Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an earc.

I gave this a four out of five stars, I really enjoyed reading this but it wasn’t a favorite of mine by the author. I still really liked it though. There are quite a bit of lines I did enjoy though. I do plan on buying myself at least one copy if not more. I do recommend you to pick up this poetry collection and the others she has out too.

Some lines I enjoyed are:

“All this time, I thought myself a motherfucking queen”

“You’re still everywhere I don’t want you to be”

“what if he just does it to another girl?”

“I. When they say ‘no.’ II. When they can’t say ‘no.’ -they’re both assault”

“the first person who touched me wasn’t my first. -I’m deciding my first from now on”

“Traveling through eras we haven’t yet seen until Romeo can hold hands with a boy & Juliet can hold hands with a girl without fear hanging over their heads.”

“Show them exactly what a mermaid-witch-queen like yourself can accomplish”

3.5 stars out of 5.

Just like with the first two installments in this trilogy, the poems are about important and timely matters which is what draws me to Lovelace's poetry. As always, I appreciate the way sensitive subjects are approached and written about, complete with trigger warnings at the start of the book. My favorite of the poems center around self-acceptance and learning to let go of the past, which I really struggle with.

Not my favorite of the trilogy but still a solid read and a good ending to the trilogy.

It’s been a hot minute since I read The Witch Doesn’t Burn in This One, the second poetry collection in Amanda Lovelace’s Women Are Some Kind of Magic series. While I’ve still yet to read the first book, The Princess Saves Herself in This One, and therefore don’t have the full picture of this journey of growth, The Mermaid’s Voice Returns in This One still delivers on Lovelace’s trademark poetic voice in all its vulnerabilities and harsh truths.

I’ll go ahead and say now that The Witch Doesn’t Burn in This One ranked higher for me simply because I related to its anger, ferocity, and zeal more than I did this collection’s emphasis on trauma and healing. I also enjoyed the former’s greater usage of imagery more, since here, the imagery surrounding mermaids and their returning voice held more of a subtle place than downright literal usage. (I actually felt there was more imagery used with stars than anything else.) But that’s because this collection’s imagery was more figurative, and it encompassed the entire journey, namely that of a woman (or any reader) reclaiming their voice and at last speaking openly about the traumas of their past and how tough the healing journey is.

As the trigger warning at the beginning indicates, Lovelace’s poetry continues to deal with heavy subjects: eating disorders, intimate partner violence, sexual abuse, self-harm, gun violence, and much more. What’s important to note, too, is how these can all transcend genders and traditional expectations and also how the healing process itself can be intensely traumatic.

That latter realization struck me hard as I continued to read through the poems. So many of us view healing as the breath of relief, the sudden calmness after the thunderstorm. Healing is that moment where we let our dark pasts go and start fresh, like a blank canvas bereft of any paint or ink. The truth is, we often don’t realize how ugly and awful healing can be. We don’t think about the regressions, the self-flagellation, the scars made out of reopening old wounds again and again. We don’t think about the lies we tell ourselves that masquerade as healing, so we don’t have to face our pain, and we certainly don’t think about the depression or anxiety we experience because of it.

I’m glad Lovelace was so honest about her healing journey and the many faces it can take. That’s why I can still appreciate this entire work, even though I’m not currently struggling with something so heavy and consuming of myself. Because I know someone who has or is currently going through something terrible. Because I know the history of violence women have had to experience as a collective over the centuries. Because I know that violence extends to other genders, and as a result of that, healing cannot go down easy.

However, the situation is not all doom and gloom. There are plenty of empowering moments, too, and this is one that particularly resonated with me:

the
first person
who touched me
was not my
first.

– i’m deciding my firsts from now on.

The symmetry of this poem alone is beyond pleasing. Reading it from the top down, it takes us somewhere we didn’t expect, almost to a shocking conclusion. If we’re looking at this sideways pyramid from the bottom up, we can view each line as a stepping stone of sorts. It will obviously be harder to climb these stones if you started from the bottom, just like it was hard for Lovelace to embrace the idea that her so-called “first” doesn’t deserve that honor, that whoever they were didn’t touch her the way she as a human being deserves to be touched: with love and without abuse of any kind. Once she’s discovered this idea, though, that she doesn’t have to conform to society’s definition of “first,” that she can decide that definition instead with all her agency, then the steps become easier to climb, the idea easier to adopt and apply.

For my part, I think it’s a shame that I found “i’m deciding my firsts from now on” to be such a powerful, radical declaration, but that’s the trapping of society, isn’t it? So much emphasis is placed on firsts: first kiss, first date, first anniversary, and then that tired saying, “You never forget your first,” as if the first time you have sex with that one person should matter so exponentially more than any other time, no matter how good or traumatic it was, that you will always remember that person. So I love the pushback this poem gives, that if something or someone wasn’t up to par, it doesn’t get added to my personal historical record. Instead, it gets struck from the record until that first comes along who actually measures up.

Readers are also in store for plenty of other surprises. For instance, I was delighted to see a poem dedicated to Maleficent, one of my favorite villains of all time–and thanks to Angelina Jolie’s performance, one who can also now be considered both a tragic and powerful figure. Lovelace pays homage to other characters and creations, too, such as Medusa, Artemisia in Joy McCullough’s Blood Water Paint, and C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia.

The real standout quality of this particular collection, however, is how Lovelace also reached out to other female poets and included their words and feelings about their own lives and struggles here as well. Readers can expect to find poems, each written gorgeously and earnestly, by poets such as Trista Mateer, Gretchen Gomez, and Nikita Gill. That latter made me clap with excitement because there’s just something about the way Gill writes poetry that truly holds my attention and makes me enamored with it. (And unsurprisingly, her poem was my favorite, but I’m also incredibly biased.)

If you’re on the fence about this one, don’t be. I definitely got a lot out of it. My only suggestion would be for you to maybe not start here if this is your first foray into Lovelace. The Women Are Some Kind of Magic series is definitely a journey, one of a princess-turned-queen-turned-witch-turned-mermaid, and it’s best started at the beginning (and I’ll be taking my own advice about that soon and finally reading the first book).

Above all, I recommend this series for the same reason that Lovelace wrote it: to give victims and survivors courage to tell their own stories. The way Lovelace has chosen to do so was like broken glass: a harsh but beautiful reflection within, but it’s not the only way to tell a story, and may not even be the right way for you. Still, this series can encourage you, embolden you, maybe even help you find your voice. In the end, there’s no wrong or right way to tell a story. Only your way.

take my words,

but
expand upon them.
argue with them.
change them.
twist them.

– make them yours.

It’s safe to say I’m feeling inspired today. Thanks, Amanda.

I enjoyed the poetry and the references to other books and characters in the poems. Everyone will find a poem he/she can relate to in this book.

While I have never been a particularly huge fan of poetry, for some reason I can’t stay away from Amanda Lovelace’s books and they are ALWAYS 5-stars reads for me! “the mermaid’s voice returns in this one” was no exception. I requested, read, and reviewed “the witch doesn’t burn in this one” last year and so just could not help myself when I saw this up on NetGalley. One of the most exciting parts about these books for me, is finding out who the dedication is for. The first one was to Harry Potter, the second one was to Katniss Everdeen, and this one is dedicated to her younger self, as “the little bookmad girl,” and thanks her past self for surviving everything she experienced. This finale largely centred around the Me Too movement and it’s release feels like exactly what 2019 needed. It deals with heavy but IMPORTANT topics like abuse, sexual assault, the symptoms of surviving trauma, and learning to speak up for yourself. If you liked Amanda’s works in the past, then I am sure you will fall in love with these final words.
(Bonus: I loved the Forward by Lang Leav and am thinking of picking up some of her works in the future).

This was fine, but I didn't like it as much as the other books in this series. I couldn't relate to the poems as much as I did in the first two books, and I just found them to be less powerful overall, despite a few that completely blew me away.

However, it's not because this didn't work for me that it won't for you. I think the themes that Amanda Lovelace explored are ones that a lot of women will be able to relate to. I also loved the fact that she brought on contributors for the last section of the collection. It made sense with the purpose of the book, and I thought the poems were a nice addition.

As the third part of the Women Are Some Kind of Magic collection, this stands as a work that makes the exploration of abuse, violence, and survival come full circle. It not only features brand new work by the author, it also includes poetry by a handful of contributors who all have written about victim/survivor issues that complement the author's work.

Since I have read all three books, I still think that the second in the collection is the strongest, but it also may be because it contains harder imagery than this one or the first one. I think that anyone who enjoyed reading the first two will also enjoy this one.

Not the best book in the series, but it's still a fun read. The style was similar to the previous three, so it speaks truly when it says it's part of a series. As its finale, I was hoping for something a little different. However, it was still an easy read. The topics were handled with care, and the message was clear. If you like this type of poetry, pick it up.

I like the concept and over all style of Amanda Lovelace's books, and I can totally see why they are so popular especially with young women like my self. But it just wasn't to my taste. Ive really loved a handful of her poems from other collections in this series, but I found the best work in this book was one of the poems towards the end by a different author.

You know that disappointed underwhelming feeling after reading a really lacklustre book? That’s how I felt about The Mermaids Voice. It was a lacklustre disappointment.

I personally really loved The Princess Saves Herself and I also enjoyed the followup The Witch Doesn’t Burn.

Maybe I saw this disappointment coming after To Make Monsters Out of Girls. I genuinely like modern poetry, however I find the Lovelace’s work feels extremely… repetitive. The Mermaid’s Voice felt like she was trying to relieve the magic of The Princess Saves Herself.

I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with having a structure or a style. It’s just that if you do, you have to know how to also make it feel new if you continue to use it.

This instalment felt like a rehash of the previous collections. No poem stood out, and I’ve seen all these themes from this author before. Everything was just slightly paraphrased.

Overall, this was a real disappointment. I don’t think I’ll be reading anything else from Lovelace.

I absolutely love this and plan to order it right away. It is so heartbreaking but at the same time, it makes me feel like she did it she made it. Yes, there were struggles all the way through but somehow she was able to get through it all. I think I could read this over and over it is inspiring. The part where she uses reading as an escape reminds me of myself. Maybe not escaping from the same thing but escaping none the less. She is an incredible poet, writer. Read this and listen to the words. They are beautiful and painful all in one. Thank you, Amanda Lovelace, for this piece of you and allowing me in.

I saw this poetry series all over the social media. I didn't read the other books but when i saw this on Netgalley i wanted to give a chance. It was definitely worth to hype. This book was full of beautiful and powerfull poems. I really enjoyed reading it. I will read the other books too.

I received an ARC copy of this book from NetGalley in return for an honest review. All thoughts feels and opinions are my own.

After reading all three books in her Women Are Some Kind of Magic series, this would have to be my second favorite. I was definitely hesitant going into this book since her last installment I was not the biggest fan of. Yet this book exceeded my expectations. The parts I enjoyed most were two and four and I liked that Amanda Lovelace brought in guest poets as well. To me, I could relate to those poems on a personal level and it made me stop and think about that time in my life. I only found a few bland poems or ones I didn’t necessarily care for which made for a great read. Overall I would give this ⅘ stars.

I want to start the review by saying that i expected so much more whit this book. I loved the first book The princess saves herself in this one but after that i didn't like her other works to much.

This is a good book with a hard topic (rape) and it was just ok. Nothing was to special and amazing. Of course i had some poems that i really liked but i had some that i din't like at all.

I gave 3.5/5 stars because like I said i liked some of the poems in this book but i had high expectations for it and i was a little disappointed.

This book comes at pivotal point in the history of women's rights. It's undeniable importance, as well as my experience with the two previous books in the trilogy made it possibly my most anticipated book for this year. Was it good? Definitely. Was it as good as the other two? Not quite. My feelings towards this book are hard to pinpoint and even harder to explain. The start of the book was the area I had the most trouble with, as I felt that the quality of poems just didn't quite match up to what I was expecting. Where were the hefty one liners that made you grab your pen to jot them down? Or the intricately shaped poems that you had to reread three times before fully comprehending their message? Despite this, the second two thirds of the book was significantly better, with a number of poems that really spoke to me. While I would have liked more on the theme of mermaids, the guest poems were a new and welcomed addition. 4 stars!

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Find this review & more on my blog: https://ahappylittlebookworm.wordpress.com/2019/02/24/only-the-ocean-emergency-contact-and-the-mermaids-voice-returns-in-this-one-the-best-new-books-ive-read-in-2019-so-far/

I have really enjoyed reading the first two poetry collections by Amanda Lovelace, so when I saw this third collection for review on NetGalley I knew that I wanted it right away.

I really enjoyed seeing how Lovelace's voice and writing has changed over the three collections and how all three gave different views of using your voice and taking control of your life. While these poems can be hard to read due to their nature dealing with sexual assault, rape, power, and self harm they also paint a picture of hope and finding one's voice.

I can't relate to everything that is said in these poems but I can't relate to the feeling of powerlessness that she writes about and working to find the voice that we all have inside of us.

Poetry like hers is not for everyone, but I really enjoy the experience I have from reading her words.

I've loved Amanda Lovelace's poems way before I read the collections. I've known her from Tumblr and Instagram. I was extremely happy wen I got approved for this one and it did not disappoint.

So this was just as much about selfdiscovery and self care and choosing for yourself after a really hard time (or times) as the two other books. While I did love that this books featured other poets, it felt less personal, which is logical since you know. It's someone else. But what I loved most about this book, and the other ones, is that it's an immense journey of getting to a place where you're happy, despite the things that happend in the past, or maybe because of them. From tho book and the things I see online, Amanda seems to be happy. And I'm glad that she has found a way to voice her feelings, not just for herself, but also for the readers. Maybe it can bring the some peace like it seemed to bring her.

This is one of the most beautiful collections of poetry I’ve read. The journey from losing yourself to finding yourself is beautifully written in this book. Everyone who’s ever lost themselves because of someone else needs this book.

After absolutely loving The Witch Doesn’t Burn In This One, I needed to read this collection. I was so ready for more feminist and romantic poetry. Sadly, this collection was not as good.

I think, this time, the subject matter wasn’t expressed in a way that resonated with me. That, and I think maybe her poetry style just didn’t work this time. It felt almost…incomplete or lacking in this collection and that made it hard for me to connect to the poems. The poems I did enjoy were often about love or reading or hopeful.

There were, however, enough poems that I liked and that saved me from not enjoying the collection. I really liked a lot of her longer, paragraph poems not only because they had more content, but because they flowed so much better. I can also see the growth in imagery and description from Lovelace’s first collection to this one. A lot of the images and descriptions were stronger and flowed better than they did in her first book. I really appreciated that.

I also liked some of the poems in the final section of the book by Lovelace’s poet friends. Surprisingly, a good portion of these poems were long and had a more traditional rhyme scheme which packed a powerful punch.

I wish I had loved The Mermaid’s Voice Returns In This One, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as I liked her previous book.

Amanda Lovelace's third book in the Women Are Some Kind of Magic series is just beautiful. I loved The Princess Saves Herself in This One, and I have The Witch Doesn't Burn in This One (though I haven't read it yet - soon!), and I can't wait to read To Make Monsters Out of Girls. Amanda's poetry is gorgeous and heartwrenching - filled with both pain and hope, despair and love. I particularly liked that she had some guests write a few poems that she added into the collection, including poets such as Nikita Gill (who I also love). I definitely foresee myself reading this again in the future.