Amanda Lovelace does it again! This series is still not my favorite next to her women are some kind of magic series but I also just can’t get enough of her words and this series is still amazing no doubt about it!

"the ways in which they suffer themselves is not an excuse to make you suffer in return."

This book! Wow! I am never more thankful to Netgalley than I am now. Her previous poetry books immediately went on to my to-read list. As soon as I saw this book on NetGalley, I took it! I finished this in 20 mins but every single second with this book caught me in a spell and kept me spellbound!

The second in the duology of 'the things that h(a)unt', to drink a coffee with a ghost unravels the memory of the complicated relationship the author had with her now-deceased mother. She talks about how her mother was not present to her in the time of need, and now, her mother is gone before she can redeem herself and maybe, forgiven by her daughter. The book is divided into 3 categories: ghost-mother, ghost-daughter and sun-showers. Every poem has a sense of pain, strength and hope. Ghost-mother explores the complicated relationship with her mother, ghost-daughter explores the sense of healing and becoming her own person and sun-showers explores the healing, embracing love and freedom.

I am literally in the loss for words for this book! The illustrations are so pleasing. I loved the imagery and metaphors. I loved how each poem struck a chord in my heart and intrigued me. I found this book to be empowering, mainly the third part which had some really remarkable pieces, one of them being:
"to underestimate women is bad enough by itself, but i imagine anyone who does must not know many sisters - together, we are strong as hell." I love how every writers, artists and cast/crew of the movies are focusing on this sort of empowerment in women because it is needed! Everyone tries to get us against each other but we have to stand united, we are strong as hell. It feels like the world is becoming beautiful, bit by bit, day by day. This is the content I live for! I found the first two sections relatable of to an extent and it made my journey through this book a magical one! I also loved the part where she talks about books. That turned out to be the most relatable poem! I have said this before and I will say it again: I love it when I get to have a glimpse of something personal in writing. It reminds me that everyone suffers in a way and to be a gentle and kind soul. This book made me feel more of that!

Lovelace says so little but has the knack of saying it compellingly. She is definitely one of the best writers of our time. I feel like she is so underrated! I will surely be reading her other works now. This book has scored a place in the nooks of my heart! This is just the best! I love it!

Recommended: To every single one of you out there, read this! This might be the book which you would have not known it is needed until you read this! It has triggering content and it is mentioned at the beginning of the book.

In "To Drink Coffee with a Ghost", Amanda shows once again her power to transform memories and feelings into beautiful poems.

Like her other books, this isn't an easy one to read, I would recommend you to take your time with it, and not attempt to read it in one sit because there is a lot of heavy, emotional content that could be a lot to take all at once.
One thing that caught me by surprise in the best possible way is the gorgeous illustrations by Munise Sertel (@mns_art ). They look so alive and full of colors. This was a great addition to an already amazing book.
a couple of my favorites poems are:
-what’s truly important -life is not a pass or fail
-your own future -finding new meaning
-the letter i cannot send - not before i mend my own wing
-this has always been the secret to our survival
-because you’re never truly alone with a book
-never will i forget again.
-sun-showers.
-chasing emily.
-maybe that’s why i write.
-my ledger

This was by far my favorite, and in my opinion, Amanda’s best poetry collection as of yet and i have read and loved them all!

There wasn’t anything that I didn’t love about this book. I mean, what’s not to love? The writing, the illustrations, & did I mention the writing?

I have always loved Amanda’s writing and poetry, and something from each of her books has stuck with me in some way, but I feel that this collection really shines a spotlight on just how good of a writer she is, and shows that she has only gotten better at her craft.

This collection is written in an ethereal and raw manner and is centered around grief, family, trauma, love, complicated mother/daughter relationships, and the ghosts that haunt and affect us.

This is very obviously a deeply personal collection for Amanda, as it is about her own deeply rooted trauma and life experiences, and because of that, surely, also a very cathartic writing experience. As a reader, I have to say that it was a very cathartic reading experience for me as well. While my past, trauma, and ghosts may differ from Amanda’s, I still related to this book so much and there were so many instances where I felt like Amanda had read my innermost thoughts and felt everything I had ever felt during the worst of my grief and bled them onto the pages of this book.

This book, just like her previous ones, was so inspiring, and while it may sound like this is simply a very dark poetry book about grief and all the horror and sorrow it brings, it is also equal parts about healing and coming out of the darkness and finding both yourself and happiness again.

Grief is suffocating. Grief is heavy. It is a ghost that will follow you around in one way or another for the rest of your life, But that doesn’t mean that you have to let it consume you and take over your life. You are allowed to be happy and find peace, and this book is a hopeful reminder that healing is real and it is possible no matter what trauma may lay in your past.

Thank you for delivering yet another uniquely, beautifully written poetry collection Amanda, and i cannot wait to see what you have in store for us next.

I've read all of Amanda's previous works and I've always been a fan of her writing style. I must say that "To Drink a Coffee with a Ghost" is by far my favourite of her publications. I was really excited to get an ARC for it and it did not disappoint!
This book deals mainly with the topic of losing a parent prematurely. It also explores the intricate relationship the author had with her deceased mother. On a deep level, Amanda Lovelace puts herself in a vulnerable position for the greater good. She shares with her audience the conflict of loving her mother while resenting her for being an abusive role-model.
She also shares the hopeful and joyful moments she felt and how to navigate the ups and downs life has to offer.
I connected even more with Amanda Lovelace as she was able to put into words some of my past experiences.
I've always had a profound appreciation for Amanda and this book confirmed it even more so!
I would 100% recommend anyone to read this.

This was a beautiful collection of Lovelace's poetry touching topics such as grief, abuse, self-harm, and trauma. I really enjoyed this collection. The words of Lovelace touch my soul. She writes in a way that pulls the reader in especially if you've been victim to any of the experiences she illustrates. Her poetry is tragically beautiful. Lovelace is an auto-read author for me because of how emotional connected one gets to her words. If you have trouble connecting to your emotions, just read an Amanda Lovelace work and you'll find your connection real quick.

This was beautiful and needed. As someone whose very loving parent became a literal ghost early on, but who is also partnered with someone & also parents a teen who both have figurative and objectively bad 'ghosts' as bio parents, the duality of the author's grief hit me straight in the guts. Thank you, Amanda. I will be sharing this.

I just loved this book. This was definitely my favourite of the series, maybe because I lost my mother many years ago. The writing was beautiful and the illustrations were gorgeous. I imagine this to be a book to take off your shelf and read parts over again and again, and maybe even to just look at the pictures. Beautifully done.

Another great collection from amanda lovelace. The illustrations are beautiful (and less creepy than the ones in the other half of this duology). The deep and conflicting emotions in all of these poems resonated with me. I have never seen eye-to-eye with my mother, and this collection has awoken a sense of warning in me; to fix things before its' too late. It seems that amanda lovelace can cover any subject she sets her mind to in a unique and powerful way. I'm eager to see what she does next.

*Thank you Net Galley, for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.*

This is as lovely as all of Amanda Lovelace's other collections, with vivid (figurative) imagery and gorgeous autumn-colored artwork and raw emotion. It didn't resonate with me as strongly as some of the others have — in part because I have been fortunate not to experience toxic familial relationships or losing my parents or this specific kind of siblinghood — but it has that unmistakable honest vulnerability that characterizes Lovelace's work, at least in my mind.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you NetGalley.

Amanda Lovelace is EVERYTHING. She is talented. Her work is beautiful. And her books NEVER disappoint. to drink coffee with a ghost is no different. Amazing.

* I recieved a free copy of this book in exchange of my honest review *
So I basically read all Amada lovelace's works and ... well the last two were such let downs . The first book in this series is probably on the top of my favourite poetry collection so I was anticipating this and waiting for it to come out . I got the chance to read it before the release date so I was lucky .
This rating is not in any criticising or judging what this author have been through , it's just that It was as if I was disconnected from the collection . I was just reading it not feeling anything which I guess from me not necessarily from the content. These last days , reading modern poetry has become a torture and a waste of time . I feel like the language is very average and that it's just some random thoughts that the author collected in a book . I felt it reading this book as well eventhough the poet evoked a very personal experience. I will recommend it for people who loved her works , I guess they will adore this one . For me it's I guess the last book I read from this author.

I got this book as an eARC from netgalley to review.

I have read a few poetry books by this author in the past and while they were good, they never really stuck with me. This book however really be deep in my heart. I haven’t lost a parent but even the idea of it stings. I could feel the grief Amanda experiences. I marked so so many poems that really stuck with me. Now I will have to go back and read the first book in this series because this was so good.

I  received a free digital copy of this book from Netgalley for an honest review.

This is my fourth book from this author and I enjoyed it. The poems definitely hits as deep as her other collections. She split her emotions wide open and slapped them onto the page.

to drink coffee with a ghost is a heavier take on grief. I'd recommend not picking this up if you're looking for something to uplift your spirits. It has well-developed themes and ideas within its verses, but it focuses on the darkest parts of grief and abuse while still not fully cannonballing into the deep end. As someone who has lost a parent, it did get hard to read at times. Don't read it all in one go. Take your time with it. But, if you're not fully healed with your grief--not that there's an expiration date to it--don't pick this up. Save yourself the sorrow.

2.5 review. my copy was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have loved all of Amanda Lovelace's books, and To Drink Coffee with a Ghost is no different. She writes beautifully and so emotionally that I cannot help but feel the emotions along side her. I cannot wait to read more from her!

"they proved
to me
that sometimes -
just sometimes -
people do not
leave
- my reliable forever.
🍁🍁🍁
This collection is about the author's love-hate relationship with her mother who died of cancer. I appreciate the trigger warning page.

This poetry collection is divided into three parts. Part 1 is "ghost mother", which talks about toxic mother-daughter relationship. Part 2 is
"ghost daughter", which talks about being your own person. And Part 3 is "sun showers", which talks about letting go and being free.

This one feels too personal for me, I can relate on almost everything. It talks about the child who has gone through not being accepted and the emotions that go along with it.

In the end, this book also gives hope for the future.

It was a beautiful collection. The illustrations were also gorgeous.

The ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This one is definitely one of my most favorite poem collections Amanda Lovelace has written (along with The Witch Doesn't Burn in this one). Eventhough I try to read as many new poem authors as I can, Lovelace has always been my favorite one. Not only her poems are very personal and emotional heavy, they also speak to me. I can't relate to author in a sense of losing my own mum, but I have very close relationship with her and I can imagine such a pain in losing her. Some of the poems made me tear up which doesn't happen very often. Very well written, I can't wait to read much from Amanda.

I received an ebook copy of this poetry book via net-galley in exchange for an honest review. Once again Lovelace manages to hit you in the feels, it follows the complications of losing someone who has hurt you, who hasn't redeemed their selves in your eyes. Lovelace is a master at pulling at ones emotions, at encouraging self reflection and journaling.

Poetry is always a difficult read. However, I enjoyed these poems a lot.
I would like to thank the publisher and netgalley for giving me a chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.