July 7, 2016 – Started Reading
Review I must say that I love this collection of intriguing poetry. Kiser's blunt honesty and beautiful darkness within the poetic language is a treat for one's mind. If your imagination tends to journey into the dark shadows that play upon the world, then this is the read for you. The work is a haunting loveliness, macabre thoughts and witty dark humor. We are invited into a wonderfully black imagination and its one he'll of a journey. My favorites are - 'Lay me Down', a striking confession that many may relate to. Kiser brings this stark moment to life. I also adore 'You Can Pretend', a compelling and darkly fascinating horror. Full of dark wit and intensity. 'So, Goodnight', is remarkable and tells of a person who hides behind a beautiful mask.
'Fade Out, Smile' is a darkly delicious read. Speaks to me immensely. ( )

A dark, introspective poetry collection with teeth! There is much depth and beauty to be found in these short poems. A great book to get people talking about, and writing, poetry. I will share this with my writing students. ( )

I have not been a big reader of poetry how ever i won a free copy of Fade Out, smile by Casey Renee Kiser threw Librarything for my honest review. So here it is. Amazing shockingly honest and cut to the heart of dark poetry. I was vey depressed before I began reading this book and soon felt better not alone with my pain. The shock that someone could write so well and so honest made me wonder what life the writer lives to be able to express pain in such away. I quickly gave the cend who struggles with depression and she loved it as well. She was hesitent to borrow it because she not into poetry but I asured her the raw emotions will come threw and she will be able to identify. It didnt make me any more upset it actually helped me not feel alone in my pain. thank you for writing this with such a passion. I recomend it however not to younger aduence there is some adult leval language that would need to be thought of before hand. thank you congratulations cant wait to read more of your work. ( )

I’ve read this short poetry book twice now (as it demands that time is spent with it and is not hastily digested) and I’m still struggling to know how to review it because it feels like any subjective interpretation I put upon it won’t do justice to the meaning and context of the poems themselves. So don’t pay too much attention to my own thoughts –just read this book and get to know the poet for yourself.

What I can tell you is that this is a damn good collection. I resonated a lot with some of the themes, such as: coping with inner darkness, the demons that arrive in the nights of insomnia, and life on the other side of the mirror, far down the rabbit hole.

I was also very taken with the poet’s style, which is both shot out straight from the primordial soul but also beautifully and meticulously crafted. There are poems with a fantastic rhythm to them, there are ones which are dressed up with metaphorical abundance, and ones that are necessarily simple and plain speaking.

For a short collection like this, Casey Renee Kiser packs a hell of a lot in.

Here are some of my favourite lines and verses:

“When I dress up to die/he loves me so much,/he winks his gorgeous eye. I never felt so pretty.”

“You/in your tuxedo of flags/Me/in my melancholy rags/Together,/help the cowards into suburban body bags.”

“In the end,/he wasn’t hard to kill/I just put up more mirrors around the place.”

“WHAT ARE OUR BONES/but gravel/strung together/like popcorn garland to decorate/a tree so tall, it even bullshits the clouds.”

“…We/laughed as if everything was/Real.”

“You see,/I can see what you see/but/You can’t see what I see.”

I’m certainly looking forward to reading more by Casey Renee Kiser in the future, ‘cos, for one thing, I want to know if what she sees that you don’t see is the same as what I see that you don’t see, you see? ( )

A collection of well-written poems revolving around a common theme of disappointed lost love and darker than emo themes. I would have liked to see more illustrations throughout the poems and those that were included lacked a connection to the poems. ( )