The title of the poetry collection was appealing and I was excited to read the pieces. The further I got, the less intrigued I became. I was hoping to find and experience deeper meanings but I didn’t. There were very few pieces that stood out and even those that did hold some substance weren’t amazing.

Thank you to Stephanie Parent, Querencia Press, and Netgalley for this advanced reader copy of "Every Poem a Potion, Every Song a Spell" for an honest review.


Oh. My. Word.

When I say that I was devoured by this book, I mean that I fell into it completely. I was made whole but the rapture of fairytales retold with any number of the questions I wonder why the main characters hadn't asked in my fairytales both as a child wide-eyed and unknowing and as a student/teacher of the English language digging deeper into literary theories and cultural relevance.

This was such a breath of fresh air. The retellings eschewed very close to the originals while shedding more light on the way things right of gone, choices that might have been made, or doubts that might have sprung up along the way. I found myself gasping so many times when I would turn to the next page and see which new fairytale was going to be spun into this golden poetry next.

Absolutely recommending this book for everyone, and buying copies for people's birthday's this year!

Every now and then I ask for a Poetry ARC and the ones I get gifted have never let me down.

This is now one of my top 3 books of poetry. It arrived at a time I didn't know I needed the word within it. I ugly cried at some of the word written as they hit me so deeply

Thank you for writing poems that I need to hear and feel

A perfect companion to Rebecca Solnit's "Men explain the world to me". A combination of fairy tales and poetry in a very poetical way, without losing their magic and make their point.

I usually love poetry but I was only able to get about halfway through this book. I knew of a few of the fairytales the author wrote about but not enough of then to understand the poems, which a lot of them to me don’t make sense to me. I love unstructured poetry and the idea of fairytales but this one just didn’t quite work for me and I couldn’t push through.

I loved this. As someone who grew up obsessed with the REAL fairy tales, this was wonderful. I loved the subject matter, I loved the themes, I loved the writing. I will immediately go seek out other work by this writer.

Thank you for the ARC.

I've been trying to get myself into poetry again and after seeing this book with sort of fairytale retelling I had to read it.

I really loved these poems I actually reread some of them already.

I have gotten super into poetry lately, and I really enjoyed my time coming through this collection!

A poetry collection inspired by fairytales? A retelling of sorts? Count me in. This was beautifully put together, with so much care it was evidently apparent. There was a smoothness to it and it flowed very easy as I read it. I think the feminism injected into this made for a very important and brave mastery.

really loved these poems at lot. I have been really getting in to poetry in the last year or so and I will for sure be getting a physical copy for my shelf.

I’m hesitant to try out poetry collections, mainly because poetry is often very personal and subjective, allowing for multiple interpretations of the same. Which is honestly the beauty behind it, and this title is also very beautiful.

I like going into stories blind and had no idea this was a collection of fairytale retellings. Sign me up. A few I had known about, but the nicer “Disney versions”, but most of then I haven’t heard of. Still enjoyed it but not a personal favorite collection of mine. There were only one or two that resonated with me personally

I don't normally enjoy poetry, but this one was retold fairy tales in verse, which is more up my alley. I enjoyed some of the free- verse poems more than others, and my favourite was, unsurprisingly, the one for "Beauty and the Beast" (<i>Clawed Creatures</i>), followed by the series of poems based on the Jorinda and Joringel fairy tale. The rest of the poems had the right atmosphere as well, dark and truer to their non-sanitised originals.

I'm never a fan of a poem but I really like Every Poem a Potion, Every Song a Spell. I like the combination of old
and new fairy tales. Its unique and enchanting. The characters are very relatable so it's easy to connect with the stories.

This is a a powerful poetry collection that draws on ancient fairy tales to contextualize the challenges that lie within and without, when women seek to live free lives in the contemporary world.

All this is done by combining the perspective of the female protagonists in the fairy tales with today's very real women, who have to navigate the complexities of the modern world with a set of maps that are, to say the least, somewhat out of date.

But the truth is, it would be hard to find any set of maps that could provide the necessary guidance to women and girls trying to grow up and to grow into themselves, in societies that seem simultaneously determined to keep them hedged in (in terms of safety, for example) and locked out (from the power structures and opportunities that are more easily available to men). Not least because the rules about where to go, what to wear, how to act etc are always changing...

These are the things that the poet reflects upon in this collection - her thoughts on the frustrations, the mixed messages, the limitations, the role playing and all else that comes with the darker side of being a woman.

Many of the poems were powerful and some were beautiful. My favourites include the poems based on Little Red Riding Hood (the price of puberty is being seen, quite literally, as fresh meat) and Sleeping Beauty (ever heard of consent?). This collection is well worth a read for feminist poetry lovers.

I am not one to read many poem books, but this one drew me in. The cover grabbed me first, then the author using fairytales to write such moving art, a close second. I really enjoyed this book book, this collection. The real meaning is easily felt and read.

The fairytale retelling aspect of this poetry collection room was really charming. A lot of the fairytales I recognized, and some I plan to look up to read now! I definitely connected to the poems that weaved in modern life with the tale. Also, the poems that had multiple parts helped me get into the story more.

Thank you to NetGalley for the copy in exchange for a honest review.

Beautiful Prose. Absolutely beautiful. Each poem provides a fresh perspective on the fairytales we grew up with. You can really feel where the personal experiences were woven into the stories.

While it is stated that you don’t need to have prior knowledge of the fairytales, I think having that knowledge makes reading it and understanding the poems a little easier.

Overall, compelling form and beautiful prose.

I’ve always loved fairy tales, and I was very intrigued by the premise of a collection of poems that added a modern twist to the classic stories and offered a new lens through which to examine the struggles of the modern woman.

Likes:
I thought some of these poems perfectly aligned a fairy tale with a modern issue, and made me consider some classics I thought it was very familiar with in different angles. I also really liked how the author listed the original fairy tale that inspired each poem, because I know I know I’ll be searching a few of the ones i was unfamiliar with up after getting a sense of their themes through the poems!

My favorite poems in the collection were:
Clawed Creatures
Poissonnier
Part III: Wild Gardens
Curse of the Firstborn
Uncaged (my top favorite!)
The Question
The Answer

Dislikes:
Honestly, nothing specific! I liked some poems more than others, but that was all just personal preference.

Overall, I thought this was a fascinating premise that was well-executed!!

Beautiful, rich, and enchanting. Stephanie Parent did an amazing job weaving fairytales and poetry into one living breathing book of words. Phenomenal!

These poems were hauntingly beautiful. They are a different take on dark fantasy, and reimagined fairytales we all know and love. This book was simple to understand (as some poetry can seem quite complex) and each piece had depth and passion within the words. The cover of this collection of poems is the only reason why I have removed a notch from my rating because it truly doesn’t do the words within justice.

Thank you Querencia Press and NetGalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.