Poetry isn't usually my genre, but I was drawn to this book by the beautiful cover and wanted to give it a try. I was pleasantly surprised! Through short but powerful verses, the author addresses the joy and pain of life as a woman. The topics covered a wide range, from self-compassion to abusive relationships to love. Some were a little difficult to read, and I appreciated that the author included trigger warnings at the beginning of the book.

I really loved the floral artwork throughout the book and thought it complemented the poetry really well! This was a short collection, and each poem is only a few lines long and easily digestible, so it's very approachable for people who are usually nervous to read poetry. It was a little on the simple side if anything, so those who like really deep poems that they can analyze critically may find this less appealing. I'm glad I picked this up- thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for this honest review.

Amanda Lovelace is definitely one of my favourite poets of all time.

Of course, there are always poems I can*t relate to but some poems just get me.
She puts things into words I've been thinking about for years but somehow couldn't express, I think that's a talent only a few people have.

I also always love the illustrations in her books that just make the poems even more beautiful and makes the whole book feel like art.

I never read a whole poetry book in one sitting. I usually open them from time to time and read one or two poems just to get the whole meaning and understand the feelings.

I hope I can read even more poems of Amanda Lovelace in the future.

I always enjoy amanda lovelace's poetry collections, and this was no exception. I had a digital ARC via Netgalley and the copy was still visually stunning, I'm sure it will be even more so in person. I loved the idea of using Persephone as a muse, amanda always does such a fantastic job taking well-known stories and making them relatable to modern life. What emerges in this collection is a powerful tale of a woman coming to realize her life is worth more than what her current manipulative (if not abusive) partner values it as, and taking her life and happiness into her own hands. While amanda has dealt with similar themes in the past, viewing this through the different lenses that she does (Persephone, in this case) allows her to approach the subject in a way that feels authentic to each muse and each collection. I'll definitely continue to follow amanda's poetry and get excited every time she has a new collection releasing!

I’ve loved everything else I’ve read from Amanda Lovelace, but unfortunately this collection just didn’t work quite as well for me. I wish the poems would’ve leaned a little harder into the Persephone theme, I feel that would’ve been better. This collection didn’t feel as cohesive as previous ones and while I still liked the poems, I just didn’t love them.

I've read six other poetry collections by Amanda Lovelace and those were all four star reads except one (three stars.) This one feels different than her others, it's not as cohesive. Each poem is separated from the next by two illustrations which interrupts any chance of flow while reading. Usually her collections have a strong theme but this one felt all over the place. And while I appreciate the undertones of anger present in a lot of her work, here is feels bitter, like some of these poems were written for revenge purposes. Perhaps if I was in a different stage of life, this might have landed differently. It's not necessarily a bad book but her work is usually so much better, I can't say I'd recommend this one.

I really like Amanda lovelace's work, I raced through her other poems and love them.

I really enjoyed the concept of this book, the illustrations throughout were gorgeous however I felt the poems weren't as strong as her previous work. There is still a good mix of social commentary and you can feel the heartbreak and strength but they seemed a bit token and for the masses rather than truly heartfelt. I can imagine an Instagram influencer posting these and they didn't feel as powerful as her previous work.

Overall I enjoyed reading them and thank you for the arc.

I know these poems were a bit shorter than the usual ones but I still found connection in them. I liked the overall inspiration for them, and how they drew from the current world as well. It gave more material to relate to.
The art, although beautiful, got pretty repetitive and was a pain to scroll past over and over again.
The set up of the same art made this feel like one of those gift books that you can just flip to any page to read an inspirational quote, rather than a collection of poems to be taken in and felt.

Next from the author's poetry book "Break Your Glass Slippers," this book is a second favorite. The illustrations inside are stunning. The poems are touching and relatable. I will probably procure a physical copy to display in my shelf.

This was a beautifully written and stunning poetry set. I loved everything about it. I thought it was beautifully written but also haunting. I admire people who are able to construct a number of feelings in only a few lines. It’s very admirable to me because it isn’t easy. I love poetry as I’ve said preciously in my other poetry review. It was perfect and again 5 out of 5 stars. Poetry speaks to me in ways other things can’t. Which is exactly why I appreciate it even more.

I always love Lovelace's work and this one is no different. Thwse poems lift women up and encourage to be strong and resilient. Alot of them hit home with me personally and made this one special for me.
I definitely recommend this one. I know I will be buying it for myself.

This is one of those books you have to take your time with. With it's simple style Amanda Lovelace really cuts into what it can mean to be a women sometimes. Pause for a moment, because you felt what she wrote. Pause because you got tears in your eyes remembering a pain from a long time ago. The growing pains of a women honestly never ends.

That being said writing that can make you feel something is always worth checking out.

This is a collection of poetry from a great author. Young adult and adult readers alike would enjoy this book. I recommend it.

This is my first book by her that I loved and enjoyed reading! I related to this book so much, especially with the hot topic surrounding what woman should do with their bodies. My favorite poems were titled “it’s not up for debate” and “marked”.

This is a tricky one to rate for me. The fact I read it in one sitting bumped it up a star but most of the poems were too short or didnt flow just right. there were two that i really liked but the majority it felt underdeveloped

Another great collection of poems! Many were relatable, some moreso than I probably would have liked. These pieces touch on many subjects, love, sexism, abuse, self-worth to name a few. Several of my favorite poems from the collection are:

At Last
She's so done with reality
Commit to putting out more fires than you start
Being the dependable friend is difficult sometimes
Never shall I fall from my throne
Hope is essential

I recieved this as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review...

Amanda Lovelace does it again!
I have read all of her work, and this definitely did not disappoint!
If you have not read any of her previous works i HIGHLY recommend them!

Flower Crowns and Fearsome Things flows so beautifully.
Every poem is hard hitting emotionally.
I devoured this book in one sitting, It was that good,
It had me laughing, crying, and feeling(which is something i try to avoid),
It made me reflect on my own life and situations.
Its given me a strength i've been searching for and reminded me that
I am the hero/heroine of my own story.

This was an ARC that I got and started while crying, but I guess it works either way. This was short and sweet and straight to the point. Some things the author wrote really gets to you while others maybe aren’t relatable, but I really like this because everyone gets to have that punch in their gut before the little motivational speech arrives and then you feel that main character energy.

I’m really tired which is probably why it didn’t get to me as much as I thought it would, but I know that once I sleep the rereads are gonna hit home.

This was my first poetry book and It definitely makes me want to read more.

I really wanted to like this but ultimately this collection really fell flat for me. Lovelace's style is so spare that it really needs the metaphorical resonance that you see in her early work; these poems are so straight forward that combined with their brevity, there is no room for interpretation. Her message comes across loud and clear, but they also feel like post-break facebook statuses from the early 2000s.

The author's note at the beginning sets the reader up for a collection about or inspired by the myths of Persephone and I really wish Lovelace had dug into that more. Where is her complicated relationship with her mother? Where is the tug of war between death and the rejuvenation of spring? Her love for the outcast of olympus or conversely her kidnapping and stockholm syndrome, depending on which version you prefer? Persephone is a *very* interesting character from Greek mythology and there's a lot to build on. Unfortunately Lovelace does not use that scaffolding except for some very basic imagery that is frankly trite. The vast majority of these poems are on the same themes that Lovelace always covers, feminism and ending toxic romantic relationships. I'm not saying those aren't good choices for poetry; we've just had several collections from her on the topics.

Sadly, I think I might be done with Lovelace's work at least for the near future. I very much enjoyed her early work, but at this point I'm tired of seeing her trot out the same pony in different hats.

Is this poetry collection going to change your life? No. Is it beautiful and relatable and does it spark thought? Yes.
I’ve never particularly enjoyed obvious, minimalistic poetry (or #instapoetry) but I did quite enjoy this.
The author did a great job exploring the duality of women as a result of being pigeonholed and highlights the assumptions others make and what they take as their right. I enjoyed this collection was from the lens of persephone and the artwork was pretty, but also repetitive.
It is important that the author is writing from her own perspective on life and the struggles she and many other women have experienced should not be discounted, however, I feel sometimes we lose the depth because often it’s not one gender against the other. Some of these passages could be related to by men or non binary people just as much as women and it’s important we understand that.
The truth is we all lie somewhere in the middle of the light meadow and the burning roses. We all want to love someone and do anything for them, but we also want that for ourselves, and when we don’t get that it stings and requires strength not submission. We want to be happy and be whoever we want to be, and when we can’t, it requires strength not submission. Amanda Lovelace encapsulated this beautifully.

Flower Crowns and Fearsome Things is beautifully written while with such of sense of empowerment. Poetess Amanda Lovelace speaks with raw emotion. She reminds us that womanhood is not a position of weakness, but one of power and grace.

I have loved each of her books so far, and look forward to those to come.