"I will be ever patient with myself,
because i am worth putting time & care into."

"even if you aren't their favorite,
you're always someone's favorite.
(you're mine)"

I’ve read a few of these books already, and while this one has a good message to girls and women alike, the poems (if you could even call them that) themselves were a bit lackluster. Much of the text felt like it was paraphrased straight from old Tumblr posts. There are only so many ways to say “love yourself, fight the patriarchy” before it starts to become redundant and monotonous.

As I said, the message the book is trying to send is an important one, so it would be a good starting point for young girls to read so that they know the importance of standing up for oneself and becoming a stronger person and role model for others, but for someone who is only a few years older than the author herself, the text falls flat, almost as if her heart is not quite in it anymore.

I've read a few of Amanda Lovelace's works before and while at the time, I thought those were poetic and life revolting in a way, now I feel like they were mediocre in compared to most poetries I have read.

But reading Lovelace's new works, I can see that she has matured and improved. Shine Your Icy Crown is a work of art; it tackles a lot of heavy topics with such accuracy. And even depicts every day occurences in such a real way. Very thought provoking and artfully written. Kept me engaged.

Thank you to Amanda and the publisher for proving me an e-ARC in exchange of an honest review.

As per usual Amanda Lovelace kicks it out of the park, and hits a few sore spots that need healing, with talk of trauma that may feel unfortunately familiar to many. This time— family trauma and healing sits at the forefront.

This is a refreshingly modern fairytale. Lovelace manages to weave fantastic pieces of poetry with flash fiction and blurbs from the character's big sister while creating an overarching and beautiful story. The advice is something I wish I had gotten from an older sister when I was younger. The book has a great use of white space that emphasizes the importance in each slice of wisdom. The poems are empowering and magical. The artwork sprinkled throughout is gorgeous. It balances feminism and spirituality with empowerment and truth. I recommend this book to any feminine being that needs to reclaim their power.

Shine Your Icy Crown is the latest poetry collection from Amanda Lovelace. The poems in this collection is mostly around believing in yourself and not succumbing to the barrage of judgement/criticism from society. There are a number of poems in this book with an encouraging, uplifting response from "big sister". This is most definitely a feminist poetry collection with a message about pushing back against gender norms and the patriarchy.

I found this to be a largely powerful collection of modern, feminist poems. The poems are simple but unapologetic, and I like the illustrations as well. They touch on somewhat heavy themes like depression and eating disorders, which helps provide some substance to the poems. I especially liked the premise of a big sister offering advice to the little sister, though I would have also liked to see the big sister learning from the little sister too.

Thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

"if i'm with you,
it's because i think you
let in more stardust than storm clouds."

At first, I was disappointed that this installation in the You Are Your Own Fairy Tale series wasn't actually modelled after a specific fairy tale. Instead, it is more a compilation of all fairy tales and the transition from princess to queen. Ultra-feminist, inspirational, and extremely quotable, this collection grew on me and ended up being much better than I expected at first. It felt less disjointed than Break Your Glass Slippers and flowed well while still telling an overarching story.

"there's nothing wrong with seeing the immensity of your worth. there's nothing wrong with acting self-assured. there's nothing wrong with demanding the respect you deserve."

If you can get your hands in this, I promise there will be no regrets.
This book just screams "Amazing!" from the very beginning. It´s not your typical poetry title, but we already now that.
This one is more about what to do with yourself, to help your mind, to put you first, to work in getting what you want, what you desire, to be there for the women around you.

This was another captivating collection of poetry from Amanda Lovelace. The combination of strength and vulnerability makes her work inspiring and relatable.

I had read one of the authors previous works and wasn't a fan. I saw this on NetGalley and thought I would give her another chance, and I'm so glad I did! I really enjoyed this book of poetry/short paragraphs/illustrations. I thought it was a great mix of the three.

The poetry was easy to follow, which I liked. I am still fairly new to poetry, and some things I have read go over my head. The poems in this collection were easy to understand, and made me feel emotion in even the smallest lines.

Great collection. Can't wait to read more!

Thank you to Amanda Lovelace, Andrews McMeel Publishing, and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I feel like I need to start this review by sharing my praise for her previous work. I appreciated Amanda Lovelace's Women Are Some Kind of Magic trilogy a whole lot. I felt represented in the thoughts and ideas proposed in it. With this however, not as much.

The trigger warnings at the beginning: amazing - we stan those. The drawings that are next to the text are cute and pink. But that's all they are. They don't really add anything to the story. The illustration that encompass the tiny parts of prose are lovely. I thought to myself, "Wow, someone really put effort into this". But then the exact same illustration appeared multiple times and it got repetitive.

The poems (or often just mere thoughts put into multiple lines), were not new to me after reading her other works. A little too typical, a little too unrelaxing, taking themselves too seriously. Don't get me wrong, some snippets are wonderful. I especially liked the short parts of the story of the princess. I wish those had been more fleshed out, more elaborate.

All in all, I would buy this for a younger girl in my life. If I had a daughter, I would want her to read this. To raise awareness of these issues of self-love and appreciation, of how she is enough, of how she can do anything and how the world sometimes can be cruel. I can imagine this to be comforting, especially the verses proposed by the big sister, but for me, I wish I had been younger when I read this.

Ok, let's be honest, this book is not really good, i’ts the same as her other “poetry” books. And I’m saying ““poetry”” because it’s more like instagram posts (cringe-y sometimes, superficial other times). The book has no depth, no heartwarming feelings,
it
just
exists.

The content was not good enough for me. Repetitive, I did not connect with the stuff i was reading. I admit the illustrations and quotes/messages are cute and entertaining, but that’s all.

But, somehow I think it would be a good book for younger girls. It's easy to read and it has good content about feminism, sisterhood, friendship and self-love for someone who doesn’t know about those things. I could give it as a gift to my cousins, maybe.

Free ARC from Netgalley.

This reads as a long feministic motivational poster. With cute tiny pink illustrations.

I think this would be a great present for a teen girl (like for confirmation would be perfect).

For me, it fell a bit flat in comparison with Lovelace other hard hitting poetry collections.

content warnings: child/family abuse, sexual assault, eating disorders, body dysmorphia, trauma, mental illness, self-harm, suicide, sexism, bullying

—————————————————————————————————

Shine Your Icy Crown by Amanda Lovelace is the second collection in her You Are Your Own Fairy Tale series. Although I haven’t read the first book in this series, I didn’t feel like I was missing anything by starting with this one. The main theme of this collection was the importance of friendships with women, particularly the bond between sisters but it translated relatively easy for someone who doesn’t have a sister. The beautiful full page art and small illustrations mixed in with the poetry added to this theme perfectly.

Overall, Shine Your Icy Crown was a decent collection, peppered with important messages in the form of a big sister giving her little sister advice. Lovelace’s poetry is simple and accessible, something that I have always appreciated about her style of work. A lot of people don’t like her style, something I usually see referred to as “Instagram poetry”, but I do.

Although this poetry collection was a bit of a miss for me because of the redundancy and abundance of prose, I still enjoyed reading it and definitely recommend it. The themes and topics she touches upon in all of her collections are so important, especially for any young girls out there who may be feeling alone in the world.

Thank you Netgalley for the arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Absolutely loved everything about this poetry collection.

Another great collection of poetry from Amanda Lovelace! All of these poems are so good and sop thought provoking and the overall message is super empowering. I can't wait to read the next book in the collection!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review!

I enjoyed the spirit of this poetry book. It’s self-positive and encouraging message really resonated with me.

I’ve read all of Lovelace’s poetry collections and am a fan of her work. This latest offering is exactly what I’ve come to expect from her work, powerful, affirming poetry about feminism, being a woman, love, relationships and the like. This is the second title in her You Are Your Own Fairy Tale series and I also enjoyed the first book, Break Your Glass Slippers. The collection is split into three sections. I enjoyed the first one the best, alternating between a narrator posing questions about friendship, love etc and advice from big sister. The juxtaposition worked well.

3.5 STARS (rounded off to 4)! I have always love Amanda's works and this is not an exception. In the second installment of the You Are Your Own Fairytale series, she explores the magic of sisterhood. Coupled with her usual theme about writing based off of her experiences, this collection is as impactful as her previous ones.

I think the only reason why I rated it 3.5 (lower than the previous ones) is because the poems in this collection didn't resonate with as much as her previous works. But don't get me wrong, this was beautifully written. The illustrations were also amazing. I just wasn't able to connect that much. It's the it's-not-the-book-it's-me situation again, but please give this poetry collection a chance.

Shine your Icy Crown releases on January 26th, worldwide. Thanks to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel publishing for giving me a chance to read this in advance!