Rating: 2 stars
Headline: Writing about such a challenging topic was never going to be easy and, for me, this book missed the mark
Review:
Ballard of Burnout by Kerry Makin-Byrd is both poetic in nature whilst also leaning towards prose. It details the narrator’s personal experiences (presumably Makin-Byrd’s) in a stressful work environment, causing symptoms many of us would recognise and identify as the mental health condition, burnout.
The book covers the events before, during and after with an optimistic look to the future of what life holds following the traumatic experiences detailed over twelve chapters/verses that run as one continuation. It is for this reason the use of the term “ballad” is used in the book’s title, a monologue of one person’s experiences. In this overarching ballad Makin-Byrd utilises a range of poetic devices, from traditional stanzas, to chunks of prose and ad-hoc use of centred text. On several occasions we also see bullet points of meaty text, possibly a humorous jab at working environments where bullet points are overly used to excess. This latter point could be my own reasoning though.
And this is where I struggle with Ballard of Burnout. Writing about such a challenging topic was never going to be easy, but here the writing style feels particularly detached, almost upsettingly so. I want so badly to resonate with the author’s words, to see something within the text and pull at a strand of relatability. After all, stress in the workplace hardly an uncommon sight. But that moment, it just never seems to come. There is no insight into the type of workplace and very limited attempts at worldbuilding; the location, the employment sector, even a flavour of the personal relationships held by the narrator, these are elements that felt lacking. Coupled with the sporadic layouts of text, it makes the content feel a little flat and disjointed.
The writing quality on a micro, line-by-line basis, is good but by incorporating a broader view of the narrator’s environment it can only make for a more colourful reading experience all ways round. Food for thought for the next publication Makin-Byrd puts her hand to.
AEB Reviews
Links:
Reedsy Discovery Review: AEB Reviews – “Ballad of Burnout” by Kerry Makin-Byrd
Purchase Link: https://www.balladofburnout.com
Author Website: https://drkerrymakinbyrd.com
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