Review
Reviewed By Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite
The Big Game is a collection of poetry written by Bethany James. The poet includes romantic lyrics, poetic recipes, and sports-inspired verses in this collection of mostly free-verse poems. Her dessert recipes are decadent and luscious-sounding, and her cooking instructions are lyrical, romantic, and sensual. Her Rapateria selections have powerful rhythms and sound-sense patterning that seem designed to be spoken aloud. James uses alliteration, repetition, and slight alterations of sounds to manipulate her message and present it fully to the reader. Her messages are often profound and powerful as in her work, Abstinence: Still I Wait and We Found Love at the Big Game. Wedding Night is lyrical and passionate, and it mingles emotional and sensual highs.
Bethany James' collection of poetry, The Big Game, had me enthralled at times, ready to whip out my mixer and start making a cake at others, and smiling with delight throughout. Her recipes are marvelous, and her passion for cooking echoes the enthusiasm, expertise, and ebullience of James Beard and Julia Child, two of my all-time favorites. She definitely gets the love that's poured into every cake batter and whipped into every light and airy frosting. Her free verse is thought-provoking and designed to have the listener interact with her. James eschews a passive audience for one that connects even as she tosses around provocation and challenges preconceived notions. Abstinence: Still I Wait is the most eloquent argument against premarital sex that I've come across, and it's a resonant and beautiful thing. Wedding Night is a superb effort that pairs so well with Abstinence. Interracial Dating is captivating and lyrical, repetitions imposing a rhythm that's quite irresistible. After finishing this short, sensual, and stunning sampler of Bethany James' work, I know I'll be seeing more of her work in the future, but, for now, I'm planning on making her Berries Bliss Trifle. The Big Game is most highly recommended.
Reviewed By Ryan Jordan for Readers' Favorite
The Big Game: Spirituality and Love by Bethany Camille James is a short volume of love poetry written in poetic beats based on recipes. First, we have Romance and Dessert, which uses such things as Bourbon Whiskey and Heavy Whipping Cream, and it explains the ingredients and cooking process with short lines that have an almost song-like quality to them. It is sprinkled throughout with references to love and romance. This is followed by another recipe for making a cake; the explanation of the ingredients makes the process seem simple, and I don't think the recipes would be difficult to execute. This section is followed by more traditional poetry about things like Abstinence and Wedding Nights, and here the poems start to turn more sexual and provocative, but never overly erotic or descriptive.
The recipes sound fantastic and I can see people easily being able to recreate them by following the instructions. The poems are short and sweet and full of interesting beats and flairs. Interracial Dating is a good poem, though they are all well written. It was a little bit short for a volume, but if anything that is a testament as to how good it is because I was left interested and wondering what else the author might have up her sleeve. The Big Game: Spirituality and Love by Bethany Camille James doesn't break any new ground, but it will do an excellent job of entertaining those who enjoy this genre of poetry.
Reviewed By Romuald Dzemo for Readers' Favorite
The Big Game by Bethany Camille James is a compendium of poems featuring a diversity of topics and styles, including sports, recipes, love, haikus, and many things in between. It's a gorgeous collection with beautiful rhythms and an array of images. I was almost put off by the style that puts a hyphen before each line in many poems, but one has to read past the form to discover a powerful throbbing for life and a yearning for love overflowing through the poems.
I enjoyed the simplicity of the poems and the accessible writing. There is a lyrical beauty that stems from the diction and hip hop lovers will be thrilled with some of the poems like "Abstinence" in which the author professes her value of purity: "Does my purity vex you? / Why are you so hostile with me? / Cause I achieved freedom to choose /My head is held high and I'm set free."
But then, there is the powerful expression of longing, the fire of love that sets hormones ablaze. "Wedding Night" is full of passionate imagery and readers will immediately identify with the persona. The author describes the powerful sense of giving in expressions such as "I'm yours, surprise me." But then this stanza also expresses the restlessness one experiences in love: "Heart be still if you please/ Hormones racing like a symphony / Waiting done, indulge me / Pleasure zone, completely."
Bethany Camille James' The Big Game is a beautiful collection that will come across to many as a wonderful gift of love. The author reminds readers of the universal sentiments they share with all of humanity. It's poetry to read and pass on. Beautiful!
Reviewed By Sefina Hawke for Readers' Favorite
The Big Game (Spirituality and Love) by Bethany Camille James is a short poetry book on romance, love, and spirituality that will appeal most to adults who enjoy love poetry and delicious recipes. The Big Game is filled with numerous different poems that all share similar emotions, as well as tasty recipes.
The Big Game is designed to evoke feelings of romance and love in the reader. The poems are written in simple language that allows the reader to easily interpret the meanings without research. The format of The Big Game is uniform with each line beginning with a dash (-), except for the titles. The Big Game is broken down into eleven chapters with each one having a different focus. My favorite section of The Big Game was romance and dessert; I particularly liked the recipe for the Berries Bliss Truffle. The recipe itself was written as a poem, but it was also easy to follow and the end result tasted amazing.
Even if you are not a poetry fan, I would still recommend this book because of the Berries Bliss Truffle recipe alone! I enjoyed reading The Big Game (Spirituality and Love) by Bethany Camille James and I hope to see more poetry books by this author.
Reviewed By Deborah Lloyd for Readers' Favorite
Bethany James presents a small volume of unique poetry, with a few irresistible recipes, in The Big Game: Spirituality and Love. The primary topic of this book is love and romance. The recipes are truly decadent, and the highly romantic instructions are written in poetic form. This is a creative way to blend both the mechanics of cooking and the emotions of a loving relationship. Ms. James has certainly introduced a new and fun way to create romance in the kitchen. Although the following poetry includes many affectionate and passionate phrases, she reveals her commitment to waiting until marriage, and the wedding night, to fully engage in a sexual relationship. Beneath the romance, the author reveals a strong belief system of what love and romance in today's world can comprise.
A different perspective on love and romance is described in The Big Game: Spirituality and Love by Bethany James. This short book of poetry presents an unexpected viewpoint, and one that has virtually disappeared in today's world. Ms. James' poetry is well-composed, with an air of strong conviction and passion. One observation about this book is that there was no single main focus. It felt like two separate books were blended into one, too-brief work. The first book is a cookbook, with two delectable, sensual recipes. Only having two recipes, written in such a delightful format, was a bit of a letdown - two yummy dishes is not enough! The second book held poems of committed love. Overall, this writer presents a very interesting way to approach love and romance.
Reviewed By Molly Edwards for Readers' Favorite
I'm pleased to say that I truly enjoyed The Big Game: Spirituality and Love by Bethany Camille James. I'm not big on reading non-fiction, or poetry books, or anything in that category, but I wanted to branch out and try something outside of my element. This book of romantic poetry that's steamy and passionate really hooked me and got me turning the pages long into the night.
Bethany Camille James created a blend of poetry and passion that I was absolutely not expecting. The way she created the poems really made me feel the emotions in each page. The style of her writing is interesting and unique and I would love to see another book like this written by her. The best part of this book is that she included recipes for the poems. So, not only did I enjoy her work, I was hungry by the end of the book and was ready to recreate some of those recipes.
I can definitely see this as a book to recommend to my many reader friends. These poems are profound and really tell wonderful stories. As a reader, if I read a book of poetry in the future, I want them all to be just like this. By far, one of the best, most creative books of poetry I've ever come across and I can't wait to read more of this talented lady's work. Well done, Bethany. Bring on the next amazing book of poetry and awesome recipes so I can try my hand at this yumminess. Definitely worthy of high praise from this reader.
