i loved this collection! i have read the previous works of Lovelace and i’ve enjoyed them both so I expected nothing less of this one! my favorite poem was the so called resting bitch face!

I received an arc of the book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

"i wonder what my life would have been like if there had been girls like me in the fairy tales i read growing up"

I'm actually really disappointed by the fact that I didn't like this book. I've read some of Amanda Lovelace's books before and I enjoyed them, so I expected I would enjoy this one too. I wouldn't say this book is bad, and poetry is always subjective - but it really didn't work for me.

tw: eating disorders, mental illness, self-harm, sexism, queerphobia, death, grief, trauma (these are included in the book)

This book takes a format of a fairy tale, and in the usual Amanda Lovelace style, it is divided into parts. The themes of the book are the ones I extremely relate to - but I failed to connect with the subject at hand. I've read some of Amanda's books before, and the previous books I read felt very raw and very personal, and I think that intense emotion is what I related to. Not to say that this book lacks emotion - but the format feels more like self-help, or like reading advice and affirmations. Again, not bad, but also not something I was hoping for.

The book touches on a lot of topics, maybe too many - it felt like this collection wasn't very cohesive. I wouldn't usually be the one to point this out, but with a lot of these poems, I felt like I read them before. And I haven't, obviously, but the way these themes were explored felt slightly repetitive (especially when you consider their other poetry collections). A lot of poems felt more like filler content and wouldn't stand very well on their own, which I think is a shame.

Overall, this book wasn't for me, but I think a lot of people will enjoy it. If you are someone who loves affirmative poetry and enjoys Amanda Lovelace's work, you might enjoy this more than I did.

This gets one like for the cat poem and one like for the art. I read a lot of Lovelace’s early poetry from the princess saves herself in this one to to make monsters out of girls. I remember really enjoying all of those so I was ecstatic to have gotten this arc! I don’t know what’s happened in recent years or if it’s just this one, but it’s really lacking the magic the others had. There was a whole poem about putting your hair up sometimes now. It’s boring. The only thing I like now is all the very pretty art that accompany the poems! Why not put some of that gorgeous art on the cover?

Unlock your storybook heart is a short and sweet self help book that promotes living the magical life you want to live and that everyone deserves special love. It was cute and I liked a few of the pages a lot but I didn't learn or gain anything new from it. It was nice to sit and read it for a little while but not as innovative, interesting or impactful as some of Amanda's other work.

“Unlock Your Storybook Heart” by:
Amanda Lovelace

In all fairytales, at least the older traditional ones, the handsome male knight saves his damsel in distress and they ride off into the sunset happily ever after. But what if? What if the knight is actually a woman?

Societal expectations can be overbearing yet insidious. In her prior works, Lovelace covers these expectations and the impossibility of perfection because we will never be perfect to everybody but need only be perfect to ourselves. (Not, you know, in a Narcissus kind of way, but in loving yourself as you are, flaws and all.) In this book she covers how amazing it is to meet someone who loves you that way as well. Right now what I hear in my head is the initial lyrics from, “The Love Boat”, because she talks about how exciting it is to meet the person you can just be with, and be yourself with. Love that is, indeed, exciting and new.

As a bisexual woman myself, with my own self-esteem issues, it is amazing to find understanding in the words of another. Children are inundated with heteronormative fairytales where the cisgender female waves her hands in utter incompetence as she waits for the cisgender Prince who will save her. As a child, admittedly even as a young adult, this is what my romantic heart sought. Lovelace challenges this outdated idea and says that it’s ok to love someone your heart calls you to, and what a gift it is for them to love you back. To spoil the ending, she thanks her wife for her support in writing the book. Well, that’s not spoiling the ending it’s just telling you that she has gotten her happily ever after. This gives much hope for the rest of us.

The entire purpose of this trilogy is to teach you to seek what makes you happy and to ignore those who would tear you down for it. Nourish your soul, your body, and your heart. You deserve it.

This was my first Amanda Lovelace book, so I went in not knowing what to expect. Maybe because of her style with no capitalization, or maybe for other reasons… but initially this gave me a bit of ee cummings vibes! There were pieces in this collection that made me feel allll the feelings and were just profound! and then there were parts were I was a bit bored and confused at dramatic changes in mood and voice in the pieces. Overall I’m giving this book 3.5 stars, but there are definitely some 5 star standalones within the collection.

I've said it once and I'll say it again... Amanda Lovelace is a treasure.

unlock your storybook heart is a collection about perfectionism, abuse, love, and healing. This book covers some dark themes and I found it to be fulfilling. It takes you through the entire range of feelings and it sits with you long after you've finished the last piece of poetry. Even though this is a difficult collection, I found the overall vibe to be encouraging and soothing; It's an odd sensation and one that Lovelace delivers flawlessly.


I decided to read this over a course of a few days and found myself so eager to continue... I can't wait for this to be out in the world for all other readers!

Big thank you to Netgalley and the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 Stars (I received an e-arc in exchange for an honest review)

Honestly I never have read a bad collection from Amanda Lovelace, I just tend to prefer her more emotionally charged and intense collections. But this more love focused collection just warmed my heart, with cute light green themed illustrations. A nice soft ending to the You Are Your Own Fairy Tales Series.

it's a curious thing, isn't it,
how an artist can turn their hurt into
something so stunning that
it has the power to save strangers,
but it doesn't have the power
to save the artist themselves?

Even though I really enjoyed this collection, I have to admit, it's the weakest one so far. This is the final installment in Amanda Lovelace's You Are Your Own Fairy Tale series, inspired by Beauty and the Beast, and focusing on topics of perfectionism, self-love, and living outside of expectations placed by society. It was highly anticipated, but still a bit disappointing for me.

I appreciated the themes, but I couldn't help but feeling that something was missing here. Amanda covers familiar topics in a fresh and original way, which was always the case with her previous collections, but I felt a bit detached from her writing in this one. Maybe it's something about the topic, because this felt like a self-love manifesto instead of a careful character study.

All in all, I would still highly recommend first two parts of this series. And I'll be patiently waiting for Amanda's next release, hoping that I'll like it way more than this one.

what's that one thing you would do for yourself
if only you could muster up the confidence?

- now go do it anyway.

Thanks to Netgalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing me with eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

"you don't have to pick the big job in the big city if that's not what you want. it's okay to pick a calmer, quieter life. it's okay to pick the small seaside town where everyone knows a little too much about everybody else. it's oaky to pick the job where you get to place your favorite books into eager hands all day long, only to go home & read all night long. no life is inherently more important than the other. the only thing that matters is that you pick the life that makes you excited to greet the morning sky each day."

3.5/5 stars

Special thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-arc of this poetry collection, out in March!

Respectfully, I think Amanda Lovelace and I are parting ways. I really mean that in the most kind, gentle way possible. Their poetry collections were there for me in a time where it felt so good to feel seen, heard, represented. I found solace in her works. I've noticed that, as time goes on, I've started to lose that connection with them, and it's not Lovelace - it's me. I think I've grown as a reader, and I don't read the pages of her poetry and have that swelling in my heart like I used to.

Don't let me stop you from reading their works, though. Amanda Lovelace is a truly gifted contemporary poet, and I think there's a reason they have such a loyal and loving fanbase. I wish them all the success and happiness.

I’ve already read (and loved) four of Lovelace’s previous poetry collections, so I am super thankful to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an eARC of her upcoming poetry release in exchange for an honest review!

This collection is the last installment in the “You Are Your Own Fairytale” poetry series, and it focuses on topics like combating perfectionism, experiencing queer love, healing from grief, and finding self love!

I don’t give poetry star-ratings, as I always connect with some poems more than others. While this was also the case for this collection, I really enjoyed it as a whole, and I was actually on the brink of tears a few times. It made me feel so seen, and I’ve never related as closely to other poems as I did to some of the ones in this collection.

Lovelace’s style is very simple, which I do generally enjoy, but this one definitely has the most straightforward writing of the collections of their’s that I’ve read, and I did miss a bit more lyricism at times. At some points the poems felt more like diary entries than poems, but I appreciated how deeply rooted in her personal experiences this collection clearly is!

She clearly writes from the heart, and the combination of the beautiful illustrations throughout the collection, her simple style, and impactful messages makes for a lovely, comforting reading experience.

When it comes to poetry, what people like and dislike in terms of style and themes is so personal, so I highly recommend this to anyone who’s been the “gifted kid”, wants to read poetry about queer love, and/or enjoys poetry without unnecessary purple prose.

This is the conclusion to the You Are Your Own Fairytale series. I really enjoyed the first two in the series, but this one fell short for me. I still liked the book, but it didn't seem as connected to the other two books. I am looking forward to reading more of her work in the future.

The illustrations, as always, are very pretty.

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

Amanda Lovelace's poetry never stops to amaze me. It is both beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time. Filled with love and passion, I could not help but turn the page for every new little story.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book Lovelace never lets me down. I don't know how she does it every single time! I will stop reading or recommending her work.

Thank you to Andrews McMeel Publishing and NetGalley for sending me an advanced e-copy of this collection to read and review.

Something I quite admire about this author in general is the offering of trigger/content warnings at the beginning for people sensitive to certain topics like homophobia/queerphobia, mental illness, trauma, death, and a combination of others. It shows that overall, the poet has respect for her audience and does not want anyone to read something that would impact their mental wellbeing in a negative way.

Now, into the meat of the review.

I am super specific about my poetry, because I'm not just a reader and reviewer, I'm a poet myself. In my mind, I have expectations for poetry I've read based on things I've learned while studying poetry and writing my own.

I've read Lovelace's "Women Are Some Kind of Magic" series, which follows the same themes I mentioned above. That was my introduction to poetry as early as I can remember, so I have a special place in my heart for her writing.

However, I am starting to feel bored with her writing, especially with this newest collection. It's starting to feel like the same old stuff I've heard before. Don't get me wrong: I am all for female empowerment, queer representation, and the addressing of important topics such as mental illness, grief, etc., but it feels like with every collection, she is repeating the same old mantras as her past collections.

With Unlock Your Storybook Heart, this is a problem I faced. Some of it was different and refreshing for my strict poetry tastes, but some of it felt like the poet was just repeating the same thing again and again. And when that happens, it also begins to lose a lot of its spark and depth. Poetry should always have some sort of deep meaning to it, but when you start restating the same thing so many different ways, you start realizing that you're running out of ways to say it, and deeper the hole will be dug.

Now, that's not to say it isn't beautiful. Lovelace's way of writing is beautiful; her descriptions are well done, and their interlaced meanings are important to take a hold of and hold close to your heart. Sometimes, though, while being beautiful and intricate and important as they can be, they are also sometimes just surface level thoughts that don't delve into the more poetic side of what the poet is saying. One example of this I can think of is one of the shorter poems Lovelace has in the collection:

"no one had ever called her their best friend, had they? no; no, of course they had not."

While I understand the sentiment and definitely resonate with this poem, I think it lacks the depth I look for in poetry. You could go so far with this poem, but it falls flat for me. Even though it has a meaning doesn't mean it qualifies as meaningful.

As for the rest of the collection, I liked the longer poems; it allows for more discussion to be had, more thoughts to be shared. The shorter poems always feel lacking. Overall, for this collection, I love the idea that the 'her' in these poems uses what she knows from books and what they tell her in order to fuel her decisions.

I am a huge proponent of reading and all things literature, so this made me extremely happy to see. Reading is magical and does a lot for a person. Books are extremely influential, and I love seeing this discussed in a feminist, intersectional way.

And despite thinking some of the things they address in this book are repetitive, I like that Lovelace wrote these books in the first place to inspire women, girls, LGBTQ+ folk, and more. It allows everyone to learn and experience these things from a different perspective.

Unlock Your Storybook Heart gets 3.75 stars from me.

(Rating rounded up to 4 stars on Goodreads and NetGalley, since they don't do half stars or quarter stars)

I received a review copy of unlock your storybook heart through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 🖤
Once again I come here with nothing else but praise for Amanda’s new poetry collection. At this point her books are my immediate buys (and I have this one preordered for a long while now). I love how magical these collections are and how much they make me feel and cry.
I so so so recommended reading all of Amanda’s books. Please and thank you.

I really enjoyed this collection, it's my favourite of the trilogy. There were a lot of poems that really spoke to me, and the illustrations were so cute. It was a very nice experience to be able to read the book and see the illustrations while simultaneously listening to the audiobook.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this collection and the way Lovelace weaved tales from well know fairy tales as well as modern day circumstance to display some of the heaviness that weigh on people and the pressure to measure up.

Amanda’s books are always equally emotional and self-empowering. I really enjoyed the fairy tale series. She will always be an auto-buy poetry author for me. Well done as usual!

I’m not sure how I felt about this one. I didn’t connect with the poems like I did in the other books of this series. I read that this collection of poetry was based on Beauty and the Beast and I didn’t really see the connection to that fairy tale when I was reading.