flower crowns and fearsome things is a poetry collection that explores feminism laced by the concept of wildflowers and wildfires to resemble softness and fierceness side by side.

much like amanda lovelace's other works, the poems assembled here are short, lowercased sentences that some like to call "modern poetry," which i don't consider myself a fan of... however! i was obsessed with the women are some kind of magic series , also by amanda lovelace, back when i read it almost 2 years ago. because besides getting a strong point across, they told a story - with characters and a plot and events moving forward - a story that not many would pick up on and its nuances.

so i expected this new standalone would not fall short from that, but unfortunately, it disappointed me beyond it. the "feminism" explored in these poems felt shallow and surface-level to me. none of them offered any depth, nothing further than what was taken word for word, nothing deeper than outdated tweets and tumblr posts, and poorly recycled if that.

sadly i just found this book frustrating to read. if i saw those early 2000's tweets on my timeline i would mute their accounts, so reading this book was not an enjoyable experience. if you're new to the concept of feminism and/or women empowerment, or maybe you happen to be a time-traveler from a decade or two ago, you might enjoy this book.

— digital arc provided via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you, NetGalley for giving me this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I'm not against the "Tumblr Poetry". I enjoyed Amanda Lovelace's previous poetry collection "The Princess saves herself in this one". Unfortunately, "Flower Crowns and Fearsome Things" felt like it had something missing.

In an attempt to be "edgy" and write something deep most of the poems missed the point of feminism. Feminism=gender equality not women supremacy.

The way the poems were arranged in basically no specific order made it seem like the narrator was screaming at a brick wall the majority of the time.

I don't know how "nobody can see me mouthing/go to hell/with my perfect lipstick mouth" escaped the editor, My problem isn't that it doesn't rhyme, it just sounds plain bad.

It's just so sad to think while reading poetry "This could've been worded better".

I know repetition is often used as a stylistic choice to ensure a point but It gets tiring if it's used to this extent. If it felt weird hearing it from my internal monologue, how am I supposed to recite it?

Overall the book can be summarized as "The concept was great...but the execution..."

Havana, ooh na-na (ayy)
Half of my heart is in Havana, ooh na-na (ayy, ayy)
He took me back to East Atlanta, na-na-na, ah
Oh, but my heart is in Havana (ayy)
There's somethin' 'bout his manners (uh-huh)
Havana, ooh-na-na (uh)

Amanda Lovelace's poems are simple and elegant. This poetry collection was no exception too. I loved how she always lifts women up and encourages them through her poems. The illustrations were amazing as always. I'll recommend flower crowns and fearsome things to everyone who wants to read uplifting and encouraging poems. Thank you for this early copy.

First off, I absolutely love the premise of this poetry collection. Amanda Lovelace pulls her inspiration from Persephone, both the goddess of the spring and the queen of the underworld and how this relates to modern womanhood and how we are often soft and fierce all at once.

In the first half of this collection, Lovelace expertly captures the female experience. Specifically how women are often battling their soft femininity with the parts of themselves that have been hardened by life experience. She reminds us that their is beauty in both and you don’t have to pick one or the other. Also I particularly love the dedication in this collection.

However, there was not much of story line to follow so about halfway through the collection, I was like “okay I get it”. Additionally, while most of the poems were fantastic, there were quite a bit that I wished were more nuanced, and therefore don’t sound like something I regularly hear. Finally I wish the art would have varied or progressed in someway instead of being the same throughout.

Thank you to Netgally and and Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This collection started with such promise - a brief greeting by the author about how she was inspired by the goddess Persephone and wanted to explore the often dueling sides of a woman - soft & fierce. It is a concept I could have gotten behind (even with the “Look, I’m a rebel!” rejection of capitalization) if the resulting poetry was ever, even for a moment, deeper than a barebones litany of Feminism 101 grievances. Instead of exploring any aspect of womanhood with depth, introspection, or creativity, Lovelace assembled a bunch of easily digestible morals for the Instagram audience, complete with summation titles at the end just in case someone felt there was an ounce of subtlety. I probably spent more time composing this review than Lovelace spent writing half of the poems. Every single one felt like a first thought and not what should be considered a final product.

An ARC was provided by NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I am admittedly not someone who picks up a lot of poetry, but I have heard of Lovelace and jumped at the chance to read this collection and see if her work is something I would enjoy. While on the whole this felt a little lackluster, some of the poems did work for me. I preferred the slightly longer entries over the shorter ones and thought the juxtaposition of the soft and strong woman was fun to explore.

I feel like I maybe was not the target audience/demographic for these and would have really resonated with these when I was younger. If you are looking for short affirmations centered around the strength and softness of women, this may be worth checking out. I am interested in going back and checking out some of the author's earlier collections to see if they hit with me in a way this didn't.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read and review this collection in exchange for my honest opinion.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The cover of this book is gorgeous and I like the artwork inside the book. Unfortunately this poetry collection didn't resonate with me.

I like the concept, but the delivery was a bit muddled. Some poems are about being an independent woman and being confident and others are about being willing to change anything to get a partner. Some of the poems have a strong "not like other girls" mentality and while the book seems to be trying to banish the trope and talk about how great women and being friends with women is, the way some things are worded seems to promote the idea in other places. Some of the poems are also very short.

Overall this wasn't for me, but I can see it appealing to people who are really into the tumblr-vibe.

Lackluster is too positive a verdict: Flower Crowns and Fearsome Things feels like Kelly Clarkson lyrics penned down in a rush. A bundle totally unambiguous and non-complex while trying to say something about abuse, sexism or relations.
everyone loves a strong woman
until that woman
no longer tolerates their bullshit
- the age-old proverb

Earlier this month I read Broken Halves of a Milky Sun (review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4179848102), which I did not full enjoy, but in terms of complexity, sophistication or even effort that bundle feels miles and miles ahead compared to Flower Crowns and Fearsome Things by Amanda Lovelace.

There is a poem about wearing a mask as a liberation of having to smile as a woman that is speaking of the current moment, but for the rest this bundle feels very generic.
Nearly all the poems feel too simple, too fitting for Instagram with some flower pictures behind them, unambiguous and unambitious.

The poems vary between “Be a goddess”, “Lift other women up”, “You don’t need a man”, “I am better of without you”, “I’ll pull through” and confusingly “Show your love to your significant other by folding clothes”.

Pomegranate in terms of explicitness takes some risks but for the rest this bundle is very bland, even when trying to take on domestic violence or sexual abuse, and I just wish the author had taken her own poem to heart:

why is it that we’re always
the damsels in distress?

write more difficult women.
write more angry women.
write more unlikeable women.
write more cunning women.

write more women who revel
in their wickedness.
- show our complexity

Every time i read a collection from Amanda Lovelace i wonder if will be as wonderful as the last one. If i'll feel the same deep connection like the words were written just for me. I wondered that this time but my concerns were unfounded. This is everything i adore about poetry. When i finished reading it i felt empowered, inspired and understood.

This was the first Amanda Lovelace collection that I've read, but I can see why her work is very popular.

In a collection like this I understand that you're not going to love every poem, but I didn't find myself connecting with many. There were a few that resonated with me, but not to any great extent. What really surprised me is that many of these works seemed to be popular sentiments from viral tweets and instagram posts. This is not to say that the author copied these word-for-word, but the general ideas were the same. Many of the poems were worded the way they were just to seem edgy, at least, that's how it appeared to me.

Overall, it felt like reading a collection of affirmations rather than poetry. I'm not sure who the intended audience is, but I think this would work well for people who enjoy daily affirmations or those who appreciate short poetry in an easy-to-flip-through book.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I have read one or two other books by Lovelace that I enjoyed tremendously. This one was good, but not as great as the like of The Princess Saves Herself.

So many poems seemed to be addressing wrongdoers, and it wasn't exactly what I was hoping for.

This is a current, uplifting, empowering book of poetry. Lovelace has a way with capturing the essence of something that many people are going through or thinking, and putting it eloquently and beautifully. The first poem, goddess of spring, was my favorite, and started the book out very strong. Not every poem hit that way for me, but overall it was a pretty, cohesive book of poetry.

Recommended for someone who wants to feel heard, women who need a boost or encouragement, people who want to feel less alone, and people who just like contemporary poetry.

Thanks to Netgalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for an e-ARC.

The latest installment in Amanda Lovelace’s poetry collection, Flower Crowns and Fearsome Things, is simply beautiful. Lovelace creates another inspiring collection as they draw upon parallels to Hades and Persephone, combined with observations that could only have come from the pandemic. Flower Crowns and Fearsome Things is laced with themes from Greek mythology, exploring the idea of fierceness & softness, and what it means to take up space. This is a short and sweet collection of modern poetry that seeks to bring magic and understanding to the adventures and perils of everyday life. Flower Crowns and Fearsome Things releases on October 5, 2021. Thank you to Amanda Lovelace, Andrews McMeel Publishing, and Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

For the publisher: My review will be posted on the publication date and I will publish it on Instagram, Goodreads, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble etc.

What a beautiful alluring cover of this book of poetry. I was drawn by it and wanted to explore every page and word.
I love poetry that empowers women, realize self worth and encourages to walk the path of healing. The world needs more of that. The message in the book is important.

This book doesn’t entirely read like poetry, the words come across as if they were on a bumper stickers, sticky notes and a quote under a Snapple bottle, fortune cookie or a dove bar. Important words, truthful ones, but not painted words, as poetry should be.

Most poetry books contain art to help paint a picture of the poet’s message, however, the author only uses two drawings throughout the entire book, beautiful artwork of flowers, but I wanted more and was disappointed, it got old after awhile. Still doesn’t take the beauty away from the fields of flowers.

With all that said, I do think this book should be read and would inspire anyone to be uplifted, inspired and know their worth and matter. This book is worth a viewing.

Thank you Netgallery for the access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

unfortunately I couldn't download the link to read this on my computer so I couldn't read it, which was a pity as I was really looking forward to it. As such I'm rating it 5 stars as the fault is mine. I'm sure if you enjoyed other books by this author (as I did) you would enjoy this.

Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this!

I love Amanda Lovelace. I found this one to be a bit underwhelming compared to previous works. But still extremely uplifting in a badass feminist woman power sort of way. I also personally very much loved the little glimpses into pagan beliefs and practices.

I love Amanda's poetry, and this was no exception. Inspired by the myth of Persephone, Flower Crowns and Fearsome Things focuses around the concept of acceptance and embracing one's self, no matter how unlikable you think others will find it.
I used to despise poetry until Amanda's; now, I know to appreciate the simplicity of a few words on a page. Her powerful messages resonate effortlessly with me. That is what I love most about her poetry, how it makes you think. It's made me aware of how my attitude is not helping me to move forward. Why am I like this? What do I achieve? Is hate so harmful?
The artwork was beautiful. I have only read the Women are some kind of Magic poetry collections by her before this one, and those did not have any drawings or pictures on them. It was such a pleasant surprise. They were alternations of two drawings, opposites from each other because " she is equal parts of glitter & hellfire" .
Some poems reminded me of her The witch doesn't burn in this one collection, my favourite of hers. The only problem is how often she relies on belittling men, which is getting a bit repetitive.
I will definitely be revisiting some of my favourites, especially pomegranate and goddess of spring, which I fully identify with and cannot recommend enough.

i wanted to like flower crowns & fearsome things , but unfortunately it was disappointing. some of the poems were literally tweets, some read like posts i'd see on tumblr in its peak era. i do understand that's amanda's writing style, but in this one they seemed rushed. the artwork was beautiful, but i didn't get why it had to be repeated after each poem - it got annoying after a while.

the book follows the same themes the previous poetry collections touch on. truly, it felt like a recycled version of her other books - same style, same themes, same flowery writing. it no longer feels original in the slightest after using the same patterns over and over again. one things that wasn't the same is the fact that her other collections almost tell a story - this one feels random.

the poems themselves were a bit confusing - i understand the collection is based on persephone and it's supposed to show both strenght and weakness, but it didn't really hit the mark for me. in one poem we'd have themes of womanhood and feminism and independence and on the next page we'd see a love letter towards a man - almost begging said man for love. it clashed a lot and i didn't really get what it was trying to do.


thank you to netgalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review!

What an incredible collection of poems. I flew through these knowing that I would spend so much time coming back to them in the future. I love how Amanda captured the dichotomy & complexity of womanhood. Sometimes the idea that I can be both overtly feminine but also own my space in this world can feel overwhelming, but she captured what it feels like to take control over those beliefs & walk through the world as a better person because of it.