This book. *sighs*

Just, this book. It is so good! I LOVE IT. I ADORE IT. I WANT TO HUG IT FOREVER AND EVER AND EVER.

I love all the colourful imagery in the poems. I love how Lovelace uses her words in the right setting and goes for a deep impact. It just hits you, right where it matters, what she's trying to say and how she's trying to say it.

It is poignant and elegant and the usage of fairytale references and Harry Potter references just make it all the more enjoyable. I mean, I'm a huge fan of them both, so I love it. I love how the author delivers subtle messages throughout the story without overdoing it. And it's all in simple, lucid language which is too the point. Which is a great bonus! So, points for that.

Overall, this was a great book, but not something that I'd classify as poetry because the author just broke up sentences by using the enter key. Yes, the message is powerful and her voice is raw and intriguing, but this book is not poetry. It is a compilation of thoughts. That is it. Pressing enter does not make a sentence poetry (at least not to me). This format is actually what I identify as a Cell Phone Novel (CPN) - a concept which originated in Japan. I'm not completely informed about it, but one of my writer friends is really into it and she writes such novels herself - using minimal words for a great impact, just like the author does here.

But, yes, it is definitely something I recommend to others because of the powerful voice and the impact these words had on me. So, thank you, Amanda Lovelace, for this beautiful story.

Each time I read a new poetry collection, I think the poet knows exactly what I'm thinking and feeling. This is the first collection of poems where each hit with a resonance that made it like talking to an old friend. There are definitely peaks and valleys but as soon as I questioned if I really liked it, it picked up and I felt confident in it again.

Title: The Princess Saves Herself In This One

Author: Amanda Lovelace

Genre: Poetry









A few starting notes:


I received a free digital review copy of this book via NetGalley. NetGalley provides review copies from publishers in exchange for fair and honest reviews.

There's been so much buzz around this book - including a Goodreads Choice Award for Poetry in 2016.

People love this book - and to hear this much about a poetry collection isn't an everyday occurrence, so when I got the opportunity to review it, I took it.

A note before we go on guys: This book deals with some very difficult topics in an open and often raw way; please be careful.







Premise:


A collection/chapbook thingummy of Amanda Lovelace's poetry, separated into several parts that work around a fairy-tale theme.





Best bits:


It's pretty common for people to get all uppity when something is radical, different, or otherwise not corresponding to their teeny-tiny world view.

I have no issue with people not liking this poetry - poetry is subjective and infinitely personal.

What I have problems with is those who claim that this isn't poetry.

No-one died and made them the poetry pope. They don't get to say what is and isn't poetry - no-one does. That's part of what makes it so beautiful*

*Raised by hippies - not my fault.

















As for criticising it for being 'emo' (which I've seen a lot of on Goodreads in particular,) - there ain't nothing wrong with being emo, honey.

Trust me, I've completed the FOB/MCR/P!ATD trinity. Emo is awesome. It comes from a place of emotion (hence the name,) and feeling.

Oddly enough, emotion and feeling and catching that spark of the world and holding it - just for a second - is what both art and poetry are all about.**

**Seriously. Hippies. I can't help myself. So many incense-filled shops in my childhood.




















This collection is free, deeply personal, and brutally honest. It tackles raw topics with openness and no fear.

It's not afraid to take risks (using the shape of words and lines to add movement and life to the poetry) or ruffle feathers (nothing is orthodox here.) 

I found it chillingly good.

Whether you connect with it or not is something you'll have to see for yourself.









Not so great bits:





This book is raw and pretty much no-holds-barred, so potentially distressing content includes:

- abuse (various types - BIG warning!)

- child abuse

- eating disorders

- mental health problems

- depression

- low self-esteem/self-worth

- sexual assault

- self-harm (BIG warning!)

- suicidal thoughts


- suicide


- grief


- family relationship issues


- abusive partner

- alcoholism

- cancer

Parts of this book are VERY raw, so please be careful guys.

There might've been the odd swear word? Honestly, if you can make it past the other stuff, it's not going to bother you, even if there is the odd word.























I didn't see the fairy-tale theme. I really didn't.

Like, there was the odd bit of imagery etc. that would fit in with that idea... but not enough to call it a main theme.

Not in my opinion, anyway - maybe it just went over my head, who knows?

Given that this is how the book is marketed etc., the lack of much princess/fairy-tale-ness was a little disappointing, but I still totally loved this collection.




















Obviously, poetry is subjective - so it's not going to be to everyone's tastes.

And that's ok. Poetry is personal - if you didn't like it, then you didn't like it. No probs.







Verdict:

Raw. Unique. Exceptional. This collection is something different.

The poems in this book gave me life!!! I cannot thank Amanda Lovelace enough for writing such beautiful poetry that I think is needed in a time like now... Absolutely beautiful

This kind of poetry isn't of particular interest to me. I found some of the poems to be a little juvenile and Tumblr-ish. I did order the book, however, because there seems to be a renewed interest in poetry and this type is doing well.

the princess saves herself in this one...& reminds us all that we can, too.

this poetry collection is as haunting as it is empowering, & i commend Amanda for having the courage to pour all of her heart & soul into her pen & letting it bleed onto the pages of this book for all of the world to see. it couldn't have been easy for her to open herself up in such a raw way & entrust her story to us, but in doing so, she reminded all of the princesses of the world that no matter how hard life can be, and no matter how many dragons may stand in our path along the way, we are capable of slaying those dragons and finding the happy endings that we all deserve.

I'm not a massive poetry person, I struggle to understand poetry often but I really liked this collection. It was a 4 star read for me until the last section, there are 4 sections, and the final section just really stood out to me, I cried for a little bit. Now if you don't like tumblr post style poetry this isn't for you, there's a lot of disjointed sentences. I really loved the formatting at times because it was dragged across pages and sometimes there was huge gaps, so it really worked in making you feel things. I would also give a trigger warning for self harm and suicidal thoughts.

I loved it. Long after I've finished I'll still go and reread it. I have recommended it to so many people to read this book!

4.5

Wow. This book. It was intense.
To be honest, I really didn't know how to review this book. I cried a lot, I felt identified with many of the things that the author said in this book and I really understand her. I really felt what she felt and I do really understand that going through all those problems is really difficult, but she did, and that is really encouraging.
There has been a debate about whether this book is poetry or not. I think that it's not, just as many people said these book has verses more than poems, but overall these "verses" were absolutely amazing and made feel emotional. I feel sad, happy, angry, all at the same time. And that is what I appreciate about this book and made me love it so much.
I can't write more about this book because words can't do it justice. It's a powerful book that I recommend to everyone that has gone through difficult problems, been rejected, been bullied, been told that they are no good; because it really doesn't matter if you've been told horrible things, you are going to overcome them no matter what.

Deeply impressed with the
content,
message,
strength,
courage.
Love how it’s broken into different parts and the whole is an empowering story.
Connected and understood a lot of the pain as I’ve been in similar situations throughout my life.


It’s not going to be for everyone, and that’s okay. I’m no fan of certain overhyped classics. It is what it is.

However, complaining it’s “Tumblr poetry” is insulting, dismissive, and frankly, stupid.

“It’s so angsty and emo, lol. We used these for MSN statuses!!”

yeahhhh, right, sure. Did you have justifiable reasons for being hurt, angry, upset, and are scarred from those reasons? Has it altered your life?

As an abusive victim, fuck you all for being so dismissive as if abuse is just emo bullshit crying for attention from a crush. I just...what is wrong with ya’ll?

Poets have played with the formatting since forever. It’s constantly changing, ffs.

If CAPS, makes you read it as shouting. If italics, bolding, periods.between.words, ellipses...between...words, if allthewordstogether, makes you read it differently, then how can you argue against page formatting?

How many of you complain about indie books and LACK of formatting, saying it’s unreadable? Of course formatting makes a difference!

It’s not just “pressing enter after a couple of words”, it’s deliberate breaks, white space, and word choice.

If you don’t like it, can’t relate, whatever. Fine. But how fucking dare you dismiss someone’s heart and soul on the page as “not art” and “not real poetry” because of line breaks.

I think complaining the title gives it away is also stupid. And let’s face it, most of those people are going to be hypocritical jackass who don’t call out other books doing the same thing, like Whatshisface Dies at the End. Were you hoping the princess died or got saved by someone else? If so, fuck you again with that bullshit. Why assume the princess cannot save herself and it’s such a surprise she did? Stupid sexism.

I’m so, so tired of bullshit. I’m done.

I do not read a lot of poetry, but I really liked it.

I don't read much poetry but I've seen a lot of people talking about this book so I decided to give it a go. It's quite unlike the poetry I've read before, lots of short poems as well as some longer ones and all merging into one story. The storytelling element made it feel like a cross between a short story and poetry and made it very interesting to read. I liked the layout splitting it into princess/damsel/queen, though given the title I would have liked a bit less of the Prince Charming comes along and helps the princess to save herself and a bit more of a princess saves herself and is happy without a prince. But other than that I liked the fairytale analogy. I also liked that some of the poems were shaped on the page, for example a poem about locking away memories in the shape of a keyhole. Overall I really enjoyed this book and it was nice to read something different for a change, it's definitely convinced me to try more poetry in the future too!

This poetry book was just mesmerizing. I saw a lot of people raving about this book and I decided to give it a try as well. And oh, my, God! I thought this book would take some time to read but once I started, it was impossible to stop. I finished it in less than half an hour.

This collection of poems is divided into four parts- the princess, the damsel, the queen, and you. Each of the parts was unique and beautiful. I especially teared up during the damsel part.

The complaints I saw from a few people on Goodreads was about the writing style. But for me, that completely worked! I liked how the writing easily flowed and kept me captivated throughout the book. Whereas I could relate to some of them, the others melted my heart.

Overall, The Princess Saves Herself in this One is a beautiful collection of poems that I would love to read over and over again. I loved the writing style and every little thing about this book! For me, this book was definitely an ideal start to reading poetry. I'm looking forward to reading more by this author.

Recommend it?

Yes!

This book isn't for me. The poetry was very honest and real but I didn't find the format of the poems all that good I also kept thinking to myself, how is this poetry? What makes it poetry?

Did William Shatner write this? I didn't realize that it only took hitting enter after every word to make poetry. I think I drowned in the angst and melodrama of this collection. I wrote better poetry than this in middle school.

This book wasn't for me. I just didn't find the poems that profound or that good. However they were extremely honest and personal and that's what I did like about them. While I was reading this, I just kept thinking "what makes this poetry?". I don't mean to sound horrible but I just don't see how a lot of these poems are actually considered to be poems. I also felt like I had read so many of them before. It felt sort of like deja vu, not only with an individual theme but also with how they were phrased and how they were worded. There was also a lot of regurgitated themes from other feminist works so this isn't really any way innovative. I also felt like Lovelace was trying to do something visually with these poems but she missed the mark for me. Sure, she hit enter after random words to make it look a certain way (which is a crime in itself) but she also put spaces inbetween the letters of some words (e x a m p l e) and formatted the poems in weird ways. This kind of visual effect for the poetry just did not work. I feel like if she had incorporated some kind of illustrations in some of the poems it would have looked better because to me, it looked like just words randomly placed on some paper. There was only one poem were I liked the formatting and the visual effect in relation to she poem and that was "-did it really happen if I can't remember it?" in which the poem is about locking memories away and it's made to look like a keyhole. The others like this were all misses for me.

I could relate to some of the poems and that is why I gave this book 2 stars instead of one. I probably wouldn't read another book by Amanda Lovelace and I wouldn't recommend this book.

* I received a copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"This is what abuse is:
Knowing you are
going to get salt
but still hoping for sugar"

"If a house
does not
automatically
make a home,
then a body
doesn't
automatically
make a home
either."

"the world begins
& ends
when you say so."

The poems I liked overall:
-did it really happen if I can't remember it?
-but you kept trying, didn't you?
-my most loyal lover.
-what it really means to lose your innocence.
-immortalized by a voicemail. (Probably the best poem of the bunch).
-the sign you've been waiting for.
-slay those dragons.

So as bit of a disclaimer, I would like to admit I’m not the biggest fan of poetry. In part, I believe this is because of how it was forced down my throat in school. As a result, I never really explored all it had to offer and I’m just now starting to slowly see what else is out there.

I first started hearing great things about the princess saves herself in this one when Amanda Lovelace self-published this book of poetry last year. Even though I do not read poetry often, I put this poetry collection in my TBR pile right away because of the messages and themes presented in it.

I picked up the princess saves herself in this one and could not put it down. The great thing about poetry is how short it actually is. Due to the length of the poems, I flew through the book. The poems were short but powerful, and I couldn’t help but feel a connection, even though I personally had not gone through what the author has. It was a very emotional and empowering read, and there were even some parts were I had tears in my eyes.

The collection is spilt into four parts: the princess, the damsel, the queen, and you. The first three parts all focus on the author and her own life journey and struggle while the last part is addressed to the reader. The last part is so universal that many will be able to connect to the different poems woven into this last section.

Overall, the princess saves herself in this one is a powerful read that even non-fans of poetry will enjoy. Definitely a must read for teenage girls!

My Rating: 4.5 stars

All together, the book is good. The story the pages walks us through is not a terrible story to read.

But it is also not poetry. I mean sure, it kind of is? In the sort of way your five year old's first poem is a poem, this is poetry. But it's no where near professional. The poems are short, don't have any kind of rhythm, and are something I expect a 12 year old to write before they ever have the chance to read Dickinson or Frost.

Maybe I might have liked it as a book of haiku. They're short, they have rhythm, and are literally the easiest poems to create.

I had
such
high
hopes
for this book
with life,
but no soul
<i> -i leave disappointed and a little angry </i>

I don't do poetry. Most of the time, I don't understand what I'm reading. The other half of the time, I think I get the story and it's completely different than what I thought. So because of that, I tend to stay away. I've read so many amazing reviews about this poetry collection specifically, so I felt like I needed to see what the fuss was about. It definitely left me feeling emotional. The poetry was so simple, yet the words hit you hard. I'm really glad that I went out of my comfort zone to read this. It definitely was what I needed at the time.