the witch doesn't burn in this one

by Amanda Lovelace and ladybookmad

[Jo]

Trigger/Content Warnings: This book features child abuse, intimate partner abuse, sexual assault, eating disorders, trauma, death, murder, violence, fire, menstruation, and transphobia.

I was given The Witch Doesn't Burn in This One by Amanda Lovelace as a Christmas present. I'd seen her books mentioned online a number of times, and really liked the sound of them, but hadn't got round to them myself, so I was really chuffed to have been given this for Christmas! And mate, this book of poetry is as powerful as a punch to the gut.

The Witch Doesn't Burn in This One is the second book in the Women are Some Kind of Magic Series, and it's a book of poetry that is full to the brim with anger at the injustices suffered by women. The imagery of fire and burning that runs throughout really speaks to this rage. Lovelace really goes all guns blazing with her indictment over what women have endured. Your own fury builds along with hers; your heart breaks, you feel so much sorrow, but mostly, it's red hot rage. And with it, with Lovelace's words, and the rage she unleashes, there's also this overwhelming feeling of strength. You're raging, but you also feel you can take on anything.

But then there are also the poems to women. Poems of kindness and encouragement. The sweet, softer, generous king, that just lift you right up. Poems that redirect our self-worth from being reliant on the opinions of men. Lovelace holds a mirror up to yourself, and show you who you are as a woman, and as a person, and just how incredible you are. There is so much love, compassion, and understanding in these words, so you are at once raging, and the next so emotional, because Lovelace gets it, she get it all.

The Witch Doesn't Burn in This One is a battle cry to women to take back what has been stolen, to rebuild what has been crushed, and to fight those who attack. It's a bloody incredible book, so empowering, moving, and powerful. I've already got the other two books already available in this series reserved, The Princess Saves Herself in This One and The Mermaid's Voice Returns in This One, and I'm also will be buying Break Your Own Glass Slippers, the first in her new series, You Are Your Own Fairy Tale, when it's published March. If you enjoy poetry and are passionately feminist, you need this book in your life.