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Into the Forest and all the Way Through
Nominated for a Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection Into The Forest And All The Way Through is a collection of true crime poetry that explores the cases of over one hundred missing and murdered women in the United States. "This book shook me, ripped my heart out, and haunts me still. Into the Forest and All the Way Through shines a harsh light on a subject society has been far too content to ignore...and it's about goddamn time. This Is a vital collection." -Kealan Patrick Burke, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Sour Candy
143 pages, Paperback
First published August 26, 2020
177 people are currently reading
8679 people want to read
About the author
Cynthia Pelayo
68 books637 followersCynthia Pelayo is a Bram Stoker Award winning and International Latino Book Award winning author and poet.
Pelayo writes fairy tales that blend genre and explore concepts of grief, mourning, and cycles of violence. She is the author of Loteria, Santa Muerte, The Missing, Poems of My Night, Into the Forest and All the Way Through, Children of Chicago, Crime Scene, The Shoemaker’s Magician, as well as dozens of standalone short stories and poems.
Loteria, which was her MFA in Writing thesis at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, was re-released to praise with Esquire calling it one of the ‘Best Horror Books of 2023.’ Santa Muerte and The Missing, her young adult horror novels were each nominated for International Latino Book Awards. Poems of My Night was nominated for an Elgin Award. Into the Forest and All the Way Through was nominated for an Elgin Award and was also nominated for a Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection. Children of Chicago was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award in Superior Achievement in a Novel and won an International Latino Book Award for Best Mystery. Crime Scene won the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection. The Shoemaker’s Magician has been released to praise with Library Journal awarding it a starred review.
Her forthcoming novel, The Forgotten Sisters, will be released by Thomas and Mercer in 2024 and is an adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid.”
Her works have been reviewed in The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, LA Review of Books, and more.
Pelayo writes fairy tales that blend genre and explore concepts of grief, mourning, and cycles of violence. She is the author of Loteria, Santa Muerte, The Missing, Poems of My Night, Into the Forest and All the Way Through, Children of Chicago, Crime Scene, The Shoemaker’s Magician, as well as dozens of standalone short stories and poems.
Loteria, which was her MFA in Writing thesis at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, was re-released to praise with Esquire calling it one of the ‘Best Horror Books of 2023.’ Santa Muerte and The Missing, her young adult horror novels were each nominated for International Latino Book Awards. Poems of My Night was nominated for an Elgin Award. Into the Forest and All the Way Through was nominated for an Elgin Award and was also nominated for a Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection. Children of Chicago was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award in Superior Achievement in a Novel and won an International Latino Book Award for Best Mystery. Crime Scene won the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection. The Shoemaker’s Magician has been released to praise with Library Journal awarding it a starred review.
Her forthcoming novel, The Forgotten Sisters, will be released by Thomas and Mercer in 2024 and is an adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid.”
Her works have been reviewed in The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, LA Review of Books, and more.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 326 reviews
January 22, 2021
"so many question, but if the questions are all answered they cannot profit from your murder".
July 20, 2024
I am Gone...
INTO THE FOREST AND ALL THE WAY THROUGH
by Cynthia Pelayo
No spoilers. 5 stars. This is a dark little book of poetry examining the disappearances of missing and presumed dead women, teens, and children...
I'm going to lift out some of the entries, which caused me to chillingly recall some of the cases that my ex-husband, a Sheriffs homicide detective, shared with me...
A parent's plea to their child (regardless of their age): Make it home safely. All the way home...
A man peeks in a window: I see you...
A deceased and unfound victim: You are not looking. I am right here. Please don't leave me here...
Two children were last seen walking hand in hand into Never Where in Never Land never to be seen again...
News reports say: The murder remains a mystery, but there is no mystery when someone out there knows...
Gather round the campfire of heinous, unspeakable crimes committed...
Hear the ghost stories of kidnapped victims who are now human fertilizer after riding in cars with devils. So much taken for just a few moments of violation...
The lonely essence of murdered victims whispering: I am gone...
This is an excellent poetry collection on the subject of the missing and murdered. Ted Bundy is alluded to in its pages.
I particularly remember the sad statement of a victim's mother: No Detective, she is not a runaway or any of the other names used to cast aspersions her life.
If you have children, read at your discretion. This is a very dark and cautionary recital of murder.
INTO THE FOREST AND ALL THE WAY THROUGH
by Cynthia Pelayo
No spoilers. 5 stars. This is a dark little book of poetry examining the disappearances of missing and presumed dead women, teens, and children...
I'm going to lift out some of the entries, which caused me to chillingly recall some of the cases that my ex-husband, a Sheriffs homicide detective, shared with me...
A parent's plea to their child (regardless of their age): Make it home safely. All the way home...
A man peeks in a window: I see you...
A deceased and unfound victim: You are not looking. I am right here. Please don't leave me here...
Two children were last seen walking hand in hand into Never Where in Never Land never to be seen again...
News reports say: The murder remains a mystery, but there is no mystery when someone out there knows...
Gather round the campfire of heinous, unspeakable crimes committed...
Hear the ghost stories of kidnapped victims who are now human fertilizer after riding in cars with devils. So much taken for just a few moments of violation...
The lonely essence of murdered victims whispering: I am gone...
This is an excellent poetry collection on the subject of the missing and murdered. Ted Bundy is alluded to in its pages.
I particularly remember the sad statement of a victim's mother: No Detective, she is not a runaway or any of the other names used to cast aspersions her life.
If you have children, read at your discretion. This is a very dark and cautionary recital of murder.
November 10, 2020
'Before you continue into the forest I leave you with a few more thoughts--
--These women deserve rest and peace, and the people that took them away from us deserve to be punished...Justice sometimes takes time, but it is possible."- Cynthia "Cina" Pelayo
...
After reading this "Dear Reader" letter from the author, I decided I would go on this journey through the forest and go all the way through. No stopping. So I have done that today and I have just finished. These are my thoughts coming out of the woods.
This collection of poetry is the dedicated work of Cina's hands. The unsolved cases of missing and murdered women clearly have haunted her for a long time. Instead of a posture of passivity, the author has elected to marinate in the pain and suffering long enough to then be able to sit down and bleed these stories onto the page. This is Cina's activism.
As the reader engaging with Cina's work, I felt compelled to share in the suffering. I allowed myself to tap into the emotions that were surfacing, even though typically, my knee-jerk reaction is to tamp those down so that I don't have to feel my feelings too hard.
As a mother of two sons and a daughter, I am all too familiar with the fear of losing a child but to lose a child to violence or to not even know what happened to them, is too much to bear.
So this collection is a risk. I hate thinking about these things. I hate opening the door and inviting that kind of vulnerability to myself. But I did it.
First, paranoia and anxiety. These words are rife with it.
I AM WALKING resonates with all women, pretty much every day. The fear of just being a woman in this world. "The man walks too close behind me/ The man across the street stops and smiles"
SOUR, PATCH, KID made me catch my breath because it reminded me how just letting your child go out from your watchful eyes, your protection, might be the time they don't come home.
THE UNDOING OF A FUTURE DOCTOR- "Mother knew, all mothers know the movements of their children--"
THE DEMONS YOU LIVE WITH- I almost wanted to quit with this one. Age 5. This wrecked me.
SNOW ANGEL- Made me angry. Frustrated.
DOWN THE HILL-Terrifying. The POV of the victims. Like listening to ghosts.
WAVES THREE- and now I'm angry again.
MOVEMENT THROUGH A TELESCOPE- Did someone see something? A witness--this one left so many questions which then led me to wonder about the people who investigate these crimes and disappearances.
THINGS OF CHILDHOOD- and I'm crying again.
DAY AT THE PARK- Age 5 again. Snatched when the mother was distracted for a second. It made me think of all the times my children might have been just within arm's reach of tragedy. How many times? It's a chilling thought that will likely stick around for a while.
MESSAGING YOU--just a few words can be so powerful. This one had my heart pounding.
DISCARD THE WORDS- "High-Risk" the way these labels and buzz words minimize what happened.
FAMILY DYSFUNCTION- a lot of these stories involve some shady behavior on behalf of family members and it really stuck in my craw.
"Our women, our little girls"
This is a heavy read but powerful, necessary, and each title of every poem is like a neon sign. The last emotion I felt when I was finished was urgency.
--These women deserve rest and peace, and the people that took them away from us deserve to be punished...Justice sometimes takes time, but it is possible."- Cynthia "Cina" Pelayo
...
After reading this "Dear Reader" letter from the author, I decided I would go on this journey through the forest and go all the way through. No stopping. So I have done that today and I have just finished. These are my thoughts coming out of the woods.
This collection of poetry is the dedicated work of Cina's hands. The unsolved cases of missing and murdered women clearly have haunted her for a long time. Instead of a posture of passivity, the author has elected to marinate in the pain and suffering long enough to then be able to sit down and bleed these stories onto the page. This is Cina's activism.
As the reader engaging with Cina's work, I felt compelled to share in the suffering. I allowed myself to tap into the emotions that were surfacing, even though typically, my knee-jerk reaction is to tamp those down so that I don't have to feel my feelings too hard.
As a mother of two sons and a daughter, I am all too familiar with the fear of losing a child but to lose a child to violence or to not even know what happened to them, is too much to bear.
So this collection is a risk. I hate thinking about these things. I hate opening the door and inviting that kind of vulnerability to myself. But I did it.
First, paranoia and anxiety. These words are rife with it.
I AM WALKING resonates with all women, pretty much every day. The fear of just being a woman in this world. "The man walks too close behind me/ The man across the street stops and smiles"
SOUR, PATCH, KID made me catch my breath because it reminded me how just letting your child go out from your watchful eyes, your protection, might be the time they don't come home.
THE UNDOING OF A FUTURE DOCTOR- "Mother knew, all mothers know the movements of their children--"
THE DEMONS YOU LIVE WITH- I almost wanted to quit with this one. Age 5. This wrecked me.
SNOW ANGEL- Made me angry. Frustrated.
DOWN THE HILL-Terrifying. The POV of the victims. Like listening to ghosts.
WAVES THREE- and now I'm angry again.
MOVEMENT THROUGH A TELESCOPE- Did someone see something? A witness--this one left so many questions which then led me to wonder about the people who investigate these crimes and disappearances.
THINGS OF CHILDHOOD- and I'm crying again.
DAY AT THE PARK- Age 5 again. Snatched when the mother was distracted for a second. It made me think of all the times my children might have been just within arm's reach of tragedy. How many times? It's a chilling thought that will likely stick around for a while.
MESSAGING YOU--just a few words can be so powerful. This one had my heart pounding.
DISCARD THE WORDS- "High-Risk" the way these labels and buzz words minimize what happened.
FAMILY DYSFUNCTION- a lot of these stories involve some shady behavior on behalf of family members and it really stuck in my craw.
"Our women, our little girls"
This is a heavy read but powerful, necessary, and each title of every poem is like a neon sign. The last emotion I felt when I was finished was urgency.
November 30, 2025
This is such a unique and informative poetry collection based on true crime stories about missing women & little girls. It's only 130ish pages but it took me days to finish because it subconsciously made me feel heavier in my heart than I thought it would
September 4, 2020
This is not an easy book to read. It will shatter your heart, and anyone who has experienced life as a woman will know all too intimately the fear in these pages, the choking dread of what could happen if I go for a walk too late, go to the grocery store at night, find myself some place at the wrong time...
"If I ask you to take me home, I expect to be taken home / Not dissolved into asphalt"
But these stories are so infinitely important, and so is what Cynthia Pelayo has done here. As someone who does a lot of research in my own writing, I can clearly see and feel with every word the extensive efforts Pelayo has taken to research the details of these cases, to see the human being behind the missing poster signs, and add in information about the case and department to contact with any information. Throughout every poem, I heard those distinct voices and my heart broke in sadness and rage with every piece because these stories show how much society and police and cruel people have failed these women.
"so many question, but if the questions are all answered they cannot profit from your murder"
It shows exactly why victims fear coming forward, why women are so angry at the world right now, and why things so desperately need change and reform to better help women, especially women of color whose cases do not get the media attention that missing white women do.
There's a lot to talk about here, and this is a collection you need to experience on your own. My Kindle app didn't carry over the many, many highlighted lines I chose, but Pelayo's writing is beautiful. Her words create not just ghosts of these missing women, but fully-fleshed human beings who have true voices and stories that they're reaching through the page to make sure we hear them. While you may (like me) need a breather between reading these pieces, please do take the time to read this stunning collection. Thank you Cina for creating this, I can only imagine the emotional toll it took, but you have created something so powerful and important.
"If I ask you to take me home, I expect to be taken home / Not dissolved into asphalt"
But these stories are so infinitely important, and so is what Cynthia Pelayo has done here. As someone who does a lot of research in my own writing, I can clearly see and feel with every word the extensive efforts Pelayo has taken to research the details of these cases, to see the human being behind the missing poster signs, and add in information about the case and department to contact with any information. Throughout every poem, I heard those distinct voices and my heart broke in sadness and rage with every piece because these stories show how much society and police and cruel people have failed these women.
"so many question, but if the questions are all answered they cannot profit from your murder"
It shows exactly why victims fear coming forward, why women are so angry at the world right now, and why things so desperately need change and reform to better help women, especially women of color whose cases do not get the media attention that missing white women do.
There's a lot to talk about here, and this is a collection you need to experience on your own. My Kindle app didn't carry over the many, many highlighted lines I chose, but Pelayo's writing is beautiful. Her words create not just ghosts of these missing women, but fully-fleshed human beings who have true voices and stories that they're reaching through the page to make sure we hear them. While you may (like me) need a breather between reading these pieces, please do take the time to read this stunning collection. Thank you Cina for creating this, I can only imagine the emotional toll it took, but you have created something so powerful and important.
March 26, 2021
“You live only as long as the last person who remembers you.”
The above quote lingered with me while reading INTO THE FOREST AND ALL THE WAY THROUGH, a collection of true crime poetry, by Cynthia Pelayo. These poems explore the cases of over one hundred missing and murdered women from across the United States. This book was really unlike anything I have read before. Sure, I have read true crime stories but this one felt different, more tangible, more real, like in some way I knew these women, these victims. There was a palpable sense of dread and forlornness staining these pages.
Usually when it comes to true crime the focus is all on the suspects, the perpetrator, the guilty. Everyone knows their names, can recognize the faces of evil in those mugshots, but when it comes to the victims, those whose lives and hopes and dreams were greedily snatched away from them, we don’t know their names, can't pick their picture out of a lineup. Why is that? Why do we as a society have such a fascination with these murderers, these serial killers, that they obtain near celebrity status? Shouldn’t it be the other way around? Shouldn’t we instead focus on the victims of these crimes? I can name off Bundy, Gacy, Rader, and on and on, but I cannot give you the name of one of any of their victims. It is a sad truth. What Pelayo is able to accomplish here is different, her sole focus is shining a spotlight on these women who have been murdered, who have disappeared without a trace. This felt like a tribute, a memorial to show reverence to these women and their families.
It feels a bit weird to say that I loved these poems being what the subject matter is. The writing was at times beautiful while at others hauntingly chilling. I was left with this sense of hollowness, an overwhelming feeling of melancholy maybe, whenever I would finish a poem and then read the woman’s name, and race, and age, and date when they were last seen. There is a certain weight, a heaviness, a gravity to Pelayo’s words that made me sit back and really think about, wonder about what truly happened to these women. To these mothers and daughters, sisters and wives, aunts and grandmothers. Of all of the lives that were shattered in an instance, irrevocably changed forever. It is as if they walked into a thick wall of fog and vanished without a trace, never to be seen again. For me that would be the worst thing, the not knowing. Waking up everyday and wondering if my loved one was still out there somewhere, living in pain, or is their body just waiting to be found in a field, in a chimney, in a roadside ditch somewhere?
There was not one poem in the collection that didn’t resonate with me in some way, but I want to highlight the ones that really stuck out for me.
Remember Me
Search Continues, Notes From A Blog
You Have Always Watched Me
The Sun Rises in the Night
The Demons You Live With
Lady of the Lake
You Are Not Looking, I Am Right Here
Movement Through a Telescope
Abandoned Buildings
She Stands on the Grove
Blackberry Bushes
Shotgun Jane Doe
U.S. Route 29
I could go on but I don’t want to list every poem from the entire book.
Emotionally powerful and somber. Within INTO THE FOREST AND ALL THE WAY THROUGH Cynthia Pelayo gives a voice to the voiceless, tending to the flame of that candlelight vigil, making sure that the names of these women do not fade away with time. That their memory can live on inside the minds of the readers, and not become just another statistic, another one of the forgotten. You will feel these poems in your bones, in your soul, pulling you along into the forest and all the way through to the other side, where maybe somewhere, someday, justice can be found. This is a collection that will stick with me long after having closed that final page.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher for review consideration.
Video review: https://youtu.be/DreLg6348RI
The above quote lingered with me while reading INTO THE FOREST AND ALL THE WAY THROUGH, a collection of true crime poetry, by Cynthia Pelayo. These poems explore the cases of over one hundred missing and murdered women from across the United States. This book was really unlike anything I have read before. Sure, I have read true crime stories but this one felt different, more tangible, more real, like in some way I knew these women, these victims. There was a palpable sense of dread and forlornness staining these pages.
Usually when it comes to true crime the focus is all on the suspects, the perpetrator, the guilty. Everyone knows their names, can recognize the faces of evil in those mugshots, but when it comes to the victims, those whose lives and hopes and dreams were greedily snatched away from them, we don’t know their names, can't pick their picture out of a lineup. Why is that? Why do we as a society have such a fascination with these murderers, these serial killers, that they obtain near celebrity status? Shouldn’t it be the other way around? Shouldn’t we instead focus on the victims of these crimes? I can name off Bundy, Gacy, Rader, and on and on, but I cannot give you the name of one of any of their victims. It is a sad truth. What Pelayo is able to accomplish here is different, her sole focus is shining a spotlight on these women who have been murdered, who have disappeared without a trace. This felt like a tribute, a memorial to show reverence to these women and their families.
It feels a bit weird to say that I loved these poems being what the subject matter is. The writing was at times beautiful while at others hauntingly chilling. I was left with this sense of hollowness, an overwhelming feeling of melancholy maybe, whenever I would finish a poem and then read the woman’s name, and race, and age, and date when they were last seen. There is a certain weight, a heaviness, a gravity to Pelayo’s words that made me sit back and really think about, wonder about what truly happened to these women. To these mothers and daughters, sisters and wives, aunts and grandmothers. Of all of the lives that were shattered in an instance, irrevocably changed forever. It is as if they walked into a thick wall of fog and vanished without a trace, never to be seen again. For me that would be the worst thing, the not knowing. Waking up everyday and wondering if my loved one was still out there somewhere, living in pain, or is their body just waiting to be found in a field, in a chimney, in a roadside ditch somewhere?
There was not one poem in the collection that didn’t resonate with me in some way, but I want to highlight the ones that really stuck out for me.
Remember Me
Search Continues, Notes From A Blog
You Have Always Watched Me
The Sun Rises in the Night
The Demons You Live With
Lady of the Lake
You Are Not Looking, I Am Right Here
Movement Through a Telescope
Abandoned Buildings
She Stands on the Grove
Blackberry Bushes
Shotgun Jane Doe
U.S. Route 29
I could go on but I don’t want to list every poem from the entire book.
Emotionally powerful and somber. Within INTO THE FOREST AND ALL THE WAY THROUGH Cynthia Pelayo gives a voice to the voiceless, tending to the flame of that candlelight vigil, making sure that the names of these women do not fade away with time. That their memory can live on inside the minds of the readers, and not become just another statistic, another one of the forgotten. You will feel these poems in your bones, in your soul, pulling you along into the forest and all the way through to the other side, where maybe somewhere, someday, justice can be found. This is a collection that will stick with me long after having closed that final page.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher for review consideration.
Video review: https://youtu.be/DreLg6348RI
May 15, 2022
Nope. Sorry. Definitely not.
Maybe it's because I'm a third year Criminology & Psychology student who spends almost all of her time thinking about victimology and how media and creative outlets treat victims, but this didn't sit well with me at all. True crime in general is something that I believe has to be done right, and it very rarely is. Aaaaand, this was not. I get that the intention was good, but the execution was terrible.
I only decided to give this a read because all the reviews were raving on about how good this collection was. But right off the bat, I thought writing poetry about missing and murdered women was... strange, to say the least. It doesn't help that I think the poetry is terrible. I can't imagine hearing that a writer wrote a poem about my dead or missing sister or friend or mother, and then reading one of these about their case. I think there are a million better ways to raise awareness about the thousands of women that go missing and whose remains are found every day.
I'm sorry if this is harsh. But I don't care. I should've trusted my instincts and not picked this up.
Maybe it's because I'm a third year Criminology & Psychology student who spends almost all of her time thinking about victimology and how media and creative outlets treat victims, but this didn't sit well with me at all. True crime in general is something that I believe has to be done right, and it very rarely is. Aaaaand, this was not. I get that the intention was good, but the execution was terrible.
I only decided to give this a read because all the reviews were raving on about how good this collection was. But right off the bat, I thought writing poetry about missing and murdered women was... strange, to say the least. It doesn't help that I think the poetry is terrible. I can't imagine hearing that a writer wrote a poem about my dead or missing sister or friend or mother, and then reading one of these about their case. I think there are a million better ways to raise awareness about the thousands of women that go missing and whose remains are found every day.
I'm sorry if this is harsh. But I don't care. I should've trusted my instincts and not picked this up.
December 5, 2021
Poetry is always either a huge hit or a huge miss for me. This collection was a huge hit to the heart for me. I instantly fell in love with Pelayo’s style and I’m already itching to read more of her work! This was such a mindblowingly beautiful and dark collection of poetry, this definitely won’t be the last time I read it. I loved that it featured poems about missing women, I wrote a huge list of cases to look up so I can then go back to the poems and see them in a new light. I’m going to read this over and over and over again and I know I’ll be just as enamoured every time. I didn’t think I’d ever read such a thing as true crime poetry and I am 100% here for it!
May 25, 2022
A must read...
This is a heartbreaking poetry book about true crime victims across the United States. Although dark and sad, it keeps the story of these victims alive, with hope that their crimes might someday be solved.
This is a heartbreaking poetry book about true crime victims across the United States. Although dark and sad, it keeps the story of these victims alive, with hope that their crimes might someday be solved.
April 26, 2021
This collection is so painful to read, but so absolutely necessary. I even recognized a few of the women from when I first read or heard about their disappearances. This is a must read for everyone. Every woman who goes missing deserves to have her story told, and deserves the full effort of the police in finding her. These women are all precious to someone, and they don't deserve to just disappear and leave their loved ones to a life of pain and uncertainty. We have to do better as a society to protect women from the countless predators who walk among us all. I hope so much that these families can one day find peace.
October 7, 2022
Forgetting to remember your scent, they are forgetting to
Remember your name, so I will walk, and I will climb, and
I will drive, so that your picture does not fade
"Into the Forest and All the Way Through" is a relentless collection of poems that details tidbits of the lives of missing girls and women from across the United States. It is brutal and painful and very, very sad.
Remember your name, so I will walk, and I will climb, and
I will drive, so that your picture does not fade
"Into the Forest and All the Way Through" is a relentless collection of poems that details tidbits of the lives of missing girls and women from across the United States. It is brutal and painful and very, very sad.
September 16, 2020
4.5 ⭐️ Haunting and beautiful. Hold the women in your life close. Protect our girls.
March 26, 2022
This was astonishing. I sat here and read it in one sitting and cried for most of it. (I also googled every single one to see a picture of the woman/girl and that added to the tears and snot)
This was so much different than listening to the podcasts or watching the documentaries. This felt more..intense and intimate? Especially with the case information at the end of each. I highly recommend this but with caution.
This was so much different than listening to the podcasts or watching the documentaries. This felt more..intense and intimate? Especially with the case information at the end of each. I highly recommend this but with caution.
August 2, 2022
"Into the forest and all the way through, I ask you to follow my voice."
This is a hard book for me to write about, as probably made evident by the fact that it took me nearly 2 months to read, and then almost 4 more to write a review on it. I want to be very clear here and stress that those things aren't due to it being a bad book, but speak instead to Cynthia Pelayo's writing ability - she genuinely broke me with this one, folks, and I don't blame her one bit: this book is so important. It will be a difficult one for people to read, and I don't blame anyone who isn't able to stomach it - the stuff on these pages is heavy, and that's my warning to anyone thinking about going into it.
This is a collection of true crime poetry inspired by the hundreds - if not thousands - of cases of missing, murdered, or hurt women in the United States. A majority of these poems are about a specific case, but there are also a few that encompass the general danger and fear that women everyday face when going about our lives. The ability to relate to these situations and women isn't necessary to appreciate and empathize with the perspectives and stories being told here, but it does make it pack an enormous punch for those who know all too well how quickly things like walking back to a car late at night can take a terrifying turn.
The strength that it must have taken Pelayo to do the research necessary to share bits of these stories is astounding, and I wanted to give her - and them - the necessary respect when reading Into the Forest. This is partially why it took me so long to get through it - I found myself Googling each name at the end of the poems, immersing myself in their tragic disappearances and awful endings. I won't lie - I shed more than a few tears, and the time spent reading would leave me emotionally exhausted and hurting, feeling so strongly for these women that I'd never get to know, but could understand all too well.
In a time where things like the recent #MeToo movement are taking over social media and bringing light to the dark places that women have been told to stay silent on for way too long, Pelayo shines a beacon on real-world examples of women who haven't been given the justice they deserve, urging readers to share any information they may have on the off chance that someone, somewhere might be able to bring closure and resolution to a case that has long since gone cold. These poems provide a beautifully written tribute for these lost women and their loved ones that is both heartfelt and heartbreaking, and it's not one that I'll be able to ever forget.
This is a hard book for me to write about, as probably made evident by the fact that it took me nearly 2 months to read, and then almost 4 more to write a review on it. I want to be very clear here and stress that those things aren't due to it being a bad book, but speak instead to Cynthia Pelayo's writing ability - she genuinely broke me with this one, folks, and I don't blame her one bit: this book is so important. It will be a difficult one for people to read, and I don't blame anyone who isn't able to stomach it - the stuff on these pages is heavy, and that's my warning to anyone thinking about going into it.
This is a collection of true crime poetry inspired by the hundreds - if not thousands - of cases of missing, murdered, or hurt women in the United States. A majority of these poems are about a specific case, but there are also a few that encompass the general danger and fear that women everyday face when going about our lives. The ability to relate to these situations and women isn't necessary to appreciate and empathize with the perspectives and stories being told here, but it does make it pack an enormous punch for those who know all too well how quickly things like walking back to a car late at night can take a terrifying turn.
The strength that it must have taken Pelayo to do the research necessary to share bits of these stories is astounding, and I wanted to give her - and them - the necessary respect when reading Into the Forest. This is partially why it took me so long to get through it - I found myself Googling each name at the end of the poems, immersing myself in their tragic disappearances and awful endings. I won't lie - I shed more than a few tears, and the time spent reading would leave me emotionally exhausted and hurting, feeling so strongly for these women that I'd never get to know, but could understand all too well.
In a time where things like the recent #MeToo movement are taking over social media and bringing light to the dark places that women have been told to stay silent on for way too long, Pelayo shines a beacon on real-world examples of women who haven't been given the justice they deserve, urging readers to share any information they may have on the off chance that someone, somewhere might be able to bring closure and resolution to a case that has long since gone cold. These poems provide a beautifully written tribute for these lost women and their loved ones that is both heartfelt and heartbreaking, and it's not one that I'll be able to ever forget.
January 26, 2021
I honestly can't single out any poems in this collection. They all leave a mark.
It was a tough read. I could only manage a few a day.
But, it is an important one. It feels very respectful.
I'm glad I read it.
Glad it was put together.
Thank you, Cynthia.
It was a tough read. I could only manage a few a day.
But, it is an important one. It feels very respectful.
I'm glad I read it.
Glad it was put together.
Thank you, Cynthia.
July 17, 2021
"What do we know if all that we know is that there was once a girl, a girl unfound."
This is a haunting stroll through the forest indeed. I love that this collection exists, these women deserve justice and to be remembered.
This is a haunting stroll through the forest indeed. I love that this collection exists, these women deserve justice and to be remembered.
December 18, 2022
i found a lot of this book quite distasteful. what reads to me like the romanticization of the murder of women doesn’t sit too well with me. it is especially ironic considering the author herself seems to condemn profiting off someone’s murder, in a book where she profits of hundreds of murders.
“but if the questions are all answered they cannot profit from your murder” - actual quote from the book.
i also found it really icky feeling when the author wrote from the perspective of the victims or the victims family members. i find it odd to insert yourself in that way.
to top it all off, the poems weren’t even that good. the author said she hopes maybe these poems will help people to find the victims, but in her attempt to make these stories sound somewhat poetic, she threw a lot of clarity out of the window. i can’t really imagine anyone reading these and getting a clear enough picture to remember details of the cases. that’s just me though.
overall i was not a fan. if i wanted to read something well written and poetic and beautifully haunting, i would pick something else. if i wanted to read something that contained clear facts and details about these cases, i would also read something else.
“but if the questions are all answered they cannot profit from your murder” - actual quote from the book.
i also found it really icky feeling when the author wrote from the perspective of the victims or the victims family members. i find it odd to insert yourself in that way.
to top it all off, the poems weren’t even that good. the author said she hopes maybe these poems will help people to find the victims, but in her attempt to make these stories sound somewhat poetic, she threw a lot of clarity out of the window. i can’t really imagine anyone reading these and getting a clear enough picture to remember details of the cases. that’s just me though.
overall i was not a fan. if i wanted to read something well written and poetic and beautifully haunting, i would pick something else. if i wanted to read something that contained clear facts and details about these cases, i would also read something else.
April 28, 2021
"Shame on those that cradle those girl's cries in their memory. Bookshelves now tell of their suffering."
Oof. This collection of true crime stories, told through prose, gives a voice to those that are voiceless.
As I looked up the cases online after reading each poem, it became that much more impactful. Seeing their faces, a glimpse into their lives. It's now because of Cina Pelayo that I know of most of these women.
I had such a heaviness in my chest while reading about these horrific crimes, these tragic events that didn't need to happen. A rage boiled inside of me. My personal experiences as a woman, a mother, a sister, a daughter, a partner, a human.. the constant imagery on the news, on social media, of missing & murdered women.. society has failed women in so many ways. Especially women of color.
Normally I escape into the woods to get away from the pain & hurt, but I returned from this trip utterly heartbroken.
Into the Forest and All the Way Through is a heavy, yet powerful read. Cynthia Pelayo is an incredibly talented writer & I look forward to reading more of her work 🖤
Oof. This collection of true crime stories, told through prose, gives a voice to those that are voiceless.
As I looked up the cases online after reading each poem, it became that much more impactful. Seeing their faces, a glimpse into their lives. It's now because of Cina Pelayo that I know of most of these women.
I had such a heaviness in my chest while reading about these horrific crimes, these tragic events that didn't need to happen. A rage boiled inside of me. My personal experiences as a woman, a mother, a sister, a daughter, a partner, a human.. the constant imagery on the news, on social media, of missing & murdered women.. society has failed women in so many ways. Especially women of color.
Normally I escape into the woods to get away from the pain & hurt, but I returned from this trip utterly heartbroken.
Into the Forest and All the Way Through is a heavy, yet powerful read. Cynthia Pelayo is an incredibly talented writer & I look forward to reading more of her work 🖤
May 29, 2022
I’ve only discovered poetry I like in the last few years, dark, gritty, brutal that’s my kind of poetry not all the roses are read shenanigans.
Cynthia Pelayo cuts you wide open with this collection, the inclusion of the case file notes is also a startling reminder that the poetry she has written here is about real life cases, real people gone missing… it packs a punch to the gut that finds its way there time and time again.
Brutal. Brilliant. Beguiling.
Raw and painful reading… but I loved it!
Cynthia Pelayo cuts you wide open with this collection, the inclusion of the case file notes is also a startling reminder that the poetry she has written here is about real life cases, real people gone missing… it packs a punch to the gut that finds its way there time and time again.
Brutal. Brilliant. Beguiling.
Raw and painful reading… but I loved it!
March 12, 2025
I'm angry and sad. So many missing women and girls are never found. They stay buried or at the bottom of a lake, alone and cold. Their families suffer and the monsters who took them and did unspeakable things to them never really get what they deserve. I will hold every one of those women, girls and babies in my heart. 💔
February 1, 2021
This was such a hard book to read, it was difficult in subject and hard to deal with at times, despite only being 150ish pages. This book is a collection of poems inspired and to raise attention to the thousands of women and children that go missing and are killed every year in America (and of course all over the world too). As a big fan of true crime on YouTube I wanted to give reading this a go, to learn more about some of the cases that are overlooked, simply for not having much information. I’ll give props to the author, despite not enjoying poetry very much, she managed to keep my attention and I was able to understand the rhythms of the poems themselves, when I’ve struggled with these things before, I think a lot of it has to do with my learning difficulties, so it was good to actually be able to understand the poems. I’ll also give more props to the author for highlighting the Injustices of how women or colour and especially native women are overlooked and ignored by both the media and the police when they go missing and/or are murdered, the foreword discusses this and there is a good mixture of poems dedicated to women of all races. I wish there had been more poems for missing/murdered queer or trans women as there was only one surrounding a trans woman. At the end of each poem is a dedication to the person it is inspired by, to give more context and to bring attention to their story, I looked up these woman and read more about them after I finished each individual poem, it was extremely emotional. I do wish that there had been less well known cases as I would say 40-50% of these cases I have heard about on YouTube before and I think more attention could have been brought to less know cases, again especially for queer/trans women and even more so queer/trans women of colour as I feel the one story dedicated to a trans woman who was a woman of colour wasn’t really enough.
Overall a really solid poem anthology, I’d definitely recommend it even if you don’t usually read poetry as it is an important read and brings more attention to these important cases.
I’m aware this review isn’t written very well but it’s 3am and I had to get my thoughts out.
TW: Rape, murder, missing people, trans-phobia mentioned.
Excerpt:
I am on
My way
I will see
You soon
I’m taking
The bus.
I am on
The bus.
I got off
The bus.
Walking
Almost
There
I Am…
Name: Le-Shay Monea N’cole Dungey
Missing from: Columbus, Ohio
Race: Black
Age at disappearance: 19
Missing since: 2018
Investigating agency: Columbus Division of Police, 614-645-4545
Overall a really solid poem anthology, I’d definitely recommend it even if you don’t usually read poetry as it is an important read and brings more attention to these important cases.
I’m aware this review isn’t written very well but it’s 3am and I had to get my thoughts out.
TW: Rape, murder, missing people, trans-phobia mentioned.
Excerpt:
I am on
My way
I will see
You soon
I’m taking
The bus.
I am on
The bus.
I got off
The bus.
Walking
Almost
There
I Am…
Name: Le-Shay Monea N’cole Dungey
Missing from: Columbus, Ohio
Race: Black
Age at disappearance: 19
Missing since: 2018
Investigating agency: Columbus Division of Police, 614-645-4545
December 3, 2020
This is unlike anything I've ever read before. True Crime...poetry. After reading a few glowing reviews I had to see what this was about, and man did it screw with my head. There are some beautiful passages here, haunting tales. You'll run the gambit of sadness and anger and frustration. I love how she emphasized the names of the women and NOT those of the assailants. I love that she gave the personal information after each poem, and a number to call in case anyone knows anything. Because sitting around, waiting to know where your child is buried, is something I cannot fathom as a mother. Some of my favorites and a few thoughts and/or lines that stood out:
MEDIA FADES WITH AGE, IT'S DISABILITY - "No clothing or personal items were found / With the remains. The things they call us / After we were flesh and blood, remains, / What remains...." (Sarah Galloway, age 38)
YOU HAVE ALWAYS WATCHED ME - "...he grimaced in your / Sister's face and growled, 'Be at the / deathbed... I will give you the honest / answers you want to hear." (Alissa Turney, age 17)
THE UNDOING OF A FUTURE DOCTOR (Cleashindra Denise Hall, age 18)
LADY OF THE LAKE (Rosa Delgado, age 21)
THE DEMONS YOU LIVE WITH - This one (among many others) stays with me still... (Alexia Anne Reale, age 5)
YOUR FACE IS UNRECOGNIZABLE (Unknown, age 18-28)
PEEKING THROUGH MINIBLINDS - "And so what good is checking on your neighbors if / you are unwilling to save / Them?" (Nefertiri Trader, age 33)
SHELTERED LESS THAN HOME (Relisha Tenau Rudd, age 8)
YOU ARE NOT LOOKING, I AM RIGHT HERE (Colleen Emily Orsborn, age 15)
SNOW ANGEL - That "mother".... (Rachel Marie Mellon, age 13)
CONTESTANT IN A MAINE BEAUTY PAGEANT - "Your Father lives in the same house, waiting / For the truth to knock on his door." Heartbreaking (Kimberly Ann Moreau, age 17)
GAS STATION LIGHT - "He still refuses to tell a boy / Where's his mommy's 'somewhere'" (Jessica Heeringa, age 25)
JUDGE DISMISSES MURDER CHARGE IN MISSING GIRL'S CASE (Sharon Baldeagle, age 12)
ENCASED IN AMBER (Amber Rene Hagerman, age 9)
All of these work together to highlight a heartbreaking reality for all women and girls. We'll be attacked, or know someone who was attacked. We'll be raped, or know someone who was raped (even if they never tell you about it). We'll be killed, or abducted, or just disappear into the forest.... and all the way through.
May their families find peace, and their attackers die a thousand gruesome deaths as they burn in hell.
MEDIA FADES WITH AGE, IT'S DISABILITY - "No clothing or personal items were found / With the remains. The things they call us / After we were flesh and blood, remains, / What remains...." (Sarah Galloway, age 38)
YOU HAVE ALWAYS WATCHED ME - "...he grimaced in your / Sister's face and growled, 'Be at the / deathbed... I will give you the honest / answers you want to hear." (Alissa Turney, age 17)
THE UNDOING OF A FUTURE DOCTOR (Cleashindra Denise Hall, age 18)
LADY OF THE LAKE (Rosa Delgado, age 21)
THE DEMONS YOU LIVE WITH - This one (among many others) stays with me still... (Alexia Anne Reale, age 5)
YOUR FACE IS UNRECOGNIZABLE (Unknown, age 18-28)
PEEKING THROUGH MINIBLINDS - "And so what good is checking on your neighbors if / you are unwilling to save / Them?" (Nefertiri Trader, age 33)
SHELTERED LESS THAN HOME (Relisha Tenau Rudd, age 8)
YOU ARE NOT LOOKING, I AM RIGHT HERE (Colleen Emily Orsborn, age 15)
SNOW ANGEL - That "mother".... (Rachel Marie Mellon, age 13)
CONTESTANT IN A MAINE BEAUTY PAGEANT - "Your Father lives in the same house, waiting / For the truth to knock on his door." Heartbreaking (Kimberly Ann Moreau, age 17)
GAS STATION LIGHT - "He still refuses to tell a boy / Where's his mommy's 'somewhere'" (Jessica Heeringa, age 25)
JUDGE DISMISSES MURDER CHARGE IN MISSING GIRL'S CASE (Sharon Baldeagle, age 12)
ENCASED IN AMBER (Amber Rene Hagerman, age 9)
All of these work together to highlight a heartbreaking reality for all women and girls. We'll be attacked, or know someone who was attacked. We'll be raped, or know someone who was raped (even if they never tell you about it). We'll be killed, or abducted, or just disappear into the forest.... and all the way through.
May their families find peace, and their attackers die a thousand gruesome deaths as they burn in hell.
January 22, 2021
Without interweaving basic facts from each missing woman’s case into the poems themselves, there would be no way for Pelayo to ground her audience in the lives and situations of the victims, so thus she aims to strike the perfect balance between storytelling details and metaphorical musings—and she does it well. This collection is as much a remembrance for the missing women as it is a challenge for those who know anything about these cases to speak up. One poem asserts “there is no mystery when someone knows, and others won’t speak.” Whether or not these works lead to any development in the cases themselves, surely they offer some kind of closure for the families. Each poem stands as a memorial, and I can imagine the families would be proud to see recognition for their sisters, daughters, and mothers in this beautiful collection.
My favorite poems include:
“You Have Always Watched Me”
“Snow Angel”
“Down the Hill”
“Contestant in a Maine Beauty Pageant”
“Silence Within Your Walls”
“Doe-Eyed”
My favorite poems include:
“You Have Always Watched Me”
“Snow Angel”
“Down the Hill”
“Contestant in a Maine Beauty Pageant”
“Silence Within Your Walls”
“Doe-Eyed”
September 4, 2020
Amazing and heartbreaking. Contender for my book of the year.
April 29, 2023
Somebody knows something
April 28, 2021
Review to come!
January 2, 2022
A touching collection of true crime poetry discussing the tragic cases of missing and murdered women. Personal, intimate and draws attention to a very upsetting topic.
April 22, 2021
I decided to follow Cynthia Pelayo through the woods. There were times I wanted to stray from the path and close the book, but I continued to follow her all the way through. When I emerged back out of the woods, I emerged utterly broken.
This essential book of poetry inspired by the cases of one hundred missing and murdered women in the United States is heartbreaking and crucial. Each poem shares little bits of specific cases and the lives of those who are gone but should never be left to fade away. I cannot imagine the pure strength it look Pelayo to delve into each of these cases and then create beautiful poetry that both exposes the horrific nature of these crimes while also paying respect to the victims. I found it especially brilliant that each poem ended with standard info about the case and contact information for the investigating agency for anyone to contact with tips.
THE DEMONS YOU LIVE WITH gutted me. Anything involving innocent children, so naive, so new to the world, just rips at my soul.
TIMELINE OF A DISAPPEARANCE and I AM WALKING just seemed all too real. All of these are real, but these seemed like “every woman” stories, something that could happen to any of us.
DAY AT THE PARK is another scary one. As a parent this one made me feel nauseous. Only a few seconds of diverting your eyes from your child can lead to a lifetime of grief and guilt.
FIELDS SOLVE NOTHING really hit me with a gut punch- we sometimes sensationalize crimes- society sees the stories as entertainment rather than using them as a means of seeking justice for those who are gone, and it’s just sad.
ROCK-A-BYE- a baby! You can imagine the tears that welled up in my eyes with this one...a baby and a mom with a gun to her head.
So many of these stories will haunt me eternally. This collection is powerful, harrowing, and so incredibly important! I think it’s going to take me a long time to put the pieces of my heart back together after this. I cannot remember ever reading something this emotionally taxing, while simultaneously wanting to recommend it to everyone because I am simply in awe.
🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤/5
This essential book of poetry inspired by the cases of one hundred missing and murdered women in the United States is heartbreaking and crucial. Each poem shares little bits of specific cases and the lives of those who are gone but should never be left to fade away. I cannot imagine the pure strength it look Pelayo to delve into each of these cases and then create beautiful poetry that both exposes the horrific nature of these crimes while also paying respect to the victims. I found it especially brilliant that each poem ended with standard info about the case and contact information for the investigating agency for anyone to contact with tips.
THE DEMONS YOU LIVE WITH gutted me. Anything involving innocent children, so naive, so new to the world, just rips at my soul.
TIMELINE OF A DISAPPEARANCE and I AM WALKING just seemed all too real. All of these are real, but these seemed like “every woman” stories, something that could happen to any of us.
DAY AT THE PARK is another scary one. As a parent this one made me feel nauseous. Only a few seconds of diverting your eyes from your child can lead to a lifetime of grief and guilt.
FIELDS SOLVE NOTHING really hit me with a gut punch- we sometimes sensationalize crimes- society sees the stories as entertainment rather than using them as a means of seeking justice for those who are gone, and it’s just sad.
ROCK-A-BYE- a baby! You can imagine the tears that welled up in my eyes with this one...a baby and a mom with a gun to her head.
So many of these stories will haunt me eternally. This collection is powerful, harrowing, and so incredibly important! I think it’s going to take me a long time to put the pieces of my heart back together after this. I cannot remember ever reading something this emotionally taxing, while simultaneously wanting to recommend it to everyone because I am simply in awe.
🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤/5
January 29, 2021
"There are thousands of missing women in America. There are thousands of women who have been murdered, yet their case has gone ignored, forgotten, cold."
Into the Forest and all the Way Through is a slim volume of true crime poetry that focuses on 100 of the thousands of missing women and young girls who are missing or murdered in America. At 156 pages, I thought that I would be able to read this book in one sitting, but I was very wrong. I could only read a few poems a night because of the heaviness of the loss of these women. From the prologue, I felt the gravity of what Ms. Pelayo set out to tell the world.
Focusing on stories of women and girls from every walk of life and every state in the union, one can tell that Pelayo has immersed herself in their stories: children taken by people they trusted to protect them, a teenager who was killed by her own stepfather and still not at rest, women with disabilities who possibly just wandered away from their homes never to return. Women who were hurt by those they loved and trusted the most.
From the first poem on, I felt compelled to look up each and every victim shared in this book. Seeing their faces and reading pleas from family members still looking for their loved ones, looking for justice, and looking to bring their daughter, mother, aunt or grandmother home to rest was haunting. I can still see their faces, frozen in time, to a time when they were still safe.
Part of Pelayo's advocacy in writing this book was to draw attention to the epidemic of violence against women of color. The sheer number of stories shared in this book of Hispanic, Black, Asian, and Native American women who go missing or are murdered are mind boggling. These cases are not shared in the media as often as other cases, and soon go cold or are forgotten.
Into the Forest and all the Way Through is a necessary and important read, and the way Ms. Pelayo sees each and every woman and child and brings them to life to share their story is masterful.
Into the Forest and all the Way Through is a slim volume of true crime poetry that focuses on 100 of the thousands of missing women and young girls who are missing or murdered in America. At 156 pages, I thought that I would be able to read this book in one sitting, but I was very wrong. I could only read a few poems a night because of the heaviness of the loss of these women. From the prologue, I felt the gravity of what Ms. Pelayo set out to tell the world.
Focusing on stories of women and girls from every walk of life and every state in the union, one can tell that Pelayo has immersed herself in their stories: children taken by people they trusted to protect them, a teenager who was killed by her own stepfather and still not at rest, women with disabilities who possibly just wandered away from their homes never to return. Women who were hurt by those they loved and trusted the most.
From the first poem on, I felt compelled to look up each and every victim shared in this book. Seeing their faces and reading pleas from family members still looking for their loved ones, looking for justice, and looking to bring their daughter, mother, aunt or grandmother home to rest was haunting. I can still see their faces, frozen in time, to a time when they were still safe.
Part of Pelayo's advocacy in writing this book was to draw attention to the epidemic of violence against women of color. The sheer number of stories shared in this book of Hispanic, Black, Asian, and Native American women who go missing or are murdered are mind boggling. These cases are not shared in the media as often as other cases, and soon go cold or are forgotten.
Into the Forest and all the Way Through is a necessary and important read, and the way Ms. Pelayo sees each and every woman and child and brings them to life to share their story is masterful.
September 11, 2021
I’ve never read a poem collection, or heard of one like this so I was intrigued from the very beginning and it didn’t disappoint. This is a true crime poem collection about missing and murdered women with an emphasis and focus on the victims rather then the perpetrator which true crime rarely ever does. You could tell the reverence and time put into each one and it’s a beautiful representation of the alarming number of missing and murdered women and unsolved crimes; especially those perpetrated against black and indigenous women. The author adds relevant information at the end of every one (I.e name, age, date missing etc) that personalizes it to each person. This is an accumulation of the rampant violence against women and what happens when they spend too long being a name on a missing poster. It’s one of the most powerful things I’ve ever read and I recommend it even if poetry is not your cup of tea.
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