Review: 'shine your icy crown' (you are your own fairytale #2) by amanda lovelace, illustrated by Janaina Medeiros
Pub. Date: 26/1/2021
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
“make them rue the day they underestimated you.”
amanda lovelace, the bestselling & award-winning author of the “women are some kind of magic” poetry series, presents shine your icy crown, the second installment in her new feminist poetry series, “you are your own fairy tale.” this is a story about not letting society dictate the limits of your potential. it’s time to take back your power & realize that you don’t need a king in order to be a queen.
lovelace's poetry has consistently worked for me over the past few years and I think that in a large part that is due to her engagement with my greatest love: fairy tales and folk tales. Especially in her women are some kind of magic and you are your own fairytale series, lovelace takes on the legacy of these fairy tales and refashions them. As many by now know, the original fairy tales as collected by the Grimm Brothers were dark, confusing, mysterious and not always morally sound. In their next editions, they slowly but surely edited them into something they thought would be better for the children. This trend was followed by both French and English authors during the Victorian period, which leads us nicely to the family-friendly Disney version. Now don't get me wrong, I do love to sing along to their songs, but I also did feel betrayed once I found out what had been cut or smoothed over. Even Hans Christian Andersen didn't escape. Seeing lovelace return some of the iciness and danger to these tales, all in the name of unleashing your own potential, simply fills me with joy.
shine your icy crown is divided into three sections, tracking the journey of a princess from crownless to crowned. Especially the first section truly resonated with me as many of the poems took the form of advice from a big sister. Being a big sister, I had to take a moment at times. At one point I had to stop reading and call my sister to read her one section of the poems, cause it just fit us perfectly. (She also approves!) The second section focuses more on empowerment, seizing your own power and recognizing you can forge your own path despite everything else. The third and final section only consists of the ending of the princess' tale, making for a great resolution to all the positive intentions of the previous two sections. The theme of magic also runs through this collection more strongly than her previous ones, I'd argue. I myself, a continually novice witch, loved this. Once again, lovelace's collection is a combination between poetry and what I'd consider prose poetry. Each forn engages the reader in a different way but they continue to work together nicely.
lovelace's poetry continues to be direct and to the point, but with lovely flourishes. Her prose and poetry are inspiring without being overly 'yas girl' about it, which I appreciate. I recently reviewed another poetry collection which technically operates on the same level, namely that of empowerment and finding joy in the small things. While that collection didn't work for me, shine your icy crown very much did. I do think the difference lies, not to belabour the point, in lovelace's roots in fairy tales. It doesn't feel trite or overdone, but rather as if she's sharing her own thought-process and inspiration with her readers. This collection is enhanced even further through gorgeous illustrations by Janaina Medeiros, which walk the thin line between whimsical and deeply emotive perfectly. You can find more of her gorgeous art on her website or her Instagram.
I give this poetry collection...
5 Universes!
I did promise I would rave. I simply adore lovelace's you are your own fairytale series and one of these days I swear I will get myself physical copies to line my bookshelves. Any lover of minimalist poetry and fairy tales will find the perfect combination of the two here.
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