The Princess Saves Herself in this One

Here's my problem with this book.

It's extremely moving. Reading it literally gave me tingles over my body. It made me swallow back tears. It made me feel.

But dear god was it poorly written.

Amanda Lovelace is yet another so-called poet who thinks that poetry is made my typing a few extra spaces and hitting the enter key every two or three words. That is not poetry. Poetry is a rhythmical explosion of beautiful words that compels you to ponder it all the time. It's a silent song for your brain and only your brain to cherish. It is not word throw up on a page in lowercase font for an a e s t h e t i c.

I tabbed each of my favorite poems. They were poems that had both rhythm and meaning. And out of 199 pages, I only tabbed 3. What a shame.

With that said, I commend Lovelace for her use of nontraditional writing styles as well. I loved her uses of lists and even the use of a multiple choice question. That is the kind of strange, off-kilter poetry that I can get down with. But I really don't care for frantic keyboard smashing.

All in all, Lovelace has a gift. She can write something that's moving and painful even if the writing itself feels like I'm sifting through a dumpster. I just really, really, r e a l l y (see isn't it annoying, Amanda?) hope that she picks up her poetry game and writes something worth singing about.