This is Amanda Lovelace’s second poetry collection, after ‘the princess saves herself in this one’. This collection is just as enjoyable as her first, and this one is a unique concoction of politics, anger, cultural references and feminism.

I love how Amanda’s poetry is so powerful and personal - her words suck you in to her world and make you *feel*. This poetry is also timely, with topics such as the Trump administration and the Women’s marches, with homages to Hamilton, The Handmaid’s Tale and The Hunger Games.

Highly recommended.

Loved It! If you're a female and you want to feel empowered, you have to read this book!

The style of this collection was just like the previous one. But this time around, I wasn't as bothered by the style. 

This time, more of the poems stuck with me and evoked strong feelings within me. This collection deals with a lot of difficult content that the author prefaces by giving a trigger warning. I found that, as I was reading the poems, I could feel the emotions that the author was mentioning. The anger roiled up in me at reading these words that portrayed injustice, the rage boiled up just like it was described in these stanzas. I felt something with this collection that I had not previously.

This made me pause for thought. I wasn't expecting to be moved; generally, I am not very emotional and I don't think any work of poetry has ever affected me emotionally. But this one did. Maybe it was because I feel strongly for the issues that were being discussed, maybe it was because I could relate to them through my own experiences. Either way, it made me connect with this collection and not care about the style of its presentation.

I will say that I wish there had been more personal poems from the author, rather than the collective voice of all women; while the latter is great, I want to get to know the author more through her work. I still have my mixed feelings about this style of poetry. With the more powerful poems, I was able to feel the flow and break of the words and stanza, and it felt logical. However, with the poems that weren't so strong, I was once again feeling like the style was very tumblr-esque, which I didn't really like. 

Either way, this collection of poetry was one I enjoyed. It had strong poems and strong opinions that I could connect with. I hope that the author will try to incorporate more personal poems in her next collection. I'm giving this a solid 3/5 stars.

As with her previous work, Lovelace's strongest points are where she draws on her own experiences (themes include death, abuse, assault, self-harm). The poems comparing women to ashes and various incendiary devices, not so much. Actually, with the amount of repetition in her work it often came across as more pretentious than poetic. Often a subject, for example the pressure put on women to be a certain weight, would be fixed on for four or five pages. Each page a poem, each poem carrying the same message as the one before it, the result being a diluted, watery collection, rather than all the thought poured in to one powerful poem.

Mostly it struck me as something the publisher rushed through so as not to miss out on the feminist-ally trend many other companies are capitalising on, or simply Lovelace's success as a Goodreads Choice Award winner. Lovelace even offers something of a timeline having copied out a tweet, dated September '17, and later writing about the Women's March in January '18. This doesn't seem like a lot of time for an author to go over their work; I honestly believe if the work had been given longer time to breathe and age, it could have achieved something, instead it's like rushed off Moonshine - quick, rough, only meant to satisfy demand not need.
The poems themselves sounded like they had been directly taken from inspirational quote images off of Tumblr. Cheesy empowerment caption over a picture of a forest and an Instagram filter. If we're venturing to a new genre of 'Insta-poetry', perhaps it should be left on Instagram.

I actually quite liked this poetry collection, though slightly less than the first one. The overarching theme of female empowerment was refreshing, and well, empowering. I just felt so inspired throughout reading the entire thing, so much I literally flew through it. I love the messages in this poetry book and the homages to certain people and other works. It was very masterful and well done. My only problem was that a few poems just didn't click well or sound right in my head. That is likely just a personal opinion. Again, just a few poems I wasn't the biggest fan of. I loved every other one with all of my heart. I would highly recommend this to just about everyone.

the witch doesn’t burn in this one is the sequel to Amanda Lovelace's debut poetry book that took the world by storm a few years ago - the princess saves herself in this one.
"Enemies try to judge, oppress, and marginalize her, but the witch doesn’t burn in this one," is what the synopsis says, and it's honestly true.

I received an eARC through Netgalley, courtesy of Andrew McMeels Publishing, in exchange for an honest review.

the witch doesn’t burn in this one is split into four parts — trial, burning, firestorm, and ashes.

Please note that it needs content warnings for child abuse, intimate partner abuse, sexual assault, eating disorders, trauma, death, murder, violence, fire, menstruation and transphobia. The author and I both recommend practicing self care before, during and after you read the witch doesn’t burn in this one.

One poem in particular stands out in the witch doesn’t burn in this one for me, and I think really speaks to the theme of this trilogy.

“Over the span

Of centuries

Animals evolve to

Survive their surroundings,

So,

What happens

When women

Finally

Learn

To

Throw

Back

(This.)” - prophecy II

Where Lovelace's first book dealt a lot with the pain she's dealt with in her life, the witch doesn’t burn in this one channels that pain into rage.

The Amanda Lovelace choker collab has been listed, 50% of profits are donated to RAINN https://t.co/Ptdmn0W4sE pic.twitter.com/zezSFOzZio

— Raven Beads (@raven_beads) 3 March 2018



Lovelace also changes up her format a little bit to go a little bit heavier on the prose poetry, and it works well. She doesn't pull a single punch in the witch doesn’t burn in this one, and I loved every page.

My favorite poem is she, near the middle of the book.

I highly recommend fans of Rupi Kaur and Nayyirah Waseed read this collection as well as the princess saves herself in this one. I know that I personally will be eagerly awaiting the third book, the mermaid's voice returns in this one when it releases next year.

I'll admit that I haven't read the princess saves herself in this one, but since I began dipping my toes in modern poetry, I knew I wanted to give Amanda Lovelace a try. the witch doesn't burn in this one is powerful, even in its brevity. It is a call to arms, a knowing glance shared by two women who've never met, an "I see you" to those who feel invisible. There was something so validating about reading this collection and if Lovelace's first book was anything like this I'm sure fans won't be disappointed.

Provided at the beginning was a list of trigger warnings, which I will copy here:
"child abuse, intimate partner abuse, sexual assault, eating disorders, trauma, death, murder, violence, fire, menstruation, transphobia & more."

The Witch Doesn't Burn in this One contains beautifully crafted poetry and a great concept. But as much as I enjoyed and connected to the first collection, I failed to achieve that with this second one. Maybe I walked into it with extremely high expectations, in which case it's entirely my fault. To me it felt as if the magic I felt when reading the first book wasn't present this time around, and I cannot pinpoint why. Whether it speaks about the book or my state of mind at this point in time, I can't tell. I'll reread it in a few months and let you all know.

Amanda Lovelace writes so strongly about female power that, after reading these poems - and all the tips sewed into them- I feel empowered. Like I can finally deal with things I haven't been able to deal with for y e a r s.

After reading both The Princess Saves Herself in this One and The Witch Doesn't Burn in this One it is clear that Amanda is taking us on a journey of self-acceptance, self-love and sisterhood. She teaches her readers about pain, rough times and empathy. She teaches about forgiving yourself, not forgiving others when they don't deserve forgiving and about j u s t getting through the day.

And sometimes that's all we need.

This was a wonderful read with hot tea flowing during a lazy March storm. I am not a poetry aficionado, but the feminist themes of Ms. Lovelace's work drew me to her, and I will absolutely be recommending this collection.

Amanda Lovelace is incredible.
If you've read The Princess Saves Herself in This One, you already know The Witch Doesn't Burn in This One is a MUST READ.

Lovelace writes poetry that is relatable and powerful. She conveys so much emotion with her short poems. Her poems make me feel as though I am a part of a strong sisterhood of women supporting women. This collection is full of feminist fire. I loved every single page.

I usually don't love writing that feels like it is making very generalized assumptions about men, but every once in a while, reading powerful feminist poetry is just what I need.


"walls
should
only
be built
to keep out
flammable
tyrants.

-& we will ensure that he fails."

3 stars

amanda lovelace’s series of poems in a witch doesn’t burn in this one aim to inspire and empower women to take control of their own stories.

I guess I’m just not a modern poetry person.

I’d like to preface this with the fact that most of this is just pure personal preference. I’ll indicate when that section starts, but there’s not much to comment on the actual writing style/technique when talking about modern poetry.

After seeing this on Netgalley, I decided to give modern poetry one more shot. After the near disaster that was me+milk and honey (review here), I still held out one more time for modern poetry by a different author.
I have finally learned my lesson that it’s just not for me.

I liked how on a technical standpoint, this appeared to have a lot more substance than milk and honey through the lack of aesthetic Tumblr line drawings and seemingly longer poems, and also how lovelace played around a lot with the format (because if you’re going to use the enter key liberally, I’d suggest going all out.).

This was mostly the reason why I gave it 3 stars instead of 2 or 2.5.

lovelace plays around a lot with positioning and spacing and staggering and bold/italic/repetition as well as fun formats (i.e. a recipe or a list). It definitely made the book a little more interesting, and although I kind of followed along with part of the book where they were
d r a g g i n g
things and repeated this process on my Instastories, I did think it was fun to see all this playing with the format.

The words are very provocative (not in an explicit sense usually, but just inspiring passion) and I think they did end up being successful in conveying the message for the reader who is able to disregard modern poetry formatting.

But for me, as with milk and honey, I did end up focusing a little too much on the structure because although it was Unique™, it was also kind of much for me. (aka the start of the personal opinion.)

Despite how I liked the message, it did a little repetitive at times, and even though it’s a good message, sheer repetition might not be the best way to convey this. I got it the first time–you shouldn’t have to repeat “Sasha’s hair was black” ten times throught the novel for the reader, you should only have to say it once, just like you don’t have to repeat to me “Women don’t need men” ten times.

And I do understand how this is something that’s supposed to provoke and inspire and tell women that they aren’t doing anything wrong and they have control over themselves and their bodies–not men and not society. But also, just repeating the message doesn’t really do much for me, I want more original content instead of repeating the message that is splayed across Tumblr that has begun to feel banal & overused in this medium.

I reemphasize the idea that this Tumblr modern poetry (for lack of better name for it) will always feel a little overdone on a literary standpoint after milk and honey. You could argue that “how can women’s empowerment be overdone?” but the answer is that it happens. Why not show women’s empowerment in a different format? Why is it Tumblr poetry that keeps popping up for me?

It also (especially in part 3, I think) felt a little too male-focused for the female empowerment. It was all like “I am woman. I spite you men. You men don’t live up to anything. You men are bad. You men are rapists. You men men men menmenmen.” and I just wanted more womanwomanwoman. (To say it in the way Lovelace does). I would have liked this to be a little more spread out rather than spiting men in one section just because it made that section give too much to the men and made them more of the focus, which I didn’t want.

And, I do have to mention this, just the format. Remember E.E. Cummings (or better known as e e cummings)? Well, he died in the 1960s, yet his legacy still somehow lives on. He was one of the earliest poets who used these techniques (and similarly a lack of punctuation and capitalization–thanks dude :/) and yet people are still doing what e e cummings did first today.

When e e cummings did it, he was one of the first. He was original. Now it just feels like modern poetry, for a lack of better word, is losing the personal style. (Also, to e e cummings: why the lack of punctuation? I’m still tearing my hair out over this.)

And so, even though I just am not a fan of modern poetry, I do think a lot of people who have found themselves to enjoy this will like it. Even if it does look like sentences without basic punctuation and capitalization spaced by random enters.

The reviews will air on March 3rd as well as be shared through Twitter.

Going into this book i was hoping to feel empowered but unfortunately i didn't.

The poems are categorized into four collections
The trial, The Burning, The Firestorm and The Ashes, Once you read the first one from each section they all start to sound the same and blur together.

However there were a couple poems that i quite liked, I am intrigued to see what her other books may offer

the witch doesn't burn in this one is Amanda Lovelace's second and highly anticipated poetry collection in her 'women are some kind of magic' series. Carrying on in true Lovelace fashion, the witch doesn't burn in this one explores women's rights, and how they are oppressed within society.

The witch: supernaturally powerful, inscrutably independent, and now—indestructible. These moving, relatable poems encourage resilience and embolden women to take control of their own stories. Enemies try to judge, oppress, and marginalize her, but the witch doesn’t burn in this one.

the witch doesn't burn - in my opinion - is way better than the princess saves herself in this one. TWDBITO explores the ancestry of women and focuses more on a woman's relationship with herself rather than physical or emotional abuse that she may have suffered. I am in no way saying that Lovelace talking about physical and emotional abuse is boring/rubbish, because it isn't, it's just that I can relate to TWDBITO more than the princess.

Whilst I was reading this poetry collection, I bookmarked so many poems that really captured my heart. By that I mean the poems that I could really relate to, not in a broad sense because that would have been nearly every single one, but the poems that seemed like they came right out of my autobiography. And there was a lot! I wish that I could share with you all of the poems that I loved, but in order to do that, you should just go out and buy the collection, otherwise, I would be writing down nearly every single poem in this blog post. But I've picked out a couple for you that really sum up what this poetry collection is like:

over the span

of centuries

animals evolve to

survive their surroundings,



so

what happens

when women

finally



learn

to

throw

back?

(this.)
(this.)
(this.)
(this.)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

women

learn

to sense

what who

danger

looks like

just

by catching

another

woman's eye

from across

a crowded

room.

- survival


I have heard (and read) a lot of debate surrounding this type of poetry, with people calling it 'Tumblr spacing' and saying that anyone could do it and get published. My answer? Do it then. Try and see how easy it is to put your deepest and darkest secrets down onto paper and turn them into fluid yet snappy poetry that people across the world can relate to. It's hard. And anyway, what is the definition of poetry? It doesn't have to rhyme or look a certain way or talk about a certain subject. Poetry can be/look/sound anything that you want it to be and modern poets have done exactly that; Amanda included.

I think the whole reasoning behind why I thought the second collection was better than the first is because it focused on women empowering themselves through joining together, like the women's marches. I loved that Lovelace included politics in her poetry and it was nice to see recent problems being included. It meant that I could really relate to the poetry and 100% understand what Lovelace was on about because she was using contemporary examples.

I can't wait for the third poetry collection to come out, and the title of the third on is the mermaid doesn't lose her voice in this one. I can't wait to see what else Lovelace has to offer.

Disclaimer: this book was sent to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Ever since I heard about The Princess Saves Herself in this One, I've been wanting to read it badly. I am lucky enough to be approved for a copy of The Witch, and since this is the first poetry by the author I read, I don't know what to expect.

However, based on the notion of witch and the quote at the back of the book, I expect a powerful and burning poetry. This collection meet those expectations, and even went beyond. They are full of anger and rage, of being repressed and following what other's want. Of being blamed and repressed for just being a women, for just be. But they are also filled with hope that we can love and reclaim ourselves, encouragement to do just that, and support fellow sisters. It give us a sense of support, that we are not alone in the experience, and there is something wrong and we can start to make it better by reclaiming ourselves.

I understand that poetry works differently for each reader, but this one is very powerful to me and I am very grateful for the opportunity to read it.

I haven’t read The Princess Saves Herself in This One, although it has been on my radar since it was published. I was thrilled to receive a copy of The Witch Doesn’t Burn in this One from the publisher and NetGalley – thank you!

I enjoyed this collection of poetry for several reasons. It is accessible to all (poetry lovers and haters alike) as the writing is straightforward. The shortness of each poem drives the collection along quickly, and I swear the rapidness of my page-flipping could have started its own tiny fire of feminism. There were several poems that I bookmarked, including "get up, you are nobody’s doormat", "the plot twist we’ve all been waiting for", "warning I", "i refuse to pretend anymore", "fragile masculinity", and so many more (those are just the first 5 bookmarks of 17). This collection speaks to the troubling society we are currently living in and does not shy away from the uncomfortable. It is important and empowering, and I think it will speak to all women who read it (and perhaps some men).

This collection is not receiving a full five-star review from me, as I found some of the poems a bit repetitive and less substantial. These poems would have been good on their own, but within the context of the collection they fell a little flat. I also am starting to dislike the trend of putting the title at the end of the poem, as frequently done in this collection. I understand that writing the title in this way incorporates it into the body of the poem more and adds an extra punch to the poem, but I’m tired of it. However, this opinion has not impacted my rating of the collection, as it would be unfair to judge a stylistic choice based on my personal opinion.

Having read this collection, I am excited to go back to read Lovelace’s first collection and whatever she writes in the future.

I should probably know by now that this sort of poetry just isn't for me. If you're looking for inspiring sentiments and empowering(?) mini-narratives, you will probably enjoy this. If you expect poetry to play with language and structure in a compelling way, or to do more than echo the sorts of vaguely-insightful things we posted on Tumblr circa 2010, I think you can safely skip this one. These are simple poems in every sense. There doesn't seem to be all that much craft going on here. Perhaps there is some art to it, but if that intricacy is not visible to me as a reader, if it doesn't translate onto the page—well, it's difficult to give it credit for something that I can't see.

I don't intend to demean this book, its author, or this kind of poetry. I know that the first book in this series was wildly popular (especially among young women), and I understand why. It is certainly relevant to our current cultural moment. If it helps or inspires its audience, that's great! It just turns out that I am not part of that audience. Again, I probably should have known that going in. Reading inspirational quotes and self-help books has sort of an inverse effect on me, so this may very well be a "me" problem rather than a "the witch doesn't burn in this one" problem. It does strike me as a little sad that this book and its cousins (works by Rupi Kaur, etc.) are likely what comes to mind for a lot of readers when they hear someone say "feminist poetry." There is so much more, so much better out there. If this serves as an accessible entry-point to readers who are new to poetry, that's excellent. I just wish it were a bit more artistically refined.

Award-winning poet Amanda Lovelace is back with The Witch Doesn't Burn In This One, the follow up to The Princess Saves Herself In This One in the Women Are Some Kind Of Magic series. The collection of poems will be published on March 6th 2018 by Andrews McMeel Publishing.


Blurb:

The witch: supernaturally powerful, inscrutably independent, and now—indestructible. These moving, relatable poems encourage resilience and embolden women to take control of their own stories. Enemies try to judge, oppress, and marginalize her, but the witch doesn’t burn in this one


Lovelace commands language in a way that is dark and painful, yet holds beauty in the anger that permeates throughout the book. It's the wrath of a woman fed up with the shit she has been dealt, and that of her fellow women.


Her modern style of writing is at times blunt, raw and honestly shocking in a way that truly makes you think. It calls out society, rape culture, abuse and all things taboo and lays it bare in the powerful words she chooses.


With the current #MeToo and #TimesUp campaigns this book truly is a book worth reading when it comes to feminist poetry and the power of a woman's voice when we stand up for ourself, when we decided enough is enough.


I throughly enjoyed reading this book. The language and emotion Lovelace uses had me in tears and laughter several times. Her poetry is relatable, and unabashedly forward when she talks about the problems women, and the world, face in changing our views on a mirriad of topics.


The message here is clear, and Lovelace is screaming it from the rooftops; we are powerful and we will not burn.


4.5/5 stars


I received this eARC in exchange for an honest review. Thoughts expressed are purely my own.

Amanda Lovelace has once again made an inspiring masterpiece. For me, The Witch doesn't burn in this one is by far my favorite out of her work. The way she handled such sensitive topic in a raw and inspiring way makes this book all the more relatable. You can feel the pain, you can sense the struggles, and the anger, and the sadness..everything. It inspires girls to stand for themselves, to work together to achieve everything that has been taken from us. We as women are the worst coven and nobody should mess with us because we bite back. One may not be into poetry, but I truly recommend this book.