I knew going into this collection that I’d be stepping outside my “comfort level”. This is the case with most of Block’s work, for me. Though, at this point, I think I’m getting comfortable with Block’s unconventional style of writing.

Block was able to hook me in with what normally irks me with poetry. There is no punctuation throughout the collection, and there’s a very scarce use of capitalization. Having read [b:Psyche in a Dress|14560|Psyche in a Dress|Francesca Lia Block|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1386921704s/14560.jpg|16589] recently, I was somewhat ready for the lack of punctuation. Not having capital letters anywhere in the poems took some getting used to. These two things normally help a reader find some flow or pattern to the lines. Despite this, I easily found my way into each poem and enjoyed them all.

There are recurring themes of motherhood and various aspects of love and relationships throughout the collection. Each mention brought me, as a reader, deeper into the speaker’s life and the emotions she felt during each event recollected. Block’s use of language, incorporation of myths and magical imagery created beautiful lines of poetry that I’d enjoy reading many times over. I only hope that Block releases more poetry because I’d love more. ( )

I read this right after reading Quakeland, and the two books are so similar in content that what I've been confused with in Quakeland is somewhat clearer after reading these poems. The poetry is beautiful, I can almost hear the melody in them.

Block's poetry is stranger than her prose. I much prefer the prose. ( )

I received this book as part of the Early Reviewers program in June and only just managed to get around to reading it. I love poetry but I'm very picky about my novels in verse and this one did not live up to my standards. There were some very well-written parts but I felt that most of the novel didn't flow or portray enough for me to get into and enjoy the story told by the poems. A let down. ( )

When I saw OPEN LETTER TO QUIET LIGHT on the ER list, I was hoping that I'd be lucky enough to get a copy. I'm a poet who adores books of poetry, and a writer who enjoys Block's novels and short stories and has taught a few of them in her classes. Block's quirky storytelling style and her lyrical prose make her a personal favorite.

While the cover of the collection with its surreal artwork reinforced my expectations for the collection, sadly, the poems themselves did not live up to them.

The musicality of Block's prose writing was lost in her poetry, where much of the language lacked the compression, tightness, and crispness of poetry. And of Block's prose. In many ways, I think OPEN LETTER TO QUIET LIGHT would have read better as a collection of flash fictions or vignettes.

While the collection didn't quite work for me as poetry, I did enjoy the overall narrative arcs in the collection, the journey that unfolds from poem to poem. However, I did find similar themes to repeat a little too much for my taste, making the pacing seem slow and the collecton a bit bloated. The bit with the meanings of the narrator's lover's name and then her own at the end formed a particularly lovely and powerful thread of continuity and closure.