Powerful and important, I loved this collection just as much as Amanda's first book. I'm definitely recommending this for library patrons in April (yay poetry month!).

I’d seen almost endlessly positive thing about Lovelace’s first poetry collection – the princess saves herself in this one – that when I saw that the witch doesn’t burn in this one was Read Now on Net Galley, I jumped at the chance to download it and review it. I then went on to read princess before I read this one, since they are a part of a series together. Unfortunately, princess didn’t really hit the mark for me, and the witch doesn’t burn in this one wasn’t much better.

the witch doesn’t burn in this one is pegged as a feminist poetry collection. And I suppose that is true, in a way. However, for me, feminism is intersectional. Feminism is not just about women. There were one or two poems in the witch doesn’t burn in this one that highlighted the need to support and stand by women who aren’t white, able-bodied, neurotypical, and allocishet. But these didn’t really encompass the importance of intersectionality for people who aren’t just women.

I know for some people feminism is about women, but the fact that the witch doesn’t burn in this one was all about women and only about women, and that’s how feminism was presented… it just didn’t sit perfectly well with me. And that’s entirely a personal view and reaction, but I think poetry is even more personal than any other type of written word so that personal reaction is the most important one. So while I read the poems in the witch doesn’t burn in this one and enjoyed them for what they did represent in their own way, the constant “women are good and men are evil” theme of the entire collection was a bit of a miss for me.

Also, I think Lovelace’s brand of poetry doesn’t really vibe with me. It is easily understandable, and there were a few pretty metaphors, but the emotional “punch” so to say was missing. Some of the themes and metaphors were really overused in the collection and sometimes I was just like “ugh okay fire fire bad boys whatever” which I don’t think was the intended effect.

Even though my thoughts on the witch doesn’t burn in this one haven’t been overall positive, I did enjoy reading the poems. There were some that resonated with me, and I think quite a few important themes were touched on. I think it’s upon examining my feelings on the collection that my rating and enjoyment in hindsight has gone down.

All in all, the witch doesn’t burn in this one was a mixed bag for me. When I read it I enjoyed it somewhat (three stars worth) even though I knew why I wasn’t loving it. Upon self-evaluating my thoughts on the collection to write this review I realised that overall it just wasn’t for me. The presentation of feminism and the overarching theme just missed the mark for me as a person and poetry reader.

© 2018, Chiara @ Books for a Delicate Eternity. All rights reserved.

I really enjoyed Lovelace's first collection of poetry, and was very eager to read her second. She's noticeably grown in this one. She's still building on the themes from the first book, of feminism, moving beyond pain, and learning to love herself. There's also a lot of anger here, and I suspect much of the poetry was written post November 2016. But she takes that anger and uses it as fuel, and it surges throughout the entire collection. Whereas the first book felt very cathartic and reflective, this one felt like a call to arms.

With the exception of a few exhilarating pages, this collection overall left me with a feeling of, "Well, that was nice." Perhaps it would have meant more after reading THE PRINCESS SAVES HERSELF IN THIS ONE, but I appreciated the imagery nonetheless. Most of the poems feel as though they would potentially make great Instagram posts or protest signs. (This isn't an inherently negative remark; these mediums speak to a large number of people, surpassing state lines and continents.) I think Lovelace will have no difficulty finding her audience, and people who enjoyed the first, will thrill at the second, and wait anxiously for the third.

I like better the first book from Amanda Lovelace.
This book strongly feminism, I like that, but I think many poem repeat the same message.

I really enjoyed this collection of poetry. I felt as if the poet was very angry about things that had happened in her life, and her only release was to write about it. She visited several major issues happening in today’s society. I feel as if this poetry will help many women on their path to recovery and dealing with their pain. This collection of poetry should be read by every woman, not only those dealing with abuse, rape, etc.

I liked this one more than the princess saves herself in this one. Maybe I didn't pay that much attention to that one or maybe it didn't have the same impact as it would have if I hadn't read it so close to milk & honey by Rupi Kaur (which I thought was better). Whichever the case, this sequel was better. The message of feminism, female empowerment and independence felt stronger and louder and the poems felt more meaningful.

There were some of them with which I couldn't identify because they involved experiences that I've never had, but nevertheless I was empathic towards the author. At first it may seem a bit "dumb" or "not real poetry," but with each poem the book takes form little by little and it sets a fire inside you that you won't be able to extinguish.

I would give this 3.5 stars if half stars were allowed.
I was contemplating DNF'ing this after the first 40 pages even though this is less than 200 pages. It did get better after, but the first part definitely detracted from my overall enjoyment. I felt that the first one in this series, The Princess Saves Herself With This One, was more personal which really helped me connect to the poetry within it. I was looking for more of that in this one and I didn't quite get it.

Firstly the poetry was a bit too narrative for me. I knew it would have some kind of story arc, but I felt that the poetry was too closely tied to it, so that maybe having that to fall back on hindered the book more than helped it.

This deals with a lot of feminist topics, but possibly it deals with too many of them at too broad of a level. This brought nothing new to the table for me, but I imagine if you're newer to feminism then it might make you think about some things.

There were some parts that I did enjoy, specifically within the second half of the second chapter "the burning" and the first half of the third chapter "the firestorm". Likely due to the more personal nature of those poems, and that's where the extra half star came from. Everything else was unfortunately meh.

***I received an arc via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review***

I wasn’t able to access this book. Unsure of how I can review something I wasn’t able to read. I’m not sure what format this is or what it’s compatible with.

After finishing this book, I am struck by the same sense of awe that I felt after reading Lovelace’s first poetry collection, the princess saves herself in this one. Her voice is such a strong one, and as you read her words you feel this overwhelming sense of strength and empowerment, and it makes you want to scream from the top of your lungs. I love how the simplicity of Lovelace’s poems contrasts with difficult subject matters, and I also love how she draws from her personal experience when writing- it means that the poems are raw and show so much vulnerability, but this makes them all the more relatable.

My only critique of this collection is that to begin with, the poems play very heavily on the witch-burning theme, to the point where the metaphors seem a tad overdone and the poems a bit forced. However, as you continue to read you can see that Lovelace comes into her own, and you begin to recognise the familiarity of her voice. So if you read this and at first don’t connect with it, I’d definitely recommend continuing, as halfway through it really begins to shine. You won’t regret it.

(As a side note, I also love the fact that at the beginning of this collection, there is a list of trigger warnings. This is so important, and makes the book accessible to just that many more people. Lovelace is amazing.)

4.5
Wow. This book.
I completely loved the first book of Amanda Lovelace, The Princess Saves Herself in This One, so I definitely had to read this one, although I am still hesitant about the rating. I mean, I REALLY loved the first one, it is one of my all time favorite books, and I loved this second book but I still loved the other one more because it was so raw and made me cry a lot. It is so difficult to compare both books ; while the first one was more about love, suffering and healing, this second book is telling you "woman, be brave, rise above, don't let others bring you down". Yes, I loved the other one but I feel that this book is the one that should be read by everyone, not only women.
About the debate whether this book is poetry or not, for me it really doesn't matter, the content is powerful so I am not judging how it is written. Plus, writing poetry it is so difficult as riding a bicycle blindfolded.

P.S: If any mistakes, sorry but I couldn't express completely my love for the book without trying to check my grammar every time.

Wow, I absolutely loved this! And I was not entirely expecting to because usually I just do not 'get' poetry, but I still keep trying. Anyway, I have seen a lot of people give this book lower ratings because they don't like the 'modern' poetry style of this book, and I totally understand that because poetry is so subjective but I think it's what allowed me to really get into this. This is less what you would generally think of as poetry and more like ...almost really just prose but the way she breaks up the lines and arranges the words on the page are what gives it a more poetic feel and way of being read.

This is great for me because I kind of hate poems that rhyme and also that use long flowery words because I never know what they are actually saying. This style of poetry is very up front and direct and I think it fits the subject matter very well because it's just hard to sound angry when you're rhyming. There's a long list of trigger warnings at the beginning [basically everything you would expect from a poetry collection on women's rights] but I thought all of the topics were handled incredibly well and respectfully. I never read the first one because like I said I am so hit or miss on poetry, but I am definitely going to go pick it up now

The witch doesn’t burn in this one tells a story.
A story of strength, a story of feminism, a story of women.

I don’t know what to add. Feminism is everything and this book was everything. Made me feel a lot.

Also, FINALLY, a book that starts with trigger warnings.

Lovelace is back with another un-forgiving, furious and firey, stick-it-to-the-man and support-your-sisters (not just your cis-ters!) collection of poetry.

This collection interlaces a powerful female cry with the happenings of the Salem Witch Trials, a horrific event that impacted women, instilled oppression and ignited a fire in women, even today.

The thing I have come to love about Lovelace's poetry is that she does not ask for forgiveness for the hard things that she says. She does not shy around the ugly.

Instead, Lovelace will take the ugliness, set it on flames, throw it in the face of anyone who is listening, watch the blaze, and then hug her sisters and raise them up any way she can.

It is a glorious thing to watch. It is also frightful, heavy, and raw.

So why only three and a half stars? For one - the anger.

There is a lot of anger and firey disregard throughout this collection. And rightfully so.

But the way it was presented I felt apart from it. I could not relate to the anger that Lovelace threw about. I felt as though it was, at times, so emotional that the message was swamped and muddied.

Often I felt like Lovelace was portraying the exact version of the angry, blaming, feminist that is often attacked in social media. Which isn't bad and should not be demonized. But it left me feeling mildly uncomfortable and unsure.

But there were certain passages that just got me. Lovelace is incredible at taking those little, every-day things that impact the thoughts and behaviour of women and putting them into non-nonsense passages.

"there exists
a fine line
between
being
selfish

&
being
selfless"

The collection also includes longer proses that give a first-person narrative to women involved in The Salem Trials. These were powerful and brilliantly tied the entire collection together and acted as a strong and influential foundation to all the voices throughout.

I thought these were a lot more effective than the name-dropping of fictional female heroines, such as Katniss Everdeen.

Once again, Lovelace has provided us with an incredible collection of thoughts, issues, and feminine movement. While not as strong as her previous published collection, as always her voice is raw and loud and is something to be applauded.

First up: It’s release day!! The wait is truly over, and if broom-travel were possible, my witchy butt would be flying to the nearest Target that has this in stock because I was too broke to pre-order it 😦

If Amanda’s first poetry collection (The Princess Saves Herself In This One) was a book of facing and slaying your own demons, this second collection is a call to arms for other women, and a warning to lurking monsters that we (women) have had enough and are fighting back. I think I made it to “-she.”–which is quoted below–before I started having to bite my tongue to keep from actually screaming/cheering out loud while reading this one.

i don’t need you
to write my story.

i write it
e v e r y d a y

& you couldn’t
even translate

the fucking
punctuation.

–she.

Like in Princess, a lot of sensitive topics are touched on in this collection, and there’s a trigger warning list at the beginning of the book. This collection is angry, raw, and no sugar has been added to sweeten the ugly truths addressed. Also like when I read Princess, I felt a lot of things while reading this. Unlike Princess, I didn’t feel punches to the gut when I read things that hit close to home. Instead, I felt pissed off and ready to link hands with other women and crush the patriarchy under my stompy, pointy, witchy boots.

“bitch,” he spits

“witch,” he sneers.

& i say
“actually, i’m both.”

– reclaim everything.

The one thing I vacillated between loving and not loving (I didn’t hate it, though) was the repetitiveness. Sometimes, I really enjoyed it because either I liked the imagery or it helped tie the whole collection together, and sometimes it felt like I’d read a certain word or phrase one too many times. Don’t get me wrong: it isn’t every poem or anything like that. It just happened enough for me to notice.

Basically, I adored this book and I can not wait to get my hands on a physical copy. Speaking of, have you guys seen the Target exclusive?! It’s red! *cue heart eyes*

Did I love it as much as her first collection? Maybe not, but it’s pretty close, and still probably making my list of favorite poetry books. Do I recommend it? Yessss! But obviously not if you hated Princess, or hate this style of poetry.

First off, in no way is my rating objectively reviewing this collection on technicalities (I'm not a fan of how modern poetry is written and this was no exception), it's purely based on how much I enjoyed this book. That being said, this was one angry, uplifting, witchy, women celebratory book and I really liked reading it! In comparison to Lovelace's first poetry collection, The Princess Saves Herself in this One, this collection had much more pronounced feminist, anti-patriarchy, themes incorporated in the poetry, interlinked with other themes such as body image issues, domestic abuse, rape, societal pressure on what is expected of women and finally self-love. The diversity of themes in this collection is actually what kept me going because it did get repetitive on the witchy part and although I loved it, at certain points I was just too full of it already. Nevertheless, I liked how not only every poem was linked with the greater theme of the book but also how two three poems in quick succession maintained thematic similarity and made the flow of the book quite on point.

I really liked the coven rules and the specific 'homage'/'dedicated' poems that the author wrote. However, some poems/prose was so raw and evocative whereas others were just meh. Some poetry could very well be prose and even though some pieces which are termed as poetry did communicate what they wanted, they just were not poetry to me and that is even worse than pointless words because I understand what the author is trying to do with this but I just cannot accept it as 'poetry'.

Example:

"red lipstick:
battle cry.
battle cry.
battle cry."
- we tried to warn you II

Also, this had some problematic stuff like in the piece, 'did you really think you'd get to mourn the house you set aflame?', the author kind of bashes men who are trying to bring awareness to gender inequality issues by writing the stories of women because she says that their stories lack the essential 'smoke'. But then again that's the author's opinion and one thing that poetry will always be is, opinionated.

Despite these issues and some others, I enjoyed reading this collection because it was very inclusive and empowering, some of the poems can actually be used as self-help chants. It celebrates modern women: mother of dragons, breaker of societal shackles and forever unburnt witches. I felt like I was reading this with a room full of inspiring women surrounding me and that's a feat for the author!

P.S. for some reason while i was reading this, the image of khaleesi with her dragons breathing fire in the background persisted in my mind lol

In school I never liked poetry. Often over complicated language with hidden meanings, I just didn't enjoy it. Then last year I picked up Amanda's first book (her tumblr was one my favourite book blogs that I followed and thought I give her book a go despite my lack of interest in poetry) and was introduced to this modern form of poetry. It was simple yet powerful and I found myself wanting more. Since then I have picked up more poetry books and I’m not sure if this is because I’m at an age where I can appreciate it more or if ‘The Princess Saves Herself in this One’ caused to me rethink my opinions on poetry.

I was excited when I heard Amanda was writing more books, and I was eager to pick up ‘The Witch Doesn’t Burn in this One’. It didn’t disappoint. I liked how the poems were more varied and yet all linked together telling a story in different parts. I loved the overall theme throughout this book and I found it to be stronger and an improvement on ‘The Princess Saves Herself in this One’.

Easily the most powerful poems I have read this year, or last year, and probably the year before that as well.

This is probably because I have not read Amanda Lovelace before, in any of the aforementioned years.

Amanda has taken the trope of witchcraft and witch-burning to weave a collection of poems that deal with issues like abuse and shaming and identity. My favourite poems were the ones that dealt with fat-shaming, something I am learning how to deal with, now that I am fat. Thank you, for writing those, Amanda.

Some of the poems are very visual - taking shapes of flower petals, or letters that melt - not illustrations as such, but words that are shaped or designed in a certain way. There is one poem which is just pen scratches - you have to read it yourself to experience it. I kept turning the pages for stunning poetry like this. Some pages had me stunned for seconds, maybe even minutes. Powerful, stunning, unapologetic, savage. Some poetry may leave you in tears, or provoke pyromania.

I have a digital review copy of this, but I'm definitely going to buy a print copy so I have something to cuddle with on the evenings I need some tender cuddling.

Oh wait, seems I forgot to use the f-word. Feminist. There you go.

I'm pretty sure you have witchcraft running through your veins
- women are some kind of magic

I was excited to read the Witch doesn't burn in this One! I read and loved The Princess Saves Herself in this One! I enjoyed reading The Witch doesn't burn in this one just as much! It makes you feel proud to be a woman, as well as inspired and powerful! One of my favorite poems out of the collection was this one.

They scratched it out of the history books
but on all of the great innovations
you will find scorch marks in the shape of a woman's
magnificent handprint
do not forget we need to be the history books now.
-women are libraries about to burst

This poetry collection is powerful, raw and beautiful. I think every woman should read this collection of poems.

I received an ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

⚠️ Warning - High Probability of Unpopular Opinions Ahead ⚠️

I’ve read Amanda Lovelace’s the witch doesn’t burn in this one twice now. I wasn’t familiar with Amanda’s poetry and was intrigued so read it immediately after I downloaded it. I had strong contradictory feelings about it and wanted to know how I’d feel after it sat with me for a while and then reread it. So, here we are straight after the reread.

My review may well feel like one big soapbox moment but if this book has reminded me of anything it’s that I am entitled to speak my truth and you are just as entitled to speak yours, whether we agree or not.

What I Loved

Trigger Warning - I really respect an author who knows the content of their writing may be triggering for some and points it out at the beginning so readers can make an informed choice about the suitability of that book for them personally. This book came with a detailed trigger warning for topics including: “child abuse, intimate partner abuse, sexual assault, eating disorders, trauma, death, murder, violence, fire, menstruation, transphobia & more.”

The Girl Power - I’m all about women speaking their truth. I love anyone of any gender overcoming adversity and stereotypes to achieve what others told them was impossible for them. I love strong role models and people who are able to transform what could have destroyed them into something that’s able to inspire others.

This Book Being Published - Just the fact that a woman who’s openly refuting the patriarchy and speaking her passionate truth has had her words published for anyone who wants to read them is a triumph. Sure, western society as a whole has a long, long way to go in terms of equality, glass ceilings, you name it. But this book has been published. This woman has not been silenced. We are free to read or not read it, and we are free to have our own opinions about it, even if they differ from other people.

What I Didn’t Love

The Generalisation of Men - While I certainly acknowledge the unfathomable acts that some men have perpetrated against women and have known my fair share of them, I also want to acknowledge all of the men that don’t fit in the perpetrator category. I know some extraordinary men who I know I could trust with my life and I don’t think it’s fair to make sweeping statements that are true of some but certainly not all. Yes, I realise this book isn’t about the trustworthy, respectful men but sometimes I worry that by generalising and only pointing out the bad (that I don’t deny is there), we forget to recognise those who have a positive impact on those whose lives they touch.

The Style of Poetry - By all of the positive feedback this collection is receiving it’s obvious this poet and her writing is resonating with a lot of people. It’s just not the type of poetry I typically enjoy and while I felt like shouting out a “Woohoo! Girl power!” at the beginning, by the end the almost constant rage against patriarchy and men exhausted me. There were a couple of instances of positivity such as “we can’t lose our empathy” and “you can be benevolent & love this world back to life”, but I felt emotionally and physically drained when I finished reading.

If you loved this book and were empowered by it, that’s fantastic. I do expect it will be very well received by plenty of people. I think in the end it boils down to this book and I not being made for one another.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the opportunity to read this book.