Amanda Lovelace

The way I rate poetry depends entirely on the emotional response I have. Usually with books, I look at the writing, the main character, plot developments. Poetry, on the other hand, is much more complicated and I am not by any means a master (nor am I with books, but obviously nothing is stopping me). So, I usually just go with whatever reaction I have. If I have no reaction, then most likely I will rate it low. If I do, then well it depends on the emotion evoked and my interpretation of the written words.

If I had to give a emotion to what this poetry book made me feel, it would be empowerment. While Lovelace’s last book was enjoyable it didn't have me respond like this one. I read this in one day because I wanted to keep the feeling alive. I fully believe this is the type of poetry book you can skip to any page everyday and love what your reading, while feeling like a women building herself up to great feats.

I am a 30 year old women and it's somewhat refreshing to still became so open to a non self help book and feel this way (although, this is a self help book in it's own way). While there formatting was a slightly bothersome I really loved the book. A must read for any girl/women who need encouragement and support.… (mer)

This book is a rollercoaster ride so if you are emotionally exhausted like I was you may want to wait until you are ready. While I did love the poetry, I would have liked it more if I was a teenage girl in high school. Since I technically saved myself and went through a majority of what Lovelace went through I could appreciate what she was writing, but I am healed from what I have endured.

It would have been amazing to read this in high school when you are just going through so much, and you don't even know who you are, what you should be doing, or even how to love. When emotions are fragile and you just need a savior (however you will learn to save yourself). This would be a good book to keep as a art journal, drawing next to the poems in a way that helped the emotions let loose.

My favorite part was III the queen. This is where you start to believe in yourself and Lovelace has a way of writing so that it reaches down into your soul and picks out those chunks that need to be healed. Despite liking the poetry I just couldn't give it a 4 or 5. Like I said if those wounds were fresh or if I was experiencing these problems, it would have spoken to me more. I also felt like something was missing, for me, from the poetry, what it was I couldn't tell you… (mer)

I am not typically a fan of modern poetry, but on the whole I really enjoyed and was deeply moved by this book. My favorite poem in it is "skin & bone", that's the kind of poem that will give me chills every time I read it.
While not every poem was a homerun, most of them were good, and I would have given this book 4 stars if it weren't for that last chapter, 'you'.
While the first three chapters follow a narrative and show character development and have a conclusion, the final chapter seems choppy and random. None of the poems in chapter four connect to each other or tell a story as the rest do, and worse than that, they are largely tumblrite talking points. The first 3 quarters of the book were widely relatable and apolitical, while the last quarter is critical theory and socialist talking points. It doesn't lend itself to the story, in fact it takes away from it. It takes you out of the emotional triumph of the queen, and plops you into a lecture.… (mer)