Book Review
Title: The Princess Saves Herself in This One (Women Are Some Kind of Magic #1)
Author: Amanda Lovelace
Genre: Poetry
Rating: *****
Review: I didn’t know much about The Princess Saves Herself in This One other than it is a poetry collection divided up into four parts; The Princess, The Damsel, The Queen & You. I was informed that the first three parts relate to the life of Amanda Lovelace while You serves as a note to the reader. I didn’t know much about the content except that it features themes of life and all of its love, loss, grief, healing, empowerment, and inspirations. I like not knowing much about poetry collections and Dear Wallflower by Sara Secora is one of the favourite books of all time, the review for that is linked below.
The Princess section of this book was strange for me, there were some poems that were beautifully written but had absolutely no emotional weight to them, they were just pretty words but others were so raw and heartbreaking they brought tears to my eye. We learn all about Amanda’s turbulent relationship with a mother who seems to have an alcohol dependency. There was actual one section that really stood out to me which was: “that is what abuse is: knowing you are going to get salt but still hoping for sugar for nineteen years” and that honestly broke my heart because as a young girl your mother is supposed to be your best friend and that obviously wasn’t the case for the author, although she did have some support from her many sisters. There were also section in The Princess that screaming rape and sexual abuse and having been through that myself I really connected with these poems on a deeply personal level and these were the sections that brought me to tears. I also really identified with Amanda’s escapism with books which is something I did myself and continue to do to this day but now I share my thoughts with others. Amanda also struggles with an eating disorder which I find fascinating coming from the mouth of someone whose lived through that when I’ve never experienced this. For example, this poem was so raw I literally have no words for it: “sticks and stones never broke my bones, but words made me starve myself until you could see all of them”. The overarching themes in this section were definitely loss, both of innocence and love and a sense of loneliness that invades every one of her words.
The Damsel was ever more heartbreaking than The Princess and I didn’t think it was possible. The section definitely focuses on grief. First the grief of finding love and losing it but then it transitions into the loss of loved ones. Amanda obviously in her older teens was starting to form a real relationship with her mother when she was diagnosed with cancer after smoking for 40 years and she feels robbed of the mother she could have had. She also loses a sister just before her mother to possible suicide. Having dealt with self-harming, the author understands where that thought process takes you and blames herself for not seeing it sooner. As a person that has dealt with self-harm and suicide and lost friend to suicide, you truly can’t see it before it’s too late, you’re too close, too attached to admit to yourself something is wrong even if you know deep down there is. One poem that really struck me in this section was: “one funeral: tears of grief for a life lost too young, too soon— a tragedy. the other: tears of relief for a suffering that lasted far too long— a mercy. - & yet both hollowed me out”.
The Queen was about Amanda rebuilding herself and finding the strength to be the person she wanted to be rather than the person everyone else wanted her to be. She finally began to heal the wounds inflicted by her mother, herself and her lovers and found a true soulmate in her fiance. This part was so inspiration especially when she mentions that if she has a daughter the first word she is going to teach her is “no” and that she will never make her feel guilty for using it, like so many survivors of sexual abuse “no” sometimes isn’t a word that comes to mind in the middle of shock and pain and hurt and when we do use it, some of feel so guilty like we didn’t have a right to use it, that it was our fault when in fact it is the completely opposite. While the author isn’t brand new or even completely healed she is taking the steps to get there with the people that truly love her for who she is and this is something that each and every one of us should aspire to achieve. The section radiates empowerment and the struggle and ultimate relief in truly finding yourself and no giving a single fuck about how any one else sees you because you are the way you are and that is a message that should be passed from parent to child over and over. Not just mother and daughter, it is a lesson to be taught to all children.
The final section You gives the reader some life lessons and some things just to look out for and not treat as insignificant. She references someone jumping in front of a train and no one caring except her because she understands that is someone’s sister, mother, daughter and they should matter. She also tells all girls who have suffered rape or sexual abuse that it is never your fault. There is some man hating but I felt it was justified within the context of the collection and overall I really enjoyed it. My favourite part of any poem in this collection by far was: “make words your finest weapons— a gold-hilted sword to cut your enemies down” and that is something we should all aim to achieve. I highly recommend The Princess Saves Herself in This One.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Also see: Dear Wallflower by Sara Secora
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