Read All About It: the princess saves herself in this one

It’s hard to review something that feels so intensely personal, but I’ll do my best. Fair warning: this isn’t the most traditional of reviews.

Amanda Lovelace’s stunning collection of poetry is raw and gorgeous, and even just the title is a masterpiece of its own. the princess saves herself in this one is a book in four parts, follow Lovelace’s own journey of healing. Her journey starts off with a warning: not every poem is pretty. Her collection is startlingly personal and left an ache in my chest.

“here lie the raw, unpolished, & mostly disjointed pieces of my soul.” (pg 3)

The four sections of Lovelace’s collection split up her own journey from her childhood to dealing with personal trauma and healing from it. I include the above poem because it is one of the first in the collection, and it really sets the direction of the rest of the work in both tone and format.

Lovelace has a way with imagery. Her voice is clear and descriptive throughout the works, and she often uses visual cues in her poetry and its form on the page to great effect. There are no capital letters. Bolded words are used for emphasis in a few cases, and spacing is used to great effect as well. The poems do not strike me as traditional in any sort of way. There are awkward line breaks and a plentiful use of commas, and it is easy to read the poems too fast. I do not have much of a background in poetry, but Lovelace’s work struck me as very similar to that of Rupi Kaur.

I will say, the title is what first drew me to this work. I’ve always been a sucker for happy endings, and Lovelace gives us that right away with her warnings in the first two pages. Going in to this work knowing that the “princess” would be alright helped me work through a few of the rougher poems, where Lovelace bares her soul to the readers and the tone gets darker.

This collection is powerful. There are not enough words to express exactly how I felt for days after reading it. I read it straight through the first time, devoured it in a short time. The second time around I took my time with it. This is not a collection you just read once. Surface themes are clearly evident on a first pass, but taking time on a second go-through reveals deeper inspirations of Lovelace’s, and breaks your heart even as it helps heal you.

I wish I had been able to get my hands on a physical copy, but I had to make due with the Kindle app and highlighting. In my opinion, it took a little bit away from the experience (there are a number of poems that spanned more pages than a single phone screen, and it made it feel a little broken), but those formatting issues are not the fault of the author. I do recommend that you purchase a physical copy, if only so you can keep better track of the pages and poems that will hit you hardest.

Lovelace’s poems are clearly the result of years of emotional struggle and healing, and I am grateful for the emotional labor that she went through to produce it. Her words are an inspiration of empowerment, and I look forward to the sequel: the witch doesn’t burn in this one. I’m sure it will be just as beautiful.