Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an eARC of this title in exchange for my honest review.

Please read the TW the author mentions in the beginning!

Out of the You Are Your Own Fairy Tale trilogy, this one is definitely my least favorite. This isn’t a poetry book. It is repetitive advice at best and preaching a to do list you can find on Pinterest at worst.

I’m not sure if the audiobook had anything to do with me disliking this so much, but I felt like I was being talked down to the entire time. This makes it hard for me to explain what exactly fell flat for me. I completely understand that there are people (young women especially) who might really need this collection of affirmations and life lessons, and maybe I am lucky that I don’t need that right now. However, it feels really forced and painful.

I have always loved Amanda Lovelace’s poetry and this one may be my favourites. As a big sister myself, I couldn’t help but notice how I would say every single one of these to my own little sister, and how much I needed to hear them myself. It radiates love from this book and sends such a strong message to every single girl out there that she is perfect and doesn’t need to conform to society’s standards.

I really enjoyed listening to this because even in the redundant parts, it felt worthwhile because it was so short. Some great commentary about mental health and size in here, which is something many young people need to hear. It did feel a bit redundant of phrases vastly circulated on the internet in some places, but I really enjoyed nevertheless.

Whilst I still don't think this series (so far) packs the same punch as Lovelace's earlier collections, I thought this was a strong collection. It is a great introduction to poetry, with lots of important topics. I liked the voice of the big sister, and the focus on the self in these poems.
The narration was well done, and this was a good, easy listen.
3.5 stars

4.25 stars

This was a lovely, musical, lyrical collection. Reading it would’ve been delightful, and listening to it was equally nice. I love that this trilogy is fairytale-inspired; I know she said this one was a compilation of different stories as well as original ideas, but I definitely noticed (and appreciated) several Snow White references. The contemporary feminist take was, as always, something that I enjoyed. I’m looking forward to reading (and/or listening to!) whatever the writer comes out with next.

I have seen Amanda Lovelace's books EVERYWHERE. (I mean, who hasn't.) And the simple covers have always drawn my attention. Then the titles. Just so creative in their simplicity.
This, however, was my first read of hers.
I like that they are not just individual poems compiled into a book, but that they are in fact a story. The first part especially is a story of two sisters: one who has learned hard lessons that she is trying to pass on to her younger sister, and one who is learning...but not from her sister's mistakes, but by listening to the lies and voices of others. It's really creatively put together. It's almost like the two sisters are the two sides of every girl. The one who knows the truth, and the one who hears and believes the lies around us. I felt like I related to both sisters at different times of my life...or my day.
Some of the poems were outright stunning.
Some of them were too in your face feminist for me, too in your face agenda-y. But that's the lovely part of poetry. Poets get to do that. They get to bleed on the page and be in your face, because of the nature of the writing.
Some of the poems were just two lines. Some filled the page. Some were prose.
Many of them were just pieces of advice. Not in a bad way, but also not necessarily in an original way. She just so happened to put them in poetic format and coin them as her own.

As for the narration of the audiobook, it was done by the author herself. Often times, I love this because you get to hear it exactly how the author intended it, emphasis and all. In this case, the author read it well. But that’s just it. She just read it. It was definitely not A spoken word poet. Which is kind of what you expect when you get an audiobook of poetry. She read it fine like I said but I would have liked more.


>>>Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced review copy. My opinions are my own.

I thought that this was somewhat repetitive of the first one. But, I found some of it relatable, so I liked it more than than the first. Especially, the part about anxiety and depression.