First off I want to thank the author, @andrewsmcmeel audio & publishing groups and @netgalley for allowing me to read the full collection.

I’ve loved some of Amanda Lovelace’s other collections and was grateful to have all 3 to read at once with her latest, Unlock your storybook heart, coming out this past week.

I really enjoyed how each book built upon each other and how vulnerable Amanda always is with her poems. I appreciate she uses her hard times to teach others self love, development and growth.

I can connect to a lot of her poems from previous times in my life. And the one that I really felt connection to in Unlock your storybook heart was “her cat was always there for her, even when nobody else bothers to be - her soft companion”. It reminded me of harder times in my 20s and even at the start of the pandemic when things were so uncertain and I was living on my own with my 2 girls who brought me so much comfort daily.

I rated all three of these ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.
The princess saves herself in this one is always my ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ comparison.

Highly recommend the audio copies as well which the author reads herself!

Thank you, NetGalley, for providing me with a free audiobook edition of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Break Your Glass Slippers is the first entry in Amanda Lovelace's You Are Your Own Fairy Tale trilogy, and it is also my least favorite (through happenstance, I ended up reading the trilogy in reverse order). It certainly is the least original, riddled with clichés about body positivity, toxic males, and girlbossery. (At one point, Lovelace even starts referencing memes). I have read enough of her work to know that Lovelace does possess real talent (particularly in this series' final installment, Unlock Your Storybook Heart), but here wit is instead replaced with lectures about feminism and privilege.

If there is one thing I must credit Lovelace for, it's that she always tries to deliver a positive message, even when sifting through a quagmire of family and relationship drama. But the themes presented here have been done so many times now that, without taking on a new position or approaching the subject from a different perspective, it becomes just another brick in the pile of forgettable soundbites.

I loved break your glass slippers when I read it, so I was intrigued to try this title as an audiobook, because I have different experiences reading versus audio. And I loved it in this format too! I find I pick up on different things listening to poetry rather than reading it visually, so it was wonderful to be able to experience both. Will be looking into audio for other poetry titles!

I received this audiobook free from NetGalley for an honest review. I read Amanda Lovelace‘s early work and really enjoyed it. I think it’s cool she narrated her own work. Unfortunately I couldn’t finish this audiobook. I’ve never listened to poems on audiobook and maybe that’s why I didn’t care for the poems. It was harder to connect with them. Favorite poem was,” Fairy godmother says when you spend all your time imagining yourself in other peoples shoes your own story goes unwritten and there is nothing more painful than that”.

Break Your Glass Slippers by Amanda Lovelace is a collection of poetry that re-imagines the fairy-tale of Cinderella with a very different twist. The collection itself is written in Lovelace's usual style. It has two sections that have different manners in which it is written. The first section contains regular poetry and then what the fairy godmother says in relation to the previous poem. That section is followed by poetry with no more fairy godmother says pieces. There's art included in the collection.
There's a powerful meaning to the collection, though some of the poems just didn't inspire much out of me. There were a few that had. Most of my favorite poems came from the fair godmother says section. Such as:

you don't need to look a certain way
to deserve someone's heart.

no matter your shape-
no matter your size-

be proud of all the space
your body dares to take up.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me a copy for the audiobook for an honest review.

I enjoyed listening to this audiobook, the author has a pleasant voice to listen to and the story was lyrically written. I enjoyed how I could relate to parts of the main character. I would have liked to see bit more from the characters overall. I also would have liked to see more of a retelling aspect to the story. The fairy godmother parts were some of my favourite.

Overall, I gave the book three stars and recommend the story for others to read.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I just really love Amanda Lovelace. Everything she writes is so powerful and real and raw. I feel she is talking to me, about me in every one of her poetry books. I mean there are some one liners to live by in here.
And to make the audio even better, it's narrated by Amanda.
I cannot recommend her writing enough.

Very inspiring and very helpful with some self help with relationships. Love this author and loved the storyline of this books. Also reviewed this book on Goodreads.

I really enjoyed this audiobook. Listening to the author narrate this poetry collection was very soothing. How the poems moved from a quiet, self consciousness to self love was very effective storytelling. I appreciated the pattern of questions then the fairy godmother answered them. When reading a poetry collection, not every poem connects with me, but I think at least some of these poems will resonate with women.

Lovelace's newest collection of poetry is perfect for this generation of young women. It's raw, inspiring and she manages to relate it to aspirational ideas girls grow up with, namely princesses, a Prince Charming, and a happily ever after. Part 1 was my favourite, as I enjoyed the storytelling aspect most here. Lovelace conjures quite the scene, with a varied cast of characters who raise up our narrative voice or pull her down, all of which is supported by advice from her fairy godmother. I would definitely purchase this for any literature-minded young woman in my life!

This book spoke to a lot of the issues that teen girls are facing. I wanted to share it with u my nieces, and wish Amanda Lovelace had been around for me to read when I was younger.

Happy Pub Day to these three Amanda Lovelace audiobooks of poetry. Thank you to @netgalley, @ladybookmad and @andrewsmcmeel for the ARC copies of these audiobooks. The audiobooks are out today but I believe the poetry books themselves have been on shelves for a bit - these are all part of Lovelace's YOU ARE YOUR OWN FAIRYTALE trilogy.

These little feminist gems are all about finding your own story and being the heroin of it. I want to buy these for every teenaged girl I know and set them up for success in life knowing that they can carve their own way.

Here are some of my favorite lines from each book:

👡BREAK YOUR GLASS SLIPPERS
“at first, self-love can feel like you’re trying to catch lightning in a bottle—next to impossible. i didn’t believe i could ever hold that much power in my hands, until the day i did. ever since, i’ve become a terrifying storm of a girl who will never settle for anything less than what she deserves.”

“fairy godmother says you don’t need to look a certain way to deserve someone’s heart. no matter your shape— no matter your size— be proud of all the space your body dares to take up.”

👑SHINE YOUR ICY CROWN
“it is your divine right to heal as messily & as inconsistently & as loudly as possible.”

“you say lonely. i say self-sufficient. i say content dating myself. —your local spinster.”

📕UNLOCK YOUR STORYBOOK HEART

“you deserve to take a break. you are worthy of your own time, even if you’re not being someone else’s idea of productive or useful. you deserve to have fun or to do nothing if that’s what makes you happiest.”

“life is not something that can be experienced on a deadline.”

These books are written like a fairytale and chock full of good advice for folks looking to love themselves and others more. They are not your typical poetry by any means.

Lovelace's message is always on point for me and I really appreciate her writing. It is a little on the side of self-help but I have never shied away from that genre!

The audiobooks for “Break Your Glass Slippers” is narrated by the author, and I think that makes such a difference regarding poetry. Amanda Lovelace is able to capture the listener’s attention from the very first second, and transport them into the universe in which those words exist. The atmosphere the audiobook creates is just so magical and quite reminiscent of the fairy tale theme of the poetry series.

Before reading any installment in this series, I would advise anyone to read through the trigger warnings stated at the beginning of each poetry collection!

Thank you to @netgalley, @andrewsmcmeel and @ladybookmad for providing me with the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I would say it was a little better than her last series, and I definitely enjoyed it much more as an audiobook. It still is not 4 starts for my standards unfortunately. It had a big potential, since the message is so beautiful, but it was not executed like I imagined, and sometimes it felt a little repetitive. Some lines were beautiful, and it also made me cry, especially the poem about sisters, but it didn't steal my heart like I hoped it would and it also made me cringe a little. (the part with red flags) I do love the fairytale approach though, and I am happy she continued with after the first series.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for sending me a free audiobook for an honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the audio ARC of this! I originally read and loved the ebook, but I am obsessed with poetry read by the author and I knew I just had to reread these to get ready for the next one.

This is my favorite one by Amanda Lovelace so far! Despite my best efforts to read eclectically, I still don’t find myself drawn to much poetry, but I find these really resonate with me. Definitely an auto-read poet for me. The audio was beautiful and definitely added a special something to hear it read as it was intended to be.

5 heart-breaking, healing, know-your-worth stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Audio, Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing an audiobook copy for review!

I've previously read this via hard copy and still love this book as well as the overall collection. Lovelace narrates her collection of poetry beautifully. A beautiful and dark collection of poems about love and heartbreak, as well as some very sensitive subject matters. I really enjoyed it!

There are a lot of sensitive and potentially triggering topics that these poems touch on, so self-care and healing after reading [or listening in this case] is recommended.

Overall, amazing poetry, a must-read in my opinion. Some are hard to hear but also helpful to deal with trauma and difficult experiences.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the copy of this audiobook!

The lessons in these poems were important, but I felt that it was a little overdone. The concept of accepting yourself for who you are can only be said so many ways. I did stop to register and replay certain sections that spoke to me. I really enjoyed her comparison to Cinderella as that was a story that captivated me as a girl. Overall, this was okay for me. I will continue to read the rest of the series.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers, Andrews McMeel Publishing, for an ARC unabridged audiobook of Break Your Glass Slippers by Amanda Lovelace in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Reread 2022 (Audiobook): ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Reread 2021: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Read 2020: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

"There is nothing in this world like the relief of knowing that you owe answers to nobody & nobody knows answers to you in return. We need not tie each other into knots to please one another. We are free to choose who we welcome into our homes & who gets the privilege to stay." -page 67

As you can see, I have read this book twice before in the physical edition and absolutely loved it both times through! So it is no surprise that I was eager to give the 2022 audiobook release a go, and I was not disappointed! Amanda Lovelace narrates the audiobook which immediately had me excited, as I love when authors narrate their own books. It adds another dimension to the work and, with Amanda's narration, you could really hear her love and passion for the poetry coming through. Overall an absolutely wonderful listen and 5 stars for both the poetry and the unabridged audiobook version.

I listened to this one on audiobook and I feel like it was not the right format for me. I didn’t enjoy it as much but I definitely feel like I would have enjoyed it a lot more on paperback. There were a lot of content that I loved.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a free advanced copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Got an eArc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I love how the voice is from the author herself which made more impact. But, this seems more like a post from social media instead of a poem that has depth. Though, I can't wait to read and listen to the other 2 books of this series because some are relatable and I want to give the benefit of the doubt it will be the same as this first book.

TW: Fatphobia, Child Abuse, Toxic Friendships and Romantic Relationships, Sexual Harassment, Eating Disorders, Suicide, Trauma and more.