Member Reviews

Seriously - this book has changed my LIFE.

I will forever recommend this to anyone who listens or asks me for a recommendation. From what I've seen, it's impact is far reaching and inspiring to so many. I am incredibly lucky to have been able to read this one and cannot wait to continue to see the worlds reaction to this amazing poetry book.

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I loved this collection. I actually recommended it to a student today. I hope this collection sells a ton and gets many accolades because I think it's well deserved.

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I saw this one on NetGalley & decided to reread it - I bought it last year when Amanda Lovelace initially self-published it, but I thought this would be a good excuse for a reread & wanted to check out her new poems as well.

While this might be the type of poetry for everyone, (however, just saying that brings me back to my countless English lit classes as we read & observed how one generation after another would take a form & manipulate it to their will - so I think while one say say a certain type of poetry isn't for them, I think it is harder to define what poetry is or is not based on what one person expects from a form -- anyway), I really enjoyed reading it. I have a few favourite pages / poems, but what I really liked about this one is seeing the growth of the narrator/amanda from someone who doesn't believe she is worth anything to someone who learns to save herself.

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I read the original edition when it first came out and I thought it was breathtakingly amazing and relevant. Although it didn't let me read this new edition of this title, I already know that the new pub'd version with new poems will be even better. Now that it has released, I'm going over to B&N to buy it. :)

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The writing was excellentè!

The writing was so different and yet so gorgeous. Although- I suppose it is technically poetry, but this is where the conflict comes in. It is classified as poetry, but I saw it more like just writing in verse, because that’s what I’m used to and this would be quite informal for poetry. However, it was still quite interesting, and I feel like the writing being all lowercase added to the… Ambiance, I suppose?
The story was heartbreaking.

I was in a public place the whole time I was reading this book. I was struggling very hard to not cry. It was incredibly difficult. I’m rather astonished I didn’t.
Whoosh! Wait, where did the book go?
Into the never-ending depths of Amy’s crazy pit of a mind, that’s where.

The whole book just went so fast. It was like- Oh, look at this sweet little book of poetry!



Dear Lord, I’m going to cry. Please don’t cry. Please don’t cry. Please don’t cry. *fans face*



Wait, what? That’s the end? It wasn’t a good thing or a bad thing, it just really surprised me. I probably read this book over the course of a couple hours? Ish? In any case, it was extremely fast, and I almost felt like I had to read it again because of how quickly it went.
I was vastly confused for a rather large chunk of the book.

I didn’t actually understand that all of them were the same person until I got to the third portion of the book. I didn’t connect a lot of the dots. And then I felt like I had to reread that part because of how confused and disconnected I was.
Even though I didn’t really feel like it was poetry, it really wasn’t a story.

There wasn’t really a plot, and although there are some characters, there is a ton of feeling and not necessarily a lot of explaining. So it was a book of poetry, not a story, even though it was written like one. Confused? Me too.
In any case, I enjoyed it and I might just need to reread it.

For all of the quickness/confusion faults of this book, it was still very sweet and very emotional. I totally felt for the author as I was reading it, and I think it was very brave and wonderful of her to be able to publish this book.

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After months of listening good things from Amanda Lovelace's poems, I decided to read it to find out if it really is as good as they say. Today I bring you the review.

First, it is "modern poetry" that is now so fashionable: without the traditional rules, in which there is no rhyme, nor metric. It is loved by many, but it also has detractors, as in everything. I can say that I am in the middle.

Through its reading, we see how Amanda Lovelace goes through different stages until she becomes a strong and independent woman. She writes about the relationship with her family, especially her mother, and the relationship with her boyfriend. The tone she uses is not plain.

It is quite noticeable that there are some poems full of anger and others of sadness, but there are others that go unnoticed. However, when she shows her feelings the poems are very raw and they hit you hard, for example when she talks about loss and mourning.

She uses simple language, so its reading in English is perfectly understandable. As for the structure, it is divided into four parts: "The Princess", "The Damsel", "The Queen" and "You". Not all poems are of the same length and many of them are calligrams, that is, they form figures.

The princess saves herself in this one is the winning work for Best Poetry of the Goodreads awards of 2016.

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While Lovelace's story is heartbreaking, which is evident from the first few pages of this collection, I don't know if I would classify her work as poetry. Some of it is obviously beautiful, but it read more like an essay collection or something of the like - as if Lovelace wrote down several straightforward thoughts & rearranged them to seem more complicated. I found myself comparing this to other modern poetry collections (most especially a recent bestseller) while reading &, at least for me, it just didn't compare at all. I think the effort is certainly there, but the sentiments were lacking. I'd be interested in hearing Lovelace talk about her poetry or perform some it - maybe in this capacity a reader would be about to connect with the words in a more meaningful way.

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I was excited to finally get my hands on a copy of The Princess Saves Herself in this One as it’s gathered high praise, even winning Goodreads Choice Award for Best Poetry Book of 2016. Unfortunately, like with the majority of highly praised poetry books to come out in the past few years, I was majorly disappointed.

I don’t want to sound like I’m discrediting Tumblr poets, as I’m not, there are several fantastic poets and authors on the platform. However, this collection felt like mediocre Tumblr poetry. It has the same style as a lot of poetry that is posted on Tumblr, meaning the poems are quite short and there’s a line break after every word or line. I’ve come across some wonderful poetry written in this manner, but sadly I didn’t find any here. The themes that run throughout this book are hard-hitting and harrowing but the poems don’t reflect that whatsoever. The simplistic language feels amateurish and this combined with the serious subjects of the poems is unsettling.

The poems, and the collection itself, are quite short. I sped through the entire thing but it became it bit boring and tiresome reading poem after poem and not feeling any sort of emotional connection whatsoever. I believe there were only about four poems in total that resonated with me throughout the entire book. I did enjoy the themes of feminism and self love and acceptance running throughout this book, I just wish they could have been executed in a better manner.

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Another quick poetry read. The poems aren't densely packed and many of the sentiments expressed within are fairly emo-teen-poetry. They're a step-up from that, but let's just say not a huge step. Still, for the most part, I enjoyed reading this. It wasn't too taxing. I could see giving it to a tween/teenage girl, and said tween/teenage girl swooning at some of the lines (but you left giant / blackberry bruises / all over /
my soul.). As a non-teenager, I occasionally rolled my eyes at a few lines, but then there'd be a clever line or an interesting title (italicized at the end, so the opposite of title I guess, end-tle) and I'd be able to ignore the overwroughtness and keep on going.

I can hope for the growth of Lovelace's talent. The seeds are there.

the princess saves herself in this one by Amanda Lovelace went on sale February 14, 2017.

I received a copy free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

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Well, I thought this book was very cliche. The title was cool so I decided to give it a try. It was a poetry book so very short (read in 30 minutes) and did the usual young adult girl sterotypes: fat girl bullied and starving herself, cutting herself, feeling that she is different, first boyfriend Lies and cheats on her, second boyfriend is much better, fixing yourself through self-love and self-respect. Death also brought in. I found some of what she said catchy like it could be a Twitter update or meme but I do not consider that poetry and neither is this in my option. I gave this three stars since just because this did not appeal to me doesn't mean it would not appeal and touch others and I think overall the book was okay.

I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley for review consideration.

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This was incredible. It was so relatable and powerful. I barely have words that can fully describe how amazing this book is.
It both broke my heart and mended it...

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This was one good read. Though I didn't feel like it can be called poetry by standard definition, I still loved reading it. After all, a poem doesn't have to rhyme; a poem doesn't have to not rhyme. I was more focused on the contents than the structure and it was awesome. The imagery was beautiful.

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This is a collection of poetry by Amanda Lovelace. The theme of this book is resilience and the poems deal with everything from life and love and grief and vulnerability. Amanda puts herself out there and shares her heart in her selection of quirky yet fun line breaks. An empowering and inspiring read.

*I received an advance reading copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.*

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I first heard about this collection on Twitter. A lot of mutual book community friends were raving about it and though I hadn’t read poetry in a really long time (since high school), I wanted to give it a try. When I say that it was up to Read Now on NetGalley, I jumped at the chance to check it out!

This collection is divided into four parts: the princess, the damsel, the queen and you. It explores themes of love, loss, grief, death, empowerment and honesty. Because this is contemporary poetry, I don’t feel like it’s right to make a critically section in this review. The writing style is incredibly personal and the way the stanzas and poems are laid out are part of that experience. All the poems were raw and powerful, there was a lot of emotion emitted from the pages which is completely tangible as you read.

I enjoyed the entire collection but I have to say that I found it hard to connect. I liked the stories and pictures the author painted for the reader but I didn’t connect with the majority of them. I felt like I was reading a much more personal journey than something for me to feel connected to. For some reason, it felt much more intrusive to me, like I was looking into the intimate details of a stranger’s life and I didn’t have any right to it. But that’s just me being weird because the content and delivery of these poems is beautiful and intense.

My favorite section is definitely the queen. It was the part I connected to the most out of all of them and I felt like it was the culmination of the journey the author was telling in the first two parts. We learn about so many personal things from her life, so many hardships that the queen section feels like her triumph. It feels like this is the person she is now because of all the learned from all the things that happened then. And I think that 1. that was really brave of her to share with the world and 2. it’s incredibly empowering to read and to absorb.

Overall, I’m glad I read this collection when I did. I hadn’t read poetry since high school and this reminded me oh how much I enjoyed it. Definitely recommend it!

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This book had a promising start - the cover of the book and the description drew me in. But as I read it, some parts reached my hopes for it, other parts didn't. The book isn't awful because I can't continue to read a book if it isn't interesting enough. (I can't. I just can't.) And I finished the book in a matter of days. I didn't really care for the romance the much, but I prefer adventure and fantasy over that - so I wouldn't really take that as a dealbreaker. Overall, it was pretty good and I would probably check out the author's other books.

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I can't begin to say how much i enjoyed reading this. For poems with a few words they packed a mighty emotional punch. I felt each carefully chosen word to such a point i knew they'd got under my skin and i found myself thinking about them days later. I didn't know if i was a poetry person but after reading this i can definitely say i am.

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Thank you to Netgalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for a free copy for review,
and to Goodreads, who put this on my radar when it won the top book in the poetry genre for 2016.


This book blew me away -- socks, hair, heart and soul -- from nearly the very first words dedicating it to The Boy Who Lived from The Girl Who Survived. I was hooked. I cried and choked, and saw myself in almost all of her poems. I saw the relationships with my mother, and my sisters, and food, and smoking and cancer. I saw the complicated way love and hurt are twined forever in a dance that exists both during the lives of those people and long after the parting from them.

I saw my own relationships with my dragons -- boys who loved me, but not enough or well enough, and girl friends who did not understand the friend part of that word the way I thought I did, or we did. I loved the discovery of self. Confused and faltering, fledging and demanding. The whole of love for the self, claimed slowly, and always with the ghosts of yesterday's which never leave entirely.

I nearly wept when she turned to the last chapter, the 'you', and she spoke out to all the people who have been hurt, marginalized and told so many things that are not true. I want to buy five hundred copies of this book and give it out to all my girlfriends on Galentines Day. I want to keep handing it out forever. This was gorgeous and it deserved every accolade laid at its feet and a million more on top of it. My heart now rests on that pile, with no regrets.

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This book is a rollercoaster ride so if you are emotionally exhausted like I was you may want to wait until you are ready. While I did love the poetry, I would have liked it more if I was a teenage girl in high school. Since I technically saved myself and went through a majority of what Lovelace went through I could appreciate what she was writing, but I am healed from what I have endured.

It would have been amazing to read this in high school when you are just going through so much, and you don't even know who you are, what you should be doing, or even how to love. When emotions are fragile and you just need a savior (however you will learn to save yourself). This would be a good book to keep as a art journal, drawing next to the poems in a way that helped the emotions let loose.

My favorite part was III the queen. This is where you start to believe in yourself and Lovelace has a way of writing so that it reaches down into your soul and picks out those chunks that need to be healed. Despite liking the poetry I just couldn't give it a 4 or 5. Like I said if those wounds were fresh or if I was experiencing these problems, it would have spoken to me more. I also felt like something was missing, for me, from the poetry, what it was I couldn't tell you

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There is no doubting that the author has had a heartbreaking life according to this autobiographical book of poetry. And her story touches the heart. But I found the poetry itself lacking. It felt more like an essay that was broken down by disjointed sentences and spread across pages. I felt this was an attempt to combine the stylistic writing of Ellen Hopkins with the popular Instagram and Tumblr poets. Unfortunately, it was a miss for me.

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When I got this book, it only took me like half an hour to read it. I was amazed by the poetry: how insightful and true it felt. I kept sending my girlfriend pictures of my favorite pages. I identified myself with the writer: how she suffered, how she loved words, how she got better. I bawled my eyes out.
And when I was done I logged into Goodreads and thought: "I should give it just two stars."
So let me stop here for a second. Why would I even do that? I had enjoyed the book immensely.
I was annoyed by the free verse, okay. And some poems felt like generic quotes, only hitting enter every couple of words.
But the poems were raw and beautiful, and the themes weren't problematic, quite the opposite: they were heartbreaking and felt very real. The progression of the writer as seen in her poetry was empowering and made me feel optimistic. Some parts even hit too close home and I had to stop reading to cry.

So why giving it a low rating? While I was considering this, I checked other reviews in Goodreads, and saw these:
"I guess these emo tumblr quotes are the modern version of poetry."
"They are emo one-liners that I used to write when I was 14 to fit on a fucking MSN status box to get my crush's attention."
And then it hit me: I had loved this book because it was how a younger version of me had felt, and that had touched my heart. And I was thinking about giving it a low rating because I thought the feelings of a teenage girl shouldn't be considered poetry. That was it. I thought my feelings weren't worth being turned into art.

So, fuck that. This book was good. The poetry is amazing. If you've ever been a girl who felt the pressure of society and suffered because of it, read it. If you have been a young woman going through bad relationships with people who didn't love you enough, read it. If you have decided that your pain and your sadness are over and you are the motherfucking boss, read it.

And to those who think "this isn't art": stop telling girls that their feelings are only good enough for tumblr text posts and quotes in instagram. We are poetry. We will continue to be poetry. We have the right to talk about how we feel and I don't care Amanda Lovelace isn't Neruda: she did a damn well job. We need more poetry like this. So I'm giving it 5 stars and wish that all those young girls that are feeling like we used to feel can read it and know there is hope. It gets better.

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