Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

O princezně, která se zachránila sama by Amanda Lovelace

18 reviews

avidreader5678's review against another edition

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3.75


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bashsbooks's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective fast-paced

0.5

the princess saves herself in this one and its sequels are poetry books I've heard about for years, and they've been on my TBR for just as long. As a poet and vast consumer of poetry myself, when I tell people I like poetry, they're liable to say that this is the only poetry they've read and/or enjoyed lately.

Now that I have read the princess saves herself in this one, I find that to be a deeply disappointing thing to hear.

Lovelace's poetry is juvenile and saccharine, melodramatic in an uninspired and unoriginal way. She seems to think that clever wordplay is the only tool in poetry's bag. There is no sense of specificity in her imagery (on the rare occasion she describes something enough for it to be imagined), no room for readers to draw their own meaning, and no escape from the cliché and heavy-trodden.

Much like her poetry, Lovelace's politics are not particularly groundbreaking, either. They're not bad, she's on the right track, but they're as juvenile as the writing itself. I mean, seriously, hailing this as a great feminist text when she still appears to be in the 101 level of her understanding is frankly embarrassing.

I give this one a lower rating than usual for bad poetry books because 1) Lovelace considers herself a poet by trade and 2) because it has done irreparable damage to poetry as a form since its popularization. I'm all about loving a shitty piece of writing (ask me how I feel about My Immortal) but let's be honest about quality, please. (Personally, I don't even think this book has enough substance to be bad in an interesting way, but if you've found it, more power to you.)

Also, I can see now that this text heavily inspired Megan Fox's Pretty Boys Are Poisonous and can't help but think the popularity of Lovelace's work have something to do with how Fox's ended up so badly.

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karapillar's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

4.75


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shufields's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25


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bookishlybecca's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

3.75


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lay_kone's review against another edition

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dark reflective fast-paced

3.0


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robinks's review against another edition

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emotional fast-paced

3.5

There were definitely some lines that gave me pause, and I can see how creating this work would be a cathartic/therapeutic experience for Lovelace.

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mariah_poulin's review against another edition

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Depressing. Triggering for someone who suffers from depression. 

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loki_sdaughter's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0


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potsandpans22's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5

My goodness where do I even start with this book. The journey I went through when reading this is definitely a reflective one. It ripped me to shreds, grinded me to a pulp, stomped me into the ground, covered me with dirt, watered me, let flowers grow from where the remnants of myself were buried in an unmarked grave and then let a blissful life come from all of that. 

It is a very heavy anthology but I highly recommend it. Just check the content warnings first, as it covers some very heavy, triggering topics. 

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