Exhibitionist

by Molly Cross-Blanchard

One minute she’s drying her underwear on the corner of your mirror, the next she’s asking the sky to swallow her up: the narrator of Exhibitionist oscillates between a complete rejection of shame and the consuming heaviness of it. Painfully funny, brutally honest, and alarmingly perceptive, Molly Cross-Blanchard’s poems use humour and pop culture as vehicles for empathy and sorry-not-sorry confessionalism. What this speaker wants more than anything is to be seen, to tell you the worst things about herself in hopes that you’ll still like her by the end.

Genres: Poetry, Indigenous, Canada

96 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 13, 2021

Reviews

[Jenny (Reading Envy) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Every April I like to go out and see what’s new in the many facets of poetry, and this is a debut collection other than chapbooks. These poems are chock full of unfiltered thoughts about sexuality, desire, the self, hygiene - I must admit it was a bit much for me, but consistent with the title and cover for sure. The poet has a Métis background that she addresses sometimes in the poems.

I think poetry is super subjective and my rating shouldn't deter you from trying it for yourself!

I had a copy of this from the publisher through Edelweiss; Exhibitionist comes out April 27.

[df parizeau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Generally when I love a book, it will fall into one of two categories: either I can't/don't want to put the book down or it asks me to take my time through its pages. "Exhibitionist" somehow has carved out a new category that accomplishes both.

I have a lot of things I want to say about this book, but it has left me in what could, in the spirit of this book's sauciness, be with described as a post-orgasmic state of delirium.

What I will say is that what I appreciate most about "Exhbitionist" is that Cross-Blanchard so brilliantly toys with the reader's expectation and understanding of what vulnerability means. The title (and the book's final poem) state this boldly: the speaker of these poems revels in revealing themselves to the world. The result are poems that allow the reader to lower their guard, connect with the stickiness and grungyness of being a human, and consider what it would take and mean for them to inhabit this same confidence.

[Dessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. Every poem. Cover to cover. Reading is hard in a pandemic and when someone loaned me their copy of this book, I considered NOT reading it, but then I flipped it open to a random page and the poem there STABBED me, like literally stabbed me, like I was a moth on a pin. YOU ARE GOING TO READ THIS WHOLE BOOK COVER TO COVER, that poem said, BUT NOT TOO FAST. IN SEVERAL SIPPING SITTINGS, LIKE A KIND OF LIQUOR. AND YOU WILL FEEL VERY SEEN. And so I did. And so I do. And I had to keep stopping to read these poems out loud to my friends via voice notes, all of whom replied with OK WOW THAT POEM STABBED ME, LIKE LITERALLY STABBED ME, and I had to be like *gestures wildly* I KNOW!!! I didn’t even finish reading this collection before I purchased my own copy. How could I not?

[ツツ · Rating 4 out of 5]

The paper stock is thick and has an unusually noticeable grain.

Usually I don’t have patience for contemporary poetry, but I find this one very engaging. I had mixed feelings about the sentiments, which I think stem from some distinctively millennial problems. It lowkey inspires me to perhaps try my hand at poetry.

Book 1 (poem) of 2025, (1 /January)


I want to float through your veins on a red blood cell raft, unpack my

boxes inside the curve of your aorta, sticky tack a Buffy poster to an arterial wall. I want to duplicate myself

four times, send my bodies to the tips of each of your limbs, and me behind your eyes. I want to see you

seeing me, the traits you'll look for



You think you know your life but it turns out the tiny white pills were tiny white liars pressing buttons, pulling levers, saying
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.



You took the boys to a different classroom, so I didn't learn about me whatever they learned about me.

Are you the reason they keep trying to scoop out my cervix like pumpkin guts?

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved these poems!
Thank you to Coach House Books for my gifted review copy!

[Bambi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection is phenomenal. It speaks to the part of femmehood which is brutal as we hide it. The raw, gritty truth of living between the aches and pains we endure; how we try to fit in, to like ourselves, to be okay being single, how to be comfortable with it all. Molly is a genius, a hilarious queen who isn’t afraid to push boundaries. One of the best poetry reads this year.

[sofia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I restarted this collection half way through three times because no matter how many times I clutched it to my chest and screamed at the wall it never felt like I was giving it enough love and time to be mine. I'll be holding this to my chest for a really long time.

[Amanda Esthelm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exhibitionist is a perfect name for this book. The depth in which she exposes herself; her thoughts, her vulnerable human actions that we all do, her perception of her own existence- is pretty incredible. I resonated with a lot of these poems and it felt humbling in the best way to read someone else’s experience as just a person moving through life in the best way they can. Truly a great collection of poems, highly recommend

My favorites out of these were “Dear Mr. Decker” and “Please don’t sue me, Meghan Trainor. This is not a pop song”




There was a line in that second poem that hit a chord with me that I wanted to note for my own sake, it was

“I move fast through the day to make myself smaller

for you, even though I know you’re nothing like him.”

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

"When you rubbed your face from side to side across my naked stomach like a dog with an itch it was more sex than the rest put together.

I remember when you pawed my bare back each time I stretched for a drink of water in the night.
I pretended not to like it
drank so much water
spilled on your sheets. "~pg.69
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🌿
Thoughts ~
EXHIBITIONIST is a provocative confessionalism. Blanchard shows us her innermost self, her thoughts, her shames, her desires with abandon. Several of these poems struck me, certain lines will linger longingly in my mind. There was humor, honesty, and an inspired ability to hold nothing back that shocked and delighted me in the best ways. If your looking to add more #canlit Poetry to your life check this baby out!

Thank you to @coachhousebooks for sending me this book, opinions are my own.
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For more of my book content check out instagram.com/bookalong

[Aaron Esthelm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very modern. I love a poet that doesn't dress up life. Life is beautiful in its mundanity. This book highlights the loneliness of life. The confusion. Trying to find where we belong. Really great stuff!

[Michaela Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, this is the kind of poetry I love. The details are sharp, the speaker's honesty is invigorating, and many of the poems made me laugh out loud. This collection is so good.

[Sam - Spines in a Line · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clearly from the title and cover, these poems have some graphic descriptions so it’s to be expected. A lot of them made me laugh, a lot were relatable as a 20-something, and I’m interested in picking up more by this author.

[Gabriel Noel · Rating 5 out of 5]

ARC given by Edelweiss+ for Honest Review

Erotic, raw, chaotic, and feminist. So many things to love about this poetry collection. From the in your face sexual liberation, to the tired cries of motherhood.

A great collection and I'm always happy to see more Native poets. The poems regarding her Metis roots felt so close to the heart.

[OK · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed spending my afternoon with this collection. Cross-Blanchard’s voice is smart, existential, millennial. She populates her poems with objects and people and body parts. She uses enjambment and bathos and juxtaposition with absolute finesse. I laughed out loud several times. I was very moved by the poem about fatphobia—the way the speaker resists writing the poem as the poem is being written.

I felt the poems in the first half were tighter than those in the second half. I didn’t connect to the collection’s focus on heterosexual relationships, but that’s a personal preference. Favourites were Exhibitionist, Granville Island, Home From A&W, You Have Two Girlfriends, I Famously Don’t Care. I think the poems are strongest when the speaker both affirms and questions what lies at the root of her affectations—when she inhabits the space between amplification and refusal.

4/5

[Vic Cavalli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Molly Cross-Blanchard, Exhibitionist

Exhibitionist is a debut book-length collection of honest poems with edge. One theme woven throughout the collection is that of feeling alive. The speaker often presents a directly worded yet delicate tension between insecurity and the security of being desirable. Some of my favorite lines:

. . . . Teach them how to walk
on their hands, wave thank you to Creator with their feet. (18)

. . . . and then
tells me I taste like peaches and I really do
taste like peaches. When we swap
tender vows ’til death do us, two doves
fly a heart around the sun. (42)

. . . . When
I’m staring into your face and it’s like
you’re the only man I’ve ever loved
I’m really thinking about the next time
I’ll feel so alive. (104)

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this collection was like hanging out with my best friend. Like someone was telling me secrets, stories, and jokes while we watched old movies and ate junk food. Once I started it, I couldn’t put it down. Full of pop culture references that will make all millennials giddy, the book feels like a time stamp for any prairie kid who spent a lot of time driving, yearning, and dreaming their way from an angsty teen to an angsty adult. Highly recommend for anyone who wants to laugh and feel suspended in a good world for a while.

[Sophie Crocker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm such a big fan of this book! Such fascinating highlights and lowlights of womanhood/personhood. It's a collection of glowing and specific feelings. The last poem, "they will call this vulnerable," really encompasses the whole book in such a wonderful way that I haven't really seen in a collection before.

[K.R. Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exhibitionist is a gloriously matter-of-fact amble through pop culture, fast food, self doubt, shared apartments, achy desires, damp bodily functions, and the (very) mixed blessings of aloneness. In some places it’s also a master class in the effective use of line breaks.

[Jasmine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cannot say enough good things about this book. Hands down the best poetry collection I’ve ever read. I laughed. I cried. I cringed in the best possible way. A MUST read!

[Kristy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Raw, explicit, familiar, uncensored, love

[Alexis Marie Chute · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cheeky and exposed read. The author’s voice is addictive.

[Evan MacDonald · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had a ton of fun while reading this and it was really emotionally impactful, I loved how much character is in this.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 for me

[Marine F · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good.

[Rosalie Fralick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a read I couldn't put down that made me want to write poetry again and also made me feel seen in all the gross and quiet and loud moments of adulthood.

[Hope · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a fan.

[Julianna Wagar · Rating 5 out of 5]

She’s so real for this

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not exactly my style of poetry, but I have to commend the poet's...vulnerability 😅 there were a couple poems in particular that really spoke to me. Thanks so much to the publisher for the free copy!

[Emily Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

"When I'm older" and "Way out, or poem I wrote while jogging on 12th ave" both made me chuckle

[sacredheart · Rating 3 out of 5]

alone is what you want to be
but not feel. you think you know your life and then you’re crying