Review of 'The Princess Saves Herself in This One (Women Are Some Kind of Magic, #1)' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Lovelace (she/they) writes lines of short jabs and uses tons of whitespace, sometimes even making shape poems, like a keyhole where the act of reciting the poem is like inserting the key. They write heavily emotional poems about love, loneliness, abuse, fat-shaming, the joy of writing, and death (a mother and a sister!)
Some of the reviews on Goodreads vilify the poet, claiming they do not write poetry, only chopping up prose into lines of one or two words and a carriage-return. They include personal examples, humorous efforts, and, yes, I get the joke, but... WELL, I loved this book and the critics are completely missing the point, concentrating more on form than the unique way Lovelace's poetry conveys meaning,.
And there is humor too, much of it dark, like a house-shaped poem “there/was never/enough alcohol/to keep my mother warm/in a house/as cold as/t h i s.//- but you kept …
Lovelace (she/they) writes lines of short jabs and uses tons of whitespace, sometimes even making shape poems, like a keyhole where the act of reciting the poem is like inserting the key. They write heavily emotional poems about love, loneliness, abuse, fat-shaming, the joy of writing, and death (a mother and a sister!)
Some of the reviews on Goodreads vilify the poet, claiming they do not write poetry, only chopping up prose into lines of one or two words and a carriage-return. They include personal examples, humorous efforts, and, yes, I get the joke, but... WELL, I loved this book and the critics are completely missing the point, concentrating more on form than the unique way Lovelace's poetry conveys meaning,.
And there is humor too, much of it dark, like a house-shaped poem “there/was never/enough alcohol/to keep my mother warm/in a house/as cold as/t h i s.//- but you kept trying didn’t you.” See how much better it is shaped like a house instead of just written? What won me over though is the language like “there came/a time/when/poetry/showed me/how to/bleed/without/the demand/of blood.” There is just nothing to add. Another? “he/opened me up/like a book/& poured the/poetry/back into/me.” This is really a narrow sampling though. Lovelace’s work is disarming (one advantage of their short-line style: it’s easy like eating little chocolates), but they use the device to penetrate with heavy thoughts. It is very effective way to throw a gut punch.