shine your icy crown (you are your own fairy tale)

Like all Amanda Lovelace books, incredibly empowering for women. This time the fairy tales are in the form of a big sister giving positive advice to a little sister.

Love that book, full of empowering poems

This book was surprising – in a good way!I don’t generally enjoy modern poetry so I was not expecting much from this book & I’m still not really sure what makes it poetry rather than prose, but I enjoyed it - I listened to the audiobook, narrated by the author, and perhaps this made it even more personal and poignant? I cannot say how well I would have responded to a written word version, but the audiobook definitely worked for me.The poetry consists of many statements/questions followed by advice from “big sister” and an overarching message that we need to rewrite the fairy stories so that “marry the handsome prince – the end” is not the end – or that every woman’s ultimate dream is related to a man … It’s about empowerment & not limiting your potential. Difficult topics are touched on, but not in a negative or depressing way. It’s full of uplifting & positive statements like “you say lonely, I say self-sufficient”It was a book that made me tag sections for future reference – such statements as:“There will always be a new mascara, there will always be a new lipstick, there will always be a new pair of jeans, there will always be a new ideal body shape. By the time you have caught up, there will already be a new trend. Its meant to be unattainable, because that ensures you’ll have no choice but to keep investing your time, money and energy. Respect yourself enough not to buy into a system whose success depends on making you feel insecure”And“She always looked up to strong women protagonists, that is, until the day she finally realised that she is the strong woman protagonist. Determined is she to weave an even better tale”This was the first book I’d encountered from Amanda Lovelace & I will definitely look for more. I can see me returning to this book & that is as much of a surprise to me as to anyone else!Disclosure: I received an advance reader copy of this book free via NetGalley. Whilst thanks go to the author & publisher for the opportunity to read it, all opinions are my own.

Firstly, I'd like to thank NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the eARC in exchange of an honest review.'be the you that is most comfortable'I love the pink theme that runs throughout this collection. At the beginning of the book there are a list of trigger warnings which can really help the reader to understand what they are about to read and I always appreciate this from Amanda.'she feels like she might float away any day now'I really loved the theme of this collection as it is a topic Amanda has touched on in previous books but never in detail. It's about the relationship between two sisters, one younger and the other older. It explores the younger sisters insecurities and much like 'break your glass slippers' we have the 'big sister says' poems and the first chapter follows this sequence. I love how as the chapter moves forward we see how the big sister's praise is helping the younger sister to rise up into a confident woman. It also touches on the big sister also making mistakes and how the younger sister deals with this.'there isn't a single thing she can't do for herself'It is a very powerful collection that really pushes forward the message of women supporting women. I also feel like you can see Amanda's growth in this collection compared to her previous books. I felt like there was a direct message to me about equality and that she believes men and women should be equal.'keep falling in love with yourself'I do wonder why the chapters didn't have names and were just called 'i'. I felt like the first chapter that focused on the sisters was really successful but then the next two chapters felt like that theme was finished with and it just went back to uplifting pieces that mirrored her previous work. I'm always happy to read Amanda's work and would recommend her work to those who enjoy uplifting writing.

I keep saying to myself that it's time for me to bow out of Amanda Lovelace's poetry anthologies because, whilst I do genuinely enjoy each of them, I think I also draw the same feeling from each of them too. The themes, approach and general tone of her books is generally all the same sort of thing, so it starts to get a bit repetitive over time; I feel like I have already read even the newest instalments before. But, I can't stop, even though I think I should, because there is just something about them that keeps me invested.I love the illustrations and there is a high chance they are a large component of why I like these poems so much. I don't necessarily take a great deal from the poetry; I just find it to be easy reading and quite uplifting, so that's nice. But the illustrations are so pretty and ethereal - they perfectly compliment the story she weaves.This particular book looks at relationships between women, mostly sisters, and how we should protect each other and draw strength from each other, straightening each others crowns instead of allowing them to tilt unceremoniously off the side of our heads. Life isn't a competition against all the other people in it, it's just existing, and Lovelace really makes me think all sorts of things (and remember all sorts of things) as I casually flick through her work from time to time.It's hard to really capture why these poems are worth investing your time in. But, it works for me; maybe it would work for you too.

I'm not one for poetry but I really enjoy Amanda Lovelace and the style of poetry she writes.These were read right when they needed to be.I voluntarily agreed to read an early copy via Netgalley. My rating is 4 stars.

This poetry is magical. It is what I needed to hear to sooth my aching heart. Unfortunately I don't have any female role models who understand my situation, but Amanda certainly does. I LOVE her work.

I… i did not realize i would finish reading this so fast. Every word was magical. I probably highlighted most of the book. What a collection of amazing, vulnerable writings. 10/10 would recommend to everyone.

*Thanks to NetGalley for the e-ARC*I LOVE LOVE LOVE this so much!!! Amanda Lovelace has done it again and has written a stellar poetry collection! Every single poem was powerful and I felt the power in her words! I think everyone needs to read this because Amanda Lovelace keeps improving her poems with every published collection (and she was stellar to begin with, so she is really perfecting her craft). I HIGHLY recommend this collection and all of Amanda Lovelace’s collection. I feel so empowered and enlightened after completing this!! I am loved it so much I have a physical copy!!