I picked up Grey Matters on a whim when I saw it on NetGalley and it far exceeded my expectations.

Costello's pieces are full of emotion, unfiltered honesty, and hope. I've lived through every single one of the challenges—depression, anorexia, self-deprecation, and eventual acceptance and healing—and Costello writes from the perspective of someone who has obviously gone through them all.

While many of the poems are only a sentence or two long, they are all beautiful and compelling in their own concise way.

I recommend this to anyone who's ever struggled with self-esteem, burnout, depression, or anorexia.

Call Us What We Carry is a poetry collection with emphases on the pandemic and BLM movement. I enjoyed a great deal of the poems and appreciated the historical facts and statistics. My only criticism is that the collection went on far too long. After a while, the pieces repeated themselves with little to no added value. I would have preferred this much more if it had been half the length.

Here are my two favorite quotes:

"We mourn the past more than we miss it." - from "In the Deep"

"What endures isn't always what escapes/& what is withered can still withstand." - from "Cordage, or Atonement"

After seeing Finna on what I'll call the "spotlight rack" at the library, I decided to borrow a copy. I had never heard of Nate Marshall and hadn't seen this poetry collection anywhere else. I went in completely blind.

I loved the usage of Black vernacular English. It felt raw and honest, something I feel most contemporary poetry lacks. If you're looking for a poetry collection that hits differently than most, I recommend finding a copy and settling in for a quick yet poignant read.

PS. For those who'd like to know, my favorite poem was "which art? what art?".