there will be poetry."

[Agustín Arce · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5🌟

[Spaceboy3400 · Rating 5 out of 5]

havent even finished it yet but i am already in love god bless the author

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

**Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for providing me a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.**

So, to start, I'm reviewing the audiobook in particular, which is really important to consider. I did not go into listening to this book of poetry familiar with Chloë Frayne's work or social media presence, so it was completely fresh to me although I do love poetry and read it often. I'll start with a brief description of the overall quality of the audio, the body of text itself, and the positives.

First, the audio: narrator's voice (the author's herself) is just okay. She's a bit quiet and mumbling at times, but I do love hearing books read by the author because their tonality and choice of emphasis can be really illuminating for readers! We have a chance to hear the text as the author intended for it to be read.

Second, I'd like to mention something I found didn't add to the audio, and in fact distracted me from the experience of Chloë's words: the music sprinkled throughout the book. It was chintzy and cheesy and unnecessary.

Third, the work itself: this collection centers itself around the power of place, of love, of what pulls us towards and away from both. Alright, alright. Sounds good so far. There are glimmers of real insight and talent, and I wish I had scribbled those specific quotes down in my notes, because I'd like to offer more positivity here. I really loved this collection's title and intro: the idea of gravity being physical and emotional, of overlapping and intersecting worlds.

Otherwise, I can only offer my perspective, which was that it was HARD to listen to the entire audio, and not in a "she's digging into my deepest, sorest spots, offering deep and difficult perspective" kind of way. No, it was hard to listen to because it was repetitive, shallow, and like listening to a melancholic teenager's droning journal. The whole thing could have been better said in just a handful of higher-quality poems, but instead is broken into small freeform poems that repeat themselves again.and.again.and.again. In various overwrought figurative language and mixed metaphors. "You are an ocean, I am an ocean, no the ocean is distance" "I am a petal unfurling towards the sun" etc.

And, just quickly mentioning the second-person narration that undergirds the bulk of her work: it brought intimacy in some sense, like we're overhearing private conversations between lovers. But in another sense, the narrative style didn't work well in shaping the work to feel cohesive; it felt disjointed, as Frayne is clearly directing her voice towards various and different people throughout the collection, but there isn't any distinction between them. I respect her choice as a writer, but I'm noting here the experience of hearing these poems as an entire, complete collection. It felt a little off.

That's not to say I'm dismissive of her experiences in love or depression, or using metaphor to describe it. She's a poet! And as a fellow human, I find those subjects are always moving. Judging this book in terms of literary quality, though, it's just not there. I think it might come with maturity and a healthy relationship with editing. I won't write Frayne off just yet, and will look out for her coming collections to see how her writing and perspective develops and ages. Note: I'm rating this three stars because I reserve 1 and 2 star ratings for truly abysmal books, and this was definitely not awful.

[Willow the wisp · Rating 2 out of 5]

this book So redundant
most of these poems are just rehashed versions of themselves,
its like the same five poems written in slightly different ways; the concepts and themes are always the same and expressed so similarly with the same simple language and cliché phrases .
and speaking of those phrases the author reuses to the point that they loss all meaning and become distracting
here are some i kept track of

"across/against my/your skin" :12

"hands/holding/holding in hands" 57... 57

the word "hope" 32

there are more that i didn't underline but, this really should have been half the length it was

there where also times where the poems weren't allowed to talk from themselves

" i will hold you
with harbor arms.

the lighthouse
finding a ship
against the lonely sea
a shelter
as your legs give out
under torrential rain.

what i am trying to tell you is,
you are safe here"

like you don't have to tell me explicitly what your trying to say, i read the poem

or

"Oh, distance
what an
exquisitely
conquerable
thing
the sea
could stretch on
forever,
but it doesn't
do you understand"

i like this poem but, why do you have to ask if i understand?
idk it just irked me but I'm not a poetry expert

[TheWomanCalledSun · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Gravity Inside of Us was my first foray into poetry collections and what a wonderful introduction it was. In this book the author talks of love, of lose, of heartbreak, and of the struggle of finding a singular place to stay. Through it all though you get this underlying question of what connects us to each other and especially to one person when we fall in love. Is it magic or something unknowable and un-understandable or maybe is it something as simple as gravity.

* I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review

[Kimmy ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful poetry collection. Chloe's gentle soul is reflected in her words. ❤️

[Fernanda W. · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Holding onto you is not worth losing me."

This book was such a rollercoast of emotion, I think I'll need a few days to process it.
It talks about heartache, heartbreak, finding hope and clinging to a lost love. It was confusing trying to make sense of this wirlwind of emotions and to understand when the tune of the narrative was turning, because one moment the author was saying that this book is to say goodbye to a lover that broke their heart, and in the next paragraph they talk about how they'd give everything to have them back in their life again.

The narrative was beautifully written, I'm not much of a fan of poems (or so I thought), but this book was so beautifully written that it's making me yearn for a short collection of poems to see if I'm into it. The main subject, though, threw me off guard. When reading the summary I was expecting a story about different and broader aspects of life, instead it is heavily focused on the "romance" area, leaving other subjects on the back burner. I can't heavily relate to the contents of the book because it's been a while since I last experienced heartbreak (fortunate, I know), but it made me reflect on how it'd be my life if my S.O. disappeared from it. It hurt like hell.

About the audiobook, the audio was so low that I couldn't listen to it in the car, the main place I listen to audiobooks. The narrator has a beautiful voice that complements the story so well, it's soothing and full of emotion, but the narration is rushed at some points, where the words are just getting out (fast) without worrying about the story they're telling and the pacing this story needs, which is incompatible with the text that's full of emotion.

Overall this book was a nice read, I think people who are experiencing the loss of a loved one will relate to it better than me, but I still appreciate the wonderfulness of the words written, even if I can't fully feel them.

This audiobook was provided by NetGalleyy in exchange of an honest review.

[Michelle McGrane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chloë Frayne is a well-known poet on Instagram with 186K followers and attractive typewritten posts usually accompanied by dry or fresh flowers.

‘The Gravity Inside Us’, Frayne’s first collection published by Andrews McMeel Publishing, is composed of three sections: ‘beckoning’ (hope. wanderlust. the pull); ‘saltwater words’ (distance. travel. missing you), and ‘a home for an ocean’ (fate. finding you. falling into place).

The main themes of the collection are love, loss, long-distance relationships, travel (particularly crossing oceans), and home (whether a person or place).

Frayne writes poems from the heart which are brave, honest, and searingly confessional. She allows herself to be vulnerable on the page in a way that few writers do.

Her poetry is without classical form, while being concise, relatable, and accessible to a broad global audience through circulation in an increasingly digitalized world.

“I have always been the girl
with a plane ticket.
I have never known how to put my bags down
and not pick them back up.
I woke up one day with an understanding
that my heart was on either side of an ocean
and I began to live accordingly.
I sacrificed more than I can ever say;
put every cent I could into getting across the water;
grieved the things I would miss on either side.
This is to say, I have dedicated my life to love.”

Frayne divides her life between being at home with her family in a small town in South Australia and traveling around the world, meeting people she has connected with through her career.

She is currently working on two new poetry collections and can usually be found writing at home, by the sea, down antique store aisles, or carrying her typewriter through airports.

A huge thank you to @NetGalley and @AndrewsMcMeel for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Ana Lana · Rating 3 out of 5]

(I received an ARC of this audiobook through NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased opinion.)

Disclaimer: I'm by no means a poetry expert and I usually stick to reading novels, so this was a little bit out of my comfort zone. I should also say that I listened* to this instead of reading it, so maybe my experience would have been different if I read it in the book format!

The Gravity Inside Us is a collection of poems by the Australian author Chloë Frayne. Her name sounded familiar and I realised that I had previously read some of her poems on Instagram.

The main topics of the book were the following: love, breakups, loss, heartbreak, the influence that others have in you and finding "the one". I loved some poems and the fact that the author writes so naturally about her love and attraction for other women. I think that was my favourite part! We definitely need more queer and sapphic published authors and representation and I'm always extra happy to read about it <3

I really enjoyed the beginning and the end of the book, but the middle part got a little repetitive for a while. I felt like a was reading the same poem over a over with slightly different words.

*My problems with the audiobook:
- I personally like reading audiobooks on a faster speed, but I had to listen to this on at the regular speed. And still, it sometimes felt like it was too fast and I could not fully enjoy and process all the words.
- I liked the background music, but I don't understand why they put it over some poems but not over others. I suppose it was to highlight them, but I would have preferred to either have music all over the poems or not to have it at all.

Final thoughts: If I were to read this book again, it would definitely be in book format instead of audio!

[Sara Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Gravity Inside Us by Chloe Frayne was a beautiful collection of poetry. This is going to be a very mixed review, as I really enjoyed the poetry, but I did have a few issues with the audiobook format.

First, the poetry. I enjoyed most of the poetry. I loved the theme of gravity, loss, grief, love, time, space, nature, etc. I found them unique, and I connected with many of them.

Second, the narration. While I usually enjoy books narrated by the authour, I found this one difficult to listen to. First of all, I did not love Chloe's voice. I got used to it as the audiobook went, but it was not one I would seek out in the future. Also, usually I find authors put extra emphasis in certain parts of their work when they are speaking it aloud. I also tend to listen to my audiobook on a faster speed than 1X. I found Frayne just spoke as fast as she could throughout most of the book. She sounded very robotic and lacked a lot of emotion and emphasis. I had to turn it lower than 1X, and I still found it way too fast to fully enjoy the poetry.

Third, the music. Often, I love sound effects and music in audiobooks. While I did not mind the music, I thought it was just okay, and it was not fully necessary.

Overall, the poetry collection was very enjoyable. but in the future, I will be enjoying this in a book format and not audiobook.

4.75 for the book
2 for the narration

I received an advanced audiobook from Andrews McMeel Audio through NetGalley. All opinions are 100% my own.

[Bash · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want to thank the author for giving me an ARC of this book via Netgalley.


This is a poetry book, which I enjoyed a lot, and I finished it in 1 night, proud to say I liked it, it has been a really long time since I have read poetry, not only that, it’s been a long time since I have read a book, especially because I was busy, I think the voice in my head was making me fall asleep because I was so tired when I read/listened to it.

Note: I first listened to this as an audiobook, where I guess the same author was narrating it, I fell in love with her voice and her accent, the instruments in the background and everything she was telling me.


“All I know is that if you offer me your hand I would take it”
“I promise this, I will never leave you with my head full of questions and no one to answer them”
“I just want to be for you something more than a chance you didn't take”
“People ask me when am I going to date again, and I answer when your smile is not my favorite sound in the world”

Those are some of my favorite phrases in this book, they just stayed on my soul, It felt like nothing I have ever felt before reading a book, I thought about someone I fell in love with, and this made me feel like my heart was getting only the happy moments of it, I felt Nostalgic, so I’m giving this some 4,5 stars rating.

I would love to listen to her voice all over again and make me not to fall asleep with the love I emanate with your sound.

This is my own opinion based on my own experience, and I bet everyone has something different to say about this.

[Mariah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have listened to this audiobook at least twice and will probably listen to it many more times before I am done with it. When I requested this audiobook, I wasn't sure if I would like it, because while I really enjoy reading poetry - I have struggled with enjoying listening to audiobooks. But this completely surpassed all my expectations. The audiobook as a whole is only about an hour long, so the time seems to just pass by.

The actual content of the audiobook is all about love; the feelings of falling in love, the hurt that occurs when you are no longer in love, the fact that no matter what happens the people that you were in love with will always be with you and you will probably always carry a little bit of love in you for that person. Then the last part of the book is about falling in love again with another person and the feeling of letting go of your previous love.

If I could give this audiobook ten or twenty stars out of five - I would. This is an incredible experience and the more I listen to it, the more of a meditative experience it becomes.

5 out of 5 stars

[Mariah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have listened to this audiobook at least twice and will probably listen to it many more times before I am done with it. When I requested this audiobook, I wasn't sure if I would like it, because while I really enjoy reading poetry - I have struggled with enjoying listening to audiobooks. But this completely surpassed all my expectations. The audiobook as a whole is only about an hour long, so the time seems to just pass by.

The actual content of the audiobook is all about love; the feelings of falling in love, the hurt that occurs when you are no longer in love, the fact that no matter what happens the people that you were in love with will always be with you and you will probably always carry a little bit of love in you for that person. Then the last part of the book is about falling in love again with another person and the feeling of letting go of your previous love.

If I could give this audiobook ten or twenty stars out of five - I would. This is an incredible experience and the more I listen to it, the more of a meditative experience it becomes.

5 out of 5 stars

[Purple Poetry · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Gravity Inside Us by Chloe Frayne is absolutely magical. I have written and read a lot of poetry, and found myself wanting to return to the poems in this book and re-read them just to savor it a bit more.

Chloe wrote of heartbreak, healing, and love, and she portrayed these universal & timeless ideals in a striking way. She writes: "This is a goodbye. I am trying to write it like it is beautiful, but it is sharp at the edges and I do not understand it at all." This picture of goodbye is one that paints a picture of normal emotion from an extraordinary angle.

I would highly recommend this collection of poetry to anyone who has been or is in love; with magic and care, The Gravity Inside Us will help you feel again.

Thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing me with an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Raine McLeod · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Gravity Inside Us is unashamedly about being a woman who loves women. Dealing with homophobia, judgement, dating someone closeted. It's about breaking up, but also there is so much hope here.

The author tends to be a bit repetitive but ultimately I think she's talking about gravity in a really beautiful way. Sometimes we are pulled to people, it just IS.

There's an instrumental track playing behind the author's narration that only occasionally distracts; it was really pretty and felt super atmospheric. Her poems became a bit more lyrical. As the author, Chloe Frayne was the ideal narrator, and she has a lovely voice.

I would definitely recommend this to anyone who wants to spend some time with love and hope.

I received a copy of this audiobook for free from NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Audio in exchange for an honest, voluntary review.

[Leah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can, with full sincerity, say that this is the only book put out by Andrews McNeel Publishing that I have ever given more than two stars. Generally, I tell people interested in getting into poetry to avoid this publisher all together due to the sheer amount of soulless instapoetry it puts out. I may need to revise my stance. The Gravity Inside Us was fantastic and I enjoyed every second of it. It has accessible language and easy to understand poems without sacrificing sincerity and soul which is a very difficult balance to achieve in my opinion and I've read very few poetry collections that pull it off as well as this one. The Gravity Inside Us is my new go-to recommendation to poetry beginners.

[Khione · Rating 5 out of 5]

First of all, thank you NetGalley for sending me this arc in exchange for an honest review.
It’s a beautiful collection of poems.
The thing about reading poetry is that you search for someone within those verses and I could do that in this book. It’s a gorgeous story about heartbreaks, love, healing... I’m not sure if it’s the time I read it or what, but this book told me exactly what I needed to hear.
Love is a very weird thing, but no matter the gender and sexual orientation, no matter that we all experience different things with different people, our emotions are very similar and this book reminded me of that.