Thank you NetGalley for the free ebook.
I've read it in one sitting and I enjoyed it.
I ​am no expert in modern poetry, but who is? As a reader of mostly fiction books, this was an interesting read. There are a few poems I didn't like, but there are the empowering ones that I adored. Some poems were simple and reminded me of the inspirational quotes you find on Instagram. Some other poems were good, but still they were not that amazing, it's like I was waiting for something big.
I like the fact that Amanda Lovelace encourages girl-power with her poems, but they reminded me of other ones I've already read.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Flower Crowns and Fearsome Things by Amanda Lovelace is an amazing collection from the reigning Queen of Poetry. Although I haven't read a collection by her before, I have read snippets and heard many great things about the author. In this collection, which is beautifully illustrated in full color, the author shows the dichotomy between soft and hard, beautiful and deadly, flowers and fire. Through these metaphors, she explores the power of femininity and the archetype of the strong heroine in myths. Through her feminist lens, she illuminates what it is like to be a woman today - both the struggles and the pleasures.

Here is an excerpt from Page xv of the book:

"who said you can't
wear a flower crown
& still remain
a fearsome thing?
- make persephone proud."

Overall, Flower Crowns and Fearsome Things is a beautiful collection that will appeal to readers of feminist poetry. If you're a fan of Rupi Kaur or Nayyirah Waheed, you will enjoy this book as well The poems are funny, intelligent, sad, hopeful, and feminist. They show the true range of women from those who want to stand and be a hero to those who OK are being nobody. One highlight of this book is the stunning artwork that displays the dichotomy between wildflowers and wildfires. Keep in mind though that the same two images are repeated multiple times. If you're intrigued by the excerpt above or if you're a fan of poetry in general, you won't regret checking out this book when it comes out in October!

A beautifully written poetry collection. The poems revolve around the different aspects of being a woman and many of those felt very relatable. The illustrations used in the book make the whole reading experience a pleasant and sweet journey. There were so many brilliant poems that would remain in my heart for a long time. It's one of those books you can read over and over again.

A beautiful collection of poetry - each piece flowed so naturally, I was sad for this to end! Major Rupi Kaur vibes.

I am a massive fan of Amanda Lovelace, and all of her poetry, and "Flower Crowns and Fearsome Things" does not disappoint.

Told from the beautiful perspective of the two sides of a female identifying human, strong and soft, this collection of poetry tells a story of finding your own strength in the face of oppression, and of not being ashamed to fully be a woman, no matter what society is telling you you should be.

I want to have so many of these quotes framed and hung on my daughter's wall, so she is always attuned to the beauty of Lovelace's words and thoughts.

📚 Flower Crowns & Fearsome Things by Amanda Lovelace📚

“For those who wish to raise hell most elegantly”

First off, Thank you to #netgalley #amandalovelace & Andrew Mcmeel’s publishing for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What can I say? Amanda Lovelace has done it again! She has easily climbed to the tippy top of my most beloved poetry authors and for a good reason.

Her words hit deep and make you feel empowered.

I would 100% recommend this book to someone going through a tough time, strenuous relationship or who is struggling to love themselves.



My Rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️💫/5
Goodreads Average Rating: 3.71/5

* 176 pages
* Magic
* Feminism/Poetry
* Emotional
* Reflective
* Medium Paced Read

Triggers/Warnings

* Partner Abuse
* Sexual Assault
* Cheating
* Child Abuse
* Death
* Trauma
* Violence
* Body Image
* Misogyny
* Eating Disorders
* Alcohol

In her newest standalone collection of poetry, Amanda Lovelace makes Persephone of Greek mythology her muse, exploring through her the dualities inherent in femininity as well as the fragmented self that we must all contend with—the self we are with others and the self we are when we’re alone, and the result is nothing short of brilliant.

Also tackled herein is the COVID-19 pandemic and the ways it has changed and remade us, from the reasons why wearing a mask is an act of love and respect but also an act of defiance to telling her beloved how close she’ll be able to come to them when the world stops ending. God, that phrase is one I can’t stop turning over and over in my mind. When the world stops ending, when the world stops ending, when the world stops ending….Because isn’t that how it feels right now? As if every day is being lived in survival mode with no end in sight? Thank God we still have poetry to get us through.

All in all, Flower Crowns and Fearsome Things is a stellar collection sure to please new readers of Lovelace’s work as well as her longtime fans. The gorgeous illustrations by Janaina Medeiros complement Lovelace’s words perfectly, giving them more depth and clarity. I feel safe in saying this is a title I’ll be hand-selling to my customers who enjoy poetry.

Although I can never fully grasp poetry not having experienced most things that inspire the poetry, it's still very enjoyable. There's a handful of poems that resonate with me and really spoke to me and gave me the ability to see certain situations in a different light and makes me understand there's other ways to go about certain situations.

First of all, the illustrations repeated throughout are stunning and full of heated emotion. There’s an extensive list of trigger warnings provided by the poet which is always welcome and something that I wish more authors and publishers would put in place to protect their readers’ wellbeing.

This is a strong, empowering feminist collection of poetry that I know will make a lot of people feel seen. (It certainly made me feel seen and empowered!) The poems themselves are fairly short but manage to convey and evoke emotions and heavy topics such as misogyny and rape culture. Some of the poems that stood out most to me were:
- She Likes Being Nobody
- It’s a Pleasure to Disappoint You
- At Last
- Wild Violet
- Never Shall I Fall From my Throne

All in all, this was a fantastic collection. I had heard great things about Amanda Lovelace’s work but had yet to read any of her poems. Having enjoyed this collection as much as I did, I will be picking up the backlist as soon as possible and will eagerly await future collections.

Release Date: 5 October 2021
Rating: 3.5

"don't you think it's funny how bad boys are always deemed swoon-worthy, while bad girls are usually perceived as a threat to society?"

Thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I am a HUGE Amanda Lovelace fan; I have read and reread all of her poetry collections numerous times, and each time I just fall more in love with her lyrical writing. Flower Crowns and Fearsome Things is no different - it is beautifully written and formatted with gorgeous illustrations. Despite this, I finished this poetry collection somewhat unsatisfied. Lovelace's previous works left me feeling bold and powerful, but Flower Crowns and Fearsome Things just sort of fell flat. Maybe my expectations were too high, I'm not sure. Whatever the reason, it hasn't affected my opinion of Lovelace's work, and I will definitely pick up any future poetry collections!

"would it be nice if my loved ones were proud of me? of course, but I can't depend on the approval of others alone. it's never guaranteed. what matters more to me is finding pride in myself."

I’ve never been disappointed in an Amanda Lovelace book and this one was not an exception. They just have a way of writing that speaks to my soul in a way that I always look for in poetry. If you haven’t read any of her books, you definitely should!!

Summer 2021 (August);
~ Netgalley Arc

Thank you to Amanda Lovelace, Andrews McMeel Publishing, and Netgalley for this free arc for an honest review.

I am so pleased to have gotten the chance to early read Amanda Lovelace's newest poetry book (as I've gotten the chance to read a few of them on here before). This newest one plays into the dichotomy of women through the dichotomy of the darkness and lightness both in Persephone herself *and* between both herself and Detemer & herself & Hades. First and foremost, always, I love that Amanda's books begin with the trigger warning list and the reminder to take care of yourself always.

The poetry as always is stunning, and several of these pieces touched me. I loved the duality switching backgrounds, between the rolling spring of the Spring Goddess and the flame and darkness of the Queen of Hell. This poetry, as always is about owning your power, your insight, your independence, and the abandonment of all things that cling unhealthily to us. I would advise to book to many, and already have several I'm thinking of gifting it to.

I saw Amanda Lovelace’s new book and immediately needed to read it. I flew through it, like all of her poetry it reads like a story to me and is moving.

This speaks to a few darker topics and I love there is a page of trigger warnings at the beginning so you can decide if it’s the right time for you to read.

The book was also so beautiful with illustrations and I plan to pick up a copy as soon as it’s released October 5th!

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the eArc in exchange for my honest review.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I want to preface this by saying I don't usually read poetry however the collection's exploration of female duality really drew me in.

The paintings of wildfire and flowers made reading the poems a particularly beautiful experience. The alternating strength and softness of femininity explored resonated with me and I was surprised at how many of the poems I loved.

My favourites include:

*what's it like to be so bold?:* a commentary on the double standards between masc and fem.
*herself.* the strength in self belief
*he's never wanted someone so much.* feminine duality
*show them who's queen.* a self explanatory title

I would recommend this for people who are new to poetry but would like to explore femininity in different forms.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Andrew McMeel Publishing for an advanced reader's copy.*

I would like to thank Netgalley and Amanda Lovelace for an advanced reader copy in exchange of an honest review. This collection of poetry talked about many different topics like abuse. I appreciate that unlike the majority of authors she listed all possible trigger warnings before the book begin. However, I feel like that is the bare minimum for poetry that talks about so many triggering topics. Amanda Lovelace is one of my favourite poets for multiple different reasons. I love the formatting and creativity of the execution of the poetry the style was done where I could pick it up at any time to enjoy and not be lost. This some of the best poetry I have read this year. One thing that I found utterly annoying and useless was the same two illustration pages rotating between every poem. It ended up being more of these pages then actual poetry which annoyed me. At the end of the day the poetry that was included as very high quality. I loved this collection by Amanda Lovelace and cannot wait to read more of her future work and truly believe that her poetry will become a classic in many years to come.

I love the theme of this collection: exploring how women are often equal parts soft and fierce. Some of the writing is dark, and Lovelace includes a trigger warning in the beginning. Several poems spoke to me, and I’m inspired to read her prior collections.

Ultimately, this is a 3 star for me because some of the poems fell flat and seemed forced… and either didn’t fit the theme or contradicted it. But overall, I enjoyed this collection and knocked it out in one sitting.

I went into this with no expectations because I haven’t read anything else by them.

Some of the poems really resonated with me or took me back to things I’ve overcome. There’s a strong sense of power and independence in several passages. I wasn’t totally blown away by each page but a few of them I read 3 or 4 times because the words hit me so hard.

There are trigger warnings in the beginning of the book and I would advise reading those first. There are some pretty heavy topics.

I honestly have no words for Amanda. This books is a true hymn to Feminism. I felt every single word in my heart. I just want to congratulate her on this poetry piece — it's truly magnificent. I wish people begin to realise how much we suffer as women. This book is a great opportunity for people to educate themselves on it. The only downside for me was the illustrations. Although they're beautiful, they became repetitive. Rating: 5/5 stars.

I’ve read every single book by amanda lovelace and I will keep reading all of her next books.
The style is very modern and many of the poems (if not all of them) critique society in a beautiful way.
Although I was very disappointed by the art throughout the book, the writing is intriguing and inspiring.

Esse livro foi uma surpresa muito feliz. Há algum tempo eu fiquei saturada dos livros/poemas da amanda lovelace - especialmente porque eu ia muito ávida para qualquer coisa que ela escrevesse, então, depois de algum tempo, acabei enjoando e não li mais nada. Assim, Flower crowns and fearsome things foi uma grata surpresa para uma fã que estava afastada. O livro é lindo, fiquei maravilhada com as ilustrações que se intercalavam com os poemas, essa estética combinou demais! E os poemas continuam maravilhosos. Acho que um tempo afastada me fez voltar a gostar da escrita dela. Apesar dos muitos gatilhos (previamente sinalizavam) que sempre estão presentes nos poemas da autora, também encontramos palavras de superação, aceitação, e que nos incentivam, de certo modo. Também é muito bom encontrar referências nos poemas.