My review of ‘Letters to Jupiter’ by Lotté Jean

I recently had the pleasure of reading the debut poetry collection Letters to Jupiter by Lotté Jean, which I found both moving and interesting in its portrayal of a journey through mental anguish to self acceptance. Below you can read my review of the book, which is out now and available from Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

About ‘Letters to Jupiter’

Letters to Jupiter is the tale of one person’s journey from mental anguish and fraught relationships to a stronger form of self-knowledge and introspection leading to hope of a brighter future.

One strong motif within the first half of the book is that of acid, beginning with the poem ‘Acid Tears:’

‘deeply
a vessel cra c k s
acid seeps
into a rotted system…’

This is continued in ‘Acid Boy’ which begins:

‘you poured acid into my veins
as the sulfur tried to illuminate my pain…’

The acid of these poems is almost like a rite of passage leading to a clearer, more objective form of self-knowledge, as expressed in the concluding lines of ‘Blood Bath’:

‘bathe me in acid
let my strength shine and watch me re-bloom.’

The acid motif is repeated in the poem ‘In darkness, we begin:’

‘a pool
of acid ready to strip me bare and turn my eyes to the in between
land, the place not far from the home of the
clouds.’

And so begins ‘the rebirth’ into a new form of serenity and self-knowledge as expressed in the following poem, ‘Sweet:’

‘sweet serenity
let me feel your warmth
touch the darkest places
of my worn-out heart
quench its thirst
and fill it back with light.’

Next follows the transition phase from the ruins of a troubled past towards a brighter future:

‘in a small exhale a
past is let go of. a growth of light is formed, and a future
can become clear at the sight of letting go.’ (‘Seven Breaths’)

From a journey through hell comes the realisation that:

‘once you take each day
as it is
tomorrow will always be beautiful.’ (‘Once Here’)

There follows details of a love affair that is as painful as it is all-consuming:

‘prepare yourself
oh beauty boy
for a taste of the future
so bitter
with the acid of your past
and one that will consume you’ (‘You think you will consume me?’)

Once again we return to the acid motif, but it is the lover rather than the narrator who is being burned until eventually comes the realisation:

‘i was given my destiny
and it will be controlled
only by me.’ (Lone)

We then move into a kind of ‘language of letting go’:

‘you are not the food that will stay in my teeth. not a strand
of my hair. you are a memory that will pass. a lesson to not
hold onto the wreckage.’ (‘Dear Monster’)

This feeling culminates in the opening of a new chapter of life, as expressed in the poem ‘Beginning’:

‘i will always feel pain and pleasure but this time
my hand
will turn my page.’

The final poems of the collection all convey a sense of new beginning in one form or other:

’embracing each season of loving your wounds that are healing’ (‘Transformation’)

Conclusion

I could identify with the journey described in this book as one I myself have taken in the past during my struggles with mental health and fraught relationships. I can testify to the fact that there is light at the end of the tunnel, as hinted at in the concluding poems of this collection. A promising debut from a talented poet!