A beautifully written feminist collection of poetry. This is a collection that will resonate as a reminder of my individuality and my power. It is the book I wish I had as a teenager. The themes, metaphors, and morals are both straightforward and full of depth. The structure of the entirety of the collection itself was poignant. Each part focused on a specific perspective. Each section was introduced by an umbrella metaphor, and then each poem dove into that specific area of growth. I loved how in the first section the poems alternated, every other one being "big sister" which gave a reaction and reassurance to the previous poem.

Time for more poetry! I have developed a slow but steady love affair with amanda lovelace's poetry over the past few years. She remains the only author (aside from, of course, e.e. cummings) from whom I'll accept a lack of capitals. I continue to adore her fairy tale-inspired poetry so get ready for some raving. Thanks to Andrews McMeel Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

lovelace's poetry has consistently worked for me over the past few years and I think that in a large part that is due to her engagement with my greatest love: fairy tales and folk tales. Especially in her women are some kind of magic and you are your own fairytale series, lovelace takes on the legacy of these fairy tales and refashions them. As many by now know, the original fairy tales as collected by the Grimm Brothers were dark, confusing, mysterious and not always morally sound. In their next editions, they slowly but surely edited them into something they thought would be better for the children. This trend was followed by both French and English authors during the Victorian period, which leads us nicely to the family-friendly Disney version. Now don't get me wrong, I do love to sing along to their songs, but I also did feel betrayed once I found out what had been cut or smoothed over. Even Hans Christian Andersen didn't escape. Seeing lovelace return some of the iciness and danger to these tales, all in the name of unleashing your own potential, simply fills me with joy.

shine your icy crown is divided into three sections, tracking the journey of a princess from crownless to crowned. Especially the first section truly resonated with me as many of the poems took the form of advice from a big sister. Being a big sister, I had to take a moment at times. At one point I had to stop reading and call my sister to read her one section of the poems, cause it just fit us perfectly. (She also approves!) The second section focuses more on empowerment, seizing your own power and recognizing you can forge your own path despite everything else. The third and final section only consists of the ending of the princess' tale, making for a great resolution to all the positive intentions of the previous two sections. The theme of magic also runs through this collection more strongly than her previous ones, I'd argue. I myself, a continually novice witch, loved this. Once again, lovelace's collection is a combination between poetry and what I'd consider prose poetry. Each forn engages the reader in a different way but they continue to work together nicely.

lovelace's poetry continues to be direct and to the point, but with lovely flourishes. Her prose and poetry are inspiring without being overly 'yas girl' about it, which I appreciate. I recently reviewed another poetry collection which technically operates on the same level, namely that of empowerment and finding joy in the small things. While that collection didn't work for me, shine your icy crown very much did. I do think the difference lies, not to belabour the point, in lovelace's roots in fairy tales. It doesn't feel trite or overdone, but rather as if she's sharing her own thought-process and inspiration with her readers. This collection is enhanced even further through gorgeous illustrations by Janaina Medeiros, which walk the thin line between whimsical and deeply emotive perfectly. You can find more of her gorgeous art on her website or her Instagram.

I did promise I would rave. I simply adore lovelace's you are your own fairytale series and one of these days I swear I will get myself physical copies to line my bookshelves. Any lover of minimalist poetry and fairy tales will find the perfect combination of the two here.

So, this isn't a poetry book. It's a self help book, which is fine, but that's all it is. The words in here don't work as poetry, and I'm saying this as someone who's a fan of short-form poetry in general, a la Nayyirah Waheed and Warsan Shire. There just doesn't feel like there's any real artistry here. The language is overly simplistic and inspirational, exactly like you'd find in a generic book of affirmations, and some of the phrasing is so clunky that I struggled to read the poems aloud. Lovelace uses 'for' as a conjunction a lot (e.g. 'I already have my hands full, for I'm busy saving the world') and it's such an archaic conjunction that it really jarred. I liked a lot of what this book had to say, but not how it said it. It felt very rushed and as though not much effort at all had been put into crafting each poem. It reads like a book of first drafts.

That said, I do like Lovelace's use of poem titles to subvert the meaning of the poem. I thought that was usually cleverly done, although this was popularised with Nayyirah Waheed and Rupi Kaur before her, so I'm not sure I can count it as a mark of specific artistry here. Still, it made some of the blander poems more enjoyable. And when I say 'blander poems', I mean ones like this:

'canceled plans
make her sigh in relief.'

That's it. That's the entire poem. Sorry, but I really don't see any effort or attempts at using language there. It's the kind of thing you can jot down in your notebook at lunchtime in literally 6 seconds, and then never look at again. Here, let me try:

'she said no
because it was more freeing
than saying yes.'

Am I a poet now?

I will say that this is a helpful and beautiful book for young people to have, especially with the illustrations. The physical copy will be a great addition to a lot of young people's bookshelves. Some of the lessons it has to teach young girls are really important, especially about knowing your own worth (although I think that it does occasionally sink into toxic positivity, especially when it advocates an almost entirely self-focused ideology) and I think that if this was marketed more along those lines, more of a self help book or a book of affirmations, then I would be all for it. As poetry, however, it left me completely cold.

I received an e arc from NetGalley for an honest review.

Amanda Lovelace's poetry is always good but with this collection, I didn't connect with many of the poems so my personal enjoyment was lower than previous collections of her poetry I've read in the past. She covers a lot of similar topics as other poetry collections she'd done as well so if you've read others of hers you might feel like some of the content is a little stale.

The poems I did connect with and enjoy were beautifully written but for me personally, they were too far and few in between a mix of those that just fell flat.

I loved the illustrations in this collection and they helped convey almost every poem they were included in.

Overall this was sort of a disappointment since I've loved every other Lovelace I've read. I'll keep reading her collections for now but if I continue to feel lackluster I may not pick up much more.

I’m not a huge poetry fan by any means, but something about 𝐀𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞’𝐬 way with words just speaks to my soul.⁣
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This poetry is empowering and uplifting while also being very real and vulnerable. I felt like each page resonated with me in a different way while also having an incredible flow that was crafted to weave together perfectly.⁣
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If you’re new to poetry, I think Lovelace would be a great place to start, especially in its relevance to the present day!

This is my least favourite poetry collection from Amanda Lovelace. While I loved all the artwork in this collection (Janaina Medeiros did a fantastic job), I felt like many of the poems rang hollow. They all followed a central theme and story progression, but again, they felt like cliché inspirational quotes. I didn’t find any of them to be particularly poignant, and almost all of them were too short for my liking. There were a few cleaver metaphors that she used that I enjoyed, but most of the poems I found to be very simple, plain, and unoriginal. I would love it if she explored writing lightly longer poems, because those are always my favourites in her collections.

While I did find the themes interesting—the fairytale concept mentioned in the blurb was what piqued my interest— the poems didn't feel polished and the images tended to be repetitive. The fairytale aspect was dropped through the book, until it was just an annotation rather than something immersive. I wish this book worked better in a language/narrative level, instead of just going through topics. They're necessary and urgent topics (sorority, eating disorders, resistance against the pressures of patriarchal society) but the execution dims the work. The art, on the other hand, was really well done and it fits the aesthetic of the book in a wonderful way.

Thank you to Netgalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the chance to read and review this e-ARC.

This was motivational, touching everything good. It brought out the strength in me to just be who I want. To go against the norms of society. There was so many quotes that could be taken away to carry with you on a day to day bases.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

Amanda really has the most beautiful way with words. The stories they craft into these poems is so lush and imaginative, so raw and real and dark, they really reach in, pull your heart out and proceed to place it back. But with infinitely more love and life inside of it.

I loved this poetry collection so much. I could relate to so many, they all spoke to my soul in a way. I love art like this that make me feel so many different emotions at once.

If you love poetry, especially poetry that forms a story, I can’t recommend this enough. Please check it out! Though do read and check the trigger warnings as these poems do deal with dark and heavy topics.

5/5⭐️


TW: trauma, sexual assault, child abuse, toxic relationships, eating disorders, mental illness, self-harm, suicide, sexism

Review will be up on my blog on release day!

Amanda Lovelace has some of the best poetry books that I have ever read. I have loved every book that I have written by this author and always have them in my must buy list.This book definitely lived up to the hype that I gave it in my mind.

It’s hard to rate which one of Amanda’s poetry books is my favorite. I am always baffled at how much more amazing the poems are. I’m a huge fan of feminist poetry in general so having a go to author in the genre is very important to me.

Shine Your Icy Crown is a collection of poetry by Amanda Lovelace. This is the second book in the You Are Your Own Fairy Tale series however; this can be read without reading the first one.

This is a story about not letting society dictate the limits of your potential. It’s time to take back your power & realize that you don’t need a king in order to be a queen.

Poetry is not a normal genre for me, but when I was offered an advanced copy of this book I figured I should get out of my comfort zone and check it out. I’m so glad I did. I loved the poems in this book. They are about empowerment and being the you that you are without letting others judge you. This book has such a great message for women, and many of the poems resonated with me. Lovelace’s poetry is emotional yet relatable at the same time. She writes beautifully, and I am looking forward to reading more of her books.

Thank you NetGalley and Andrews McMeet Publishing for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Just coming at you with another Happy #PubDay post! This time, it is for one of my favorite poets ever, Amanda Lovelace, and her newest work: SHINE YOUR ICY CROWN. Thank you to @netgalley and @andrewmcmeel publishing for the eARC to review!

This is the second published compilation of her YOU ARE YOUR OWN FAIRY TALE series and it was everything I needed and more. It felt like I was reading a love letter and wake up call to all women from a big sister or mentor. It breaks down societal expectations as it relates to intimate relationships, body image and the pressure to look "perfect," and relationships with other women. If you enjoyed What Kind of Woman by Kate Baer, you definitely need to pick up SHINE YOUR ICY CROWN (and, honestly, all of Lovelace's work); I eventually want to own copies of all her work - they just speak to me and need a place on my shelf!

SHINE YOUR ICY CROWN is out now (as is the first compilation of the series, BREAK YOUR GLASS SLIPPERS)!

CW // toxic relationships; sexual assault; eating disorders and body image; mental health; sexism; suicide; self-harm

This one is even better than the first one! Between Slippers & Crown, this one feels more complete and on topic. Slippers felt like it veered off course a lot; with Crown, even if it went off course, it always circled back around to the princess fairytale.

Favorite poem: “she’s not sure anyone is listening,” pg. 48

I can’t wait to see what Amanda has next!

These types of poetry collections are challenging to review. I don't want to diminish them to simply 'Instagram poetry,' but that's usually what they end up reading like. Shine your Icy Crown has some fantastic pieces and I love the messages of empowerment and sisterhood - HOWEVER, most of them are very simplistic and stylistically they are not much more than an Instagrammable caption. Still loved reading it though!

This is not the type of book that I normally read, however I did find this poetry to be creative and interesting.

Firstly, I'd like to thank NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the eARC in exchange of an honest review.

'be the you that is most comfortable'

I have to firstly talk about Janaina Medeiros illustrations which are so beautiful and really compliment the poems they're paired with. I also love the pink theme that runs throughout this collection. At the beginning of the book there are a list of trigger warnings which can really help the reader to understand what they are about to read and I always appreciate this from Amanda.

'she feels like she might float away any day now'

I really loved the theme of this collection as it is a topic Amanda has touched on in previous books but never in detail. It's about the relationship between two sisters, one younger and the other older. It explores the younger sisters insecurities and much like 'break your glass slippers' we have the 'big sister says' poems and the first chapter follows this sequence. I love how as the chapter moves forward we see how the big sister's praise is helping the younger sister to rise up into a confident woman. It also touches on the big sister also making mistakes and how the younger sister deals with this.

'there isn't a single thing she can't do for herself'

It is a very powerful collection that really pushes forward the message of women supporting women. I also feel like you can see Amanda's growth in this collection compared to her previous books. I felt like there was a direct message to me about equality and that she believes men and women should be equal as I had previously commented that one of her previous works read like 'a hate men journal'. Thanks for clearing that up.

'keep falling in love with yourself'

I do wonder why the chapters didn't have names and were just called 'i'. I felt like the first chapter that focused on the sisters was really successful but then the next two chapters felt like that theme was finished with and it just went back to uplifting pieces that mirrored her previous work. I'm always happy to read Amanda's work and would recommend her work to those who enjoy uplifting writing.

Amy x

I fell in love with this book. I'm not surprised at all since I've read Amanda Lovelace's Girls Are Some Kind of Magic series and I loved every installment.

This was an extremely relatable and impactful poetry collection. I tabbed many poems and I will definitely go back and reread them. Some made me smile, some made me sad and all left a mark.

Another great thing about this book is the illustrations. They add a little something that makes the reading experience even more enjoyable.

I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, all thoughts and opinions are my own

Another great collection from Amanda Lovelace. Love the illustrations placed throughout. Great for those who have read her stuff in the past or similar poets.

Amanda Lovelace is the epitome of feminism. After reading her poetry, you always feel like you can do anything, be anything, say anything. I enjoyed Shine your Icy Crown. Everyone needs their own icy crown (metaphorically and I would love one literally). Their icon that says, “I am an amazing woman” who doesn’t need a man to be complete. Who can be a single woman (not a mother) and be complete. Who can be a mother and be complete. Who can stand up for what they believe in and not give a damn what others think. Who can step out of the norm and create their own trends.

Shine Your Icy Crown surpassed my expectations in both its layout and it messages. It brought about the lovely experience of wanting to tear through it in one sitting, which I did, while all the while feeling like I was making mental bookmarks of pages that I'll be revisiting at many later dates.

I believe in the power of the right book in the right person's hands, and I don't doubt that this is a book that could save lives and bring hope to readers that need it most, if it only reaches them in some way. I hope with all my hear that this happens, and I thank the author for writing words that have the potential to transcend their pages and actually touch lives.