Megan Fox showcases her wicked humor throughout a heartbreaking and dark collection of poetry. Over the course of more than seventy poems Fox chronicles all the ways in which we fit ourselves into the shape of the ones we love, even if it means losing ourselves in the process.
“These poems were written in an attempt to excise the illness that had taken root in me because of my silence. I’ve spent my entire life keeping the secrets of men, my body aches from carrying the weight of their sins. My freedom lives in these pages, and I hope that my words can inspire others to take back their happiness and their identity by using their voice to illuminate what’s been buried, but not forgotten, in the darkness,” says Fox.
Pretty Boys Are Poisonous marks the powerful debut from one of the most well-known women of our time. Turn the page, bite the apple, and sink your teeth into the most deliciously compelling and addictive books you’ll read all year.
While a few of Megan Fox's poems had fun or clever prose (and I do love the title Pretty Boys Are Poisonous!), many verses felt more like piles of half-written song lyrics than free-standing parts of a complete debut collection. I really tried to give this one a shot, but it just wasn't quite there.
I know, I know. Megan claims these poems aren't about MGK. So, you're telling me she's writing about another "six foot four damsel in distress" who was "born with the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck" who walked in a Dolce and Gabbana show ("the devil wears Dolce"), in a "pink chariot" who she called her "twin flame" but "will never be his giving tree" (check MGK's The Giving Tree tattoo, I have the same one).... I could literally go on and on because every. single. poem. has a reference to him and I can't believe I'm saying this but I now despise that man.
I mean, if someone is abusing you the way the poems paint the image, I can see why she would publicly lie and say they're NOT about him. Anyways, if I'm wrong, sorry Megan. But if you need help, girl, I'm here. Love you. <3
wow she's so edgy, isn't she?? god we are so lucky that this book came out in 2023 and not ten years ago because i can just imagine how 2014 tumblr would eat this shit up!!! i know it may not seem like it but i actually like megan fox a lot. but, woman, please, you're nearly 40. i think that's old enough to know that abusive/toxic relationships ain't cute and romanticizing that shit by writing awful "poetry" is disgusting (there's a poem called "it's giving patrick bateman" for god's sake, it's THAT bad!!!!). idk i honestly believe that this book is a cry for help. i hope she finds the help she needs.
My heart actually cracked in my chest reading this. Megan, we love you SO much. You don’t deserve this, even if you think you do.
I don’t know how anyone can read this without feeling sick. She’s crying for help and everyone needs to listen.
Some of these poems felt like fillers, but a majority of them were beautifully nauseating. I feel so sick. I feel so heartbroken. I want nothing but happiness for her and I hope to God this helps her find it. I hope that the writing and release of this was cathartic for her, and I DESPERATELY hope that she can get out.
I love Megan Fox, I’m just not a fan of the Rupi Kaur style micro poems. HOWEVER, this feels like a great therapeutic and cathartic experience for her to be able to finally speak her truth.
Some of the poems toward the end felt raw with honesty and had more depth- I enjoyed those!
you wanted marilyn monroe but you got joan of arc instead
rating: 3.5
i really wanted to love this. i was expecting jennifer's body vibes, but this was about the emotional (and sometimes physical) agony she's experienced in toxic and abusive relationships. the writing unfortunately fell a bit flat for me; there were some lines that really ate, but then it'd lose its way.
however, i commend fox for being very honest, raw, and vulnerable bc she has apparently had some really dark romantic relationships. i hope she's safe now.
You’re absolutely delusional if you think I’m too good for this book.
Who is Megan Fox? The back of the book says it all. She is an actor, writer, and mother.
I grew up with a cohort for whom the name “Megan Fox” was the major cause of blushing and cold sweats. Still is, I will say, but in order for those memories to be stirred up these days, we may need to be walking along before hearing these words:
“Fate has yielded its reward. A new world to call home. We live among its people now, hiding in plain sight, but watching over them in secret. Waiting. Protecting. I have witnessed their capacity for courage. And though we are worlds apart, like us, there is more to them than meets the eye. I am Optimus Prime, and I send this message to any surviving Autobots taking refuge among the stars. We are here. We are waiting.” cue the song
Anyway.
Fox starts the book by addressing the reader directly. Perhaps a moment to cool down. We are in for it. She starts with emotion. “Dear reader,” she says, “All of my healers tell me that my throat chakra is blocked.” With that, we are off to the races. We go.
She says a bit more.
“My problem is that I deeply identify my feelings and have multitudinous ways of articulating them, but I am not able to express them because when I do it has made the men who have loved me feel intimidated, inadequate, and insecure.”
She goes on to mention that she has a “savior/martyr complex”, always having believed that she is “meant to be a sacrificial lamb” who is now jaded.
A short portion of the title poem, pretty boys are poisonous:
there he stands tall, thin, twisted like a tree you’d find in sleepy hollow refusing to grow toward the light instead he bends to the shadows
Here is another poem, i would die for y– oh, j/k lol:
if romeo and juliet had lived long enough maybe they too would have gotten to the point where romeo was so num to her that he would rather read twitter in bed than fuck…
because there’s always tomorrow for that or maybe the next day… or the next… i dunno he’s just so busy now
i still imagine she kills herself in the end though only he doesn’t follow he just signs up for raya instead
And another one, titled it’s giving patrick bateman:
your love leaves bloodstains on my bedsheets
There are many other poems in this collection.
One such poem is fatality:
you’ve been fighting me for three hours like we're in a game of mortal kombat i start daydreaming of the look on your face when i tell you his dick was so much bigger than yours
Well, that would certainly hurt.
One more.
This one is called 7, the number of completion:
i hate men i hate men i hate men i hate men i hate men i hate men i hate men
This book was certainly one of the reading experiences of the year. Thank you Megan Fox.
Next up? I am diving deep into the mind of our poet-supreme, Aubrey Graham. If anyone knows a good place to buy a copy of that collection for a cheaper price, let me know. I have spent enough money on my dude as is, and I am far too old to continue doing so.
Today, Megan Fox read me bad slam poetry. It was awesome.
I respect Megan Fox’s attempt to tell her own story on her own terms. However, the choice to turn her experience with abusive relationships into a book of pretty, shiny poems makes it seem as though she’s glorifying physical abuse. These poems portray her as a serial masochist instead of a victim.
Alternate review: There are few things I have less patience for than a poem solely composed of the words “I hate men.”
I am not sure I would call this poetry. For the most part these are just some reflections and ideas put together in an eloquent manner, using some non coloquial words. What caught my attention the most about this book and what I believe to be most memorable (certainly not the writing style or prose) is the woman experience around men , how women might experience toxic dynamics and fall in love with those highs and lows. This books gives a glimpse into who Megan Fox is and her life trauma. Regardless of how good or not her poetry might be , I still think it’s worth the read as a woman that has experience romance through men. Megan is truly a complex and intriguing human being. Maybe this could have been better if it wasn’t extremely ‘try hard artsy’ and ‘tortured soul’ but hey, she does begin the book by saying she had a martyr complex. So idk what else I was expecting.
“if romeo and juliet had lived long enough maybe they too would’ve gotten to the point where romeo was so numb to her that he would rather read twitter in bed than fuck” god i love celebrity poetry collections 😭
this had a few poignant lines and the subject matter is very relatable but overall fell pretty flat. would have banged on 2012 tumblr tho.
"...there is no beast so fierce as a girl with a bullet in her head and an arrow through her heart..." Pg. 134
I commend Megan's honesty and bravery in writing about the abuse she has endured through these poems. However, this collection felt a bit incomplete to me. The titles were simple and often didn't really connect to the poem or just felt odd, for example, 'why I wish I was gay' and 'it's giving patrick bateman'. The poems did have a clear theme that carried throughout, which I do prefer in a poetry collection, but overall this wasn't my favourite collection. It honestly felt like any other hit-or-miss celebrity book to me.
it felt like in the poems with any kind of nuance that they were literally just glorifying/sexualizing physical abuse between her and her intimate partners in some poems.
there was also a poem accusing all women of judging her and hating them all too. i guess this was a book for her but wtf?
i also felt real weird about her writing a poem called "i wish i was gay" about how much she hates men.
so idk. 1 star for the art, which was beautiful. but the poems felt like she never quite grew out of her hot topic phase.
A few months back Gallery Books sent me a copy of this and it felt like an appropriate book to close out my reading year with
I'll be honest and say that I'm not much of a poetry person. I've read a few of the buzzier titles over the year, a lot of the freeform more modern poetry that spent a good amount of time in the late 2010s getting referred to as Instagram captions... I guess you could argue some of the poems here fit that similar mold.
This one worked for me though. Maybe it was the illustrations, or maybe there was something in the construction of the thought combined with where I am now that allowed for everything to allign in just the right way.
I can't critique these in any sort of literary way since it's been a solid decade since I was asked to spend any amount of time breaking down poetry in my AP English 12 class. I can't talk at length about the poetic technique that Fox uses in this particular collection and whether they are used in the most effective way. For every poem that did work for me there were just as many that I felt were fine. As a whole I enjoyed my time reading the collection and for those that are at least open to modern poetry I think it's worth your time to read a few of these at a time.
hmmm, this was both revealing/interesting and completely bland at the same time. some of these 'poems' were just thoughts or throwaway song lyrics that didn't really have much to say whereas a handful at most seemed to actually say something and get megan's emotions across. also not sure on a poem being titled 'why i wish i was gay' being (two lines) purely about men screwing her over.
tldr: I'm sorry she's gone through what she has and I hope she finds peace but with this she really didn't articulate herself in the way she thought she did.
The content matter of this book is not mine to judge. I have lived many of the same experiences. It’s the delivery that had me cringing. I think Megan would have been able to better convey this through a memoir, even if ghost written. I’m not sure one can call this poetry? “It’s giving Patrick Bateman” actual quote that had me almost closing this one all together. This felt very poorly written, at times immature (comparing Adam and Eve to her not getting enough sex) and also reaching to be profound (constant Greek mythology references not fitting the vibe). Weird!
You offer me a smile content to steal my life knowing at least this way no one else will ever have me
Me pasa esto: me sorprende gratamente la escritura de Megan, y sus mensajes aún más. Me parece terrible todo lo que esta mujer tuvo que atravesar, y siento pura empatía y solidaridad con ella. Al mismo tiempo, siento que el estilo de los poemas (que por acá compararon de forma muy acertada con Rupi Kaur) no es para nada mi onda, así que la calificación va por ese lado: ni tan bueno ni tan malo. Creo que la publicación de este poemario es una manera de exorcizar algunas cuestiones serias suyas, y siempre voy a aplaudir ese tipo de cosas, y hacerles eco. Un detalle que me gustó mucho: el juego entre el cuerpo del texto y el título final que le daba absoluto sentido al mensaje.
Sometimes saftey can be boring but is “excitement” really worth it? And is it really romance? Or is it trauma bond. like you said Megan, you deserve better 💔 we do deserve better!
this felt more like an open letter to 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦, liked that for a celebrity poetry book it was this vulnerable and put out into the light and the last two chapters sent shivers down my spine.