A quick, fun read for Taylor Swift lovers or English/poetry lovers as well. Full of the authors handwritten annotations you deep dive into different songs from all the albums to prove Miss Swift’s a lyrical genius, and not just some “pop princess”

She is an icon, a master at poetry and story weaving throughout her songs.

The book offers a literary analysis of some of the songs in Taylor Swift's discography, era by era, drawing connection to poetic figures of speech and relevant authors in the English corpus.

I appreciated the passion with which the author approached the task. The analysis focuses more on the style and less on "paternity test" (aka, who's this song about?); however, I liked that certain figures were linked between songs and albums, showing extended metaphors beyond the single song.

If I can offer one critique, is that I would've liked to see more analysis of the albums as a whole, instead of focusing only on single songs. Swift has been described as an "album's artist", and her curation of the tracklist and the story narrated throughout the album is an important part of her artistry. If songs are the chapters, albums form the complete manuscript. I would've liked to see a literary analysis of that, how characters appear and disappear throughout, and how a coherent story is formed out of seemingly disjointed parts.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC.

This was so interesting! As a Taylor Swift fan who has always been a lyric person, I enjoyed reading someone else's annotations of songs I've heard tons of times before. The author's notes pointed out little things I'd missed before and she did a great job at drawing parallels and pointing through-lines that I'd never noticed. Loved this!

This was really interesting! I found the analysis fascinating, but I especially liked the format of the book with all the handwritten notes. It made me feel like I was reading someone's English homework but in the best possible way :P

This work is intended to analyze Taylor Swift’s oeuvre by way of lavender-penned marginal annotations and poetical devices. To an extent, it succeeds; it introduces devices and concepts like epizeuxis, spondees, and polyptoton to readers that otherwise likely wouldn’t know these terms or how to apply them. On the other hand, the work as a whole feels meandering and superficial at times; while it uses the basic language of poetry analysis, it doesn’t delve much further into its analysis. As a result, it feels simultaneously too academic for the average reader and too elementary for academics or those who’ve studied English at more than a passive level. I have an English degree and found this tension disconcerting and frustrating. The book’s formatting was also indicative of this tension.

Still, I’d recommend this to “Swifties”, particularly those who want to learn more about writing, poetry, and literary analysis and need an interesting hook to get them there.

This review was written with temporary digital access to an ARC of the book. Thank you!

I approached Stars Around My Scars with an open mind, first because I appreciate and enjoy Swift's songwriting and second because I found this project to be truly fascinating. In the end, I have to say that this is a venture that left me slightly disappointed, for it had the potential to be so much more than it ended up being.

For starters, I believe that the decision not to liken the book's layout to a more canonically academic formatting/editing was a missed opportunity, because not only did the scribbled text seem chaotic, but it looked (to me) to be less accessible due to its font, color and spacing issues. Furthermore, the author's oppositive stance on high/popular culture (more on this later, but to sum a complex conversation up, it seems to me that McCausland rejects the notion that Swift's writing could possibly be prerogative of popular culture) I would've expected a more academic approach (given the plenty elements that nod towards that route, such as McCausland unironically dubbing herself a "Professor in Swifterature" and this book itself using terms such as "annotated poetry", like academic texts do). Instead, what meets the reader is an interesting hybrid, not quite academic (despite the plethora of borrowed, technical terminology), not quite educational (McCausland does not purport to teach its readers about literary analysis, nor does she intend to), but also not quite fully "for fun". The text takes itself quite seriously, but the work does not—a much richer body of text would've been created, had that been the case.

Indeed, I found that this book does not quite know what it aspires to be. Sure, it is an annotated "poetry" manual, with its literary analysis alright, but I felt like the poetical work was only an assistant to its deeper purpose: demonstrating that Swift is a capable enough writer to be deemed a poet and not just a *gasp* songwriter. Undoubtedly, a lot of meticulous effort went into the analysis of Swift's works, but most often the flexing of literary devices (though showcasing an impressive knowledge on the author's part), the purported intertextuality (though really stimulating) didn't really go anywhere, consistently mentioned but rarely explored; i found it a, frankly, mechanical attitude to poetry: merely being told x lyric is a polyptoton without telling me what it is trying to say or why that polyptoton is important to note and why it being there enriches the text and its meaning, what it reflects etc. doesn't really infer anything of note on the reading of the text other than "wow, she used a polyptoton, very impressive".

As I mentioned before, the author, in her introduction (that uses zero citations, so we have to take her word and her word only as gospel) discusses the divide between high culture and popular culture*, with a very clear penchant and bias for the former (from the introduction: "the idea that it would be radical to consider Swift a poet needs some unpacking, not least because of what it tells us about an apparent mismatch of the public imagination between "high" culture and "popular" culture"). Given this, it makes sense how and why this book feels less like an attempt to properly discuss Swift's penmanship and rather a valiant attempt at proving that her songwriting is as strong as a poem, despite being a *gasp* song. Disregarding the fact that, thought Swift has clearly a knack for poetical writing, she’s made songs (that, despite sharing similarities with poems and literature, ultimately work in different ways) her preferred medium of expression.

Ultimately, the idea is bold, ambitious and commendable, but it unfortunately had a strained execution. In the end I was left disappointed, absolutely not because """this is an analysis of a work of "popular culture" and it therefore has no business being analyzed this way""" (it wouldn't be the first instance of this happening, after all, Easthope literally tells us that: "Both literary and popular cultural texts operate through a system of signs, meanings arising from the organisation of the signifier, so both can be analysed in common terms."), but because, in the end, in her quest to demonstrate and elevate the poetic character of Swift's writing (to the point that she mentioned ad nauseam the literary term "pathetic fallacy" even though it only truly applied a couple of times, this, too, felt like an effort to akin Swift to the great poets she herself loves so much, the Romantics, who are famous for loving this type of literary expression), Mccausland divided the apparent "high culture" element (the lyrics) from the "popular culture" element (the music), completely disregarding the latter one. By acting as if the song lyrics were never song lyrics, but poems, the text is denaturalized just enough to render any attempt at analysis incomplete. It would be like analyzing a manga's story, but ignoring its visual components. It's in the commingling of music and lyrics that the text is created and its real meaning can be inferred. Indeed, some annotations felt redundant, tautological and that's because the author was attempting to extract from them the meaning that could've easily been exposed by keeping the musical scope of the song in mind as well. Swift does not write merely poetry and, though we can of course use literary analysis to parse her texts, I think that her work still has to be handled in a way befitting to its genre. Otherwise, McCausland should've fully embraced the genre distortion by setting up the appropriate academic scaffolding/framework, with citations and footnotes and proper intertextual work.

Despite this, it would be remiss of me to ignore some of the best and most successful analysis of this book: of course, Swift's most lyrical poetry albums were more suitable to this exercise than others and, so, I thoroughly enjoyed McCausland flexing of her literary analysis muscles on folklore and evermore. But, more than anything, the author did an amazing work on Innocent and Nothing New. Even though I think her work truly culminated with her analysis of Seven. All in all, I think that what McCausland did was very impressive, the sheer amount of songs analyzed is remarkable and the attempt at creating a Swiftian canon in such an eloquent way is awe-inspiring, it's always nice to see art being treated as such and not as a product to be consumed.

Thank you Netgalley for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review!!

I’d say I’m a pretty hardcore Swiftie as a 32 year old who’s more or less grown up with her music/alongside her in age. I thoroughly enjoyed the parts of this book I could understand — there were a lot of big words in poetry that my brain couldn’t comprehend (and while it’s nice to have a glossary of terms, without a physical book to be able to flip back and forth to read what a word meant, it was null in my experience). I also didn’t necessarily agree with quite all the points being made, and felt that other strong points of songs were missed entirely (read: me internally raging that “why would we not dive into this!?”).

I think this book would be perfect for the poetry and literary buff who also loves Taylor, and I think other Swifties can still enjoy it, but I may not be the niche demographic (again, I’m no poetry buff and didn’t understand what some terms meant) and this isn’t the fault of the author in any terms. I enjoyed this for what it was worth to me: a fellow Swiftie doing a deep dive on her lyrics and I appreciate the poetry/literary break down.

And just as a side note: there was no way for me to download this and send to my Kindle. This may not mean much to most, but this meant I had to read only on the NetGalley app on my phone and after 9+ hours of working on a computer, I appreciate e-ink for my reading and find it much more forgiving for my eyes.

A fun read for Swifties, especially those who were also English class nerds. Amazing how many times you can listen to her music and miss focusing on all the poignant lines and double meanings hidden throughout. I also discovered about some references to literature that I didn’t catch until reading this, and those make me happy.

While I definitely think Elly McCausland achieves her goal of making the analysis approachable, I did have to look up some terminology (which were repeated enough that by the end I learned them). Then I discovered that at the end of the book there is a glossary, so heads up on that. Also, I would have liked there to be more songs included – there’s so many more favorites that I’d love to see McCausland’s thoughts on.

If you love Taylor Swift’s music, easter eggs, and lightbulb moments, you will probably enjoy this too. Thanks to Andrew McMeel Publishing for the ARC!

Thank you McMeel Publishing and NetGalley for an ARC in return of my honest review.

A very solid 5 stars from me. I am late to the party but with teen girls I have come to really admire Taylor Swift. A year ago I knew some of her songs and enjoyed some of them, then our family went to her End of an Era concert, the first concert we went to as a family. I was transformed. I got to see what the hype was and walked away with a huge respect and awe that one human being can have hundreds of thousand of people literally eating out of her palm for three hours.

Elly McCausland has taken my interest to an even deeper level with this amazing book. When I was 20% in I preordered it, knowing that I need to have a physical copy to read, take notes and really dig deeper into.

Elly has a PhD and has studied Taylor for many years and provides her suggestions for what the songs may mean. She makes it clear that they are her interpretations and gives an incredibly absorbing account of Taylor as a songwriter and the hypothesis of Taylor above all being a poet.
I would love to learn more and practice myself, breaking poems / songs down into their possible meaning based on the words chosen to be used and the way in which they were written.

Elly defines Taylor’s songwriting traits, stating her lyrical reliability and exploring how cliched phases are twisted to create new meaning. I loved the way Elly presented and explained the literary techniques Taylor uses in her songs.

I learned so much from the book and am truly excited to receive my hard copy in a couple weeks.

For anyone who is interested in song writing, poetry and techniques used in the process, and of course Taylor Swift, this book is for you.

Thank you for this much loved ARC.

I love Taylor Swift's music and I love poetry. Written by an English Literature, this book of "annotated poetry" provided such a unique reading experience. The author of this book selected 46 songs from every Taylor Swift era and analyzes the lyrics, symbolism, and themes present. It focuses on the literary aspects of the songs and doesn't focus on the "who" a song is about.

Being a long time fan of Taylor Swift, I already knew a lot of things that were present in this book. I'm familiar with the meanings of the songs and the recurring themes present in many songs. However, I did learn some new things while reading. There were a few Easter eggs I missed!

I loved that there was a reading list of works that Swift references. I also found the glossary of literary terms at the end of the book to be very helpful.

I would recommend this to Taylor Swift fans that enjoy a literary analysis. I just wish I could have taken this as a college course!

*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-arc! All thoughts and opinions are my own.*

I really enjoyed discovering new interpretations to Taylor Swift’s songs, and the analysis of the techniques/themes etc. were a nice touch. If you like Taylor Swift’s music then it’s definitely a great read, but you might appreciate the book and the discussions ever if you don’t.

As a huge Swiftie, I love digging deep into the meaning behind Taylor's lyrics and this book was such a great reference!

I loved this book! You can tell the songs selected are well researched and there is a straightforward yet thoughtful analysis and interpretation of the meaning of the music.

Taylor Swift lovers gather around 💖

Stars Around My Scars
Pub Date: Jan 28

I'm a big swiftie so when I saw this book, who revolves around her songs and what they mean in terms of analysing them and how they convey that Taylor is not just a talented artist but also a brilliant poet I had to read it.
What grabbed my attention the most was the way it was written all these notes and scribbles around her lyrics analysing what she meant and what's the story behind them. You get to see that Taylor's songs are not just lyrics but indeed have so many deep meanings.
It's a true gem to all swifties and I would recommend listening to the songs that are highlighted while reading them.

Thanks to @netgalley and the publisher for granting me a copy of #StarsAroundMyScars in exchange for my honest review.

Xoxo😘

If you are self identified as a swiftie, this is a must buy!!
I loved going over this, and taking into account all the little notes on a selection of Swift's lyrics. It includes all of her albums!

While male songwriters like Bob Dylan often receive recognition for their wordsmithing, Swift continues to occupy a space that scholars shy away from, which is why McCausland's new book is so refreshingly relevant. This is a scholar's work written in and through the lens of fandom, from the author's playful description of herself as a professor of "Swifterature" through the juxtaposition of purple-ink annotations of songs to the literary list of allusions and the thoughtful analyses. Any curmudgeonly professor who think of Swift as background noise need to listen up to this one.

As a passionate Swiftie, there was a lot to love about “Stars Around My Scars.” The annotated lyric sheets and literary deep dive into some of Taylor's most beloved songs made for an interesting concept. Even though I know Taylor's discography by heart I still walked away with an even deeper understanding of several songs.

The two constructive criticisms I have about the book are the formatting and the tone.

I appreciate the intention of the design, but often found the number of notes and annotations made it difficult to follow the flow of the lyrics. Some of her most recent albums were so heavily noted that my neurodivergent brain was overwhelmed.

The book has a very academic feel, which might be off-putting to some readers. I caught myself more than once wondering if I was reading a book or a thesis.

Overall, it was an enjoyable read that many Taylor Swift fans, especially those already in love with the literary connections in her music, will probably enjoy.

3.25 / 5

this was fun, but it’s not quite sure what it wants to be. simultaneously academic in its term usage and incredibly unserious in its meta-like references in the conclusion, it’s pretty hard to understand what exactly this book wants from us. it doesn’t trust its audience to understand what alliteration does even after the ~15th highlight of it, and continually re-explains every time letters appear together (continued explanation of more specific terms like sibilance make sense to mention because those aren’t as well-known literary devices, but really… how many mentions of alliteration do we need?). occasionally a paragraph of analysis would be interjected within the song lyrics, which was slightly distracting. the stylistic presentation of the annotations was very fun and lended a personal feel, but sometimes came across as squished and disjointed. the book would most definitely hit harder as a physical copy where one could write their own annotations, but i do love that it included a good mix of well-known songs and fan favorites.

at least part of this comes across as relatively rudimentary literary analysis wherein the author simply lists the things that we can find in a song rather than thoroughly explaining why certain devices are used and what they accomplish. as the author makes broad sweeping statements, the lack of citations was startling, mainly for two reasons. one, the index in the back and it’s highlighting of texts like jane eyre produce the effect of well researched credibility. on the other hand, the author claims things like swift coined the word unrecall, which is just categorically untrue when using your brain or conducting a simple google search.

these are slightly technical complaints, but my main issue lies in the fact that positing the question of whether or not swift is a poet seems silly. swift has not chosen poetry as her medium of expression—she has chosen songs (the question of whether or not a song is a poem is not discussed, in a meaningful way that illuminates prior perspectives or contributes to broader conversations, at all within this work). to ignore each song’s musical accompaniment disregards part of the effect of the ‘text.’ the author mentions certain things like pauses in her speech (singing) pattern, but no actual musical elements are mentioned. certain melodies that appear throughout swift’s discography are not analyzed whatsoever, even when they lend incredible depth to the text. the author never mentions fortnight’s use of the lakes melody when discussing the former or the heartbeat in the back of you’re losing me, just to name two instances. this ignores allll the sonic elements that are equally important to her work as her writing. i mean, the actual ‘music’ of the tortured poet’s department (ttpd) was raked over the coals for not departing from the sound of midnights as much as was expected. if it’s music didn’t matter to swift’s credibility as a good songwriter (or even more broadly a good artist) that discussion wouldn’t even be present. audiences would have just looked at the writing of the album and analyzed that, but that’s not what happened! because writing is not the only element of what makes a song a song (again, swift’s chosen medium)!

to top it off, swift HAS written literal actual inarguable poems published by herself and the likes of british vogue; ‘the trick to holding on,’ ‘why she disappeared,’ ‘if you’re anything like me,’ ‘in summation,’ which accompanies ttpd (this is mentioned, but not throughly analyzed, only twice in this book if i remember correctly).

i find the lack of analysis of these poems, slightlyy crazy. if you’re going to insist that swift is a real, true, serious poet, why are you not including the actual poems that she has written and published? mentioning ‘high’ culture and ‘popular’ culture and including no citations, further in depth explanation, or the poems swift HAS wrote… it’s just a very strange decision. find a co-author who specifically focuses on music and swift! i’m sure one exists!

(to be very clear, i also think swift is a stupendous writer, probably one of the best songwriters that has ever been, but if you center analysis of her work JUST around the concept of poetry, you lose quite a lot of what i believe contributes to her status as a great writer—the music she chooses to place her writing around!)

now, i’m being quite a negative nancy, so i do want to say that this book was generally, thoroughly enjoyable. there were multiple times where part of a ‘poem’ (song) was analyzed in a way that felt fresh and exciting to me. there’s a staggering amount of songs discussed here, and that’s commendable in and of itself. the songs chosen for folklore, evermore, and red are where the analysis really shines. analysis of seven, my tears ricochet, and nothing new are particularly engaging. the point of the book, despite me asking what exactly it wants from us in the beginning of this review, it is very obviously to prove, with a slightly defensive edge that is sometimes distracting, that swift is a formidable artist in her own right. and it definitely, at the very least, accomplishes that. even just ‘listing’ the literary devices she uses gives readers some sense of the scope of swift’s artistry.

i’d like to end by saying that i am neither an expert in poetry or music. i’m sure i’m missing meaningful criticisms or well-deserved praise but this is just my impression of the book as someone who is most definitely part of its intended audience—a college student who loves literature and taylor swift. the wide intended audience this book is obviously meant for is sure to love it and i think it would make a great gift for someone who likes poetry, taylor swift, or someone who does not (stupidly) believe that swift is an impressive writer. if someone wanted to explore literary analysis more seriously, but was only familiar with taylor swift and “popular” culture, this would be a wonderful introduction. swift is such a domineering presence in the media landscape (and the analysis is so plainly put forward) that the average person‘s familiarity with her would probably make this an easily understandable book.

VERY last thing i’ll say is the fact that ‘cowboy like me’ was not included in this list of 46 songs is actually criminal…

thank you netgalley and andrew’s mcmeel publish for the arc in exchange for an honest review!

Being completely transparent, reading this as a Swiftie was a little disappointing for me. I have spent so much time listening to Taylor Swift and watching videos and listening to podcasts analyzing her lyrics that reading this felt a bit basic and missed the mark for me. However, if you are new to Taylor Swift’s music and want to start to dive a bit deeper or someone who is more interested in a literary analysis of her work, I believe that this would be a good book for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I received this book as an e-arc- thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing!

This was a fun and interesting way to look at some of Taylor Swift’s music. As a Swiftie, I already had a lot of ideas and meanings attached to the songs. But as McCausland says, she’s giving her ideas, and that doesn’t mean it’s the final word. She ends the book by saying the meanings will continue to change with time, which really resonated.

As an English teacher, I loved having the identifications and descriptions of how various literary devices contribute to the specific and overall meanings of/within the songs.

McCausland has written annotations (at times it was a bit overwhelming, but I think in print format it would be different) as well as some boxes with explanations through the songs. After, there is a more detailed written explanation.

This would be a great book to pick up if you’re a Swiftie or an English teacher!