“she never needed anyone else’s help to have the fairy tale she always wanted. at long last, she’s realized one of the greatest truths a person can learn during the course of a life: she is her own goddamn fairy tale.”

As always, I loved the new collection of poems from Amanda Lovelace. Her poems always hit me right in the gut and right in the heart and I adore it every time. Break Your Glass Slippers takes the story of Cinderella and turns it on its head to create a story that tells women they don’t need to impress their prince, tells women to practice self-care and, just as importantly, to practice self-love.

I really liked the set-up of poems about the princess followed by the fairy godmother advice poems. It fit so well with the Cinderella aspect, it was something I appreciated. The illustrations in this book are GORGEOUS and I absolutely cannot wait to see them in person.

This is one you should definitely read if you have ever faced a toxic relationship, feelings of self-doubt and worthlessness, and need a few reminders that you are enough and you can do anything through hard work and determination.

Amanda Lovelace's first book in her new You are your own fairy tale series is a poetic retelling or reimagining of the classic fairy tale Cinderella. Instead of the fairy godmother (FG) fashioning a gown, a coach, and fancy slippers, (in the first of three parts of the book) the FG offers the girl powerful affirmations of self-worth, strength, and the power to find the beauty that is within. The second part of the book focuses on self-care and knowing your own worth, while the third part is short and sweet--"be your own...fairy tale." This is isn't book lamenting on finding your prince or hoping for a fairy godmother, this book is about facing difficult situations and finding the magic and power within yourself to be seen, to be heard, and to shape your own destiny.
Often Lovelace's works are hit and miss for me, but the majority of this one resonated because doubt, feelings of selfishness when I practice self-care, and feeling stuck are all things I still struggle with and this book offers little gems of hope that can help to push away from those negative naggers in the brain.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the eARC of this work in exchange for my honest review.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for allowing me to read this book in exchange for a honest review.

Amanda Lovelace does it again. Her writing grows stronger every new book, and I can see the transformation before my eyes. I absolutely enjoyed Break Your Glass Slipper. One could say it shattered expectations.

Whatever Fairy Godmother says, you should listen. Those were my favorite segments in the entire book. “you don’t need to look a certain way to deserve someone’s heart. No matter your shape - no matter your size - be proud of all the space your body dares to take up”.

The illustrations in this book were by far my favorite that Lovelace has had before. The checklist, the shattered slipper, both really stood out.

Lovelace has captured different topics ranging from privilege, to comparing ones self worth to others, to heartbreak. I am thankful she puts her disclaimer at the beginning of each book. I felt like there was nod to “Women are some kind of magic” saying, “some kinds of magic just don’t call to each other”, and that truly brought a smile to my face to see it all tie in.
Overall, this has been such a great read and I’m excited to see what is next for Amanda Lovelace. 5 stars, hands down.

Another great poetry collection by Amanda Lovelace! I loved her poems about self-care and so many of them resonated with me. It was a beautiful read and I would highly recommend it!

I love Amanda Lovelace's poetry. It's accessible and has a great message. This collections takes on the story of Cinderella and brings it into a contemporary setting. I think Amanda does a great job marketing poetry to young people and making it enjoyable. She is also very inclusive and positive.

I'm not saying the poems were bad or anything- they weren't- but I enjoyed the whole aesthetic of the book much more.

TW: child abuse, toxic friendships, toxic romantic friendships, sexual harassment, eating disorders, fatphobia, suicide, & trauma.

This wasn't a necessarily bad book; I think it brings up important messages about self-love, body image and finding your self-worth, or at least some respect for your own self. As with her previous books, Lovelace always brings her raw experiences to her words and I appreciate her candor and hopefulness. It does inspire me to keep working on myself and to help my friends when I see them going through the same thing.

However, the thoughts I shared about her previous work, "the mermaid's voice returns in this one", are the same ones I feel about her newest installment. I think the setting of Cinderella or the use of her tale in order to organize these poems brought nothing to the overall enjoyment of this collection. I am constantly hoping her new book will have the same spark that I found in her first two poetry collections, and this one fell short to me.

It was another safe bet for Lovelace, and I truly hope I'll love her next ones more.

This is a collection of short empowering and inspiring poems about learning to love and embrace yourself and cut off the ties to all the negative things in your life. I only wish the poems had a been a bit longer to have more of an impact

https://bibwithblog.blogspot.com/2020/01/line-breaks-mean-something-and-shouldnt.html

Line breaks
mean something
and shouldn't be used
for artistic appeal.
-Bib With a Blog

thanks to netgalley and the publishers for the eARC I received of Amanda Lovelace's Break Your Glass Slippers in exchange for a fair and honest review.

amanda lovelace (Amanda Lovelace?) is very popular and I get why.

Typical poetry is not the easiest to read. You know there is hidden meaning there and it's hard to get at. It makes readers feel frustrated and stupid. It is hard to know when to turn the page because you are battling over whether you have sat with the poem long enough to fully get it.

amanda lovelace's poems don't have that effect. they are bite sized and easy to digest. They contain little bits of self-help that teach you how to love yourself in a patriarchal world that seeks to destroy women. The titles of her books are lovely and the poems themselves are easily quotable. They fit perfectly on an Instagram page.

If I sound scornful, I know that's petty. There is nothing wrong with lovelace's poetry and, as a mom, I have to say that when my teen daughter begged for lovelace's last volume, I was thrilled. Poetry that actually speaks to people. That people actually want to buy. That is genuinely exciting.

Follow that up with the fact that these particular poems are inspired by fairy tales and I so, so want to like them! I think lovelace is doing something fun and cool here and I don;t want to be the Debbie Downer that pees on her parade. Besides, I am not a poet. Who am I to be down on her writing?

But I just don't love it. It reads like Hallmark cards: shallow. Easy. Cheap. there's not much below the surface. While it speaks to people and addresses issues that I think are very relate-able, it does it with little in the way of artistry. Her line breaks read as particularly shallow, like she literally breaks just to turn little snippets of advice into poetry. As I so often am, I am torn on this work because I always want to be kind to works of writing that I wish I liked, even when I don't. this is one of those. It's a work where I feel like if she would just push a little more, add a bit more depth, I could like it, but as it stands, it's just too simple. By her third collection, I think lovelace could be doing more.

I've been reading a lot of long novels in 2020 so far, so I was excited to take a quick break with the latest poetry collection by Amanda Lovelace: Break Your Glass Slippers. Billed as the start of a new series and a play on the Cinderella story, it's got the usual heart of a Lovelace collection and her signature style,but definitely feels a little self-helpy at times. 

I'm the first to admit I hated my poetry classes in college. I never really felt like I fit in there, I struggled to 'get' things sometimes, and the adherence to form stressed even my Type A butt out a lot. But I do truly like Amanda Lovelace's style. She writes like we think, captures ideas and lets them stand on their own. Her poems can be heavy and dark but they don't overwhelm you with drawn out metaphors or obsessive rhyme schemes. Rather, you get to exist in the poems. And I've loved all of her collections so far--this one was good too. 

The collection started by saying it was a kind of focus on Cinderella, and I got that in a few places, but not cohesively throughout. Some segments were much longer than others in the collection, so much that I was surprised when it in. Similarly, much of it felt "self-help"-y rather than genuinely reflective, and while I did enjoy it, it's not my new favorite.

Amanda Lovelace is known for baring her soul in her work, and her newest poetry collection is no exception. Each page is filled with heartbreak, empowerment, learning to love oneself, and moving on from things and those that have caused you pain. She has such a magical way of taking thoughts that each of us have had at some point and making them real to help you heal. This might be my favorite collection of hers this far. I found myself highlighting quiet a lot of passages that felt really relatable, and I also really liked the artwork throughout. I definitely recommend checking this out if you're a fan.

As a big fan of Amanda's poems, I'm always eagerly anticipating whatever she's coming up with next. And this collection was wonderful. It's start of her new series and reimagines the story of Cinderella, with personal insights from author's life. In a similar manner to her previous works, this too touches upon topics of toxic dynamics, abuse, and how to regain self-confidence.

I loved the way Amanda balanced darker poems with positive ones fillied with encouragement and empowerment. She's able to say so much with so little words, and her writing always manages to touch me and resonate with me. This was a great opening collection and I'm extremely excited to see where this series goes.

she wants nothing more
than to be the kind of girl
worthy of standing
next to him.

- she doesn't always want what's best for her.

Thanks to the Netgalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing me with eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Andrews McMeel Publishing and NetGalley for an early copy of break your glass slippers.

This was my first time reading Lovelace but it will not be my last. In this poetry collection, Lovelace retells the story of Cinderella through short poems that discuss toxic relationships, female friend and personal empowerment. The art style is beautiful and fits very well with each poem (most especially the blue tones).

Break your glass slippers is one of those collections where the only time you pause reading it is to share a quote with someone who needs to hear it.

4/5 stars.

I’m not normally a huge fan of poetry, but I thoroughly enjoyed these! Totally spins the traditional fairytales stories we’ve heard all of our lives; timely and relevant. I loved it.

A poetry book after sooo long feels so good! Gaaah!

After having read and love the WOMEN ARE SOME KIND OF MAGIC series by Lovelace, I was quite excited to pick this one up. And yes, I enjoyed it but, not as much as her previous works. It had its own highs and lows and it had parts I could deeply connect with and other poems that I am sure others would relate to. However, I felt it was quite simple, like some sort of bridge between two books, for example a work tying up her MAGIC series.

I personally think that this is the best first book to pick up, if you are looking to read to experience Lovelace's lyrical poetry.

Amanda Lovelace did an incredible job with this book for a few reasons. First of all, it really flowed. Sometimes books of poetry can feel random as you flip the page, but with this one, I never felt like the next poem was unexpected or out of place. Second, I feel like any reader would connect with a number of the poems because while they all seemed to go together, they were varied enough that everyone could connect with some of them. Since I read this as an e-book, I actually bookmarked the poems that I related to and it looks like that came to about 22 of the pages. It also wasn't just that I related to those poems - it was more that although I could never personally find the words to write them, if someone told me that Lovelace has used my soul as an inspiration to write a few of them, I would have thought, "oh, that explains it". She just perfectly captured emotions that I have personally felt, which in my limited experience with poetry isn't something I often have felt.

Overall, I loved reading this and I'm hoping to get my hands on a hard copy some day to add to my collection because it's one that I want to read again and recommend to many people.

This book left me a bit speechless and somewhat breathless. I felt like the author had looked into my life and there it was on paper. It was an eye-opener for me and just the kick in the butt I needed. I will be purchasing this book when it comes out in March and also reading more books by Amanda Lovelace.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC of this book for review.

TW: child abuse, toxic friendships, toxic romantic relationship, sexual harassment, eating disorders, fat phobia, suicide, trauma

“When they tell me I’ve changed,like it’s some personal act of betrayal on my part, I tell them, “I know. I’ve never been more proud of myself. I went from a single wildflower to a whole fucking meadow” - break your glass slippers

I’ve read every Amanda Lovelace’s poetry collections she has ever brought out and wow she never ceases to amaze me. This poetry collection was just a masterpiece and for me needs to be read by everyone!!!

Every page the poems were just breathtaking and I’ve marked and saved so many of them. I just love the empowerment of Amanda’s collections of self love, being your own self and also never letting anyone try and knock you off your throne or steal your crown you deserve!!!

This poetry collection for me is my favourite from Amanda and I could just read her collections all day, like I need quote from her collections around the house :)

One final thing that I love when delving into Amanda’s poetry is that she always puts the trigger warnings of what’s to come when you delve into the collection.

Just amazing and a 5/5 star read (my first 5 star of the year)

So I was kind of disappointed with reading this since I enjoyed Lovelace's other works and I do like when poetry collections take inspiration from fairy tales. Other than some specific lines I liked, this collection isn't much different than her others, which is not inherently a bad thing but I was just expected something....more.

I do plan on continuing with the series though.

2.25/5

I usually love this author this was just didn’t work for me. I was really excited about this but I was disappointed.