writer | teacher | filmmaker | publisher
Kenji C. Liu’s Monsters I Have Been is a wild ride through his denunciation of toxic masculinity and praise of gender fluidity. The method he uses to express these, however, is almost laughable in its strangeness; while shockingly original, it lacks a necessary accessibility in communicating its message(s) to readers.
This book is equal parts about culture, family, and self-discovery, and likely every reader can relate to the struggle with those things. Not every poet can bridge the gap between their own experiences and others, but Blanco does it expertly by incorporating food, speech, music, and the smallest physical details in his poems.
Caitlin M.S. Buxbaum 