Amanda Lovelace's poetry never stops to amaze me. It is both beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time. Filled with love and passion, I could not help but turn the page for every new little story.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book Lovelace never lets me down. I don't know how she does it every single time! I will stop reading or recommending her work.

Thank you to Andrews McMeel Publishing and NetGalley for sending me an advanced e-copy of this collection to read and review.

Something I quite admire about this author in general is the offering of trigger/content warnings at the beginning for people sensitive to certain topics like homophobia/queerphobia, mental illness, trauma, death, and a combination of others. It shows that overall, the poet has respect for her audience and does not want anyone to read something that would impact their mental wellbeing in a negative way.

Now, into the meat of the review.

I am super specific about my poetry, because I'm not just a reader and reviewer, I'm a poet myself. In my mind, I have expectations for poetry I've read based on things I've learned while studying poetry and writing my own.

I've read Lovelace's "Women Are Some Kind of Magic" series, which follows the same themes I mentioned above. That was my introduction to poetry as early as I can remember, so I have a special place in my heart for her writing.

However, I am starting to feel bored with her writing, especially with this newest collection. It's starting to feel like the same old stuff I've heard before. Don't get me wrong: I am all for female empowerment, queer representation, and the addressing of important topics such as mental illness, grief, etc., but it feels like with every collection, she is repeating the same old mantras as her past collections.

With Unlock Your Storybook Heart, this is a problem I faced. Some of it was different and refreshing for my strict poetry tastes, but some of it felt like the poet was just repeating the same thing again and again. And when that happens, it also begins to lose a lot of its spark and depth. Poetry should always have some sort of deep meaning to it, but when you start restating the same thing so many different ways, you start realizing that you're running out of ways to say it, and deeper the hole will be dug.

Now, that's not to say it isn't beautiful. Lovelace's way of writing is beautiful; her descriptions are well done, and their interlaced meanings are important to take a hold of and hold close to your heart. Sometimes, though, while being beautiful and intricate and important as they can be, they are also sometimes just surface level thoughts that don't delve into the more poetic side of what the poet is saying. One example of this I can think of is one of the shorter poems Lovelace has in the collection:

"no one had ever called her their best friend, had they? no; no, of course they had not."

While I understand the sentiment and definitely resonate with this poem, I think it lacks the depth I look for in poetry. You could go so far with this poem, but it falls flat for me. Even though it has a meaning doesn't mean it qualifies as meaningful.

As for the rest of the collection, I liked the longer poems; it allows for more discussion to be had, more thoughts to be shared. The shorter poems always feel lacking. Overall, for this collection, I love the idea that the 'her' in these poems uses what she knows from books and what they tell her in order to fuel her decisions.

I am a huge proponent of reading and all things literature, so this made me extremely happy to see. Reading is magical and does a lot for a person. Books are extremely influential, and I love seeing this discussed in a feminist, intersectional way.

And despite thinking some of the things they address in this book are repetitive, I like that Lovelace wrote these books in the first place to inspire women, girls, LGBTQ+ folk, and more. It allows everyone to learn and experience these things from a different perspective.

Unlock Your Storybook Heart gets 3.75 stars from me.

(Rating rounded up to 4 stars on Goodreads and NetGalley, since they don't do half stars or quarter stars)

I received a review copy of unlock your storybook heart through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 🖤
Once again I come here with nothing else but praise for Amanda’s new poetry collection. At this point her books are my immediate buys (and I have this one preordered for a long while now). I love how magical these collections are and how much they make me feel and cry.
I so so so recommended reading all of Amanda’s books. Please and thank you.

I really enjoyed this collection, it's my favourite of the trilogy. There were a lot of poems that really spoke to me, and the illustrations were so cute. It was a very nice experience to be able to read the book and see the illustrations while simultaneously listening to the audiobook.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this collection and the way Lovelace weaved tales from well know fairy tales as well as modern day circumstance to display some of the heaviness that weigh on people and the pressure to measure up.

Amanda’s books are always equally emotional and self-empowering. I really enjoyed the fairy tale series. She will always be an auto-buy poetry author for me. Well done as usual!

I’m not sure how I felt about this one. I didn’t connect with the poems like I did in the other books of this series. I read that this collection of poetry was based on Beauty and the Beast and I didn’t really see the connection to that fairy tale when I was reading.

5 IMPORTANT STARS, A GIFT TO HUMANITY - BECAUSE WE ALL DO THIS ALL THE TIME.. Every human in this world should read Amanda's books to be a BETTER human.

CW: suicide, child abuse, sexual abuse, toxic relationships (friendship and romantic), eating disorder, fatphobia, trauma.

Amanda's books are SO SAD but also so beautiful and SO IMPORTANT.

It is SO IMPORTANT to LEARN TO IDENTIFY AND REMEMBER ALL THE DIFFERENT FORMS OF ABUSE girls and women of the world are constantly subjected to by all of is humans.

Physical abuse and discrimination are often easier to identify than other subtler forms of emotional abuse so ingrained in the fabric of our humanity that we don't even realize we are ALL abusers at a certain moment: unrealistic and unfair expectations, double standards, constant judgment, unwanted attention, neglect, shaming, lack of support and empowerment are just a few of them.

TO LEARN HOW MANY OTHER FORMS AND BECOME BETTER HUMANS EVERYONE SHOULD READ AMANDA'S BOOKS

As a human, woman, mother, sister, friend, wife, I'm SO GRATEFUL Amanda writes this books!

Amanda Lovelace's series just keep getting better and better. Can't recommend them enough!

This third book in the series was still quite lovely, but I must confess I didn't find it quite as resonant as the first two... Lovelace has a wonderful knack for taking the darkest moments of her life and relating them in a way that is honest and resonant and not at all self-pitying or overly maudlin. She presents the naked truth of her experiences and shows the reader how she moved out of the dark and into the light. And she does it with a lovely lyrical linguistic style and format that allows her to keep the sharp corners and edges in place but not cut the reader to shreds with them.

And yet, somehow, in this third book I didn't feel the same connection that I did with the earlier two. Don't get me wrong - I still thoroughly enjoyed this book. It moved me and brought tears to my eyes and, eventually, a smile to my lips as things finally came together and our heroine got her well-deserved happy ending.

I'm not sure exactly where or why it lost the magicality of the others in the series. It is possible that it is due to my most recent "reads" of the first two books actually being "listens". I reviewed those as audiobooks and listened to them both in sequence before turning to this third book. I really enjoyed listening to them - perhaps even more than reading them previously, which is something I never experience - and am wondering if the resonant connection I felt was the more powerful for hearing the author read her stories in her own voice. Perhaps that's the piece I'm missing with this last installment. I will definitely be hunting down an audio copy to see if that's it.

While I think there are many, who would gain from the words in this book, I wouldn't describe it as poetry.
I feel like someone older than me has whispered into my ear about keeping my head up. It felt like a sibling came into my room around midnight to remind me that the opinions of others don't matter. It felt like an aunt coming up beside me after a campfire to tell me that this too, will pass.
But it didn't feel like honey dripping from my tongue as I read it. It felt more like quotations to me.
For this reason, I give it a low rating as I want more from a book of poetry, but I wouldn't rate the ideas as low.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book :)

Another beautiful book of poetry from Amanda Lovelace. So many important words of wisdom in a small book. This was written beautifully and the artwork was stunning. I have read most of Amanda's poetry, but I think this one might be my favourite. I appreciate that she puts content warnings at the beginning of her books. I also listened to the audiobook as I was reading the eARC. LOVED!!

Really wanted to love this, and some pages struck a chord, but I didn’t connect to it as much as I’d have liked.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

Until I read this one book, I never realized I had the key to my own heart.

It's the most relatable one by day in this series, it makes you feel like your not only reading with your mind, but also with your heart.
You feel the love you have for yourself rising from that little dark cave you've put it, and it's wonderful.

Another great work by Amanda Lovelace! I love how encouraging her works are, how they make me feel beautiful and powerful, and the artwork included is absolutely captivating, I highly recommend everyone read her books and find their own strength from them.

"Get far, far away from me & stay there"⠀

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

I love everything I've ever read by Amanda Lovelace. Poetry is so personal and for me, I relate to so many of the themes she includes. I know "Instagram poetry" gets a bad rap, but it's accessible for people who would otherwise not break into the genre.⠀

My absolute favorite poetry collection from Amanda Lovelace is The Mermaid's Voice Returns in this one. Pick up Unlock Your Storybook Heart on March 15th, and then checkout her backlog!⠀

QOTD: do you read poetry? If so, what is your favorite collection?? I'm

Unlock your storybook heart was a beautiful exploration of not only self-love but the love you can only experience with your best friend. I cannot wait to see what else Amanda comes up with.

I was so excited when the opportunity came because this book was one of the most anticipated to read this year and it was beautiful.
Is about finding your inner truth, living and loving without tags and don't being afraid of the what they say.
And this one got a special spot in my heart because is dedicated to bookworms so is extra special to read the advices your book gives you.
I could relate with that.

Thanks in advance to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to receive an advanced copy - all thoughts and opinions in this review are my own.


Amanda lovelace’s trilogy here has beautiful illustrations throughout the pages, her poetry becoming more and more spoken word style than before I’d say. Out of the three in this one, I’d say this is probably one of my least favorites but Looking through reviews it’s either your favorite or your least favorite. Read and you decide. I’m excited to see what comes next for her.

Thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for an advanced electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

The third installment in the "you are your own fairy tale" series, this collection of poems packs a punch to the heart. I loved the premise, and the more I read, the more I wished I could go back and share some of these words with my younger self. I don't often buy books that I've already read, but I can't wait until this one is published so that I can purchase it and have it to refer back to. This might also be a good time for me to find books 1 and 2 in the collection!

CW: eating disorders, mental illness, self harm, sexism, queerphobia, death, grief, trauma