monsters of the mind: by caitlin kelly

by Caitlin Kelly

welcome! welcome! goblins and ghouls to a haunting story within the scariest of places. one’s own mind. you’ll find shadows in the empty spaces, graveyards of lost connections and ghosts of troubled depressions. may you beware on this journey through one’s brain as she seems to have a lot to say.

Genres: Poetry

303 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 27, 2022

About the author

Caitlin Kelly is a young author and poet best known for The Words I Wish I Said, a collection that gained viral traction on social media in 2021 and reached #1 in Amazon Poetry sales, as well as #1 in Women’s Poetry. The book’s success marked a turning point in her career, introducing her work to a global audience and solidifying her voice within the contemporary poetry space.

She began self-publishing at sixteen years old with her debut collection, The Words of a Madman, and went on to release four poetry collections between the ages of seventeen and twenty. Her body of work includes The Words I Wish I Said, The Perks of Solitude (April 7, 2021), and Monsters of the Mind released on January 27, 2022.

Known for her emotionally intimate and reflective style, Caitlin explores themes of solitude, longing, and the things left unsaid through poetry, prose, and personal writing. In addition to her poetry, she is currently working on her debut novel, expanding her storytelling into longer-form fiction while maintaining the raw honesty that first resonated with readers.

Reviews

[Drusilla]

I haven't done poetry in years. No idea how it came to this now. I just thought last night I need something to fill my depression. I know it sounds weird, it just makes sense to me. And the cover of this book and the title just spoke to me.
So, I'm not going to rate this because I think poems are something very special and appeal to everyone in a different way. It's artful words strung together, something like that shouldn't have a rating.
For me alone, this book would be three stars. From a poetic point of view it is interesting. Thematically, or from the words, only the first chapter resonated with me, but that is entirely up to me and not the book.
The style is good for me, slightly irritating as I couldn't make out the meaning behind the "formatting". But otherwise it appeals to me, that is, from the style of the word order.

TW: depression, anxiety, trauma, heartbreak and more

i’ve glued my pieces back together but i’m scared they are fragile enough to find their way apart 🖤🌹🖤

i’m drowning trying to swim to the surface but my mind is a tsunami never able to escape me 🖤🌹🖤

perfection doesn’t exist if you cannot accept the rough edges 🖤🌹🖤

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

they say that
if a writer falls in love with you
then you could never die

and i guess that means you'll live
eternally on bookshelves

temporarily in my thoughts
but everlasting in my writing

[tappkalina]

DNF

as much as i’ve learned to be comfortable alone. i still find the empty spaces haunting. when i scream at my mind in terror, there’s no one there. my haunted mansion is full of it’s empty corners, empty seats and the memories of abandonment. i wished for solitude, longed for it. but now that i’ve found it, i can’t find the comfort and warmth of others. i’ve isolated myself for so long, maybe it’s time to allow someone in. the most haunting of this, is the fear i have of another soul invading my space. the terror of my empty spaces filling with more monsters surrounding me. i either accept loneliness or i find someone to be alone with.

[Maya · Rating 3 out of 5]

i enjoyed this book a lot. my only complaint is that the formatting was a little difficult to follow along with.

[Rachel Nicole Martinez · Rating 2 out of 5]

nice thoughts

this is a nice collection of poetry, however the formatting of this ebook is so difficult to follow and read through. I had a really hard time getting through it. However the thoughts and intentions behind each poem are nice :)

~xo,
Rach

[nayezi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good. The poems were meaningful and quite moving.

[Jeanine Behrendt · Rating 1 out of 5]

So bad. Repetitive: same miserable ideas over and over. Mixed metaphors too. Poorly edited- mechanical errors throughout.

[Brianna Noelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had never heard of this poetry before stumbling across this beautiful collection, but I'm so glad I did. Will definitely be checking out more of their collections.

[Ares · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really don’t like the authors work and poetry, but compared to the other collection I read this one was better.

I get emotional over little details in books, and logically this should get out an even bigger emotional reaction since it’s something more personal to the writer, but I felt nothing.

It didn’t move me and it didn’t make me think. And that is the only reason for me to read poetry. So it was a flop.

I liked a few poems and I didn’t feel annoyed by them that much.

[kinza dudley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book a bit difficult to read because of the format. I wouldn't say a liked or disliked this book it was just neutral for me. The poems in this book are raw and talk about a girl dealing with depression, anxiety, and other touchy subjects. Personally, I didn't connect with the book but enjoyed reading some of her writings about the struggles in her life.

[Molls 🍀 · Rating 3 out of 5]

just ok

It just wasn’t what I was expecting, and it was a lot of the same idea. That being said, for someone who is struggling mentally, and could use some validation it might be nice.

[Steph · Rating 5 out of 5]

This!!!

Another book by this author that I absolutely adore!!! Thank you for sharing so many parts of you that myself as well as others can and will find relatable

[zimtyreads · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5/5
Liked most of the trauma and heartbreak/love poems but the first two weren‘t it for me…
But that‘s okay and some really moved me so yeah ah lot of love to one of my favorite poetry writers<3

[&#x1f4da; · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,25⭐️

[Emily L-P · Rating 3 out of 5]

Raw

These poems were real and raw and beautiful. I really enjoyed them. The format of the book was all wonky though which made it very hard to read.

[Caylea Perrus · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book relates well to trauma and dark feelings of depression and anxiety. I felt understood and connected with the words. I would've appreciated a more in depth healing process because its nice to know that things get better after such hard times. It was a rather blue read, but pretty nonetheless.

[Malena Ardi · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s nice but not as impressive as I thought it would’ve been.

[Sheridyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not really my fav, but to each their own

[Emma Hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good things in this I related to, but not much.

[Noot Nat]

DNF 🤧

I felt this book had potential however, it is hard to follow because of the set up in Kindle Unlimited. I was confused why some lines were bolded and if it was intentional to have the “I”s lowercase or have run-on sentences. It’s hard to follow poetry since I’m new to it, so these few things made the experience kind of unenjoyable. Also there were times where I didn’t know when a poem began and when it ended.

I like the subjects the author is writing about, but it did feel a bit repetitive. I wish I could have finished it, but I was getting frustrated lol and I would rather try a new poem collection than continue this one.