Book sixteen of my 2019 Reading Challenge.
Amanda Lovelace’s The Princess Saves Herself in This One
I’ve been trying to get into poetry more because there’s just something about reading exactly how you feel in words that you would have never chosen to use. I love reading books and escaping to another world, but poetry keeps you in your own world and usually says so much with only a few carefully put together words.
If you’ve been keeping up with some of my other book reviews you’ll know that I read both Rupi Kaur’s poetry books and fell in love with her writing. It was the connection I made with her poetry that I really enjoyed. When a piece of writing is relatable it’s more interesting to read. Lovelace’s writing wasn’t that of Kaur’s, but both developed that relation. The poets have different styles (as most should in my opinion) but they both had powerful poems that told similar stories and had impactful meaning.
One of the poems for this book that I found so powerful summarized a feeling that’s hard for most to describe and did so with only 16 words. The style of writing that Lovelace uses in this poem, and the entire collection, is unique and I really enjoyed it.
A review of The Princess Saves Herself in This One on Goodreads criticized the multiple lines of single words and how it wasn’t considered poetry and “anyone can do it”. I disagree. I think poetry isn’t just about the words written on a page. There’s a style choice when it comes to the layout of those words. It gives the poem itself character and I think this style for Lovelace’s collection in this book is spot on for the character and message of the poems themselves.
I truly enjoyed reading this book and will certainly look into some of the author’s other collections. Lovelace’s style is short and sweet but packs a lot of emotion which is the best aspect of poetry. If you haven’t dipped your toe into the poetry pool I suggest you do. It’s usually a quick read but gives you perspective on how others are interpreting things you are also experiencing.
Stay tuned for the next review. I’ve been jumping around reading a few books, which I don’t do often so it could be any of these: Stay Sexy & Don’t Get Murdered by podcast queens Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark; The Silver Chair, book six in the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis; Fierce Fairytales by Nikita Gill; or American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin by Terrance Hayes.
Kelsey (KJ) Fagan 