This was the most disappointing collection of poetry that I've read lately. I'm not sure if this just wasn't my style or what, but I couldn't really connect with the voice or any of the poems. It all came across as very forced and overtly cheesy.

Amanda Lovelace is one of my favorite poets. In fact, her books are what spurned my love of poetry. After reading The Witch doesn't burn in this one, I quickly devoured all of her books. When I heard that she had a new book coming out, To Drink Coffee With a Ghost, I knew I had to read it. It came as no surprise to me that I loved it.

To Drink Coffee With a Ghost was extremely personal to me. It felt like Amanda Lovelace took a peek into my life over these past few years and wrote my story. I also had a mother that I had conflicts with. She passed away two years ago, and I've been struggling to deal with the grief and emotions that I've had. This book actually helped process those emotions, and helped deal with some of my grief. Reading Amanda Lovelace's experiences taught me it's okay to feel the way that I'm feeling, and most importantly that someone else has had the same experience AND survived it. I'm not the only one that has gone through that specific situation.

I will always be grateful for Amanda Lovelace's To Drink Coffee With a Ghost. It was an emotional journey reading through her poems, but one I desperately needed at a time I needed it. Thanks to this book, I have begun to heal from my grief and experiences. This solidified Amanda Lovelace as one of my favorite poets in my mind.

*I received an ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

“…one minute you were here; the next, you had already gone.
now i’m terrified to leave a room without
saying goodbye to everyone inside of it first.
– what if they disappear like you did?”

I’ve read many of Lovelace’s books and, perhaps because of preferences and high expectations when it comes to poetry, I have found myself unable to love them and unable to hate them. I must admit I criticize them with more ease than I applaud them, but there’s a lot in her work I truly enjoy. After all, there’s nothing that I appreciate more than a poet that bares itself thought their words; Lovelace always does. Besides, I know there’s a growing audience for this kind of poetry: it reaches them in ways it fails to reach me —and that value is undeniable, whether I get it or not.

However, what I mean to say is that “To Drink Coffee with a Ghost” was a different experience. Don’t mistake me; this is Lovelace, and the book will be familiar to her fans, both in structure and wording, with its franks, brutal rawness. But this collection touched me in a way Lovelace hadn’t before. As the conclusion to her newest series, a duology titled “the things that h(a)unts”, the book explores the poet’s complex relationship with her mother and her death. The product is a cathartic confession, that feels so personal, sometimes I wanted to look away. I couldn’t, though. The book held me trapped by its sincerity, and I read the whole thing in a single sitting.

There’s something about grief in the hands of a poet. Lovelace doesn’t hide from it, still undressing her heart in ways I would think impossible, after having read so many of her books. There’s something about grief, and Lovelace drags the word and all its stages through every page.

PERSONAL HIGHLIGHTS*

• The book opens with a trigger warning. Lovelace’s decision to always include this first, formatted to look like a poem, is commendable. Prioritizing the reader’s well-being through such a simple gesture, even at the risk of losing a reader, says a lot about the person behind the pen.

• The illustrations were gorgeous! Each drawing matched the preceding poetry and their palette, black and reddish, seemed to inhabit the very soul of Autumn’s colors. I loved them.

• The titles at the end of the poems; it made the reading experience feel a little like a mystery —like going blind into a movie, having not seen its trailer. It made me read most poems more than once, taking the title into account during the second and third readings, thus enchanting the overall experience.

I think I’ll be conflicted about “insta-poets” and what they are or aren’t for a few more years, maybe forever… but this book made me feel and cry. Will there ever be a better compliment?

Trigger warnings (as stated by the author): child abuse, eating disorder, sexual assault, self-harm, violence, cheating, death, gore, blood, trauma, grief, and possibly more.

(*I’ve mentioned some of these in other reviews.)

"you cannot
have a funeral
for your mother
without also
having a funeral
for yourself."
- it's time to begin the procession.

I gotta admit, I cried when I read this. I'm a crybaby when it comes to sad family matters and I even tear up at the happy ones.

Anyways, this was really good and I loved it a lot compared to the first book. It mostly focuses on the relationship of the author with her mother that had passed away. It's filled with hurt but love for her mom regardless of all the things that happened between them. Some parts is her relationship with her sister filled with healing each other and other parts are self worth and small parts are her typical love poems/broken self poems.

Some of my favorites:

"i wish
i had known
i was never
going to
see you again
because i would have
spent more time
clinging to the good
we did have
instead of
clinging to the bad
i couldn't
change."
- what eats me alive.

"i'm afraid i'll be just like you.
i'm afraid i'll be nothing like you."
- my empress in reverse.

"people keep asking me if i love you or hate
you. the answer has never been as simple
as a yes or no. of course i love you, but i hate
so much of what you did."
- tug of war.

and finally:

"your
comfort
is not
more
important
than
my journey
to
healing."
- i will never live a life of quiet again.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with the digital copy for an honest review.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review which has not altered my opinion of this book.

This is such an interesting way of going, and it isn’t something that I feel as though I have read an extensive amount about. This follows ms. lovelace as she reflects on her bad relationship with her now-deceased mother. This is something that many people can identify with, I am not personally one, but I still found myself completely getting drawn into the prose. It’s so well done! 5 out of 5 from me.

Amanda Lovelace is the epitome of poetic greatness and I will read anything and everything she writes until the end of time. Period.

it's just the same as her other books. The topics are the same and i really fell sad for her story with her mother, but that's all.

The style was kinda repetitive (as her other books). I read a lot of good poetry books the last couple of months, so i was dissappointed in this book.

I love Amanda Lovelace's poetry so much! This book mainly focuses on her relationship with her mother. This topic was a bit difficult for me, but I still really liked the book.

I don't read poetry that much, so it's always hard for me to rate/judge a poetry book.

I like Amanda Lovelace's writing and I do think she's a very talented writer, whose works are very creative and intense.

In this one, even though it's a very raw and dense portrait of toxic relationships with your loved ones since childhood and how that might have an awful impact in adulthood, I loved how she gave a voice for people who want a chance, for people who won't conform and who want to change toxic patterns, and that it's possible to love yourself and others even when there was only dark in your path.

Thanks NetGalley for providing a free e-copy in exchange for an honest review

This is the second volume in the things that h(a)unt series. The first volume was dedicated to the relationship between the author and an abusive ex-partner, whereas this one focuses on the one between the author and her mother. She died some years ago and the author gives closure to their relationship through poetry, as she could not have it while her mother was alive (thus the reference on the title, the "ghost" being her mother).

It is divided in three parts: ghost-mother, ghost-daughter and sun-showers. Respectively, they consist of cathartic poems related to the bad aspects of her mother as such, of herself as a daughter, and her final coming to terms with her death and their relationship.

The poetry in itself was good. I cannot personally relate very much, but some poems touched me more than others. I can relate to the middle part, seeing myself as a daughter, and some of the poems in the other parts, regarding a not-so-good relationship between a mother and a daughter. I do not know what it feels like to have a parent passing; I can only imagine it and yet I wouldn't be even close to the real thing.

I would recommend it to people struggling with the death of a mother, or parent, or people who have a bad relationship with them, so that they can act before it is too late, when the chance to say either sorry or goodbye is gone forever.

I LOVE Amanda Lovelace's poetry collections and "to drink coffee with a ghost" is no different! Another brilliantly written set of poems that deals with the nuances of everyday life that many readers can relate to. I don't usually by books of poetry, but I am really wanting to get the whole set of Amanda Lovelace poetry collections! Anxiously awaiting any other books she has planned for the future!

This book expired before I had the chance to finish it. I will therefore give it a midling range for what I read.

Another absolutely wonderful collection of poems by Amanda Lovelace. As a fan of her previous work, this book was another hit among Lovelace’s long list of empathetic, deep, and intelligent work.

To Drink Coffee With a Ghost is about a lot of things, but most of all its about family, and all of the things that come with it. Love, grief, trauma, comfort, found family, are all touched on in this collection with such a delicate hand. Lovelace’s work is raw and sentimental, whole-hearted and compassionate, sharp and somehow comforting at the same time. This collection in particular inspires so much hope and healing and I have already recommended it to so many others who need both.

Definitely check it out for yourself.

I really Loved reading To Drink Coffee with a Ghost! I have read some of her other poetry and loved it and this collection was just as good. Her poetry collections always make you feel so many emotions when you read them. I can't wait to read more poetry from her!

This collection was touching. There were parts that were devastating and parts that were so wholesome. She really poured her heart into this one, but it didn’t come across as shouty. It was simply a letter to a mother who wasn’t there anymore and maybe never was there in a way that she needed it. And the artwork is stunning!

This is one of my favorite book of poems that I read this year. The book itself is a journey. It’s a commemoration of love, self love, respect and embracing the flaw you.

This book deserves a recognition for being genuine and raw. Totally worth it!

I enjoy modern poetry and Amanda Lovelace's work has been some of my favorite. Her new book "to drink coffee with a ghost" is a collection mainly inspired by her difficult relationship with her late mother .

While Lovelace's work often touches on difficult and topics, it is beautiful, relatable and deeply poignant. She uses poetry as a way to work through the things she's dealt with in life, and while my own experiences are different from the author's I found it relevant and believe it could be for anyone who is dealing with or has dealt with loss and strained family relationship.

Her poetry is raw and lyrical at the same time, and can be quite emotional to read.

Usually I like to savor poetry and will leisurely flips through a book rather than reading it all at once However, I was lucky enough to be given this ebook to review and read it straight through in an hour or so. But, let's be real; Lovelace's work and is compelling enough to devour in this way, though it is definitely something I will enjoy revisiting later.

Thanks to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the advance copy.

* I was given an ARC of this book by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review *

I fell in love with Amanda Lovelace and her poetry when I read The Princess Saves Herself in This One. However, it definitely set the bar high and the rest of her work was sometimes harder to relate to and it didn't always live up to her first work. When I began this one, I was worried that might be the case because I couldn't directly relate to the experiences she was writing about. I quickly found though that that didn't really matter. Her style and message spoke beyond the actual subject matter and moved me in the same way things I can directly relate to do. That is not something that happens often and is what causes me to read only what I can directly relate to. This was a very nice surprise and speaks to the power of Lovelace's voice. It was also a nice reminder of the universality of the human experience, whether we have direct experience or not. Lovelace's feelings were real and were ones I could identify in my own life.

Also reviewed at: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2989717273?book_show_action=false

While the subject matter of death and grieving is something important to talk about, and this collection was very cathartic, the actual writing style and structure really took away from this collection's over all message for me.

This is a beautiful and heartbreaking collection looking at parental relationships and loss. I cried even though I could not personally relate to almost anything in this collection. Lovelace's grief and pain ooze off the page and the reader can truly feel it.

I am such a fan of Amanda's poetry and really enjoyed this one.