Review: The Princess Saves Herself in This One

The Princess Saves Herself in This One by Amanda Lovelace
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

So many things aren’t perfect about this book.

Beyond all of them, however, the book feels human. It seems to encompass a thin-slice of what it means to be human with poignancy and power. That, I think, deserves a tremendous amount of praise. The language, framing, flow and movement within the book are simple, but they use that as a tool to present emotions and thoughts that are very raw.

It is not the most eloquent poetry, nor is the most structurally sound. Some might say it isn’t even “poetry”, because of the lack of form and the very short (if punchy) verses that make up the book. (I don’t think there’s any reason to deny this as “poetry”, however. It is non-traditional and it does not experiment with form, but it is still very much poetry.) Some of the material lacks meat. In places, it is a little too brief, a little too disjointed.

Yet, none of those things can take away the fact that I had a lump in my throat as I read the book. That, if anything, is enough for me to say it’s a book worth reading.

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