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I Want to Go Out That Way, Too
A compilation of poems written during the worst years of Aislin's life, before she knew even the darkest chapters have an ending. Spanning a six-year long era starting in early high school, this poetry details coming-of-age under the struggles of abuse, depression, anxiety, intergenerational trauma and addiction.
77 pages, Paperback
Published September 27, 2023
6 people want to read
About the author
Isobel Aislin
2 books10 followersIsobel Aislin published their first book at age 16 and promptly said they'd never do that again. They proceeded to prove this to be a lie three times under another pen name.
After uprooting their entire life moving from one coast of the United States to the other, they decided to start a new chapter. Inspired from survival horror games and her psychology/criminal justice studies, Aislin examines themes personal to their traumatic upbringing through the psychological horror and suspense genres.
After uprooting their entire life moving from one coast of the United States to the other, they decided to start a new chapter. Inspired from survival horror games and her psychology/criminal justice studies, Aislin examines themes personal to their traumatic upbringing through the psychological horror and suspense genres.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 3, 2023
this collection of poems seems to be an especially vulnerable and personal series of pieces from the author, and with consistent themes regarding hopelessness, mental health, and abuse. it's not a happy read, but it's an important and an honest one with some incredibly beautiful writing.
October 28, 2023
"I Want To Go Out That Way, Too" by Isobel Aislin (perhaps better known as Alexis Sundquist, who has described this penname as a new beginning) is their most personal work and their only dedicated solo poetry collection. With a healthy divide between Nine Inch Nails homages, discussions of trauma, and coping with trauma, it is their most personal work so far. Continuing with the darkness and personal elements found in "From Hell," this is some of Sundquist/Aislin's most personal work, dealing with subject matters such as child molestation, self harm, drug abuse, and PTSD. It is made from the same poetic cloth of previous works such as "The Night Made This Decision" and "A Widower's Guide To Downward Spirals," while completely abandoning the more light hearted fantastical elements of "What Crawls Below." This is not for the faint of heart.
Needless to say, it is an ode to a very dark place, but there's a certain beauty by the end of the deep exploration of trauma that culminates in something of a self discovery in terms of healing from the black hole of trauma. The majority of the collection is consisted of poems that showcase downright wizardry with sentence structure, melody, and emotional prowess. Left Pieces of Myself All Over Town is a downright heart wrenching exploration of the emotions of someone coping with childhood sexual abuse.
Beyond that, it has a complex (occasionally frustrating) and interesting use of format with having the names of poems as lines/words that are bolded. For the most part, these bolded lines were effective and kept each different poem from becoming tiresome or repetitive. That being said, some confusing format choices are the only places where "I Want To Go Out That Way Too" fell flat, such as omitting page numbers and the margins on the inside being so small that I needed to crease the book to read it physically. For digital readers, neither of these issues would matter very much, but the lack of page numbers made it hard for me to return to some of my favorite poems and study them deeper. That being said, if my only major complaints were the omission of page numbers and poorly planned page margins, I'd say it is very strong content wise. In defense of the page numbers, it adds to the dark atmosphere and makes the heavy poetry seem like trauma is in reality: endless and disorienting. Even when you've fully recovered, things still linger like phantom limb pain.
This theme is explored heavily in the final sections of the book, a mimi-memoir that explores the author's horrible (putting it lightly) and abusive childhood, almost in the spirit and style of a story like the Glass Castle or Breaking Night. It's pessimistic and damaged, but with enough of a glimmer of hope to keep on swinging. Striking and some of the best memoir writing I've seen. I don't know how likely it is given the severity of the trauma, but I think in the future, there would be a lot of value in a full length memoir from Sundquist/Aislin.
Overall, "I Want To Go Out That Way, Too" is worth the price of admission, if not just for the power of the captivating memoir. Even without the memoir, the poetry is incredible, emotive, and effective in creating detailed imagery that sticks to the reader like a black mud. Perhaps one of the most interesting poetry collections I've encountered.
Needless to say, it is an ode to a very dark place, but there's a certain beauty by the end of the deep exploration of trauma that culminates in something of a self discovery in terms of healing from the black hole of trauma. The majority of the collection is consisted of poems that showcase downright wizardry with sentence structure, melody, and emotional prowess. Left Pieces of Myself All Over Town is a downright heart wrenching exploration of the emotions of someone coping with childhood sexual abuse.
Beyond that, it has a complex (occasionally frustrating) and interesting use of format with having the names of poems as lines/words that are bolded. For the most part, these bolded lines were effective and kept each different poem from becoming tiresome or repetitive. That being said, some confusing format choices are the only places where "I Want To Go Out That Way Too" fell flat, such as omitting page numbers and the margins on the inside being so small that I needed to crease the book to read it physically. For digital readers, neither of these issues would matter very much, but the lack of page numbers made it hard for me to return to some of my favorite poems and study them deeper. That being said, if my only major complaints were the omission of page numbers and poorly planned page margins, I'd say it is very strong content wise. In defense of the page numbers, it adds to the dark atmosphere and makes the heavy poetry seem like trauma is in reality: endless and disorienting. Even when you've fully recovered, things still linger like phantom limb pain.
This theme is explored heavily in the final sections of the book, a mimi-memoir that explores the author's horrible (putting it lightly) and abusive childhood, almost in the spirit and style of a story like the Glass Castle or Breaking Night. It's pessimistic and damaged, but with enough of a glimmer of hope to keep on swinging. Striking and some of the best memoir writing I've seen. I don't know how likely it is given the severity of the trauma, but I think in the future, there would be a lot of value in a full length memoir from Sundquist/Aislin.
Overall, "I Want To Go Out That Way, Too" is worth the price of admission, if not just for the power of the captivating memoir. Even without the memoir, the poetry is incredible, emotive, and effective in creating detailed imagery that sticks to the reader like a black mud. Perhaps one of the most interesting poetry collections I've encountered.
November 29, 2023
"I Want to Go Out That Way, Too" by Isobel Aislin is a poignant and gut-wrenching compilation of poems that takes readers on a journey through the darkest corners of the human experience. Aislin's ability to articulate the raw emotions and struggles she faced during her formative years is nothing short of extraordinary.
Spanning over six years of her life, the poems in this collection provide a candid glimpse into the harrowing realities of abuse, depression, anxiety, intergenerational trauma, and addiction. Aislin's words are a powerful testament to the resilience of the human spirit, as she navigates the treacherous waters of adolescence and early adulthood, searching for meaning and healing.
However, there should be serious trigger warnings for this book, as some will find this too dark or too depressing or suicidal. Also the formatting for Kindle was all over the place, no real care was taken to sort this out before publishing it.
Spanning over six years of her life, the poems in this collection provide a candid glimpse into the harrowing realities of abuse, depression, anxiety, intergenerational trauma, and addiction. Aislin's words are a powerful testament to the resilience of the human spirit, as she navigates the treacherous waters of adolescence and early adulthood, searching for meaning and healing.
However, there should be serious trigger warnings for this book, as some will find this too dark or too depressing or suicidal. Also the formatting for Kindle was all over the place, no real care was taken to sort this out before publishing it.
December 3, 2023
- a lot of very evocative imagery and metaphors etc that stick with you. i really liked "I'm grey", "Eulogy for a Jellyfish", "I have not been a child in so long", "I left pieces of myself all over town", "heroin", "I'm one and only". still thinking about certain lines.
- things that were confusing: some context (the encore helped) and formatting (although i liked that a lot once i realized how it was meant to be read)
- things that were confusing: some context (the encore helped) and formatting (although i liked that a lot once i realized how it was meant to be read)
December 31, 2023
# ad I received a gifted copy of this book. Many thanks to the author.
Wow! If you love poetry then you will LOVE this book. Dark with a punch straight to the heart, each poem is relatable in some way. Raw and emotional this book single-handily made me like poetry again.
If you read poetry or don’t this book is for you. All the praises.
Wow! If you love poetry then you will LOVE this book. Dark with a punch straight to the heart, each poem is relatable in some way. Raw and emotional this book single-handily made me like poetry again.
If you read poetry or don’t this book is for you. All the praises.
November 13, 2023
I Want to Go Out That Way, Too is a heart wrenching, deeply personal collection of poems written during the author's darkest period in life. While it is in no way a happy or hopeful collection, it does prove to the reader that even the bleakest of mindsets can be survived. Raw and uncensored, Aislin shares her experiences with generational trauma, abuse, and addiction.
I'd recommend this one if you're looking for a quick, emotional read mixing both poetry and prose!
I'd recommend this one if you're looking for a quick, emotional read mixing both poetry and prose!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews