Thank you NetGalley & the publisher for sending me the new Amanda Lovelace poetry ARC. I have read every book she has published and I think she is a beautiful writer; however, I’ve become disconnected from her writing within the last couple of books she’s written. I decided to give this newest piece a go & I was surprised at how engaged I was reading her latest poetry. She’s stepped-up her game since her last book. I’m glad I was able to get the chance for a early read. Thanks again! Great job, Amanda!

I’ve enjoyed every collection of Lovelace that I’ve read, and I was delighted to see another ARC of hers in my inbox.

At times, the absolute bare bones of Lovelace’s word choice can seem stark and overly simplistic, but I think that adds to the rawness and vulnerability that we see. These poems are brief, yet biting.

I loved the illustrations included in this collection. They are so brightly colored, and then juxtaposed with the darker content of some of the poems echoes the dichotomy of Persephone of the Spring and of the Underworld.

These poems did seem more disconnected to me than previous collections. The thread of Persephone is there occasionally, but there did not feel, to me, to be as much of an over arching theme as her previous writings.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately not for me, this isnt poetry.

I enjoyed Lovelace's first two collections immensely, but there has since been a disconnect for me with her work.
I found myself getting lost in the mechanic aspect of just reading through these and at first I thought the issue lied with me, so I set the book down to pick up at another time.
Quite a few tries later and I'm sorry to say the issue did not lie with me.

This collection felt really watered down and derivative of not only Lovelace`s previous work, but quippy and catchy Instagram type post and texts that one ecounters about 20 times a day.
I never got that feeling of being absorbed in a bigger, more overarching experience that should come with a collection of poems.
I could feel myself forgetting the last poem as I started reading the next one.

Going into this poetry collection, I didn't realize it was suppose to be a take on the goddess Persephone. As someone who has been *low key* obsessed with her for 12 years, I was immediately intrigued. Throughout the collection Lovelace goes back and forth between the two primary aspects of this deity: Goddess of Spring and Queen of the Underworld. I loved this because it highlights the feeling many women have of feeling split in two, or like there is two waring parts of themselves. While I did enjoy some of the poems, others felt a bit too on the nose. What I mean by this is that there was a lack of depth in some of the poems, and it over all made it feel very lacking.
Lovelace pulls from the mythology that Hades kidnaps her and turns him into a bad boy in her poems. Basically the TLDR on my feelings about this are: While yes, Hades steals Persephone away to the Underworld the story is a lot more complicated than that; and how he is acting his on par with the time the myth was originated. I do understand that with the rise of Hades/Persephone retellings many people are upset with Hades being turned into a soft boy because of this myth, but at the same time I feel that it's reductive to go the other direction and completely villainize him. I've read nearly all Amanda Lovelace's collections, and have a hit and miss experience with each individually. I think that this collection will definitely work for many people, but because of my closeness to the myth I am not one.

This was a beautiful collection of poems and I loved every minute of reading them. While I cannot comment on the mechanisms of poetry themselves, I can say that these poems really touched my soul. This was a very short and sweet collection of poems and the cover and interior art was absolutely beautiful.

amanda lovelace’s latest is reminiscent of their earlier collections, though this time the author trades princess with goddess. writing from the perspective of persephone, we read a story of softness, resilience, and a heavy dose of healthy boundaries. this collection is definitely ideal for teenaged girls who are looking for empowerment, witty one-liners to use against misogynists, and a safe place to lose themselves in. the illustrations from janaina medeiros complements the words perfectly, bringing amanda’s storyline to life right before your very eyes. amanda has a wonderful gift that inspires self-expression inside those who read their words and the world is better for it. i am glad there is a positive role-model who remind us all that our words have power and our dreams are at our fingertips if only we believe in ourselves enough.

Good poetry collection. I always love Amanda Lovelace’s writing style
It’s was very good so I gave this collection 4 stars. Thank to netgalley for this e-arc in exchange of my honest review

*I received a copy from NetGalley, however all opinions are my own*

I’ve read almost all of Amanda Lovelace’s books. Her books always has lines that mean so much to me as a woman. While I don’t always agree with everything she writes, her writing is beautiful and powerful. Really enjoyed this poetry book and look forward to reading more of her works.

First off, I love so many things about this book even outside of the poetry - the title, the dedication, the content warnings, the art.

The introduction of the book talks about a figure in mythology you've probably heard of, one who is known for two very different things. Just like this figure, Flower Crowns and Fearsome Things explores that dichotomy, and I loved the two drawings that accompanied each poem depending on which aspect the poem was exploring.

These poems explore the facets that each of us are: vulnerable and fierce, insecure and self-assured, plain and magical, cynical and hopeful, in a dreamy book that calls back to stories we've grown up hearing, both good and bad, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.

Thank you to Andrews McMeel Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC!

Amanda Lovelace has done it again. There isn't a book that she has written that I haven't loved. There is so much power in her words, but it flows so naturally. You can really see who she is as a person, and the deep rawness that she allows the reader to see. I also love that her books are starting to have illustrations in them. This one was so good and added so much to the collection. Will definitely be picking up a physical copy of this!

In their newest poetry collection, Amanda Lovelace juxtaposes the softness and fierceness of femininity. The poems follow the format of Amanda’s previous collections in their short, Twitter or Tumblr-esque style. A handful of the poems resonated with me but several missed the mark. Probably due to different life experiences than the author more than anything, although in all honesty, I struggle with the brief prose and cliches. I did appreciate the depiction of self-care, empowerment, and independence conflicting with the softer side of wanting to be loved. Womanhood is hard! Thank you to NetGalley, Amanda Lovelace, and Andrews McNeel Publishing for this free eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I received an eARC through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Amanda Lovelace is a poetry staple for anyone who does not know her work. This is a stand alone poetry collection but she is known for her other works such as "The Witch Doesn't Burn in this One" and "Break Your Glass Slippers".

I feel like Amanda was pulling on the struggles of the past year and feminist thought to bring this beautiful collection to life. There were poems I read multiple times as it brought forth feelings I had always struggled to express in words. I'll be the first to say I have not read much of Amanda Lovelace but from what I have read and what I have heard, she is definitely one to keep an eye on as her work is moving and touching.

This is a wonderful collection of feminist poetry that would be great for a beginner poetry reader. Alternating biting poetry and images of the flowers women are supposed to be, along with images of those flowers on fire is well done.
People are drawn to poetry they see reflected in themselves, and this is a collection of poems that most women would be able to see themselves and their experiences reflected in.

It is always a joy to me when amanda lovelace comes out with another poetry collection. Poetry is one of those things that either clicks with you or it doesn't, and that very much depends on the style of the poetry. Are you reading sonnets or free form? Is it fragmented like what remains of Sappho or famed and storied like everything Byron has ever done? For me, amanda lovelace hits the spot. Thanks to Andrews McMeel Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this collection in exchange for an honest review.

I have really enjoyed all of amanda lovelace's poetry collections so far. I love how she interweaves fairy tales within her poetry, taking the stories and ideas we have grown up with and turning them into something that can be empowering. lovelace has a variety of series going in which she works on this subversion, in which she gently but persistently hammers home the point that you are inherently worthy, that you should be your own biggest fan. Not because you're perfect or because you live up to the ideal, but because you are you and that is not just enough, it is great. While with other poets this message sometimes feels a little too peppy, it always works for me when it comes from amanda lovelace. flower crowns & fearsome things is a standalone, in that it doesn't continue the "story" of these other series. In tone, however, it is definitely related as mythology and the stories we have been told continue to play major roles.

Using Persephone. Goddess of Spring and Dread Queen of the Underworld, as a guiding thread, lovelace moves back and forth between innocence and wrath, between giving and taking, hurting and healing. She makes it clear at the beginning that her poems will be dealing with heavy topics and they do. lovelace addresses the way we are hurt and the way we hurt ourselves, how love gets twisted, and how long it takes to unwind yourself. What really struck me in flower crowns & fearsome things was how the "innocent" side of Persephone longs for magic, for that special, extra touch, the cottage in the forest, the peace and quiet of knowing someone's got you. That hit really close to home. But then so did the Dread Queen-aspect, full of anger and power. lovelace is careful to not lean too far into the "burn it all down" energy, but rather focuses on the confidence, the knowing you're worthy, on not taking less than you deserve. Occasionally some of the poems felt a little too "girlboss" for me, but then I am quite sensitive to that.

I also want to give some credit to Janaina Medeiros who, as far as I'm aware, has consistently worked with lovelace on illustrating her poetry collections. There is clearly a great connection there and Medeiros' illustrations always add an extra touch.

While not every poem in flower crown & fearsome things struck home with me equally, I continue to be a major fan of amanda lovelace's poetry.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for the opportunity to review this book. I’ve never been able to read and understand poetry. Amanda Lovelace is one of the best I’ve ever read. Her prose is beautiful and easy to read.

An arc of this ebook was provided by the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The author includes a trigger warning page including: intimate partner violence, sexual assault, misogyny, eating disorders, cheating, and child abuse.

The poems are short and taken individually not very impactful, however taken as a whole this collection is relatable to most women even if you have not experienced everything this collection covers.

𝐷𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑤𝑖𝑠ℎ 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑠𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑔𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑙𝑦.

𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑤𝑛𝑠 & 𝑓𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 is the new standalone poetry collection by the bestselling and award-winning poetess Amanda Lovelace. Drawing inspiration from the ancient Greek goddess Persephone, revered simultaneously as Goddess of Spring and Queen of the Underworld - "𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑠 𝑠𝑜𝑓𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑖𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒", the collection explores the complexity of femininity through alternating wildflower and wildfire poems.

Two firsts for me: first time to finish an audiobook and first encounter with Amanda Lovelace's work. I have her previous books but for some reason, I haven't gotten around to reading them and now they're buried deep in my TBR pile.

I finished listening to the audiobook first and frankly, given that this is a poetry book and the author is the narrator herself, I expected more. I don't know, maybe more feelings, more energy in delivering the lines? She sounded flat and monotonous.

The poems were broken up with the author's commentaries explaining the thought process behind each section. Although I appreciate the author's notes, I felt that they disrupted the flow of the poem, failing to sustain the connection with the readers. I found it hard to distinguish between the commentaries and the poetry itself because they sounded the same to me.

When I learned that there's an available ebook version, I read it and that's when I appreciated it better. The cover and both the illustrations inside are pretty! The wordings are simple yet evocative, and as a woman who has experienced and is still facing some of the issues she wrote about, they felt familiar and relatable. Even the trigger warning at the beginning of the book is also thoughtfully worded.

However, as much as the author tried to showcase the duality of women's personalities, the poems felt random and the narrative tying them all up felt weak. Even the alternating artworks representing 𝑔𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 and ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑒 felt repetitive and boring towards the end. I wish there was variety since the artworks took most of the pages.

Overall, it's still an interesting read. I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a short yet thought-provoking breather from reading longer novels.

𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑜 𝑁𝑒𝑡𝐺𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐴𝑛𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑤𝑠 𝑀𝑐𝑀𝑒𝑒𝑙 𝑃𝑢𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝐴𝑅𝐶 𝑖𝑛 𝑒𝑥𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑛 ℎ𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤.

I've never been a huge poetry person but I have liked some of Amanda Lovelace's collections in the past. However, this one was just really dissapointing. All of the poems just seemed very lazy and there was no original thought expressed in this book. The book seems to focus on several feminist ideas but none of them were original or even approached in an unique way. Almost every poem felt like something I had heard somewhere before and the methaphors I've really liked from Amanda Lovelace in the past just weren't present in this one. However, there's some beautiful illustrations in this.

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

Poet Amanda Lovelace's new collection, Flower Crowns and Fearsome Things is appropriately dedicated to those who wish to raise hell most elegantly (vii).
In this collection, Lovelace explores the concept of dualism in the lived experience of women and the expression of feminity. She draws inspiration from the mythological persona of the ancient Greek goddess Persephone, revered simultaneously as Goddess of Spring and Queen of the Underworld - "equal parts soft and fierce" (p.xi).
The poems flow in sets of two, thematically and stylistically similar but differentiated by their perspectives on the subject-matter. Interleaved with recurring illustrations depicting either a soft flower meadow (representing flower crowns) or a burning rose bush (representing fearsome things) as appropriate, one poem evokes, whimsy, vulnerability and a feminine "inner voice", the other a powerfully insightful ideological rage. The deliberate juxtaposition successfully works to amplify the impact of the poems and the underlying concept of duality.
Within the poems, Lovelace explores themes including feminine vulnerability and strength, self-empowerment, female complexity, male-female dynamics, patriarchy, body image, resilience, violence against women (including coercive control), and gender roles as depicted in myth and fairytale.
The poems are up-to-the-minute in terms of subject matter. [C]ould the bar get any lower? (p.19) and [B]elieve her, no matter what. (p.115) perfectly encapsulate the contemporary struggle for safety, justice and respect in the context of the "Me Too" movement. On a lighter note, [A]t last (p.39) reflects on the unexpected feminist upside of having to wear a mask during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The poems resonated more for me than those contained within the poet's best-known collection, The Princess Saves Herself in This One, which I re-read in preparation for writing this review. Several evoked such a strong response that I feel compelled to share several of the poems with particular friends or female role-models for whom they'd also resonate.
Lovelace employs her signature prose style, dispensing with capitalisation and using deceptively simple, yet evocative, language to explore each poem's theme. The poems do contain potential triggers for some, which the author enumerates as including: intimate partner abuse, sexual assault, cheating, child abuse, trauma, death, violence, misogyny, body image, eating disorders, alcohol, fire and possibly more. She advises readers to remember to practice self-care before, during, & after reading. While several of the poems are indeed quite confronting in their raw power, I felt that the poet approached these difficult areas of women's experience with sensitivity and with great insight.
Flower Crowns and Fearsome Things is a stimulating collection of contemporary prose-poetry, which will strike a personal chord with many readers and contains important messages in the context of up-to-the minute feminist politics.
My thanks to the poet, Amanda Lovelace, publisher Andrews McMeel Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this thought-provoking and entertaining collection.