I love the writing style of this author. When I read Shine Your Icy Crown at the beginning of this year, I was transfixed by her writing style and immediately went and read every other collection of her poetry that I could get my hands on. Flower Crowns and Fearsome Things delivers her signature style of writing pressed between pages of stunning art to divide the poems. This collection, like her others, does deal with mature and sensitive topics in an honest and open way. Lovelace captures the duality of women being expected to be soft or to burn out their softness to be fierce and suggests that you do not have to choose between the two, you can be soft and fierce. The use of Persephone as the epitome of this duality ties this collection together. The art pages showing flowering fields blooming and burning visually showcases the themes of this collection and how they coexist as two sides of the same situation.

It’s been a while since I last read a poetry collection, and I’ve never read any of Amanda Lovelace’s works before. The primary reason why I chose this book as my next read was that I wanted a change from mix of fantasy and ya novels that I’ve been reading lately, and obviously this was a good choice for that.

There were several things that I loved about this book before I even read the first poem: the gorgeous illustrations, the trigger warnings and that these works were inspired by the Greek goddess of spring and queen of the underworld, Persephone.

I must say that the very first poem “goddess of spring” about Persephone might be my favourite of the whole book, just because it combined the title and its muse, and set a mood for the rest of the book.

I do wish there had been a stronger focus on Persephone. Some of the poems, while fitting the theme by aiming at being encouraging and empowering, seemed random to me. I would have loved for Persephone’s story to be referenced more here.

I liked the style of the poems (I’ve always wondered which kind of authors manage to write in that tumblr kind of style, like Amanda Lovelace did for example in “hope is essential”. Something I’m undecided about are the last lines of every poem. I felt like for some of the pieces, they fit very well ( for example “i can’t stop turning his pages” and “wild violet”) whereas for others (for example “will i get to do all of the things i want to do”, “she’s so done with reality” and “it’s a lonely life, but she doesn’t want to fight anymore”) they restricted my imagination by giving a hint at what the author’s intention behind the poem was instead of leaving the imagination to the reader.

As for the writing style itself, I sadly felt like most of the poems weren’t deep enough, which might have been due to a rather bland choice of words. The pieces were very straightforward (and if there was a doubt remaining, the last line would deal with that, too) and I would just have liked for them to be a bit more mystic and eloquent because that’s what I would associate with Persephone and the “flower crowns” part of the aesthetic.

All in all, I did discover a couple of new favourites, and I enjoyed reading the book overall.

3/5 stars.

I did not expect what I read from this book and I am Pleasantly surprised. I will be buying a physical copy of this I loved it soo much. I couldn't keep track of my favorite quotes and th artwork was beautiful. I don't know if the artwork will stay, but I freaking hope so.
I've been in my own head too much these days and some of what was happening in the book has put me in a new perspective for myself. Instead of looking at myself negatively I can see myself more positively. I recommend this to everyone.

Thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing me with an e-ARC.

I love amanda lovelace's poetry. I'm aware it is not for everyone but every time I read them it feels like self-care. Flower Crowns and Fearsome Things is inspired by the Greek goddess Persephone, goddess of spring and Queen of the Underworld. I also liked the two poems related to the pandemic. This poetry collection also includes some very stunning art!

i thought this was definitely an interesting collection. it was wholesome and collective within itself, without shouting "women empowerment" which tends to be the thing in most collections today (and that ruins the experience). The application of the duality of the woman (as Persephone) as a natural thing was definitely something that was executed well. I would definitely recommend it to modern poetry readers. The illustrations included were pretty nice too.

Flower Crowns and Fearsome Things by Amanda Lovelace is a stunning collection of poetry. I have read many of her books and they never disappoint. The poems in this collection are beautiful, stunning, emotional, and brave. Well done Amanda!

Oof... I, unfortunately, did not like this. I had read Lovelace's previous work, the princess saves herself in this one, a few years ago and I remember really enjoying it. It was, however, one of the very first poetry books I had ever read, so I was very happy to receive its "instagram-type" poetry, simple and to-the-point, straightforward, and easy to understand.

Things are a bit different now. I am still, by no means, a poetry expert, but I am starting to enjoy it more, enjoying the stillness and reflection that comes with it. Flower crowns and fearsome things needs no such process; it is simple and straightforward once again and very easy to understand. It is meant to be an empowering read (I guess), but all its catchy, uplifting phrases did for me was remind me of logo t-shirts I would see in Forever21. I found the most interesting poems of the book to be those where Lovelace explored moments of "weakness", of not being able to give up someone that is bad for you, the ones admitting to bending over backwards for someone who wouldn't even do the bare minimum. It wasn't just that they were "more serious", but they felt like they were more genuine than the rest, more prone to provoke reflection.

Overall, I cannot say that this is a collection I enjoyed. I found it rather superficial and easy to digest, perhaps a bit too on the nose. I probably won't be reaching for Lovelace's work in the future if I'm being honest.

** An ARC was provided via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. **

A review copy was given by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a poetry collection that I finished in one sitting, within an hour of downloading it. It's my first poetry collection by Amanda Lovelace so I can't compare it to the previous works.

I really appreciated how the author gave trigger warnings at the beginning. There were a handful of poems that made me audibly say "woah", but for most of them, it lacked the depth that I was looking for.

The poems transitioned from fierce, powerful, gentle and kind to being unexplainable in love with someone, getting hurt, doubting and rising again. The fire never left, but it showed the complexities of feelings and internal struggles.

I especially enjoyed the illustrations in the book and the book cover. But other than that, it fell a little short for me.

4 stars
This is a very real and relatable collection of poems about many of today's social and feminist issues. Personally, I read various types of poetry. I know a lot of people do not like this modern, blunt style of poetry, which is totally valid, but I think we should be careful when critiquing writing style not to inadvertently judge the message of the poems as well. Personally, I really enjoyed this. I feel like these poems are the sort that any woman could relate to, at least in part, it's really just a question of whether you like this form. I'd say if you've read and enjoyed other works by this author, or are a fan of the writing style popularized by Rupi Kaur, you'd definitely like this collection. I'd also recommend this book to people just starting to get into poetry, as it uses pretty simple language while still conveying a strong message, and is easy to relate to, which is a good type of poetry to begin with.

I’ve been reading Amanda Lovelace for years, so I was very excited by the prospect of a yet another chance to see her work. And frankly, after how good some of her previous books were, this one just let me down. There were some good elements, beautiful artwork, and a decent storyline but nothing stood out quite as much as any previous work and it ultimately felt a little shallow.

Like Lovelace’s previous works (that I’ve read), the poems follow a general storyline based off of both their life and a sort of classical story. This particular book seems to be based off the myth of Persephone in Greek mythology, also incorporating Hades and Demeter as far as I could tell. There were times when it was clear the poems were referencing these myths (re: pomegranate seeds), and some more subtle moments that I actually liked (re: mother destroying things to save the child). Ultimately, the theme felt a bit heavy handed in some places and too performative in others.

In terms of the actual poetry, Lovelace has always used a more unique style than the technical poetry taught in highschool English classes. I don’t have a problem with this specifically, although there were times where I didn’t even feel like I was reading poetry but just...a sentence. This might just be personal preference but overall it just made things feel more stilted and forced than usual. This continues with the overall emotional themes. Some poems hit me hard and clearly spoke to more specific instances, while others just felt like they were generic inspirational quotes on a generic feminist Instagram account. I understand these themes are still very present in life and I don’t fault Lovelace for wanting to express that, but ultimately I felt like I was reading a sort of Empowering Women inspirational book rather than a poetry book. This doesn’t discredit the poems I did enjoy and that I’ll definitely go back to again, but it sometimes felt like the good started to outweigh the bad.

This might be personal preference but while the art was beautiful and I understand the symbolism of it, the repetition of only two pieces between every page just ultimately felt like trying to stuff the book so it would seem longer, and in my opinion took away from the cohesiveness of the storyline that Lovelace usually achieves.

In the end, if you see this book at your library or borrow it from somewhere else, it’s a relatively quick and short read with a few gems scattered throughout. If you’re expecting something very like Lovelace’s previous works or with consistent emotional depth, this might not be it for you. It’s not bad, but it’s not that great either, and I still have high hopes for any future works.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

God, I loved this. I think this may be my favorite Amanda Lovelace to date. It hit me in the feels in all the right ways. I just adore this so much that I don't even know what to say.

This might be my favorite collection of Amanda Lovelace's work yet. The illustration is beautiful. "flower crowns and fearsome things" explores the dichotomy of modern femininity, how we're supposed to perform strength and softness but only each in specific ways, lest we be vilified. The structure of the book is great, it alternates between 'fierce' and 'soft' but without ever losing the point that the two sides cannot ever truly be separated. I do believe they begin to dovetail a bit in the end, as the 'strength' gets softer and the 'softness' grows fiercer, but it's possible I'm over-reading into it.

My favorite poems are the two that bookend the collection, "goddess of spring" and "show them who's queen". This is a truly inspired collection of poems that I read twice through before reviewing, because I wanted to both sit with it a bit and read it straight through without breaks for a fully immersive read. Lovelace doesn't disappoint. I'm extremely excited about this book.

My thanks to NetGalley, Andrews McMeel, and Amanda Lovelace for the opportunity to review an e-ARC of flower crowns and fearsome things.

This like all Amanda Lovelace work was breathtaking and beautiful can’t wait to get a physical copy On October 5

I'm not one for contemporary poetry. I don't at all dislike it, but I'm more of a medieval Ango-Saxon kind of girl. But I'm trying to expand my horizons, and Amanda Lovelace's collection "Flower Crowns and Fearsome Things" was a great place to start. As I'm sure most women would say, I resonated with the ideas and feelings found here. I love the interaction of the artwork with the text. I will definitely be reading more of Lovelace's work in future.

I tend to be fond of Amanda Lovelace’s work, and “Flowers and Crowns and Fearsome Things”, did not disappoint. In this book of poetry Lovelace describes the cycle of love and loss, of finding one’s own strength when it would be destroyed. She seeks equality in a world of shining knights and evil villains. All in all, an excellent book.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my copy to read and review.

I think I've read everyone of Amanda Lovelaces poetry books and this one just didnt do it for me. I didn't real feel anything wjgb this collection to be honest. They weren't really cohesive. Most of these poems did seem like they had a theme even though it was talked about persephone at the very beginning. It just felt all over the place. I didnt particularly care for the illustrated pages in between each poem. I'd much prefer the pages to be blank honestly if you going to do something like that. It just interfered with the flow of everything. This isnt necessarily a bad collection buy I wouldn't recommend it. Her work is usually sooo much better than this.

Some of the poems were incredible. Some just felt like words thrown in a book. There were a lot that I knew if I saw them on Instagram, I'd press like and probably send one or two of them to a friend I thought would appreciate them. I'm glad I read it. It just didn't move me personally.

Flower Crowns and Fearsome Things is another brilliant poetry book by Amanda Lovelace. A devastating topic written with heart and feelings poured onto each page. A beautiful book to savor and enjoy countless times.

Poetry isn't usually my genre, but I was drawn to this book by the beautiful cover and wanted to give it a try. I was pleasantly surprised! Through short but powerful verses, the author addresses the joy and pain of life as a woman. The topics covered a wide range, from self-compassion to abusive relationships to love. Some were a little difficult to read, and I appreciated that the author included trigger warnings at the beginning of the book.

I really loved the floral artwork throughout the book and thought it complemented the poetry really well! This was a short collection, and each poem is only a few lines long and easily digestible, so it's very approachable for people who are usually nervous to read poetry. It was a little on the simple side if anything, so those who like really deep poems that they can analyze critically may find this less appealing. I'm glad I picked this up- thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for this honest review.

Amanda Lovelace is definitely one of my favourite poets of all time.

Of course, there are always poems I can*t relate to but some poems just get me.
She puts things into words I've been thinking about for years but somehow couldn't express, I think that's a talent only a few people have.

I also always love the illustrations in her books that just make the poems even more beautiful and makes the whole book feel like art.

I never read a whole poetry book in one sitting. I usually open them from time to time and read one or two poems just to get the whole meaning and understand the feelings.

I hope I can read even more poems of Amanda Lovelace in the future.