I don't think I've ever reviewed a poem/poetry before...

I didn't enjoy this one as much as I expected. Maybe this isn't just for me but that's weird because this is the kind of poetry I write myself- Free Verse and Narrative combined. There's just less rules with this kind of poetry. But somehow, I like the way the authors' narrative evolved poem after poem. Same way of writing but the emotions in each poem grew stronger and maturer after each poem.

I know this is a part of the series and maybe I should've started with the first book. But that one's about Princesses and I'm not really into those. I'm more into witches. Don't judge me but I'm really into feminism. And this book didn't fail conveying its message of Girl Power, of fire and passion. I love the messages and I agree for most of them. The author really knows what she stands for and I applaud her for that, for saying what others couldn't.

But sometimes, the words seemed screaming of rage so much that I found them repulsive instead of uplifting and encouraging. But I think that's just me. Besides I know what to expect before reading so I don't have the right to complain. But I really tried liking this one and somehow I did thus the three stars. Though sadly, after finishing it, I realized I didn't remember a poem or even a quote from the collection. That's saying something, something negative, since I always quote poems. :)

Anyway, I'm sure other would love this one more than I did. It's filled with power. And hope you guys appreciate the message as much as I did. Or more.

Horrible.
This feminism equates misandry.
I'm man, and I'm a feminist.
And I think that Lovelace's poems collection was downright insulting.
Black and white stereotypes.
And I don't think it was particularly insightful about women's suffering through centuries.
It was poorly written, inaccurate, missed a point...

I just don't recommend this. If you want some modern poetry, go read Rupi Kaur or Warsan Shire instead. Or Christina Rossetti or Emily Bronte if you want some other women authors.
Please skip this and don't waste your money/time on it.
Barely finished it-

I loved this poetry collection even more than Amanda Lovelace's first one. The poems felt very current and were easy to connect with. I would highly recommend it.

3 Stars
Like the first one it takes a while for me to "get into" poetry. You can't just fly through, but you need to ponder.
And this book definitely made me think. It was packed with emotions and encouragements, and I highly encourage these to you even if you aren't a fan of poetry - yet.

> I would caution you when reading them, there are some trigger warnings.

I liked this book so much more than Amanda’s first book. It seemed more authentic and it spoke to me more. And I loved the witch theme throughout the poems and the comparison of the hate of feminism to witch burning. It spoke to my soul and I will re-read this book again and again when life seems overwhelming.

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

It's not terribly often that I read a book of poems that is so intensely easy to relate to, but Amanda Lovelace has written exactly that. I've only read excerpts from "the princess saves herself in this one," but it already seems that Lovelace has grown as a poet. She's got some exceptional turns of phrase in this collection, and it is especially satisfying to read these verses if you are a survivor of an abusive relationship.

I was a bit hesitant to read this poetry collection since I wasn't thrilled with her previous work, The Princess Saves Herself in this One. But I do want to read more poetry so I went for it and I liked The Witch Doesn't Burn In This One a lot more.

This poetry collection focuses a lot on feminist themes, flame similes, and the archetype of the witch/ bad girl. I found that The Princess Saves Herself in this One was a bit too dark for me with all the themes of cancer, rape, and body issues, whereas The Witch Doesn't Burn In This One did have some dark themes but the main message was empowerment. I found myself bookmarking a lot more quotes and getting the chills while reading The Witch Doesn't Burn In This One.

I just felt so empowered while reading this collection of poetry. If Katniss Everdeen read poetry, I think she would be a hardcore fangirl of The Witch Doesn't Burn In This One. Highly recommend if you're looking for some empowering feminist poetry with fantastical themes.

Much like "The Princess Saves Herself in This One" Amanda Lovelace writes about feminism with a pleasant and appreciated level of intersectionality and care; she touches on topics like race. rape, abuse, romanticization of abuse, body-shaming, transphobia, menstruation, rape culture, eating disorders, and more. Her thoroughness is the reason I keep coming back to her writing as well as her unapologetic nature and her intensely relatable approach.

However, despite my appreciation for all of the above, there were still a few issues that prevented me from committing to a full five star review, namely repetition. It felt to me that there were direct ideas and even phrases that were used repeatedly in a way that felt a bit clunky rather than intentional and it lifted me out of the tone and the overarching narrative that the book seems to have. It disrupted that flow enough to where I feel that this book did not have the same emotional impact on me as "The Princess Saves Herself in This One" did—which left me weeping and raw.

Her writing style is also unique in that I feel that it is both very conversational but still very clearly reads as one expects poetry to read in pacing and phrasing. It bridges a gap between talking intimately with a friend and expressing emotion in a way that only poetry seems to be able to do. A lot of people dislike the simple style and claim that it is not very good poetry, but I disagree wholeheartedly. One of the things that makes Lovelace's collections so powerful is that it is like reading a whole book that is made up of poems. It is like I sat down and spoke to someone about a shared pain and a shared healing and there were moments that stood out on their own, but the whole conversation was a whole and important. I can't wait to see more from this poet!

This book just wasn't for me. The poetry is really just sentences spaced out and it confused me a little. I've never read Amanda's poetry before so I didn't know what to expect, she uses quite a bit of profanity which is also a bummer for me.
Rating: 1 Star

Enjoyed this set of poetry, although it doesn’t resonate with me as well as the first poetry collection did. But anything with Witch in the title is a love for me!

4.5/5 Stars

Last year I fell hard for Amanda Lovelace's first poetry collection and knew I'd be clamoring for any new works she published. That's why I jumped at the chance to read The Witch Doesn't Burn in this One early. Taking on the broader topic of womanhood, Lovelace delivers an intense and inspiring treatise that should set the world ablaze and I've got five reasons why below.

Top 5 Reasons The Witch Doesn't Burn in this One is Fire
1. Empowering. Honestly these poems made me feel like I could do anything. All of the emotion was fuel to my soul and my passions bubble over just thinking about these words.
2. Sisterhood. Women supporting women, forever and always. Women understand the difficulties their sisters face and are best qualified to have their backs. These poems spoke to this while remaining inclusive.
3. Timely. We're living in a time where women are taking back their power and these poems speak to the very heart of what's happening in the world. Lovelace addresses abuse, assault, eating disorders, and more important topics that need to be seen.
4. Self-Love. With constant bombardment from outside sources it's hard to look inwards, but practicing self-care and self-love are extremely important. These poems were excellent reminders to put myself first.
5. Fire. The metaphors to flame spread through this collection capture perfectly the anger and rage women have held in for so long. Also the connections to history especially the Salem Witch Trials were incredibly poignant.

Overall The Witch Doesn't Burn in this One by Amanda Lovelace was a powerful collection of poetry centering women and their experiences. The fire was fierce and her words spoke volumes. It invokes such visceral emotion and I couldn't put it down. I highly recommend this one as well as her first collection, The Princess Saves Herself in this One, and cannot wait to buy a copy for my shelf.

The princess returns with a fiery vengeance in this one and I am here for it!

The Witch Doesn’t Burn in This One is Amanda Lovelace’s second poetry collection, as well as the second book in her Women Are Some Kind of Magic series, and I absolutely loved it.

I adored her first book of poetry, The Princess Saves Herself In This One, and have been eagerly anticipating the release of her second collection ever since I finished reading Princess. But as breathtaking as Princess was, I think I liked this book even more. Amanda has grown as a writer, and it really shows in her second book.

Amanda is an amazingly talented writer, and her poems have a way of making me feel empowered and ready to take on the world. Both of her books, although different in many ways, are equally emotional and empowering. Princess was a more personal read, and although it was still very much about feminism and giving a voice to women, Witch really shined when it came to showcasing the power of women.

Amanda skilfully crafted together a passionately angry collection of feminist poems that were thought provoking and inspiring. This collection was so liberating, and made me want to go out and burn things and shout inspirational things about feminism and the rights of women to anybody who cared enough to listen.

I can honestly say that I have felt even more powerful ever since I finished reading this book, and I am so happy that this inspiring book exists.

Amanda is taking the poetry world by storm, and I cannot wait to find out what she has in store for us next!

I’d seen almost endlessly positive thing about Lovelace’s first poetry collection – the princess saves herself in this one – that when I saw that the witch doesn’t burn in this one was Read Now on Net Galley, I jumped at the chance to download it and review it. I then went on to read princess before I read this one, since they are a part of a series together. Unfortunately, princess didn’t really hit the mark for me, and the witch doesn’t burn in this one wasn’t much better.

the witch doesn’t burn in this one is pegged as a feminist poetry collection. And I suppose that is true, in a way. However, for me, feminism is intersectional. Feminism is not just about women. There were one or two poems in the witch doesn’t burn in this one that highlighted the need to support and stand by women who aren’t white, able-bodied, neurotypical, and allocishet. But these didn’t really encompass the importance of intersectionality for people who aren’t just women.

I know for some people feminism is about women, but the fact that the witch doesn’t burn in this one was all about women and only about women, and that’s how feminism was presented… it just didn’t sit perfectly well with me. And that’s entirely a personal view and reaction, but I think poetry is even more personal than any other type of written word so that personal reaction is the most important one. So while I read the poems in the witch doesn’t burn in this one and enjoyed them for what they did represent in their own way, the constant “women are good and men are evil” theme of the entire collection was a bit of a miss for me.

Also, I think Lovelace’s brand of poetry doesn’t really vibe with me. It is easily understandable, and there were a few pretty metaphors, but the emotional “punch” so to say was missing. Some of the themes and metaphors were really overused in the collection and sometimes I was just like “ugh okay fire fire bad boys whatever” which I don’t think was the intended effect.

Even though my thoughts on the witch doesn’t burn in this one haven’t been overall positive, I did enjoy reading the poems. There were some that resonated with me, and I think quite a few important themes were touched on. I think it’s upon examining my feelings on the collection that my rating and enjoyment in hindsight has gone down.

All in all, the witch doesn’t burn in this one was a mixed bag for me. When I read it I enjoyed it somewhat (three stars worth) even though I knew why I wasn’t loving it. Upon self-evaluating my thoughts on the collection to write this review I realised that overall it just wasn’t for me. The presentation of feminism and the overarching theme just missed the mark for me as a person and poetry reader.

© 2018, Chiara @ Books for a Delicate Eternity. All rights reserved.

I really enjoyed Lovelace's first collection of poetry, and was very eager to read her second. She's noticeably grown in this one. She's still building on the themes from the first book, of feminism, moving beyond pain, and learning to love herself. There's also a lot of anger here, and I suspect much of the poetry was written post November 2016. But she takes that anger and uses it as fuel, and it surges throughout the entire collection. Whereas the first book felt very cathartic and reflective, this one felt like a call to arms.

With the exception of a few exhilarating pages, this collection overall left me with a feeling of, "Well, that was nice." Perhaps it would have meant more after reading THE PRINCESS SAVES HERSELF IN THIS ONE, but I appreciated the imagery nonetheless. Most of the poems feel as though they would potentially make great Instagram posts or protest signs. (This isn't an inherently negative remark; these mediums speak to a large number of people, surpassing state lines and continents.) I think Lovelace will have no difficulty finding her audience, and people who enjoyed the first, will thrill at the second, and wait anxiously for the third.

I like better the first book from Amanda Lovelace.
This book strongly feminism, I like that, but I think many poem repeat the same message.

I really enjoyed this collection of poetry. I felt as if the poet was very angry about things that had happened in her life, and her only release was to write about it. She visited several major issues happening in today’s society. I feel as if this poetry will help many women on their path to recovery and dealing with their pain. This collection of poetry should be read by every woman, not only those dealing with abuse, rape, etc.

I liked this one more than the princess saves herself in this one. Maybe I didn't pay that much attention to that one or maybe it didn't have the same impact as it would have if I hadn't read it so close to milk & honey by Rupi Kaur (which I thought was better). Whichever the case, this sequel was better. The message of feminism, female empowerment and independence felt stronger and louder and the poems felt more meaningful.

There were some of them with which I couldn't identify because they involved experiences that I've never had, but nevertheless I was empathic towards the author. At first it may seem a bit "dumb" or "not real poetry," but with each poem the book takes form little by little and it sets a fire inside you that you won't be able to extinguish.

I would give this 3.5 stars if half stars were allowed.
I was contemplating DNF'ing this after the first 40 pages even though this is less than 200 pages. It did get better after, but the first part definitely detracted from my overall enjoyment. I felt that the first one in this series, The Princess Saves Herself With This One, was more personal which really helped me connect to the poetry within it. I was looking for more of that in this one and I didn't quite get it.

Firstly the poetry was a bit too narrative for me. I knew it would have some kind of story arc, but I felt that the poetry was too closely tied to it, so that maybe having that to fall back on hindered the book more than helped it.

This deals with a lot of feminist topics, but possibly it deals with too many of them at too broad of a level. This brought nothing new to the table for me, but I imagine if you're newer to feminism then it might make you think about some things.

There were some parts that I did enjoy, specifically within the second half of the second chapter "the burning" and the first half of the third chapter "the firestorm". Likely due to the more personal nature of those poems, and that's where the extra half star came from. Everything else was unfortunately meh.

***I received an arc via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review***

After finishing this book, I am struck by the same sense of awe that I felt after reading Lovelace’s first poetry collection, the princess saves herself in this one. Her voice is such a strong one, and as you read her words you feel this overwhelming sense of strength and empowerment, and it makes you want to scream from the top of your lungs. I love how the simplicity of Lovelace’s poems contrasts with difficult subject matters, and I also love how she draws from her personal experience when writing- it means that the poems are raw and show so much vulnerability, but this makes them all the more relatable.

My only critique of this collection is that to begin with, the poems play very heavily on the witch-burning theme, to the point where the metaphors seem a tad overdone and the poems a bit forced. However, as you continue to read you can see that Lovelace comes into her own, and you begin to recognise the familiarity of her voice. So if you read this and at first don’t connect with it, I’d definitely recommend continuing, as halfway through it really begins to shine. You won’t regret it.

(As a side note, I also love the fact that at the beginning of this collection, there is a list of trigger warnings. This is so important, and makes the book accessible to just that many more people. Lovelace is amazing.)