Motion as the Thing That Separates the Living From the Dead

by Liza Rose

A poetically raw, fresh, youthful look at the ever-difficult transition from girlhood to womanhood. Motion as the Thing that Separates the Living from the Dead pays attention to the little details of life and expands upon them in a solemn yet hopeful voice while exploring the topics of first love, first heartbreak, sexuality, self-love, and many others. For those falling in love, falling out of love, feeling out of place, trying to discover who they this book is for you.

Genres: Poetry

115 pages, Paperback

Published August 16, 2020

About the author

Liza Rose (Brady) is an American poet and artist. She received her BA and MA from Penn State, and is pursuing her MFA at NYU. In the tradition of old poets, she self published her poetry collection, Motion as the Thing That Separates the Living From the Dead. Her work has also been featured in anthologies and literary magazines.

Connect with her on social media—

Instagram: @Lizarosepoetry & @Lizaroseeee

Reviews

[Samantha Fink · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I received a copy from Book Sirens for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This is the type of book that makes people fall in love with poetry. It helps people see what poetry is all about. It isn't just random words on a page that make no sense. It tells a story. It draws you in and makes you feel many emotions. The author did an amazing job at showing why to give poetry a chance.

The author wrote in a very beautiful and captivating way. We can feel the emotion from the author's own experience. It will no doubt touch so many who have gone through the same struggles as the author. The poetry style of this book is the type I love. It has a good rhythm and is presented in a riveting way. The figurative language the author uses really brings out important points and makes it more visual. It was all so breathtaking.

There is also a lot of variation in the style that the words are presented. It made the reading experience so much more enjoyable. You can tell the elegance and work put into every written word. It was very unique. Definitely recommend!

[Jovana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I came across Liza's poem "Are There Still Beautiful Things" through a writing prompt several weeks ago and I'm so glad I did - the poem was breathtaking. To my pleasant surprise, I saw Liza was releasing a poetry book and jumped at the opportunity to support such a talented Indie poet. The book was refreshing and I connected with so many of the poems (especially "My Fluorescent Light").

[Joann Schatz · Rating 5 out of 5]

“and if there’s hope, well, then there’s hope.”

this book was SO beautiful. it was both familiar and quaint while also serving deep bone-scratching cuts and gut-wrenching punches. I absolutely loved it.

[Shelby Leigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most beautiful poetry collections I've read lately. Liza's use of language and metaphor is stunning and thought-provoking.

[Krista · Rating 4 out of 5]

I needed to pick a book that intimidated me for a book challenge. I don't read a lot of poetry. In fact, I usually only read poetry when assigned, which means the last time I picked up a poet's efforts was when I was in college. That was a long, long time ago. For this reason, I figured a book of poems would satisfy the spirit of the prompt. (Little intimidates me when it comes to reading so I think I replaced intimidation with aversion.)

Considering my less-than-enthusiastic approach to poetry, I didn't have very high expectations for this Prime Reading option (thanks, Amazon Prime for the freebie read!). I also expected I would zoom right through it, which was a bonus as the end of the year was fast approaching and with it the end of the challenge. I was wrong. This far exceeded my expectations and took longer to read than I had first supposed.

I found the poetry in this collection to be thought-provoking, which meant I couldn't just breeze through the poems. I would read one or two and take some time to think about them. They often resonated. I could empathize to some degree and when empathy was beyond me I felt sympathy. I also found myself cheering her on as pain transformed into self-discovery or a newly found resilience.

It takes courage to reveal your soul, so kudos to the author for doing so in such a lovely, lyrical manner.

[Alyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

i’m grateful for this book bc it’s what finally helped me get out of a poetry slump. i appreciated all the different formats and experimentation liza used throughout this book bc it helped get the gears in my own brain turning. i especially love how she writes about nature in her poems. this may be personal preference, but if i were to critique one thing, i think sometimes she does too much telling vs showing. for example, sometimes the last line or two of her poem would be her explaining the meaning of the poem pretty clearly, and i felt the poems would’ve been more powerful without those lines. but overall an enjoyable read!

3.5/5

[Yesenia · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you've fallen out of love with poetry, this book is for you. It will grab you and remind you why folks have been writing poetry since the beginning of time.

Rose uses different poetic forms and devices that are a perfect combo of classic and contemporary poetry. Not all of the poems were my favorite, but her style is consistently great.

ARC provided by BookSirens for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an advance review copy for free from booksirens.com, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This was a collection of poetry about what it means to be a girl, what it means to be a woman, and what it means to be/or not be in love.

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This poetry is incredible and heartfelt. Reading it while listening to Folklore by Taylor Swift creates THE best vibe imaginable. Highly recommend!!

[Olivia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel like this book is the perfect bridge between modern poetry and classic poetry. Great for poetry lovers and those just starting to get into reading poetry!

[Sheneli Narangamuwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful collection. “Citronella Sleep” was my personal favorite❤️

[Kaylin Wall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Liza is only beginning her career with this beautifully raw piece of art!! Truly felt as if I was being pulled into the woven pieces of what makes her tick, can’t wait to see what she has in store!

[Aminah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this collection, it has a variety topics it focuses on, such as love, rejection, parental love, acceptance and more. I really like the butterfly metaphorical concepts that stood throughout the book.
I would really like to give this collection a re-read further down the year as I may feel new emotions and obtain new favourites.

[Martina Weiß · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't read poetry that often, so it's hard for me to leave a review, that's as objectiv as possible. Especially when the poetry collection in question is dealing with really emotional and personal topics. It's almost like I was allowed an insight into the authors diary. Some felt even like they could have been a page taken out of my diary instead.
So how to rate this. Well, it's amazing poetry. That's for certain. Poetry, that I'm sure, I will read again. Some poems weren't as great as others in the collection, but that could also be just personal taste.
If you're wondering as to why I'm not giving this 5 stars, well it's got something to do with this so called personal taste of mine. Some poems had the wildest structure known to man. I don't know why it was formated like that. To stand out? Was there a deeper meaning? SOME had one. Like there is this one poem that is all over the place because it reflects the emotinal state of the poem. The feeling of being lost, of not knowing who to be, where to belong. That's great. The rest though? Didn't need to be structered like that. Just made it harder to read. Some where also not quite hitting the mark. It's hard to put into words. You'd have to read it for yourself.

Nontheless, I would, could and absolutly will reccomand this book.
A really great collection! ♥