There is little sentimentality in this courageous collection that asks, Why doesn’t Hallmark/ have a dysfunctional daddy series? Sedman filters memory through a lens at once distancing and intimate. She delivers the hard particulars of physical and psychological abuse with an engaging voice. In “Broken Cycles,” the family’s mistreated dog runs away. One day, Dad/ took Butch for a walk,/ Removed/ the leash. Dog/ never came back./He must have been/ a goddamned genius. Sedman is a survivor who’s navigated the dark tunnels to find light. Personal, yet universal, we recognize the theme of entitled men: fathers, brothers, politicians who hold power over women until the women realize they have their own. There’s no ducking the hard punches. An important narrative that needs to be told, this well-crafted collection is a gift to the many who’ve suffered at the hands of others. Here the past paves a road to a future where you are not alone. You’ll find yourself rooting for the poet, and for women everywhere.