I absorbed all the fairy tales and Disney movies as a child, dreaming of balls and elaborate dresses and princely rescues and happily-ever-afters in ornate castles.

Then I began to return to these same stories as an adult, and then as a mother, and I found them wanting. We are meeting these women who are beautiful and kind and accomplished, and we are watching them fixate on a hero to save them from their circumstances. They are not enough in themselves. There is little depth to these meetings, but the love-at-first-sight and the destiny of it all is never questioned, albeit their interactions are shallow and cursory at best. Why do we hold them up as virtuous and to be emulated? Why don't we find better examples of true friendship and partnership and aspire to such a life?

break your glass slippers is a book of poetry to address this head-on. Amanda Lovelace frames the first section of the book of our modern-day Cinderella as an Everywoman character. Poems alternate from Cinderella's perspective and the Fairy Godmother. The Cinderella character is fixated on her prince, on his attention, on pleasing him, while the Fairy Godmother speaks truth and affirms Cinderella, to counter the judgments and criticisms from the prince. Her adages are a balm to Cinderella, as she comes to her senses to the reality of her relationship.

The rest of the book is Cinderella gaining confidence, discovering her inner strength and her self-worth, whatever the scale may say or whatever society may deem as success. This story is not a literal Cinderella with the magical coach, but it was a useful analogy to navigating worthiness and importance, and the Fairy Godmother being an inner voice speaking truth was a logical step.

I read this in one sitting when looking for some poetry; there are some swears in the book, if you are sensitive to such things, but I thought they didn't detract and worked at emphasizing pivotal changes taking place.

(I received a digital ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.)

There were some interesting entries here, and I liked the idea of incorporating work from poet friends and contemporaries along the same themes. But ultimately, Lovelace isn't breaking any new ground here, with either the subject matter or writing style/use of language. These types of books are becoming very repetitive and less creative.

Just about every page in this book could or should be a mantra for any woman who lacks confidence, self-esteem or has uncertainty dealing with a partner. As an example, she says Fat is not an insult and skinny is not a compliment, they are just sizes. The book is a lot of explaining that you are perfect just the way you are! Read this book! You will be glad you did.

I absolutely adore Amanda Lovelace's poetry, and I'm happy to say that this book is as good as all her others. Absolutely amazing!

gods some of that poetry REALLY hurts but like in a good kind of way? yes it hits us hard but it shows us we are NOT alone feeling like this, we are together and we can be so much stronger and i may have tear up at some of the poems but who can blame me? i needed to read that, it felt good, especially the bits from the fairy godmother. more self love thank you very much.

I’m never certain how I feel about this kind of confessional writing, when an author lays themselves bare in an upfront and clear fashion. It would be a lie to say I’ve never drawn on personal experience in writing my own books, but the memory or emotion that I use is hidden beneath layers of worldbuilding and plotline so that it is almost unrecognisable (often, even to myself). Lovelace says in the author’s note of Break Your Glass Slippers—a series of poems that form a story of self-acceptance and self-love—that the drew on her own experiences in crafting this work. And as one traverses the delicate phrasing of each poem, it feels increasingly like trespassing into a private diary.

With that in mind, there is something incredibly brave about being so honest in putting to paper the thoughts that traverse the mind and the, at-times, very ugly relationship one can have with oneself. In recent years, this has become increasingly common, especially for writers of so-called ‘instapoetry’. I would argue that Lovelace’s work is a cut above the strings of words that can be found under the one of the many relevant hashtags on Instagram (I’m won’t list any here because I don’t want to subject you to them). For one, Lovelace takes her personal experience and broadens it into a universalised narrative about women undervaluing themselves and navigating a fraught path to remedying this. Additionally, Break Your Glass Slippers does indeed follow a narrative thread, with each poem offering a piece of this story. That alone made it an enjoyable, easy read, as the poems built upon what came before, interplaying in theme and idea, making this more than a mere collection but a genuine story.

Perhaps one of the things which remains a sticking point for me is the claim that this is a Cinderella retelling. While there are elements that draw upon the essential story elements of the Perrault/Brothers Grimm Cinderella that we know (largely thanks to the Disney adaptations), because I knew this was a derivation, I kept making mental comparisons to the original. This drew me out of the experience of reading through the poems as though they were a piece of work in their own right. While Lovelace’s schtick is retelling and reinterpreting classic fairytales, this one seems to deviate quite far from the very established events of the Cinderella story which was a bit jarring. Nevertheless, there were some pleasing engagements and inversions of aspects which are present in the original fairytale. For one, the idea of a toxic family relationship is interestingly portrayed. Further, the portrayal of ‘Prince Charming’ intersects with relatively recent discussion and critique of the idea that the magic solution to a woman’s disempowerment is the attention of a man. This was one of the fresher depictions I’ve seen thanks in large part to the form and the delicate word choices of Lovelace. The thoughtful deconstruction of the sense of being ‘saved’ from being unnoticed, alone, and unloved by a man seemingly sensitive enough to see what others don’t is done masterfully, pulling tropes that are uncomfortably familiar to too many people in servicing a broader point – that the only person who really needs to see your value is you.

Complimenting the poem-story is a series of beautiful illustrations that force pause and allow the reader to contemplate the words. They’re a lovely touch, and the full page pictures complete the experience of the story.

Ultimately, Break Your Glass Slippers is a thought provoking collection of poems that cohesively tell a story asking us to see our own value and beauty beneath whatever dirt others may have put there. Having read a lot of mediocre poetry within the course of my work, this is definitely not it, and it is a fitting addition to the other work for which Lovelace has been so rightfully praised.

As a HUGE fan of Amanda Lovelace, this did not disappoint one bit. Lovelace’s poetry always leaves me beaten, broken, bruised, and completely reborn with a new love for myself. Perfect for curling up on a rainy day.

This is the fourth book of poetry I’ve read by Amanda Lovelace and I can say without a doubt that this one was my favourite. I love that it was a collection of poetry based on Cinderella. The poetry in this book was set up so well and I related to so many of the poems. The fairy godmother poems after each poem provided a healthy perspective for each negative one. I look forward to the next book in this series.

Name: Break Those Glass slippers
Author: Amanda Lovelace
Genre: Poetry
Ratings: 4.5/5
Review: The begins with beautiful illustrations in the beginning and throughout the book.. I really liked how the poet signed the introduction "laced with love". Starting with a sad story of the girl who learnt to sing within the walls of her room and even a sadder story of the girl who learnt to dance behind curtains. The poetess has gracefully presented the story of a new Cinderella in verses. Poems are sequenced alternatively with contrasting Cinderella's story and what her fairy Godmother says. It has a true feminist and empowering feels. Amanda Lovelace returns some elements from her previous series "Women are some kind of magic". Amanda's poetry always makes me feel like it's just me, which makes me realize that we are all bonded together with this thread of commonness. After reading four books by Amanda, I have realised that there is no need to be embarrassed of being a believer of fairy tales, of princesses, of magic, of ourselves. The poet often writes about social prejudices against women, she helps us to realize our worth and makes us feel empowered. She fills us with courage and power to take the world on our own. This book deals with many issues like sexual harassment, self abuse as well as topics like self love, women empowerment, self care, healing, moving on, etc. Overall this book is your own form of self healing and a must read for all the women out there..

As always, pure perfection. I love Amanda Lovelace's words. Her poetry burrows into your heart and all you can do is feel as you consume every last drop of beauty. Beautifully done.

I discovered Amanda Lovelace completely by accident. My best friend and I were poking around a bookstore on my birthday trip to London and she turned around with two books, and we decided to pick them up. That was 'the princess saves herself in this one' and 'the witch doesn't burn in this one'. We marathon read them both, and totally loved them. It drove me into my love affair with contemporary poetry, and 'witch' is one of my favourite poetry books. It felt like every single poem made me feel seen. The second series, Things that Haunt, didn't connect with me as fully as the first, but that didn't put me off from immediately requesting and devouring 'break your glass slippers'. glass slippers is a poetic Cinderella retelling, where we're all a little bit Cinderella. I absolutely loved it.

This poetry collection is empowering and strongly feminist. It's a very personal thing to read poetry like this, as it's a kind of catharsis. There are some poems I didn't connect with, love poems, but that's to be expected. I haven't experienced the same things as Amanda Lovelace, so I won't see everything the same way. Still, there were some that I connected with very deeply and I loved the body-positive poetry as well as the messages of falling in love with yourself first. It felt like this was very original Lovelace again, where I felt like Things That Haunt was intent on mimicking her earlier success, the retelling aspect of this collection made the content feel fresh and new, and gave a whole new lens to look at the poetry from. I hope that the rest of this series is equally as beautiful and motivating, and I can't wait to see what other fairy tale retellings she tackles next.

3.5 stars

maybe I was never given a fairy godmother who
turned a pumpkin into an enchanted carriage
that took me straight to my happily ever after.
but I no longer make excuses, I drink pumpkin
spice lattes, & I check things off my to-do list.
I handle things that I never, ever could have
handled before.

—if that’s not a true transformation, what is?


Another beautiful collection by the wonderful Amanda Lovelace. I enjoyed the twist on Cinderella, with words of wisdom from a fairy godmother and the transformation of needing a prince to be happy. The emphasis on friendships and loving herself for who you are. The discussion of body image and fatphobia and toxic romantic relationships.

I do feel like she has poems that are so similar to previous ones that it feels recycled with a different magical twist to it, but overall her poems are sweet and the ones I highlight throughout are kept in a back pocket, ready to be reread whenever I need them.


Thank you so much to Netgalley and Andrew McMeel Publishing for providing me with an e-ARC of this poetry collection. All opinions are my own.

Break Your Glass Slippers by Amanda Lovelace was my first real venture into the poetry genre, but it will absolutely not be my last. This collection is a fresh take on the fairytales we grew up hearing. Only in this version, the girl doesn't wait around for a man to save her.

It is split into two sections. The first surrounds the initial stirrings of a girl shifting her focus inward instead of on outside relationships she thinks will make her whole. In part two, she is learning to move on from social constructs and love herself just as she is. She understands her worth comes from within, and not from outside approval.

Lovelace touches on several topics, including self-care, inner power, toxic relationships, and the importance of friendships. Many of the poems are written from fairy godmother, but Lovelace makes a point to say we don't have to wait on a magical solution from someone else. We are all our own fairy godmother, and this magic comes from within.

The succinct poems pack such a punch that oftentimes I found myself rereading the same one over and over again, just to let it truly sink in. The beautiful thoughts combined with dreamy illustrations make this a beautiful collection that any woman can relate to.

Thank you to the publisher for an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I gave this collection 5 out of 5 stars, and feel it was a wonderful introduction to this genre. I will definitely be reading more poetry in the future, and picking up Amanda Lovelace's previous publications.

I really enjoyed this poetry collection. I appreciate how the author wove together themes from the Cinderella fairytale with themes of feminism and female empowerment. I would definitely recommend this! The illustrations throughout the book were beautiful, as well.

"break your glass slippers" was my introduction to Amanda Lovelace, an author whose work I'd been meaning to get to for a while now. This particular poetry collection's elevator pitch would be "feminist Cinderella retelling... in verse!", and, since I'm always up for a retelling, I was totally on board with it.

My thoughts about the book are all over the place, so here are some bullet points:
- The first part of the book is more narrative, retelling the Cinderella fairytale with a spin, through short snippets told by different characters. The second part is a series of poems about self-love and accepting yourself, mostly told in 1st and 2nd person. I much preferred the first part, which felt like a really fresh way to tell a well-known story. I liked the spin of poems pulling Cinderella down alternating with the fairy godmother's uplifting poems/advice, and the underlying story served as a nice common thread for the individual pieces. This is not to say that the second part doesn't have an underlying theme, but it not revolving around a particular story anymore made it feel less creative than the first. I also felt that the "fairytale" lacked narrative closure beyond Cinderella leaving.

- Not quite sure how to articulate this, but... I get that the general message of the book is "to whoever needs to hear this, you've got value as a person and don't need to be in a crappy relationship to get validation", but I did feel that having the prince be such a stereotypical fuckboy was an easy way out. I get it, really I do. But I still wanted more.

- The messages conveyed in the second part are extremely important "IRL", but, without the overarching narrative, they felt like snippets you'd read on the feminist Facebook pages you follow: something you definitely need to hear, but not necessarily substantial enough for a book? (And, in all honesty, as a book they're probably just preaching to the choir.)

- I enjoyed the way Lovelace plays with formatting (bold/italic/alignment etc.), especially in the first part, to differentiate between different "characters'" voices.

- I did chuckle at the "she let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding" reference.

- Absolutely lovely illustrations, both the line drawings and the watercolor/gouache (?) night sky.

All in all, important messages to get across with a great concept that could have been executed better.

probably one of my favourite poetry collections I've read by Amanda Lovelace! I loved how this one was so body positive, but also talks about what it means to truly be a feminist, what it means to live in a world with so much misogyny. I loved the poems about the godmother, it shows such a healthy motherly relationship. truly a beautiful collection!

Amanda Lovelace shows us a side of her we knew it existed through her poems, but we never saw with such intensity. This poetry collection is such a feministic anthem; she let us know that it’s okay to put ourselves first in sake of our mental health, and that we are princesses who don’t need a prince. This is a really great book and I’m fascinated by her writing skills. I’m looking forward to this new trilogy, since I loved the last one (women are some kind of magic).

This is my favorite one by Amanda Lovelace so far! Despite my best efforts to read eclectically, I still don’t find myself drawn to much poetry, but I find these really resonate with me. Definitely an auto-read poet for me.

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley

[trigger warnings at end of review]
as her other poetry retellings of different fairytales and concepts have fared, amanda lovelace does quite the same with this new Cinderella retelling in Break Your Glass Slippers. her advice is straight to the point, imagery is vivid and concise.

her details show the experiences she had gone through herself with misogyny, sexual harassment, trauma, etc., and the aesthetic to the whole book was gorgeously put together.

trigger warnings: sexual assault, child abuse, eating disorders, mentions of sexual harassment, trauma, mental health issues, suicidal ideation, fatphobia, misogyny, internalized misogyny, and toxic relationships (romantic and platonic).

Break Your Glass Slippers is a poetry collection by Amanda Lovelace. It is also the first book within a bigger collection named You Are Your Own Fairy Tale. I have read the previous Amanda Lovelace’s collection and loved them very much – especially The Mermaid’s Voice Returns in This One and The Princess Saves Herself in this One. So, it is not surprising to say that I was excited when I got the opportunity to read this book.

„so often we are our own true love.“

„withholding forgiveness
can be a form of self-care“



The book is divided into three parts which are unnamed and solely marked by numbers. The first part deals with self-esteem, confidence and growth. It gives of a feeling like you are reading a diary of a very sad and poetic teenage girl. That is in no way a bad thing. It actually makes understanding the emotions and boding with the author easier.

„there are time when she sees another girl
the train or in a magazine & she can’t be sure
what she wants to do:

become her
be her best friend
kiss her
– kaleidoscope.“

„fairy godmother says

he may have a pretty face
but that doesn’t mean he isn’t dangerous.“

In the second part of the book we are confronted with an established woman who has realized that sometimes she herself is enough. Through the poems she shows her new-found strength.

„i hereby grant myself
the permission
to not be strong
all of the time.

i also grant myself
the permission
to not be soft
all of the time.

i’m allowed to
just simply be.

– temperance“

The third part of the book is very short and it contains only the „introduction“. I like the message this sends. I could of course be wrong. My interpretation is that after in a way freeing herself in the second part of the book, there isn’t anything more to be said. It is all on you. It pushes you to think and change thing for yourself.
What do you think? What is your interpretation?

I adore the artwork in this book. The simplicity of it fits the poetry perfectly.

As usual, Lovelace’s poems are strong, they carry emotional power that isn’t often found in modern poetry. They are beautiful and utterly enjoyable.



I received this book in exchange for an honest review.