Lovelace puts to words feminist notions that are difficult to convey. She delves into the female mind: feelings of sisterhood, self-love, self-worth, and even friendships, and examines how to be the best version of yourself by acknowledging who you are and who you have been. The lessons she details might be conventional and known at large, but they are nevertheless powerful to read to remind oneself that they do matter.

I've enjoyed all of Amanda Lovelace's poetry collections that I've read before but this one may be my favorite by far. There are obvious trigger warnings with all of her work, but this one especially touches on a number of topics such as abuse, self-harm, depression, anxiety and more. There is a list of content warnings in the beginning of the collection which I do recommend reviewing before reading. I really enjoyed the empowering tone in this collection, the overall theme of finding your own voice and accepting your own power. All in all I recommend all of her poetry, but definitely check out this series of collections.

I'm not much of a poetry reader, Amanda Lovelace's simple style and focus on the real experiences of girls and women drew me to her work. "Shine your ice crown" didn't disappoint. I could have used this collection when I was 18. The writing is not your typical poem, but also not quite prose. Lovelace uses a style somewhere in-between that feels more like you're reading a diary or letter from your sister (sisterhood being a central theme to the whole work). I can't wait to pick up a hard copy of "shine your ice crown" and any other copies of Lovelace's work so I can spend more time reading, highlighting, and sharing my favorite parts with the other women in my life.

The only thing I would have liked is a CW on the Netgalley description of this book. I've been surprised a few times with potentially triggering scenes and topics in books with little to no warning. Lovelace's work thankfully opens with a CW, so be mindful of yourself if you go to read.

ARC ebook provided by Netgalley.

I had high hopes going into this because I've appreciated Lovelace's poetry in the past and love poetry in general. Unfortunately, this collection didn't really meet my expectations in the way I hoped. It was okay, and in years past I probably would have loved it, but it's closer to generalized tumblr #relatable poetry than it is to anything with deeper substance. It scratches the surface of hard topics without diving in and becoming personal so that it can be relatable to more people. Overall, it has big "white feminist" energy, which is not really my vibe. This kind of poetry has its place, but I've found myself more driven towards deeper, personal poetry recently.

4.7

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

She isn’t trying to impress you.
She’s trying to impress herself.

I basically want to quote the whole book, but this quote in particular has stuck with me and is the current vibe.
This is yet another fantastic and meaningful poetry book that has found a place in my heart. Amanda Lovelace always finds a way to break me down and build me up all at the same time. Every single page, not matter how long or short, was written with purpose and I couldn’t get enough.
Overall women are amazing, and we need to normalize supporting each other. LET’S TEAM UP LADIES!

I wasn’t sure really what I was expecting with this one, but I adored it, so so much.
Every line is iconic and mesmerizing, and really any girl can relate. It made me cry my eyes out for a solid hour, but I think we’re all good now. Women often face disastrous struggles in the world surrounded by patriarchy and the reality of very difficult home lives with parents who really were never meant to be parents, and this book personally resonated so much because Amanda's poems really tug on the ethos of every reader who has experienced the exact same thing.
“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 villainy”

arc copy provided by netgalley!

I don’t read poetry books often. That said, when I do choose to read poetry, Lovelace’s novels are the first I pick up. What I love about any book I’ve ever read by Ladymad is that her poetry reads as a story and an immediate source of inspiration.

Her latest compilation runs through a range of serious topics like toxic relationships, sexism, depression, and suicide. Despite the dark themes or perhaps due to these themes, her words exude empowerment. Like countless other times reading Loveless’ works, I found myself with that inexplicable need to share her words with others. shine your icy crown will release on January 26th, 2021. Thank you to Netgalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the advanced reader’s copy in exchange for my honest review.

"I will be ever patient with myself,
because i am worth putting time & care into."

"even if you aren't their favorite,
you're always someone's favorite.
(you're mine)"

I’ve read a few of these books already, and while this one has a good message to girls and women alike, the poems (if you could even call them that) themselves were a bit lackluster. Much of the text felt like it was paraphrased straight from old Tumblr posts. There are only so many ways to say “love yourself, fight the patriarchy” before it starts to become redundant and monotonous.

As I said, the message the book is trying to send is an important one, so it would be a good starting point for young girls to read so that they know the importance of standing up for oneself and becoming a stronger person and role model for others, but for someone who is only a few years older than the author herself, the text falls flat, almost as if her heart is not quite in it anymore.

As per usual Amanda Lovelace kicks it out of the park, and hits a few sore spots that need healing, with talk of trauma that may feel unfortunately familiar to many. This time— family trauma and healing sits at the forefront.

This is a refreshingly modern fairytale. Lovelace manages to weave fantastic pieces of poetry with flash fiction and blurbs from the character's big sister while creating an overarching and beautiful story. The advice is something I wish I had gotten from an older sister when I was younger. The book has a great use of white space that emphasizes the importance in each slice of wisdom. The poems are empowering and magical. The artwork sprinkled throughout is gorgeous. It balances feminism and spirituality with empowerment and truth. I recommend this book to any feminine being that needs to reclaim their power.

Shine Your Icy Crown is the latest poetry collection from Amanda Lovelace. The poems in this collection is mostly around believing in yourself and not succumbing to the barrage of judgement/criticism from society. There are a number of poems in this book with an encouraging, uplifting response from "big sister". This is most definitely a feminist poetry collection with a message about pushing back against gender norms and the patriarchy.

I found this to be a largely powerful collection of modern, feminist poems. The poems are simple but unapologetic, and I like the illustrations as well. They touch on somewhat heavy themes like depression and eating disorders, which helps provide some substance to the poems. I especially liked the premise of a big sister offering advice to the little sister, though I would have also liked to see the big sister learning from the little sister too.

Thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

"if i'm with you,
it's because i think you
let in more stardust than storm clouds."

At first, I was disappointed that this installation in the You Are Your Own Fairy Tale series wasn't actually modelled after a specific fairy tale. Instead, it is more a compilation of all fairy tales and the transition from princess to queen. Ultra-feminist, inspirational, and extremely quotable, this collection grew on me and ended up being much better than I expected at first. It felt less disjointed than Break Your Glass Slippers and flowed well while still telling an overarching story.

"there's nothing wrong with seeing the immensity of your worth. there's nothing wrong with acting self-assured. there's nothing wrong with demanding the respect you deserve."

If you can get your hands in this, I promise there will be no regrets.
This book just screams "Amazing!" from the very beginning. It´s not your typical poetry title, but we already now that.
This one is more about what to do with yourself, to help your mind, to put you first, to work in getting what you want, what you desire, to be there for the women around you.

This was another captivating collection of poetry from Amanda Lovelace. The combination of strength and vulnerability makes her work inspiring and relatable.

I had read one of the authors previous works and wasn't a fan. I saw this on NetGalley and thought I would give her another chance, and I'm so glad I did! I really enjoyed this book of poetry/short paragraphs/illustrations. I thought it was a great mix of the three.

The poetry was easy to follow, which I liked. I am still fairly new to poetry, and some things I have read go over my head. The poems in this collection were easy to understand, and made me feel emotion in even the smallest lines.

Great collection. Can't wait to read more!

Thank you to Amanda Lovelace, Andrews McMeel Publishing, and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I feel like I need to start this review by sharing my praise for her previous work. I appreciated Amanda Lovelace's Women Are Some Kind of Magic trilogy a whole lot. I felt represented in the thoughts and ideas proposed in it. With this however, not as much.

The trigger warnings at the beginning: amazing - we stan those. The drawings that are next to the text are cute and pink. But that's all they are. They don't really add anything to the story. The illustration that encompass the tiny parts of prose are lovely. I thought to myself, "Wow, someone really put effort into this". But then the exact same illustration appeared multiple times and it got repetitive.

The poems (or often just mere thoughts put into multiple lines), were not new to me after reading her other works. A little too typical, a little too unrelaxing, taking themselves too seriously. Don't get me wrong, some snippets are wonderful. I especially liked the short parts of the story of the princess. I wish those had been more fleshed out, more elaborate.

All in all, I would buy this for a younger girl in my life. If I had a daughter, I would want her to read this. To raise awareness of these issues of self-love and appreciation, of how she is enough, of how she can do anything and how the world sometimes can be cruel. I can imagine this to be comforting, especially the verses proposed by the big sister, but for me, I wish I had been younger when I read this.

Ok, let's be honest, this book is not really good, i’ts the same as her other “poetry” books. And I’m saying ““poetry”” because it’s more like instagram posts (cringe-y sometimes, superficial other times). The book has no depth, no heartwarming feelings,
it
just
exists.

The content was not good enough for me. Repetitive, I did not connect with the stuff i was reading. I admit the illustrations and quotes/messages are cute and entertaining, but that’s all.

But, somehow I think it would be a good book for younger girls. It's easy to read and it has good content about feminism, sisterhood, friendship and self-love for someone who doesn’t know about those things. I could give it as a gift to my cousins, maybe.

Free ARC from Netgalley.

This reads as a long feministic motivational poster. With cute tiny pink illustrations.

I think this would be a great present for a teen girl (like for confirmation would be perfect).

For me, it fell a bit flat in comparison with Lovelace other hard hitting poetry collections.