I want to enjoy Amanda Lovelace's poetry because it seems like it should be my jam. So I keep picking her collections up, but so far none has really touched me. Her poetry just doesn't seem to mesh with me. Part of that might be the fairytale references - I don't love fairytales and am not interested in retellings at all, so this is very much a "me" thing and not a "book" thing. On the other hand, the mermaid theme was much less present than the princess or the witch were before, which is definitely a plus in my books and makes me curious what the author will do with other poems that aren't so closely referring to fairytale imagery.

I do appreciate the overall message, but I just don't gel with the execution and the structure of the collection. I'm sure lots of people feel differently, but I find it very hard to relate to so many of these poems because especially in the first half of the collection, most of the poems are so filled with bitterness and pessimism, which is just not me at all. I understand the anger and where it comes from - and it definitely is justified - but sometimes it just feels like shouting at an empty wall and wondering why there is no feedback. While the second part of the collection takes a more positive turn (as the collections in the Women Are Some Kind of Magic series tend to do), it just takes too long to get there for my taste. For that reason, part iii ("the song") was also by far my favorite section - there are a few poems that I am sure will stick with me.

I think my favorite thing was when the author played around with the formatting of the poem and the words on the page. Experimental formats are something I always like and with this style of poetry - where most lines are just one to three words - it's so nice if there is something to break up the usual flow of the words on the page.

I appreciated that other poets were included in the last section, however it did make the collection feel a bit disjointed toward the end. Still, this was a great opportunity to read some other poets that I might be looking into more in the future!

The third book in the poetry collection by Amanda Lovelace is written in the vein of modern poetry. Personally, the final section of survival was the best part of the collection.

A solid follow up to her other poetry, This is a quick and thoughtful read. It made me think. I love her approach to twisting fairy tales into feminist messages

Thanks to Andrews McMeel Publishing for the ARC!

First of all, I wanna thank the publisher for including a trigger warning.
It's the final poetry collection of the “Women are some kind of magic” series.

It's a good book, that hopefully will encourage victims to speak about their experiences with sexual violence.

I have absolutely loved these poetry collections and I’m sad this is the final one! Beautiful poetry. Definitely a future reread.

What I have loved about Lovelace's poetry since day one is the way that she finds ways to write about some of the ugliest and most awful parts of life in ways that are so beautiful and inspiring.  She genuinely finds a way to turn what has happened to her into words and pure feelings to be shared among readers.  That, in itself, is a true talent.  There was never a moment when reading the mermaid's voice returns in this one where I was bored or over it.  The pieces are so engaging and packed with emotion that it is hard to turn away or leave it. 

Something that I really enjoyed was the short letter at the end to the readers that described the journey of this series of poetry and connected the pieces together.  The fact that this poetry collection, while it has its own parts and pieces, fits into a larger storyline is so much fun to read.  I admired that she put this letter at the end of the book to make this connection clear.  One thing that I would have liked better is if this was at the front of the book.  I know that putting it at the end probably helps to leave the poetry collection without preconceived notions about the larger storyline between the three pieces, but for me, it would have helped me see the connection in the beginning.  At first, I was slightly confused because I was expecting mermaids, but there were a few of them.  Because of this, the beginning and first section were a little confusing.  It wasn't until getting into later sections that I realized that this collection is broken into its own story of hurt, healing, and becoming.  This set up is brilliant! 

Along with this, the final section, which is about finding your voice, is even better because between poems written by Lovelace are poems written by others!  It truly works as it shows the transformation of the author from the beginning of the book and then her later transformation and discovery of not just her voice, but of others who have overcome some ugly hand being dealt to them in life.  It is in this final section that the mermaid allusion is clear; it is not about leaving the water and being human, but about finding your voice after it has been taken from you.          

Speaking of pure aesthetics, I really like the plain cover with just the text and then the back cover.  I think that, while it is plain, it makes a strong statement as there is nothing else to look at besides reading the words.  The message is clear, there are no frilly pieces of art or pops of color.  This text is about poetry and its messages.  The writing inside is very colorful and imagery is rich and lush.  Lovelace has honed the ability to use such strong adjectives and nouns to describe intangible things.  Being able to paint these poems with your mind is a work of genius and creates a bond between writer and reader.  In the end, there were several short poems that I literally wanted to copy or rip out and tape all over the walls to make sure that I read the words every day.  Words can be powerful, especially when written like these.          

On Goodreads, I gave this one four stars just because the beginning could have been a little more clear about what was happening and I really think that for me, perhaps reading the back letter in the beginning or having something up there first would have helped tie the piece together more quickly for me.  I did love reading this and falling back into Lovelace's world of beautiful writing, strong imagery, and connections to the soft and beautiful places from fairytales and childhood.

This is a beautiful conclusion to the Women Are Some Kind of Magic Series. The style is the same as her previous works. I appreciate that Lovelace's poems aren't wordy. Her power lies in the exact words she chooses to use, since there aren't many. The tone here is slightly different from the other two in that it's a bit calmer, there's more focus on healing and moving forward. Also, in the last section, there are poems from other poets which fit the theme of recovery.

As I've I said about Lovelace's previous two books in this series: To witness any form of art which is so obviously part of the creator's healing process is a gift. Any reader will likely find something in each of these books aide in healing and foster a sense of belonging.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Andrews McMeel Publishing through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
The Mermaid’s Voice Returns in This One is the last book in Amanda Lovelace’s poetry collection. This book deals with very difficult topics and also includes guest poems from other poetry writers. This book was definitely a page turner. I have not read the first two books because I didn’t know it was the last book in the series, but after reading this copy, I can’t wait to read the others.

I've read the author's previous books in this series and having read the final book I feel like now I can form a better opinion. The three books are obviously connected being inspired by the author's real life, just transformed into narratives featuring a princess, a witch, and a mermaid.

I like the message the author writes with, I like the inclusion of trigger warnings, but ultimately this kind of poetry feels void to me. It feels very superficial and it doesn't evoke strong feelings. The topics included are important and hard, and some have even impacted my own personal life, but it feels weird to read poetry about it and not feel anything. The words just didn't affect me and I feel like the strength of poetry - expressing feelings through short and metaphorical narratives, is lost here.

Out of the three books, I personally liked the second one best.

I've read a lot of Amanda Lovelace's work but I never connected with her words. This is the first time, her work got me excited and I couldn't be more thrilled. I got this book from NetGalley in the hope that I'd love it and I did. Some poems are so beautifully done, it makes you want to re-read them.
I'm going to buy the book for sure and gift it too.

I'm a huge fan of Lovelace's poetry, but this collection fell short for me. Her first two collections in this series felt fresh and boldly honest. This just felt like a bit of a retread. Although I truly admire her ability to bring in painful topics (abuse, eating disorders, etc.) to her work, many of these poems lacked real depth for me. I'd happily reread some of her older poems, but there wasn't one that I could truly connect to in this book. I'm excited to see what Lovelace does next - perhaps with a different theme, I'd be able to relate on a deeper level again.

Well, one of my new year's resolution was to read books outside my comfort zone. And hence this. I am not fond of contemporary poetry or free verse poetry, and from what I can think of, it's because of my need for long verses and flowery language.

The Mermaid's Voice Returns in This One is the third book in the Women are Some Kind of Magic series and this particular book talks about the Mermaid who had been a witch who had been a queen. A story that has themes of survival and longing, healing irregularly but hearing whatsoever.

My favorite bits were the verses told by these women from fantasy land and the ode to some famous poems and novels.
The verses are about raising your head and continue living because healing is a slow process. The verses also talk about the importance of speaking up or how toxic life can get. It is important to find one's voice and not lets others walk all over you.
I will definitely be picking the first two books up. Amanda Lovelace is a strong voice, and I am sure she has helped a lot of people through her stories.

This was my first time reading Amanda Lovelace’s poetry collection and I must say I really enjoyed it. I never enjoyed poetry back in school as it did not relate to me in any way and at times I found it tedious. However with this poetry collection I found that I could relate to a lot of the poems in one way or another and could interpret them in a way that could relate to myself. I love how all of the poems were connected through similar themes which flowed really nicely throughout the book. I’m definitely inclined to go back and read the first two books in the collection.

Powerful poetry by Amanda Lovelace who is such an amazing poetess mending hearts with her words. This is a fantastic end to the Women are some kind of magic series. Her collections are always very pro-woman and make me feel empowered and proud and so good in a ferocious way. There's sadness too and this has a lot about abuse, both from herself and from others, and it's a very emotional read.

Another good collection of poetry in Amanda Lovelace's final book in her "Women are some kind of magic" collection.

Full disclosure, this was my first time reading Amanda Lovelace's work. I initially didn't realize this collection was the third volume in a series. That said, I won't be going back to read the other volumes.

I've heard so much about Lovelace's work that, despite my hesitation, I decided to give this collection a shot. I was interested in the fairytale theme and the messages of empowerment for survivors. Despite the promising themes, however, this collection did nothing for me. I found most of the poems shallow and lacking substance, so the themes almost felt trivialized.

I did, however, like that Lovelace included other poets in the final section of the collection. I think collaboration among artists and writers is powerful and I love to see women in poetry supporting one another.

This is my first time reading Amanda's work in its entirety and though I don't frequently read poetry, I was totally smitten with her style and message, how she easily flitted between the autobiographical and the general, and between the passages that made me want to tear my heart out with startled grief and those that brought out a small smile and a warm nostalgia. She alludes to mermaids and princes/princesses but also book lovers, and how escaping to books helped at least one little girl (herself?).

Among my favorite passages:
"sometimes
she cannot
tell the
difference

between

the days
she's walked
this earth
as herself

&

the days
she's walked
through paragraphs
as someone else.
-no one noticed & she liked it that way."

OMG!OMG!OMG! Amanda lovelace is my queenn🖤. She's written these poems with so much care,love and admiration for her readers. Few poems were so exceptionally written, i had to stop for a second and collect myself for the selection and string of words😍. Im going to read every book of amanda lovelace and im sure as hell going to buy the book.Thanks alot for writing such a masterpiece

4.5
I was sent this book as an advance copy by the publisher via NetGalley for reviewing purposes, but all opinions are my own

The Mermaid’s Voice Returns in This One is the conclusion to Amanda Lovelace’s series of poetry collections, Women Are Some Kind of Magic. I had read the previous two books right at the beginning of last year (I had also read the second volume as an advance copy), and I absolutely loved the both of them and this one was no different.
This finale manages to end the series fantastically, it brings back themes, phrases, ideas of the original two books in a brilliant way that manages to leave you satisfied after finishing it. Because of that, I think the best way to read the series is to binge read all of them at once, it would end up being an incredible experience, I will definitely be trying that when I manage to get a physical copy on March 5th.
The Mermaid’s Voice in This One also does something new compared to the other books in this series. In the final part of the collection, alongside Lovelace’s poems are poems from new authors. That was by far my favorite part of the book, it gave a fresh air to the collection, I loved all of those poems and as I was turning the pages I got more and more excited to read each one. I can’t wait to read more of those authors in the future.
My favorite book in the series is still Th Witch Doesn’t Burn in this One but this one came close.

Review to be posted at the end of February to all sources mentioned on my profile.


I read the other two books by this author not that long ago and I was excited for this book. So, when I saw it on Netgalley I couldn't resist requesting it, it meant I could read it immediately and not have to wait a few more months.

First up, I love the content page: The Sky, The Shipwreck, The Song, The Surviving.

This was for me the weakest book of the three. Which also has to do with my own comfort levels. I saw the warning at the beginning (thank you for that), I knew what would happen, but as a year resolution I wanted to push my boundaries a bit more. Now I am kind of crawling back and wishing I hadn't done it. There are just a few things that I truly cannot read, never will be able to read. Child abuse. Rape.

There were still other poems/verses/whatever you want to call it that this was, and while I did like them at points, they didn't strike an emotional chord as the second one did so so much. Which is a shame, I was kind of hoping that would happen again.

I did like that not only were these poems about things that happened (in childhoods or through the years), but also about healing, about getting better, about getting stronger.

I adored those Romeo and Juliet stories though. I loved those various worlds, various situations.

I loved the (broken-up) poems/verses/etc. more than those lumps of text without much punctuation.

This book also features work by others on the theme. I did like their messages, but... and how to explain this, it just didn't work for me. Poems/verses/etc. are still hit and miss to me, and with Amanda Lovelace I found someone whose poetry I liked, she writes in a style that is perfect for me, however the guest writers just didn't have that spark, or at least most of them. That feel. Maybe someone else will love them, and again, I did love their messages, but the poetry just missed something.

All in all, I still was fascinated and in awe of this book, it is an important one to read, and I am sure that, while it didn't strike such a chord with me, it will for someone else. Someone else will be able to use the words written down in this book.