I thought this was a great poetry book. I love how the verses tell a story. I liked the idea of the pros and cons of everything a girl might be going through. I also thought it was interesting that it was in 3 parts. I also loved the illustrations in the book. I also how she talked about feminism and not in your face way, but in the empowering way.

This was an empowering collection of poems that will provide perspective, strength, and encouragement to the young women trying to find herself. I have preferred some of her other collections, but this is just right for the young woman needing encouragement, finding strength on her own. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy.

Synopsis: A collection of poetry with a fairy-tale theme regarding women empowerment.

 

Review: Beautifully written, empowering, and so relatable! I loved the aspect of the fairy godmother, she provides the much-needed support we all deserve. Her poems empower you to love yourself and not rely on anyone else for the comfort you require.

 

5/5

 

Thank you Netgallery and Andrews McMeel Publishing for my advanced reader copy for an honest review. This book was published on March 17, 2020.

I’m not an experienced poetry reader but this year I’m trying to branch out towards other genres, and the theme of Break your glass slippers resonated with me, so I wanted to give it a try. The message of female empowerment is great and it comes across strongly.

I also really liked the aesthetic of the book. Some nice drawings and interesting page settings. The lack of capitals for me took some getting used to. The story of Cinderella is taking as the base of the poems, which had a modern style where everything is discussed directly, which I quite liked.

I guess this was my favorite one:

there is nothing
unfeminist
about the girl
who chooses
the ball gown
& the prince.

there is everything
unfeminist
about those
who try to
shame her for
her choices.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

"time + distance + prioritizing yourself
- this is how you move on."

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

Break Your Glass Slippers is the first book in the new series of Amanda Lovelace called You Are Your Own Fairy Tale.

The message this book trying to convey is a strong one. Unfortunately, for me, this one lacks magic.

I loved Amanda Lovelace's last series of poetry, Women are Some Kind of Magic. This poetry collection takes a feminist slant on the themes of Cinderella and focuses on modern topics of toxic masculinity and self-care/self-love.

Not as immediately quotable as my favourite Amanda Lovelace poetry collection, The Witch Doesn't Burn in This One but definitely something you should check out if you like modern poetry and Cinderella.

“her precious fairy tales showed her what would happen if she found her prince, but they never prepared her for what she should do if her prince turned out to be her unhappily ever after.”

I hate reviewing poetry, since it’s so subjective—so I’m going to keep this one short and sweet. This is a super quick read that I enjoyed well enough, but that I don’t think is particularly going to stick with me. I just didn’t feel like it ever did much more than scratch the surface of its concept. The illustrations inside were beautiful, though, and there were some passages like the one I quoted above that made me stop and think. Read if you love poetry and/or fairy tales 🏰

Reading Amanda Lovelace's poems is like having coffee with your best friend - supportive, affirming, and while sometimes serious, it is always uplifting. She has written several collections before, and also writes mini poems on Twitter (her handle is @ladybookmad if you want to check them out). I was already a huge fan of her previous work, women are some kind of magic, and after reading her newest book, I must say that break your glass slippers is also some kind of magic.
Check out my review at: https://chloescully01.wixsite.com/thebrokebookblog/post/break-your-glass-slippers-amanda-lovelace

I was unable to get a copy of this to save/ open in a format which I could access on my mobile device— I have kindle but have 2-3 additional options, just in case.

I will still give this a 5-star rating. I would not normally do so, but I am familiar with this author’s work and style.

In the first of her "You Are Your Own Fairytale" series, Amanda Lovelace gives Cinderella's story a new spin, imagining her with body issues and stuck in a toxic relationship with a fuckboy version of Prince Charming. Wracked with self-doubt, our heroine luckily has a Fairy Godmother on hand offering sage advice and words of encouragement that help her turn towards her own path less traveled.
What follows is a lesson in female empowerment, summed up in my favourite line from the book "I went from a single wildflower to a whole fucking meadow", as our protagonist spreads her wings and glows up. Entertaining, inspirational and highly accessible poetry. Highly recommended!

3.25 stars ⭐

So, you know when people say they have mixed feelings about something? Yeah... that's where I'm at.

It started bad, a particularly bad one was: "there are sisters who see each other as lifelong rivals when they should be seeing each other as lifelong allies, which is to say: some sisters are no sisters at all. Like??????? yeah, sis I know IT'S NOT THAT DEEP.

Honestly, I got really offended by that. It was like she thought I was so dumb that she just had to explain something SO simple.

After this I thought I should DNF... but I'm happy I didn't. It got really good, some were too real, my heart couldn't take it lol.
So now I'm quite conflicted, I was so sure that I was never gonna read anything by her again, and by the end of the book, she got me. This woman truly has magic.

This is the collection that I didn't know I needed until now. I have read many of Amanda Lovelace's works, but none of them resonated with me like this one did. I was expecting broad strokes of words upon the page - words that were just written down and broken into stanzas in order to be submitted for quick publication. However, that is not the exact case. Yes, some of the poems were. one or two sentences that the author noticeably pressed the "enter" button in order to create impromptu stanzas out of. No, that did not kill the main theme of the book and the multiple allusions to the original Cinderella fairy tale and atmosphere. In this poetic retelling/reimagining of the tale, Cinderella is portrayed as a woman who has experienced life's real traumas, a woman who is not desperately searching for a "Prince Charming" to complete her. Also, the author blends in her own personal experiences into her poetry - and by extension, my own personal traumas and experiences acquired during my lifetime so far.

It all comes down to personal connection. If you have experienced the same feelings that were laid out within the pages of Amanda Lovelace's "break your glass slippers," then this book is absolutely haunting (in a good way) and the remnants of the words will stick with you as you conquer your daily life for years to come. The words, stanzas, and poems included in this book spoke to me in ways that I did not. anticipate, but I am so glad that they did. I have reserved this at the library so I can read these words in my own hands, and so their magic may soak into my palms to blend with my own unique fingerprint forevermore.

There is so much here to unpack; unhealthy body image, abusive romantic relationships, toxic family relationships, and all of it with an underlying theme of real friendship, self-love, and empowerment. It is a beautiful and sometimes painful read. If I had access to a time machine, I'd go back and seek out fourteen year old me. I would give her a hug and a copy of this book.

Lowercase title? Check. Instagram-gram worthy cover? Of course. Good? 100%

From the very first poem, 'let me tell you a sad story' I was hooked. As much as I liked other popular poetry collections, notably 'milk and honey', I wanted to see an author breathe new life into this style of poetry. I wanted nuance, a sense that the structure was an important element in conveying the story.

First, the visual shape of the poetry creates an emphasis on the shapely human form, just as the titular character focuses on her own shape in contrast with the expectations around her. This is a collection about body image, about being a female in this day-in-age, in being conscious of your insecurities from a young age, heartbreak, Second, it was well written! I just want to thank the poetry gods for gifting us with some rhythm and shape. As someone drifted away from the poetry styles popularised by Rupi Kaur, I was pleasantly surprised by how this collection exceeded by expectations.

Amanda Lovelace is a poet I am looking forward to seeing a bit more of, and I for one am excited for the future of poetry in 2020!

This ARC has been provided by NetGalley and Andrew McMeel Publishing in exchange for an honest review

Thanks to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved this poetry book. It's very inspiring and having gone through similar toxic relationships before, I could totally relate to the prose. It was uplifting and actually gives great advice. I really enjoyed the fairy godmother sections and what she had to say about what the "princess" was going through.

I highly recommend this book to all people (I feel this is has good advice and foresight for all genders) who have been through challenges of heartbreak, losing self worth, identity, etc. This is a good books to read when you are feeling down and need a pep talk.

Loved loved it.

5/5

Break your glass slippers was a Cinderella retelling through poetry. It was filled with confident boosters teaching you how to love yourself and being independent. This book was good, it served its purpose.

The difficult thing about critiquing a poem us it can sometimes be hard because poetry doesn't have one form.
Poetry doesn't necessarily have one set of rules. You can choose to rhyme or not. You can have any structure you want.
Poetry has a lot to do with feeling, the harmony of words, the clarity of imagery and language, your style, creativity, originality, how you stick to the theme.

This book was indeed creative for no one would have imagined a Cinderella retelling through poetry. It was original because it didn't only tell us a story of Cinderella but told the story of Cinderella being independent. Sometimes I found that the theme wasn't being displayed but that didn't happen very often. There wasn't much imagery to me but there was language. Words harmonized without harmonizing in the sense that it wasn't rhyming but it was connecting. It was relatable.

ARC was given by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This review is being published on the release date (March 17th, 2020)

Content/Trigger Warnings: Child abuse, toxic relationships, toxic friendships, sexual harassment, eating disorders, body shaming, fat phobia, suicide, trauma, and more.

“You are limitless. You can have the lipstick. You can have the sword.”

It wasn’t that long ago that I finished To Drink Coffee with A Ghost and when I heard Amanda Lovelace had a new poetry book coming out, it felt like my heart almost stopped. I love Lovelace’s work with my whole heart and soul. Her poetry has a way to see into the deepest layers of my heart and say, “You’re not alone. I see you.” Needless to say, I all but fell in love with this book like I have past works by her’s.

In this poetry collection, the main focus in body positivity and addressing the way we can see ourselves when we don’t fit the mold society or relationships want for us. There’s also a lot of reaffirmation of loving oneself regardless of what others think. Each negative moment highlighted in this book, was countered acted with poems of love, kindness, and caring. This collection is truly a love letter to all those who feel like they are unworthy because of the way they have been treated by toxic influences in their life.

“You don’t need to look a certain way to deserve someone’s heart.

No matter your shape-

No matter your size-

Be proud of all the space your body dares to take up.”

On top of the way the author counteracts the negative poems with love poems, she also structured this poem collection in a clever and that will allow the reader to really appreciate it. Each poem of positive advice or love is from the fairy godmother perspective. She has the fairy godmother set up as an inner voice as a way to remind the reader to love oneself, to cherish the people who love and appreciate you, and really added that element of a loving parent who is trying to guide their child. It was really creative and it was one of the most captivating pieces of this collection.

I also have to say how beautiful the art was in this book, as well! There are these breaks in the book of a night sky with a moon and they are absolutely stunning. Every drawing in this book is beautiful, but I truly loved that the author included these night sky pieces. They are very dreamy and really set the mood for the book. Plus, it’s something to help ease the emotions you may feel while reading this book.

My only issue from this collection was wanting just a little more pull on the emotional side. In past works, the author has a way of really pulling the emotions out of the reader. However, this collection didn’t pull as much of an emotional reaction as I thought it would have. It still stirred a lot of feelings, a lot of memories, and a lot of thoughts with my reading experience, but when it comes to this author, I always anticipate tears and sniffles. Regardless, I still enjoyed my time reading each poem even if there weren’t any tears this time around.

Overall, I love Lovelace’s work. I say it all the time, but she is one of the the few authors who can tear down all my walls and show my scars for the world to see. I think I will always have a soft spot for Lovelace’s work and if someone were to ask me why I enjoy her work so much, I think I would say, “Her work means everything to me.” I can’t wait to pick up a physical copy of this book and add it to my personal poetry collection. And if you’re someone who needs a love letter of body positivity and self-love, then you definitely need to pick up a copy of this book yourself! I truly do recommend this book with my heart, my soul, and my everything because you can really tell that Lovelace understands the reader and what they have endured.

The quotes above were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.

This is my favourite poetry collection by Lovelace so far! I've read her Women Are Some Kind of Magic series and really enjoyed reading it, but Break Your Glass Slippers definitely provoked more emotions. I dare say that this collection spoke to me most out of all her work I've read. I loved the self-love and female empowerment themes and how Lovelace used the fairy godmother to teach us all that putting ourselves first should always be our priority. Furthermore, the collection contained some beautiful illustrations that made the collection only more lovely to read. I'll certainly be looking forward to the other books that this new series will bring! I only rated this 4 stars instead of 5 because it just wasn't my favourite poetry collection ever, but that certainly doesn't mean that it wasn't a really really good one that I would absolutely recommend!

I love Amanda Lovelace's writing. It's empowering and magical. I finished it really quickly and as usual her poetry leaves some food for thought

I definitely loved it! Always a fan of Amanda’s style of poetry and break your glass slippers is another collection that did not disappoint!