the mermaid's voice returns in this one by Amanda Lovelace is the third and final poetry book in the "women are some kind of magic series."

I enjoyed reading the mermaid's voice returns in this one. This was my first foray into Amanda Lovelace's poetry! Unfortunately, while I liked the poems, I can't say they blew me away. 

I did appreciate the emotion behind the poems and the cadence and rhythm that some of them had while reading them out loud. My favorites:

"hooks encrusted in sand." 
"shrinking violets"
"flight."
"not in any life, lovely."
"the good kind of drowning."

The five poems above sounded awesome while reading them out loud, and they had a fantastic amount of depth!

Now I'm not a poetry expert, and I know poetry is a very personal form of writing, so take my critiques with a grain of salt. There were two things I didn't love about this poetry book.

First, everything is written in lowercase script. I found this really hard to read, and somewhat cringeworthy. The topics covered within the poems are serious and very real, but because the poems were written in a fluffy script, I really struggled with them! I know this is the author's style, but this was such a turn off for me as a reader.

Second, and this one is probably because I don't read a ton of poetry, but some of the poems were simply a single sentence broken up into multiple lines. Some of them were pretty and flowed nicely, but some were ordinary sentences that could have been pulled from anywhere. The depth wasn't there, and I crave depth in poetry.

Critiques aside, I would still recommend this book to others! In short, if you already love Amanda Lovelace's books or love poetry, give this book a read! Poetry is such a personal thing, and while it was a 3-star read for me, it might be your next 5-star book!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing the Kindle version of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Generally a solid collection of poetry, but the reason that I didn't rate this higher mostly comes down to the fact that I don't feel like the poems in this collection really say or add much to the ideas Lovelace dug into in the previous Women Are Some Kind of Magic collections. The strongest of the three volumes, The Witch Doesn't Burn in This One, could honestly stand on its own without the other two books, so a third return to these kinds of themes, though certainly valid, just loses some of the impact already experienced. With that said, I did like that there were other poets who contributed to the final section of the book, allowing Lovelace's voice to be supplemented by others without being overpowered. That was a smart move.

[Review will be posted on Reader Voracious Blog on February 21, 2019.]

"you are sad now
you are not sad forever"

There are some books that take you by complete surprise. That make you feel a wide array of emotions, make you feel seen. They seem to find you when you need them the most. the mermaid's voice returns in this one was that book for me.

I honestly feel like I went through an emotional purge through reading this collection of poems and feel a sense of peace that I realize now has been missing for months of my life. While the poems were written as amanda's way to process and regain her voice following sexual assault, I found comfort and power in her words as I struggle with depression and my own trauma.

"the
only way
i can
foresee
surviving
you
is by
finding
that place
between
forgiving
& forgetting,
if it even
exists.

- this is how i choose to douse my fire"

Friends, I honestly cannot recommend this collection enough. I feel like it found me when I needed it the most, and I am so incredibly thankful for it. This was my first time reading anything by the author, and I look forward to reading the prior two books in this "trilogy." If you have ever been made to feel powerless, this collection will speak to you. What does it mean to be a victim and a survivor, and what lessons can we learn from princesses?

I, too, believe in endless worlds.

<i>Many thanks to the publisher for sending me an eARC via NetGalley for review. Quotations are taken from an uncorrected proof and may change upon publication.</i>

Lovelace does it again! I love her words, and this was another wonderful collection. I didn't enjoy it quite as much as the previous two books, but it is still an enjoyable and worthwhile read.

Another incredible, moving journey from Amanda Lovelace. Will be perfect to add to library poetry collections.

Amanda Lovelace returns in yet another haunting poetry collection. This one is definitely on my recommended list, along with anything else you can find by this author/poet. Soak it up and enjoy it - rich, delicious poetry!

Really enjoyed this, I find Amanda's style of poetry is really powerful. Lived up to the previous two in the series, not necessary to have read those first but reading in order gives a lovely journey through emotions and experiences.

I was disappointed...Maybe I expected many things from this collection . I liked some of the poems but I didn't connect to them . The style of writing that loved in the first book lacked from both this one and the other one . I will overall give this series a 3/5 stars

This might be the hardest to read of the three collections in the "women are some kind of magic" trilogy. With a well-deserved trigger warning at the front (thank you for including that), it shouldn't be a surprise that these poems are heavily tinged with sadness and pain, but there is also hope and support for those who have been sexually assaulted. The mermaid has found her voice, despite everything.

Feels like déjà vu.

** Trigger warning for violence against women, including rape, as well as depression and self-injurious behaviors.**

when i tell you i’m still waiting for my hogwarts letter, what i mean to say is i never meant to be here for so long.
– forever wandering lost & wandless.

###

you are sad now.
you are not sad forever.

###

this is me
pressing
my finger
to the sand,

delicately
drawing
your name
there,

& then
stepping back
so i can
watch

you
as you’re
finally
carried away.

– goodbye.

###

The third and final poetry collection in Amanda Lovelace’s WOMEN ARE SOME KIND OF MAGIC series, THE MERMAID’S VOICE RETURNS IN THIS ONE engages with many of the same subjects and themes as THE PRINCESS SAVES HERSELF IN THIS ONE and THE WITCH DOESN’T BURN IN THIS ONE: rape and sexual abuse, interpersonal violence, depression, self-harm, eating disorders, mental health, and sexism and misogyny. The result is both biting and beautiful, if a little repetitive: it feels like we’ve been down this road before.

To be fair, my expectations might be to blame: with the book’s fairy tale-esque title, I was hoping for more retellings in this collection. Maybe in the vein of “Small Yellow Cottage On The Shore,” Lovelace’s contribution to the [DIS]CONNECTED anthology. *Especially* nautical-themed poems featuring mermaids … and perhaps a narwhal or two! But the mermaid imagery is kept to a minimum, and there aren’t really any reimagined fairy tales or fables to be found.

Yet, in the afterward, Lovelace describes THE MERMAID’S VOICE RETURNS IN THIS ONE as the denouement in a series meant to help her come to terms with her experiences of abuse and violence, and perhaps commune with other survivors and potential survivors. I’m not entirely sure she hit the mark with each book – because, again, they kind of all blur together for me, rather than representing separate and distinct pieces of a larger whole – but, clearly, my expectations going in were way off the mark.

One way in which THE MERMAID’S VOICE RETURNS IN THIS ONE deviates from its predecessors is by featuring pieces by guest contributors in the final section of the book, which is a nice change of pace. If you’ve read [DIS}CONNECTED, you’ll recognize some of the names right off the bat; if not, you might just discover a few new poets to check out.

The final book in this poetry series. And as a whole, it was really disappointing. I can't seem to relate to her poetry and I find most of it a meh. There are really some good one plus I enjoyed the actual theme but it just didn't work on me.

I gave the two previous books a 2 stars which means I still enjoyed it. But this installment just fully didn't work on me.

This book is okay, probably my least favorite one out of the trilogy. There are some strong poems (I list some below), but some seemed similar to the first two books and there are a lot written by other poets.

Favs:
Swan Song I
a pebble i cannot get down.
(because i do.)
(because i do II.)
for my childhood friend.
rip this page out & keep it with you

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

you
don't
get to say
it's
my fault
for
staying.
it's
his fault
for
making me
afraid to
stay
or go.

After how much I struggled with the middle book in this 'trilogy', I wasn't sure I wanted to read this newest and final installment, but friends' reviews were so positive that I finally decided I had to give it a try, and I'm glad that I did. I still feel like Lovelace's poetry lost its luster for me after the first collection and none of the rest have quite lived up to it, but I do appreciate that this one isn't as repetitive as Witch was (and doesn't feel as heavily borrowed from mid- to late-2000s emo band lyrics as that one did, either).

Mostly, this collection is about surviving sexual assault, and it's got a lot of good stuff going on in that regard; it wasn't the most powerful or empowering thing I've read as a survivor, but it was comforting and nice regardless, and had a few poems I really appreciated. Otherwise, there are some happy pages to give you that soft, soothing hug after the painful bits, and overall, it feels like a very natural and well-done ending to the series.

he exists.
therefore,
i know
for a fact
that
humanity
is not
dissolving
before
my
eyes.

All quotes come from an advance copy and may not match the final release. Thank you so much to Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This is simply amazing. This was the first time I have read Amanda Lovelace and she definitely lives up to the hype. I can't believe I haven't read her previous two books. I loved the stories that followed each poem, I loved the retellings of the fairy tales we know, the feminist twist to them were amazing. I loved to nods to book lovers everywhere. Lovelace is able to deliver poetry that truly resonates with a depth of feeling that is sometimes hard to translate into words. I am in love with this book now and I am definitely going to go back and read her other two books.

Amanda Lovelace is one of the top poets in capturing the voice of women through poetry. In "The Mermaid's Voice Returns in This One" we are taken through the journey of someone who has lost her voice. It's the story of failing miserably but getting back up and kicking ass!

Lovelace has a way of creating simple, yet evocative poems. I like this third installment way better than the previous two. You can see that she is mastering the craft of poetry writing.

3.5*

*eARC provided by the publisher for an honest review, all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own*

'The Mermaid's Voice Returns in This One' is my second poetry collection I've read by Lovelace and I really enjoyed it. I found it to be vastly more sophisticated and improved than the previous I read, although I did enjoy that one as well. I could really tell how much Lovelace has improved as a writer and how much her confidence has grown - it really reflects in this collections. I really emotionally connected to a lot of pieces and loved how it was related to the little mermaid and things alike, as the little mermaid is my all time favourite Disney movie. It was searing, sad and spectacular in places and felt it flowed well throughout. There were a few pieces I didn't connect to and not a lot of the individual moved me more than a superficial level, but I still enjoyed it and could appreciate it. Especially the messages it gave about recovery, acceptance, self love and grief and also how she featured trigger warnings at the start as Lovelace dealt with a lot of upsetting and emotionally difficult issues that did initially make this collection quite hard to objectively review. I also really liked the feature of other poets and how it gave them a voice, and introduced me to some new poets to try, the poems they also chose to feature fit really well with the theme of this collection.


Here are some of my favourite pieces from Whispers From The Moon:

'Star light, star bright, first star i see tonight, i wish i may, i wish i might, flee my skin for but a night.'

'do you ever find yourself nostalgic for the life you never got to have?'

'she didn't kiss frogs. she kissed great white sharks.'

'if only they had taught me, how to recognise the warning flares, instead of wasting their time, teaching me how to, mistake them for flattery.'

'mostly, i just want to know what it's like to feel something between elation & despair, besides nothing at all.'

'renegade
/'re-ni'-gad/
noun
1: someone who loves themselves despite the falsehoods the world spills into them.'

As always, Amanda Lovelace does not disappoint! I loved this book as much as the previous two in the series and I'm sad this series is over. Her writing is powerful and gripping. A few poems brought tears to my eyes too. I look forward to other books by the author. I will definitely recommend this title.

This is one of those things that I wish I had loved more than I did. Now, I must preface this with the fact that I loved the first instalment of this series. I found it enigmatic, charming, inspiring and epically moving.

It is not the poetry style that put me off in this, but it was the topics of the poems themselves. I didn’t find the topics to be particularly relatable to me personally, and I struggled to really understand the feelings that were trying to be put across. I understood the direction that was attempted to be taken but I just didn’t feel it. I didn’t feel anything for these whilst reading them which much dampened my enjoyment. Normally with poetry my empathy shoots through the roof and I feel everything the author feels but this time around I honestly felt like the poems had no direction. But it is just one of those things — I didn’t resonate with them and so they couldn’t strike a chord with me.

That being said, I do find the style of poetry to be inherently powerful, refreshing and true. The topics are not glazed over or romanticised — it Is a frank account of an individuals struggles, thoughts, feelings and experiences. The poems themselves are clearly written from the heart and I admire that immensely and to put it out to such a large audience. The poems definitely have a strong feeling behind them and even though this book does pale in comparison to the first, I really did think it was good. Many people will find a benefit from these poems and as such I recommend them wholeheartedly. I am simply rating this so lowly because I myself didn’t find anything in particular, other than enjoyment of the prose, from this. But I absolutely recommend this collection and others that Amanda Lovelace has penned.

Raw & magical.

The Mermaid's Voice Returns In This One is the third and final installment in the poetry series by Amanda Lovelace, Women are some kind of magic. Unfortunately I haven't read the previous collections, but have heard so many positive reviews about them that when I got the chance to receive an e-arc of this one, I didn’t even blink before getting it.

Every time you have high expectations for something, there’s this underlying concern that the work will not live up to your expectations, but from the very first page of this collection, I had no doubt It’d live up.

I loved Lovelace's writing style and poetry. And I really liked that poems by other authors were included.