I'm gonna preface this and say I've never read any other books by this author. I've seen the books in stores, wondered a bit at them, but never picked one up. Which is why I chose this when I saw it was available on Net Galley.

From the very first page I started to tear up.

Have you ever been the lonely fat girl in class? Have you ever been the "weird" friend? Have you ever had your family tell you to stop being so loud when you're excited about something? This book is for you. I was crying by the time I was done. I'm gonna go reread it again and definitely find more of Amanda's books because of this. I needed these words so much more than I expected to need them.

Thank you Net Galley for letting me review this for free before release.

And please if you're even remotely thinking of getting this book. Get it.

I'm about to go read it again.

Every word is fuel for your soul.

I always love reading Amanda Lovelace's poetry and this is no exception! Although there have been times I thought to myself, these poems are so similar in theme, I ultimately come to ask myself, 'but do I believe them yet?'. Often times I find the answer is not truly, not completely, and even when I feel I have fully embraced it all, in darker times I can forget. Every time I read one of her collections of poems it acts as a reminder of where I want to be and cancels out a time I was taught differently in the past.

Shine your icy crown is BEAUTIFUL, filled with emotional words that touch your soul and the most stunning pieces of artwork, it was a gorgeous journey.

Amanda Lovelace is an author that I have been interested in reading, but I just haven’t yet. After reading this book of poetry though, I can say that I will definitely be reading from her again!

First of all, I loved the poems! They shared such a good message and I especially loved the ones were it was the “big sister” sharing advice. This will be well loved by many!

I also adored the art! It was gorgeous and it took the book to the next level! I could honestly just stare at the art for hours.

There was also a trigger warning at the front of the book! I feel as though every book should include a trigger warning, so that was amazing.

Overall I gave this book a solid four stars!

Shine your icy crown by Amanda Lovelace is the second collection in the You Are Your Own Fairy Tale series.
I don’t feel like it’s a surprise anymore that I love anything Amanda Lovelace comes out with. I have yet to be disappointed with anything of hers I read and I practically throw her books at my friends to read. Her poetry, while not traditional, just really speaks to me and tends to be uplifting or emotional in some way or another.
In this particular collection is a lot of focus on self love and also sisterhood. The need for women to back each other and support one another. The first part of the collection was really enjoyable, it was a back and forth between the narrator and the rejoinder to their comments from “sister”. It was just really good, and I think I’m in a place mentally right now where it just really spoke to me and made me feel heard and loved.
***
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher I was able to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

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

.4/5 stars!

TRIGGER WARNINGS put in the book for those who need it: Child abuse, toxic relationships, sexual assault, eating disorders, mental illness, self-harm, sexism, suicide, trauma & possibly more - I won't mention these topics in the review, however I know some of my readers will appreciate the fact that Lovelace put them in the book and will like to know which ones are listed.

This is the 2nd book of the Fairytale series of Lovelace, and to be honest, I have not read the first one yet, but I didn't need to to grasp the prose in this book. I finished this within 24 hours (I started last night, finished this morning) and it was honestly beautiful. This is my first time reading any material of Lovelace and even though I did have my eye on her work before, I was pleasantly surprised with her way of words. As I often say with reviews that are now releasing books and are near my age, ''a book I needed growing up''. The dark poetry can make those who relate feel less alone, and the good advice can give you really that advice you needed to hear.

The book is decorated with art from Janaina Medeiros and I think it suits the prose perfectly, sometimes giving you something to be in awe about after something heavy you read. I think it was a beautiful collaboration of art between the two.

I hope to read more of this author.

This is the fifth poetry collection of Amanda Lovelace that I've read, and I think it might be my favorite. I think the author finds her balance of hard-hitting poems and hopeful empowering poems. The general format is alternating poems of negative things the narrator thinks or hears about themself and supportive advice from the narrators loving older sister. I really liked the relationship that you can sense even given the format and style. The author's poetry style is that modern Tumblr-post-esque style of run on sentences and lots of commas and no capitalization. I know some don't consider that "real" poetry, but it doesn't bother me. I also really enjoyed the illustrations in this collection. They were charming. I will continue picking up Amanda Lovelace's new works.

Another soul wrenching and hope giving poetry book from Amanda Lovelace!!

I've adored Amanda Lovelace's poem books for many years, and this one is no different.

Poetry is so subjective, but this short form, powerful snippets of the harsher side of life is my kind of poetry. I laugh, I cry, I FEEL so much with these poems. I love to read them slowly, sometimes skipping ahead to see what's coming. No matter what I know I will leave with a sense of hope and fullness. Of knowing that someone out there understands my pain, someone has felt what I've felt, and went on to live her life fully, joyously, and with a heart full of love.

shine your icy crown is another hard hitting poem book, and I'm so glad to have it on my bookshelf and in my heart.

Thank you Netgalley for this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

I read this book in a day, I would have read it in one sitting had work not gotten in the way (and it took all my will to set it down). I never knew poetry could tell a story so well, it was almost as if I could see these poems play out like a play in my mind as I read them. They were powerful and beautiful and one poem will be one I will be coming back to for years to come. If you are going to read only one book of poetry, this is the one to read.

I'm not the type of person to like poetry but I really enjoyed this. There's something in the way Lovelace writes that really hits my soul, I mean I felt like she was speaking to me directly.

This book is heartwarming and is a true sense of feminism. I felt like after reading this book I needed to get up and do the damn thing and now I'm not afraid to be my own person.

I have read Amanda Lovelace's poetry books, and this book made it to my top. This is sooo well written and the images are beautifully illustrated. I love how a negative is posted on one page and then a positive from her sister's point of view is posted on another. It's like motivational speaking to your worst thoughts. Although I do not have a sister, I identified so strongly with this book. Highly recommend.

"when other people choose not to believe in your magic,
you must take it upon yourself to believe in you own magic,
there will be no greater satisfaction than proving them wrong"

I like everything about this poetry collection, Its beautiful, empowering, inspiring and had me feeling all the things! This like her other work is super relatable and I feel like its pulled from my own personal experiences. I cant recommend this enough and just all of Amanda Lovelace's work in general! P.S I'm obsessed with the artwork in this by Janaina Medeiros!

Thanks to NetGalley and Publishers for the opportunity to review this book.

Another great poetry collection.

When I read the first book in Amanda Lovelace's new poetry series, You Are Your Own Fairy Tale, my critique was that I felt it was less connected to the fairy tales the books are names after than the previous series was.
I really like the choice to add illustrations in this second book, and I think that was a good way to make that connection again, even if the poems move away from the fairy tale mystique.

One downside for me is that in this collection, I feel like the heavier the subjects of Amanda Lovelace's poetry gets, the simpler the wording and style gets. But nonetheless, she keeps delivering what the most important thing is: Feeling.

I especially appreciated the "big sister says" poems.
There were some emotional poems about feeling lost, being devastated, feeling not good enough and helpless. But then the sad mood was always broken up a bit by the big sister voice lending the reader support and lifting them up by saying that no matter what happens, you are never alone.

let me tell you a rebellious story of the amazing Amanda Lovelace. She always delivers some poignant poetry that speaks to the soul of young women fighting for a chance in a changing world. Even when we're faced with a pandemic, Lovelace manages to encompass all the feelings we're hiding inside and let them out. All the messages about self-love and women supporting women are exactly what we need to hear.

Thank you Amanda Lovelace for having the courage to speak up for those women who are silenced. I love how she combined fairytales with modern feminism, creating a powerful and beautiful story that connects to all.

I do not remember seeing such beautiful art so Shine Your Icy Crown stands apart from the other book in this series. I'm in awe of the art and it has such a magical atmosphere to it.

Lovelace puts to words feminist notions that are difficult to convey. She delves into the female mind: feelings of sisterhood, self-love, self-worth, and even friendships, and examines how to be the best version of yourself by acknowledging who you are and who you have been. The lessons she details might be conventional and known at large, but they are nevertheless powerful to read to remind oneself that they do matter.

I've enjoyed all of Amanda Lovelace's poetry collections that I've read before but this one may be my favorite by far. There are obvious trigger warnings with all of her work, but this one especially touches on a number of topics such as abuse, self-harm, depression, anxiety and more. There is a list of content warnings in the beginning of the collection which I do recommend reviewing before reading. I really enjoyed the empowering tone in this collection, the overall theme of finding your own voice and accepting your own power. All in all I recommend all of her poetry, but definitely check out this series of collections.

I'm not much of a poetry reader, Amanda Lovelace's simple style and focus on the real experiences of girls and women drew me to her work. "Shine your ice crown" didn't disappoint. I could have used this collection when I was 18. The writing is not your typical poem, but also not quite prose. Lovelace uses a style somewhere in-between that feels more like you're reading a diary or letter from your sister (sisterhood being a central theme to the whole work). I can't wait to pick up a hard copy of "shine your ice crown" and any other copies of Lovelace's work so I can spend more time reading, highlighting, and sharing my favorite parts with the other women in my life.

The only thing I would have liked is a CW on the Netgalley description of this book. I've been surprised a few times with potentially triggering scenes and topics in books with little to no warning. Lovelace's work thankfully opens with a CW, so be mindful of yourself if you go to read.

ARC ebook provided by Netgalley.

I had high hopes going into this because I've appreciated Lovelace's poetry in the past and love poetry in general. Unfortunately, this collection didn't really meet my expectations in the way I hoped. It was okay, and in years past I probably would have loved it, but it's closer to generalized tumblr #relatable poetry than it is to anything with deeper substance. It scratches the surface of hard topics without diving in and becoming personal so that it can be relatable to more people. Overall, it has big "white feminist" energy, which is not really my vibe. This kind of poetry has its place, but I've found myself more driven towards deeper, personal poetry recently.

4.7

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

She isn’t trying to impress you.
She’s trying to impress herself.

I basically want to quote the whole book, but this quote in particular has stuck with me and is the current vibe.
This is yet another fantastic and meaningful poetry book that has found a place in my heart. Amanda Lovelace always finds a way to break me down and build me up all at the same time. Every single page, not matter how long or short, was written with purpose and I couldn’t get enough.
Overall women are amazing, and we need to normalize supporting each other. LET’S TEAM UP LADIES!

I wasn’t sure really what I was expecting with this one, but I adored it, so so much.
Every line is iconic and mesmerizing, and really any girl can relate. It made me cry my eyes out for a solid hour, but I think we’re all good now. Women often face disastrous struggles in the world surrounded by patriarchy and the reality of very difficult home lives with parents who really were never meant to be parents, and this book personally resonated so much because Amanda's poems really tug on the ethos of every reader who has experienced the exact same thing.
“As painful as it may be,
it is always easier to
walk away from the villain
than it is to try to
convince them of their villainy”

arc copy provided by netgalley!

I don’t read poetry books often. That said, when I do choose to read poetry, Lovelace’s novels are the first I pick up. What I love about any book I’ve ever read by Ladymad is that her poetry reads as a story and an immediate source of inspiration.

Her latest compilation runs through a range of serious topics like toxic relationships, sexism, depression, and suicide. Despite the dark themes or perhaps due to these themes, her words exude empowerment. Like countless other times reading Loveless’ works, I found myself with that inexplicable need to share her words with others. shine your icy crown will release on January 26th, 2021. Thank you to Netgalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the advanced reader’s copy in exchange for my honest review.