"you cannot
have a funeral
for your mother
without also
having a funeral
for yourself."
- it's time to begin the procession.

I gotta admit, I cried when I read this. I'm a crybaby when it comes to sad family matters and I even tear up at the happy ones.

Anyways, this was really good and I loved it a lot compared to the first book. It mostly focuses on the relationship of the author with her mother that had passed away. It's filled with hurt but love for her mom regardless of all the things that happened between them. Some parts is her relationship with her sister filled with healing each other and other parts are self worth and small parts are her typical love poems/broken self poems.

Some of my favorites:

"i wish
i had known
i was never
going to
see you again
because i would have
spent more time
clinging to the good
we did have
instead of
clinging to the bad
i couldn't
change."
- what eats me alive.

"i'm afraid i'll be just like you.
i'm afraid i'll be nothing like you."
- my empress in reverse.

"people keep asking me if i love you or hate
you. the answer has never been as simple
as a yes or no. of course i love you, but i hate
so much of what you did."
- tug of war.

and finally:

"your
comfort
is not
more
important
than
my journey
to
healing."
- i will never live a life of quiet again.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with the digital copy for an honest review.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review which has not altered my opinion of this book.

This is such an interesting way of going, and it isn’t something that I feel as though I have read an extensive amount about. This follows ms. lovelace as she reflects on her bad relationship with her now-deceased mother. This is something that many people can identify with, I am not personally one, but I still found myself completely getting drawn into the prose. It’s so well done! 5 out of 5 from me.

Amanda Lovelace is the epitome of poetic greatness and I will read anything and everything she writes until the end of time. Period.

it's just the same as her other books. The topics are the same and i really fell sad for her story with her mother, but that's all.

The style was kinda repetitive (as her other books). I read a lot of good poetry books the last couple of months, so i was dissappointed in this book.

I love Amanda Lovelace's poetry so much! This book mainly focuses on her relationship with her mother. This topic was a bit difficult for me, but I still really liked the book.

I don't read poetry that much, so it's always hard for me to rate/judge a poetry book.

I like Amanda Lovelace's writing and I do think she's a very talented writer, whose works are very creative and intense.

In this one, even though it's a very raw and dense portrait of toxic relationships with your loved ones since childhood and how that might have an awful impact in adulthood, I loved how she gave a voice for people who want a chance, for people who won't conform and who want to change toxic patterns, and that it's possible to love yourself and others even when there was only dark in your path.

Thanks NetGalley for providing a free e-copy in exchange for an honest review

This is the second volume in the things that h(a)unt series. The first volume was dedicated to the relationship between the author and an abusive ex-partner, whereas this one focuses on the one between the author and her mother. She died some years ago and the author gives closure to their relationship through poetry, as she could not have it while her mother was alive (thus the reference on the title, the "ghost" being her mother).

It is divided in three parts: ghost-mother, ghost-daughter and sun-showers. Respectively, they consist of cathartic poems related to the bad aspects of her mother as such, of herself as a daughter, and her final coming to terms with her death and their relationship.

The poetry in itself was good. I cannot personally relate very much, but some poems touched me more than others. I can relate to the middle part, seeing myself as a daughter, and some of the poems in the other parts, regarding a not-so-good relationship between a mother and a daughter. I do not know what it feels like to have a parent passing; I can only imagine it and yet I wouldn't be even close to the real thing.

I would recommend it to people struggling with the death of a mother, or parent, or people who have a bad relationship with them, so that they can act before it is too late, when the chance to say either sorry or goodbye is gone forever.

I LOVE Amanda Lovelace's poetry collections and "to drink coffee with a ghost" is no different! Another brilliantly written set of poems that deals with the nuances of everyday life that many readers can relate to. I don't usually by books of poetry, but I am really wanting to get the whole set of Amanda Lovelace poetry collections! Anxiously awaiting any other books she has planned for the future!

This book expired before I had the chance to finish it. I will therefore give it a midling range for what I read.

I really Loved reading To Drink Coffee with a Ghost! I have read some of her other poetry and loved it and this collection was just as good. Her poetry collections always make you feel so many emotions when you read them. I can't wait to read more poetry from her!

This collection was touching. There were parts that were devastating and parts that were so wholesome. She really poured her heart into this one, but it didn’t come across as shouty. It was simply a letter to a mother who wasn’t there anymore and maybe never was there in a way that she needed it. And the artwork is stunning!

This is one of my favorite book of poems that I read this year. The book itself is a journey. It’s a commemoration of love, self love, respect and embracing the flaw you.

This book deserves a recognition for being genuine and raw. Totally worth it!

I enjoy modern poetry and Amanda Lovelace's work has been some of my favorite. Her new book "to drink coffee with a ghost" is a collection mainly inspired by her difficult relationship with her late mother .

While Lovelace's work often touches on difficult and topics, it is beautiful, relatable and deeply poignant. She uses poetry as a way to work through the things she's dealt with in life, and while my own experiences are different from the author's I found it relevant and believe it could be for anyone who is dealing with or has dealt with loss and strained family relationship.

Her poetry is raw and lyrical at the same time, and can be quite emotional to read.

Usually I like to savor poetry and will leisurely flips through a book rather than reading it all at once However, I was lucky enough to be given this ebook to review and read it straight through in an hour or so. But, let's be real; Lovelace's work and is compelling enough to devour in this way, though it is definitely something I will enjoy revisiting later.

Thanks to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the advance copy.

* I was given an ARC of this book by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review *

I fell in love with Amanda Lovelace and her poetry when I read The Princess Saves Herself in This One. However, it definitely set the bar high and the rest of her work was sometimes harder to relate to and it didn't always live up to her first work. When I began this one, I was worried that might be the case because I couldn't directly relate to the experiences she was writing about. I quickly found though that that didn't really matter. Her style and message spoke beyond the actual subject matter and moved me in the same way things I can directly relate to do. That is not something that happens often and is what causes me to read only what I can directly relate to. This was a very nice surprise and speaks to the power of Lovelace's voice. It was also a nice reminder of the universality of the human experience, whether we have direct experience or not. Lovelace's feelings were real and were ones I could identify in my own life.

Also reviewed at: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2989717273?book_show_action=false

While the subject matter of death and grieving is something important to talk about, and this collection was very cathartic, the actual writing style and structure really took away from this collection's over all message for me.

This is a beautiful and heartbreaking collection looking at parental relationships and loss. I cried even though I could not personally relate to almost anything in this collection. Lovelace's grief and pain ooze off the page and the reader can truly feel it.

I am such a fan of Amanda's poetry and really enjoyed this one.

Disclaimer: I was given an advance reading copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Andrews McMeel Publishing for the opportunity.

Amanda Lovelace has done it again! I keep falling in love with her poetry and I can now say that I'm really adding her to my favorite poets of all time! to drink coffee with a ghost was written in the same style that really screams Amanda Lovelace!

This time she lets out another side of her to the world. It's personal, moving and emotionally-driven. I wouldn't be shocked if others will also relate to her and her words. This is one of her best works and this deserves a spot on my shelf!

I requested this arc, because I already owned To Make Monsters Out of Girls and thought I could just read them both then. I then read the first one in this "series" last month and with that already I realised these are deeply personal stories that just won't be relatable to everyone.

I can't say which one of these I enjoyed more. I definitely felt more emotion in this one, so if you wanted to check out one, I suggest picking To Drink Coffee with a Ghost. This is a truly touching story about a difficult mother-daughter relationship, and how these kinds of things can affect us forever.

The messages in this book weren't at all relatable to me, since I have a very good relationship with my mother, but I could get into it and understand where the author was coming from.

If you like modern poetry or just enjoy Amanda Lovelace in general, I can definitely recommend checking this poetry collection out. There are quite some beautiful poems in there and the illustrations are stunning as always.

I really liked this book and the duology in general. It definitely made me feel a variety of emotions and even brought a tear to my eye a few times.
I didn’t entirely connect with each page and each poem but I felt a strong connections to the poems that I did relate and connect to.
Overall, I really enjoyed this one and Amanda Lovelace’s writing. I’m excited to see what else they have in store in the future!

3/5 stars

[Review will be posted on Reader Voracious Blog on 9/17/19.]

This is going to be a far more personal review than I ever thought I would be comfortable sharing, but here we are. This poetry collection hit me right in the feels and I shed many a tear while reading it. There is something about Lovelace's poetry which resonates with me and I need to have a shelf dedicated to her work.

Just as I needed the mermaid's voice returns in this one, I needed to drink coffee with a ghost. "What happens when someone dies before they're able to redeem themselves?" is the main question that Lovelace investigates with to drink coffee with a ghost. I think it's safe to say that we are all haunted by some parts of our past: people who caused intense and lasting hurt or events which changed us forever.

"lately, it seems like everywhere i look, i find daughters haunted by something their mothers did to them. we tell each other we would raise our daughters differently. we would do this while wondering if our mothers made the same promises to themselves.
- ghost-mother"

This duology's installment explores Lovelace's complicated relationship with her now-deceased mother. While my own mother is still alive on this planet, her general disinterest in being a mother and subsequent abandonment when I was thirteen has largely shaped my life. I don't know that words will ever adequately express the twenty-two years of pain and feeling like something was wrong with me. I just wish that I had some positive memories, too. But complicated we have in spades, my friends.

"the little girl was so desperate to feel loved, to feel like she existed at all, that she took anything that she could get, even if it was nothing but a bunch of make-believe.
- don't accept scraps"

When a toxic person is no longer in your life, either through death or just cutting them out completely (or them running off), there are a lot of unresolved feelings. What ifs. Thousands of conversations you would have if given the chance. But at some point we become shackled by those unspoken words and decades pass us by, irrevocably changed.

While I loved the entire collection, I particularly appreciated sun showers and the hope that comes from acceptance. The fact that we cannot change what has happened but do have control over our own futures is something I need to focus on more in my life.

There are illustrations by Munise Sertel throughout the collection which are absolutely stunning, I love their art style! I also really loved how Lovelace's love of books and adventure through them is a running theme through the three sections of this collection. I think a lot of us read to escape the pain of real life.

Lovelace's poetry collections speak to me on a very deep level, unearthing hurt long since buried and healing as I read. That's the thing about trauma: it stays with you, shapes you and your life, with or without your recognizing it. And while my experiences never edged on the abuse she writes about, I see myself and my suffering through her words.

Content warnings: (provided by author) child abuse, eating disorders, sexual assault, self-harm, violence, cheating, death, gore, blood, trauma, grief

Many thanks to Andrews McMeel Publishing for sending me an eARC via Netgalley for my honest review! Quotations are from an uncorrected proof and are subject to change in final publication.