This book is a perfect read for anyone. It's almost like a guide book on learning to love yourself and to grow. I definitely recommend for anyone, young or old, who may need a pick me up or reassurance.

Not my favorite. I find that all the poetry is sounding all alike at this point, It would be a good bookish gift for new poetry readers.

@Thanks NetGalley for giving me the access to read these well written poems and beautifully written. Amanda Lovelace has such a great talent to write emotional poems.
I loved very much the poems.
Furthermore, I give 4 stars to this book.

I've always known that I needed to be in the right mindset to read an Amanda Lovelace poetry collection - and this time is no different. Shine Your Icy Crown is just as powerful as all of her other collections. Lovelace shines light and reflects on what many of us struggle with and keep to ourselves. I highly recommend these collections to everyone I come across and will continue to do so with Shine Your Icy Crown.

Amanda Lovelace really brought inspiration out to me to continue writing my poetry collection. Her writing is just so motivating for those of us who have went through the similar situations that she writes about and runs with it. Myself being a domestic violence survivor I battle mental health issues every day. Her writing inspires me to keep going and to straighten my crown and keep my head held high. I would recommend this book of poetry to anyone but, they should read her other works as well!

I love reading poetry collections and I have read all the books by Amanda Lovelace and this was amazing as usual.

Take your time in reading (devouring) this book which is less poetry and more instructional/manual/handbook. For those of us, who have loved Amanda's previous work, this can be a bit of a let down, but possibly still a treasured addition to one's library for the rainy days.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher and author!

Amanda Lovelace has done it again. Every poetry book I read from her has made me cry and this book is no exception. This poetry book speaks on the experiences that young girls go through throughout their lives. I. could relate to many of these poems and that broke my heart. While reading this I felt empowered and strong. The writing was once again amazing.

That being said, there were some poems that felt kinda felt to me. That could just be a me thing though. I am giving this book 4/5 stars.

'Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.'

as painful as it may be,
it is always easier to
walk away from the villain

than it is to try to
convince them of their villany.
- a hard pill to swallow

Out today, Amanda Lovelace returns with a new poetry collection that focuses on empowerment, feminism and knowing your self-worth. Lovelace explores the idea of valuing yourself even if you don’t have a romantic partner and the complexities of family relationships.

This poetry collection was just alright for me. I loved some of the themes explored (feminism - yay!!). It had some cool imagery incorporated and I loved the illustrations. That being said, there is one trope that is woven throughout that is referred to as the Big Sister. The Big Sister seems to know everything and her parts are frequent and seemed almost preachy to me in parts. Big Sister was an all knowing being and those parts almost seemed like a self-help portion to me - which is not my favourite. It’s for this reason I settled on 3 stars as I just couldn’t connect with a lot of the content. For others this poetry collection may be a totally different experience.

I'm a long-time fan of Amanda Lovelace. Her ability to relate complex, difficult, emotional issues through prose is phenomenal. I love the truth and depth of her voice and am always impressed at the way she manages to turn horrible experiences into moving lessons with positive messages of hope... This was another wonderful collection - although I found it to feel a bit more disjointed between parts than her previous works. This one felt like two books put together in one binding, whereas the others (the other in this series and her "Women are Some Kind of Magic" and "Things that H(a)unt" series) felt a little more cohesive to me. I still enjoyed her writings and thoughts immensely, so it didn't matter. But it did feel a little less like a narrative told through prose and more like a series of pieces that moved in complementary directions...

This was definitely my favourite of Amanda Lovelace's poetry collections that I've picked up! I was very apprehensive going in, as poetry isn't my usual cup of tea, but I was very pleasantly surprised. It was beautifully written, and full of feeling.

-- 3.5 stars --

I liked this book more at the start than at the beginning. I love the concept and the big sister prose parts—so much so that I thought about getting this as a birthday present for my sister. It is feminist and what I search for in modern poetry.

However, it is incredibly repetitive. I found myself skim-reading through some of the passages.

——

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me an eARC. All thoughts are my own, unbiased views.

Amanda has done it again. I have loved every one of her poetry collections. This one is again, surprisingly relatable for everyone in one way or another. The illustrations and collection are beautiful.

Thank you Netgalley for the review copy!

This is my second poetry book by Amanda Lovelace. I've enjoyed her work in the previous book as well, and in this one too. In this book, She talks about various important topics like accepting and appreciating yourself, making yourself a priority and she also mentions a lot about feminism. I really liked how she introduces poems through Big sister. Some of the poems were really so powerful and hard-hitting, while others were gentle. I read it in a single sitting, Highly recommended!

I don't normally read poetry but I decided to give this one a go since I've heard good things about the author. I ended up loving it! This one is about not letting society dictate your potential and realising you don't need a king to be a queen.

There was a lot of focus on supporting other women and feminism. I definitely felt empowered and represented after reading it. I related to a lot of the poems and seeing that helped me to feel understood and realise that I'm not alone. I feel like every woman could probably relate to this (obviously anyone can read and enjoy it though).

It was an enchanting read and fairy tale and poetry lovers would definitely enjoy it!

Book Review for Shine Your Icy Crown by Amanda Lovelace: ladybookmad
Full review for this title can be found at: @fyebooks on Instagram!

“here, sisters make up a large part of the magic. but that’s the case so much of the time, isn’t it?”

Shine Your Icy Crown is the first Amanda Lovelace collection I have read, and while it wasn't my favourite- I would still try out something else by her.

This poetry collection centres on themes of sisterhood, feminism and self-love. While I am all for those topics in theory, I felt that the execution wasn't as good I wanted. My main issue was the fact that most of the book didn't feel like poetry. It was mostly just advice- good advice, mind you- but advice nonetheless. If I was looking for that I would have picked up a self-help book, not poetry. Here is an example of what I am talking about:

" i. drive the scenic route.
ii. take more self-care days.
iii. sing, even if it's off-key.
iv. make time for your passions.
v. let yourself feel joy."

—don't waste a single moment.

This is obviously a personal preference, and if you enjoy your poetry having explicit and unambiguous messages, I think this collection could be good for you! In my poetry I just prefer leaving a little more up to interpretation, having more elaborate metaphors and motifs, and more flowery writing.

my favourite parts of Shine Your Icy Crown were those that actually felt like a fairytale. I had expected the whole collection to be that way, but unfortunately I had to be content with the little snippets we got in between the instagram poetry. I also loved the illustrations, and imagine the physical copy will be absolutely stunning!

Overall, I am glad I gave this a try. I will be on the lookout for other poetry collections centring on fairytales and feminism if you have any recommendations! I am also still hesitantly interested in Amanda Lovelace's first series of poetry collections- perhaps I will enjoy those more!

★★☆☆☆.5 stars

Thank you to Andrew McMeel Publishing for this ARC

Release Date: 26 January 2021

I wasn’t a big fan of this book. There were a few poems that I liked and that I related to, but overall this was too “tumblr poetry-ish” for me.

As usual, I am the type of poetry reader who very much enjoys Amanda Lovelace. I find her magical approach to words, experiences, thoughts, and feelings to be very intriguing and she reminds me of a mysterious and beautiful "good witch" who lives in the woods and talks to animals.

I love the feminist approach to the things she has to say, and the words that flow from her. That's what I generally look for with the poetry I read - I'm looking for magic in the use of words, and her magic is so unique. I love that she doesn't live in the dark places, but she acknowledges them and uses them to strengthen her magic. I love that her poetry and her words don't live in darkness either. Some of the poetry I've read has felt so dark and it never comes back up for the light.

Amanda Lovelace will always be a poet I'll reach for whose collections I will own and revisit.

Thanks so much to the author, Andrews McMeel, and NetGalley for the complimentary advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts. All opinions are entirely my own. { partner } All of my reviews can also be found on Instagram @Tackling_TBR and on my blog at tacklingtbr.home.blog

TW (from the book) : "This book contains sensitive material relating to: child abuse, toxic relationships, sexual assault, eating disorders, mental illness, self-harm, sexism, suicide, trauma, & possibly more. Remember to practice self-care before, during, and after reading."

Amanda Lovelace's collections are never easy to read, for obvious reasons based on the content (I mean, just look at all of the trigger warnings listed above and in the beginning of the book). But her books always mean the world to me as a read them, and they tend to stick with me for longer than a lot of the other books that I read, specifically collections of poetry.

Similar to Break Your Glass Slippers (the first collection in Lovelace's You Are Your Own Fairy Tale series) and her Women Are Some Kind of Magic series, this book looks really deep into how women are treated. While a lot of her collections are about a woman treating herself well, and not letting others treat her poorly, Shine Your Icy Crown also shines a special light at how women treat each other. The competition that just about all women find themselves in with each other, whether they want to be competing with each other or not.

I have read all of the collections that this author has written, and I always feel like each one means more to me than the last, and that I can revisit each of them when I need them. They are all difficult reads, but at the same time they are so inspiring, and really damn liberating.

Overall I would absolutely recommend this collection to any of my friends, but even more so to all of my female friends. While there are some really intense triggers that are involved in these stories, if you are able to safely read these collections then I think you will be able to get something meaningful out of it. I think the perfect way to read this collection would be either right before or during an active form of self care. If that is reading it in bed, listening to your favorite album, cuddling your pet, or reading it in a relaxing bubble bath.