By Amanda Lovelace
shine your icy crown (ARC Review)
The latest installment in the You Are Your Own Fairytale series, Shine Your Icy Crown takes on the bonds of sisterhood and the power of being single through modern poetry accompanied by illustrations.
Lovelace’s poems are the words you say to yourself when you’re having a bad day. They’re the kind of phrases you write in pretty pink faux cursive and pin on your wall (or your Pinterest board) to look at when you’re wallowing in self-pity and the sorrow of the world. There are moments of beauty. And it’s occasionally inspiring.
Once upon a time, I thought Lovelace’s Women are Magic series was all glass slippers and dazzling gowns, but midnight has struck and the magic of Instagram poetry has lost its spell on me. Blame it on brilliant poets like Danez Smith who have reminded me of what poetry can be, but the genre now just seems too obvious and un-artful to me.
It doesn’t help that, the more I read from Lovelace’s series, the less fairytale retelling they seem. If you asked me what story this collection, in particular, was playing off of, I couldn’t tell you (Frozen, maybe?!), nor could I point out any connections other than an abstract mention here and there and a pretty picture of a crown drawn in the margins. With each new volume, the more vague, plain, and repetitive the poetry is. And I admit that it no longer feels like anything that special.
I still believe I love her earlier work, but the more time has passed the more afraid I am to revisit it. This may be the end of requesting her work, but I hope I feel the magic again…
I rated Shine Your Icy Crown 2.5 out of 5.
Thank you to Andrew Mcmeels Publishing and Netgalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.
Disclosure: This review includes an affiliate link to Bookshop.org. Purchases through the link help support this blog at no additional cost to you while also supporting indie bookstores. Affiliation with this site does not affect recommendations or reviews. Thanks for your understanding!
child abuse, toxic relationships, sexual assault, eating disorders, mental illness, self-harm, sexism, suicide, trauma.
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