Review: The Princess Saves Herself in This One

Review: The Princess Saves Herself in This One

Title: The Princess Saves Herself in This One

Author: Amanda Lovelace

Published: 23 April 2016

Format: Hardback, owned

Pages: 156

Rating: 3/5 stars

Memorable Line: “silence has always been my loudest scream.”

Synopsis: This book is a series of poems, divided between four sections – The Princess, The Damsel, The Queen, and You. These poems explore loss, love, heartbreak, empowerment, and healing.

Review:

I tend to read poetry when my life gets messy.

And messy it has been.

I really enjoyed The Witch Doesn’t Burn in This One, which I know technically comes after The Princess Saves Herself in This One, but I’m a rebel and I decided to read this books out of order.

Anyway, this book didn’t hit home quite like The Witch Doesn’t Burn in This One, but it was still a pretty good read. My favorite part of the book was probably The Damsel, which feels weird to say because who really wants to feel like a damsel? Aren’t they always in distress? Don’t they always need saved?

Mood

And one thing I hate is feeling like I need saved. Yet, I still related most to The Damsel, but I don’t think it’s because I’m (entirely) in distress and need to be saved. I think it’s because this part of the book made me realize that it’s time to go from Damsel to Queen, and to do that, I need to save myself.

Which I can do. Like Meg, I can handle this. I can be a queen.

My favorite Queen

So oddly enough, yes, The Damsel part was the most empowering for me, personally.

I didn’t relate to every poem, but that’s okay, because it’s poetry. Someone else surely related to them on a much deeper level than I did. The writing was raw and powerful. It was easy to feel the emotions behind every word.

Does

hitting space

between

every

word

and

randomly

putting

words

in

bold

or

italics 

make

them

poetry?

I dunno. I don’t have any professional background in poetry. All I can say is that poetry can be subjective, and maybe this hitting enter between each word is this generation’s version of poetry. I really love Emily Dickinson and Sylvia Plath’s poetry, but there are many different ways to write. You don’t need to utilize enjambment, alliteration, or onomatopeia for your writing to be a poem. Isn’t it meant to be subjective, anyway?

(Shout out to AP English senior year for teaching me what enjabment and onomatopeia were).

I kind of like the spacing between the words because it feels like I have to take a breath of air since each word is punching me. To me, having them sit on their own line gives them more power. While I enjoy poetry that dares you to interpret what every little thing could mean, I also appreciate that this newer style of poetry challenges you to accept it for what it is because it is so straight forward.

All in all, The Princess Saves Herself in This One was pretty good. It wasn’t my favorite book of poems ever written, but it was thoughtful and well-done. I’ll probably read it again in the future.

What are you thoughts on different styles of poetry? Let me know! (: