Amanda Lovelace shows us a side of her we knew it existed through her poems, but we never saw with such intensity. This poetry collection is such a feministic anthem; she let us know that it’s okay to put ourselves first in sake of our mental health, and that we are princesses who don’t need a prince. This is a really great book and I’m fascinated by her writing skills. I’m looking forward to this new trilogy, since I loved the last one (women are some kind of magic).

This is my favorite one by Amanda Lovelace so far! Despite my best efforts to read eclectically, I still don’t find myself drawn to much poetry, but I find these really resonate with me. Definitely an auto-read poet for me.

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley

[trigger warnings at end of review]
as her other poetry retellings of different fairytales and concepts have fared, amanda lovelace does quite the same with this new Cinderella retelling in Break Your Glass Slippers. her advice is straight to the point, imagery is vivid and concise.

her details show the experiences she had gone through herself with misogyny, sexual harassment, trauma, etc., and the aesthetic to the whole book was gorgeously put together.

trigger warnings: sexual assault, child abuse, eating disorders, mentions of sexual harassment, trauma, mental health issues, suicidal ideation, fatphobia, misogyny, internalized misogyny, and toxic relationships (romantic and platonic).

Break Your Glass Slippers is a poetry collection by Amanda Lovelace. It is also the first book within a bigger collection named You Are Your Own Fairy Tale. I have read the previous Amanda Lovelace’s collection and loved them very much – especially The Mermaid’s Voice Returns in This One and The Princess Saves Herself in this One. So, it is not surprising to say that I was excited when I got the opportunity to read this book.

„so often we are our own true love.“

„withholding forgiveness
can be a form of self-care“



The book is divided into three parts which are unnamed and solely marked by numbers. The first part deals with self-esteem, confidence and growth. It gives of a feeling like you are reading a diary of a very sad and poetic teenage girl. That is in no way a bad thing. It actually makes understanding the emotions and boding with the author easier.

„there are time when she sees another girl
the train or in a magazine & she can’t be sure
what she wants to do:

become her
be her best friend
kiss her
– kaleidoscope.“

„fairy godmother says

he may have a pretty face
but that doesn’t mean he isn’t dangerous.“

In the second part of the book we are confronted with an established woman who has realized that sometimes she herself is enough. Through the poems she shows her new-found strength.

„i hereby grant myself
the permission
to not be strong
all of the time.

i also grant myself
the permission
to not be soft
all of the time.

i’m allowed to
just simply be.

– temperance“

The third part of the book is very short and it contains only the „introduction“. I like the message this sends. I could of course be wrong. My interpretation is that after in a way freeing herself in the second part of the book, there isn’t anything more to be said. It is all on you. It pushes you to think and change thing for yourself.
What do you think? What is your interpretation?

I adore the artwork in this book. The simplicity of it fits the poetry perfectly.

As usual, Lovelace’s poems are strong, they carry emotional power that isn’t often found in modern poetry. They are beautiful and utterly enjoyable.



I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this collection very much. As always, most of the poems are uplifting and empowering as it's the style of Amanda Lovelace. But I feel like Lovelace has grown throughout the years and has mastered her skill.

i'm just sad, i was hoping something better :(

the edition/art look so cute, but the poems are not good enough. it’s just the same stuff i found in her past books. and that's not bad for a person reading her for the first time, but for me was a real nope.

I don't like modern poetry, I really don't. But I was curious and now here I am saying that I actually liked Amanda Lovelace's book, especially the first part. The second half didn't really become my favourite but at the beginning, I found many great ideas, I liked how simply the author stated truths about human nature and relationships. The illustrations are very nice, and I applaud that the structure refers to the Cinderella story for I am a great fan of all types intertextuality.

I have a feeling that these books by Amanda Lovelace should be marketed under self-improvement (I mean like self-help for women with low self-esteem...or simply just women, everywhere in the world). Her topics are important, the message is clear, but not over-emphasized, the structure is logical, the illustrations lightly support the whole idea.

It's a great book.

My ever-resurfacing problem is simply that these aren't poems that I in my heart consider real poems. I mean, they are real, good writings. It's somehow in my head more prose than poetry. That stands for most of modern poetry, though. I'm just not okay with forgetting rhymes and overall rules. I'm not a very strict, rule-following person, but there have to be rules to know what to break at least, right...? As I said, it's not about this book entirely, really, I have a problem with what way we're heading in modern poetry. Anyway, if this is what modern poetry is, then it's only my personal taste, and this is poetry in its best form.

Just like I said, the book itself is well-built, and worths way more than what I think of the poetry itself. As the other books written by Amanda, it should be read by every girl one time.

Amanda Lovelace has done it again. She has inspired and empowered this fan and devoted reader. Break Your Glass Slippers will have you leaving behind everything you know about the fairytale as she rewrites what happens when a woman is taken for granted and takes control of her own story.

Amanda Lovelace has done it again. The first book in his new "poetic trilogy", You are your own fairy tale, presents us with a set of poems structured around the classic Cinderella story. And it’s a brilliant book.
We are going to find different poems that will make us reflect upon fairy tales and will ask us to put aside all those mostly harmful lessons we learned from classic fairy tales. There are poems written from the point of view of our own fairy godmother, and these are certainly useful advice about relationships and about self-care that one would like to receive. On the other hand, we have the poems in which Amanda herself reflects on her experiences, on what she did wrong because she gave importance to the wrong things, and her techniques and her thoughts to overcome this situation and start looking for the kind of life and love she really deserves.

Regarding the target audience, I get the feeling that there is a certain belief that these poems are only aimed at a female audience, and there are some of them that speak specifically of experiences that are more associated with women. However, there are also a lot of poems that focus on self-esteem, on accepting our bodies, on not settle for relationships that are not worth it, etc. Therefore, they are poems that anyone can identify with, no matter their gender.

Overall it looks a lot like his previous collections of poems, she repeats the same message a bit but from a new and interesting perspective, fairy tales, so I didn't have the feeling that I was reading the same book over again. On the other hand, it is a very necessary message, so I agree on repeating it as many times as necessary. Because in the end, as they say in The perks of being a wallflower, we accept the love we think we deserve, so we must believe that we deserve the best kind of love.

This was a nice book. I enjoyed the intertextuality. Playing off the story of Cinderella allowed for interesting reflective commentary without the need for extensive explanations since the plot and relationships are so well known. The language used was simple and flowed smoothly. While the collection was good overall, I didn't feel as though it made me think about the topic more deeply or in a new way than before, which is what I look for in poetry. I'd recommend it to teens more so than adults.

The ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I actually really liked this collection of Amanda Lovelace's work. I was not a big fan of her "Women are Some Kind of Magic" poetry series, but the start of this collection has begun a lot stronger. The poems are more complex and tackle a lot of more intricate topics.

There's been a lot of Fairy-Tale revisiting over the last few years, particularly where the princesses are concerned. Taking a look at how women are viewed and what their roles are within the tales. Many are trying to put their own spin on these stories. Changing the narrative to greater empower those who were originally told they had to follow instead of lead.

Break Your Glass Slippers is Amanda Lovelace's contribution to this wonderful movement. Broken up into a before and after type of scenario, Glass Slippers deals with, mainly, a romantic relationship that was maybe not so much the fairy-tale after all, that maybe we need only look inside ourselves for affirmation of our worth.

The "before" voice is starting an exciting new relationship with someone who make them feel special. But slowly, and through various asides, we find out that all is not happily ever after. Luckily in these moments we're graced with the wisdom of the Fairy Godmother who reinforces the idea that you don't need to rely on someone else to feel special. I enjoyed seeing the progression from this "before" to the "after" which features a stronger voice finally able to see their self-worth and take it for themselves.

The story is also sprinkled throughout with various sketches and drawings which I found lovely.

Overall, it's a good collection. I think a bit more uplifting and lighter than some of Lovelace's previous works, but still with an empowering message.

I have found that poetry just isn't my thing and that's okay. I think I will be skipping out on that genre for a little while

I had no idea going in that this was a retelling of Cinderella. I was pleasantly surprised not only because I love fairytales but becaude this is a retelling in poetry form, which is so very unique. I really enjoyed the central theme, and I'm grateful for the tigger warnings at the beginning. But though the message of the book is great, the poems are nothing but ordinary.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy.

Another stellar body of work from Amanda Lovelace. A beautiful poetic retelling of Cinderella with a feminist kick to it. I both relate to and appreciate so many of the pages in this collection. As usual, I love Amanda's work and the emotion and passion I feel when I read it.

Break Your Glass Slippers is the latest in Amanda Lovelace’s feminist poetry collection and I adore it just as I have the rest of them. A poetic retelling of Cinderella until it’s not. It’s done so beautifully in a way only Amanda can do. She wants us to stop believing in fairy tales and to write our own life story. I loved the message Amanda artfully composes. With each book Amanda releases it quickly becomes my new favorite. I mean self love and feminism what’s not to love?!? Can’t wait For the next installment.

This is by far my favorite collection from Amanda Lovelace. I highly recommend this one. If you love a book to get you all in your feels and give you a sense of empowerment then this is most definitely the book for you. Be prepared to feel empowered and inspired. And to be amazed at Amanda’s growth as an author.
Also, the artwork in this one is stunningly beautiful.

Thank you in advance to the publisher and to Netgalley for an advance copy for my honest review!

4.5 stars

I absolutely adore this collection. Amanda Lovelace has always been one of my go-tos for reassurance and emotional comfort, a reminder that I'm doing just fine and I am enough.

I've never read anything quite like it, the mix of Cinderella retelling with self-discovery and relationship building, all in thoughtful free verse; I would've liked to see the Cinderella motif extended through part ii, but that's a minor critique — I do like the themes and topics that are included.

If the rest of this series is consistent, I'm sure I'm going to love it just as much as Amanda's other works.

Break Your Glass Slippers is a modern retelling of Cinderella with a dark and realistic twist. While some of the material is too mature for (and would be triggering to) my students, I'm planning to pull a couple of these poems to use as mentor texts with some of my high school classes.

I adore Amanda Lovelace's poetry, and her newest collection is no exception. break your glass slippers is a book that reminds individuals about the power of self-love and acceptance. This is a great collection to read with daughters (and sons).

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.