Jo
Written on Mar 16, 2020
Winner of the 2016 Goodreads Choice Award, the princess saves herself in this one is a collection of poetry about resilience. It is about writing your own ending.
From Amanda Lovelace, a poetry collection in four parts: the princess, the damsel, the queen, and you. The first three sections piece together the life of the author while the final section serves as a note to the reader. This moving book explores love, loss, grief, healing, empowerment, and inspiration.
the princess saves herself in this one is the first book in the "women are some kind of magic" series.
- ISBN10 144948641X
- ISBN13 9781449486419
- Publish Date 23 March 2017 (first published 23 April 2016)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Andrews McMeel Publishing
- Format Paperback (US Trade)
- Pages 208
- Language English
Reviews
funstm
Written on Jan 19, 2019
/ˈpəʊɪtri/
noun
literary work in which the expression of feelings and ideas is given intensity by the use of distinctive style and rhythm; poems collectively or as a genre of literature.
It's true - this collection mostly doesn't rhyme. And the structure is not "traditional" - but that also doesn't make it not poetry. Poetry is stories - stripped back to the raw emotions and feelings. This collection is very much like slam poetry and not everyone will like it - hell I find most people don't enjoy poetry full stop - but this collection is poetry.
To be fair - there is nothing particularly original in this collection. It recycles a lot of ideas - but so do many books and films and songs. So can we really fault the author too much for that?
While not original or groundbreaking, I did love this collection. It was heartbreaking and hopeful and empowering and honest and raw and it packed a punch. There were some gems to be found - my personal favourites were;
here lie
the raw,
unpolished,
& mostly
disjointed
pieces of
my soul.
sticks & stones
never broke
my bones,
but words
made me
starve myself
until
you could
see all of them.
you
did
absolutely
nothing
to
deserve
it.
- fuck rape culture.
once upon
a time,
the princess
rose from the ashes
her dragon lovers
made of her
&
crowned
herself
the
motherfucking
queen of
herself.
- how’s that for a happily ever after?
Lovelace, Amanda. the princess saves herself in this one (p. 105). Andrews McMeel Publishing. Kindle Edition.
This won't be for everyone but I'd recommend it to lovers of fairy tales, teenagers, slam poetry enthusiasts, tumblr users (because while I don't think the whole tumblr poetry thing should be considered a bad thing - it does have some merit of truth - it is tumblr poetry) and anyone struggling with their self worth. I will definitely be reading more of the author's works.
bookperson
Written on Jul 30, 2018
inlibrisveritas
Written on Mar 11, 2018
leahrosereads
Written on Jan 30, 2018
I'm definitely going to be continuing on with this series, and while the style of poetry isn't quite for me, it still had the power to hit me where it hurts the most - memories.
layawaydragon
Written on Jan 24, 2017
➜content,
➜message,
➜strength,
➜courage.
➜Love how it’s broken into different parts and the whole is an empowering story.
➜Connected and understood a lot of the pain as I’ve been in similar situations throughout my life.
It’s not going to be for everyone, and that’s okay. I’m no fan of certain overhyped classics. It is what it is.
However, complaining it’s “Tumblr poetry” is insulting, dismissive, and frankly, stupid.
“It’s so angsty and emo, lol. We used these for MSN statuses!!”
yeahhhh, right, sure. Did you have justifiable reasons for being hurt, angry, upset, and are scarred from those reasons? Has it altered your life?
As an abusive victim, fuck you all for being so dismissive as if abuse is just emo bullshit crying for attention from a crush. I just...what is wrong with ya’ll?
Poets have played with the formatting since forever. It’s constantly changing, ffs.
If CAPS, makes you read it as shouting. If italics, bolding, periods.between.words, ellipses...between...words, if allthewordstogether, makes you read it differently, then how can you argue against page formatting?
How many of you complain about indie books and LACK of formatting, saying it’s unreadable? Of course formatting makes a difference!
It’s not just “pressing enter after a couple of words”, it’s deliberate breaks, white space, and word choice.
If you don’t like it, can’t relate, whatever. Fine. But how fucking dare you dismiss someone’s heart and soul on the page as “not art” and “not real poetry” because of line breaks.
I think complaining the title gives it away is also stupid. And let’s face it, most of those people are going to be hypocritical jackass who don’t call out other books doing the same thing, like Whatshisface Dies at the End. Were you hoping the princess died or got saved by someone else? If so, fuck you again with that bullshit. Why assume the princess cannot save herself and it’s such a surprise she did? Stupid sexism.
I’m so, so tired of bullshit. I’m done.
Chelsea
Written on Dec 21, 2016
I'm not normally a poetry reader but something about these poems really hits you in the feels. They're about all sorts of things from family to body image that I think any women and probably some men would relate too. I'm seeing a lot of complaints that these aren't "real" poems but I disagree. The author really has a gift not only with words but with choosing the best ones to really hit her points home. I loved every page.