Unlock Your Storybook Heart by Amanda Lovelace: ARC & Series Review

As a fan of the previous two installments in this series (you can find my review for them here), I was definitely intrigued when I saw Unlock Your Storybook Heart: the third and final book in the You Are Your Own Fairy Tale series. 📖🗝💕

Not only is Beauty and the Beast one of my favorite fairy tales from my childhood (a bookish princess, hello?), but I myself have dealt with what used to be crippling perfectionism, so I was very invested in this poetry collection from the get-go.

Flower Crowns and Fearsome Things by Amanda Lovelace: ARC Book Review

Inspired by the Greek goddess Persephone, who is both the goddess of spring and the queen of the underworld, Lovelace’s newest poetry collection explores how we can all be both contradictorily soft and fierce at the same time, and what that means for the modern woman.

As I’ve said before in my previous reviews of her work, I feel as though Amanda Lovelace’s poetry just gets better and better with time. Her latest compilation is still a force to be reckoned with, and a welcome addition to her expanding repertoire of novels that tote women empowerment.

Vulnerable AF by Tarriona “Tank” Ball: ARC Book Review

I have to admit I didn’t actually know who Tank was before starting this book. But when she mentioned her Tiny Desk performance I couldn’t help looking it up and watching for myself. And, boy, can she really perform.

The title of this poetry collection is aptly named, because if Tank is one thing, it’s vulnerable in her writing. She holds nothing back. Vulnerable AF is a collection of poems interspersed by short stories entitled ‘Tank’s Story Time’ that tell about a failed relationship from her recent past.

You Are Your Own Fairy Tale by Amanda Lovelace: ARC & Series Review

For some reason I find myself returning to Amanda Lovelace’s works over and over again, even though in the past I haven’t enjoyed them much. Her most popular work, The Princess Saves Herself in This One, really didn’t do a lot for me. While I did connect with the topics of that poetry collection, the execution just fell flat.

So, when I saw that she was coming out with a new series, tackling fairy tale retellings from a feminist perspective – a concept which I loved – I couldn’t help being drawn to them…. even with my track record.

Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo: Book Review

Two girls. A world apart. Completely different lives. The same father.

Based on the real life tragedy of flight AA587, Clap When You Land tells the story of two teenage girls: Camino, who lives in the Dominican Republic, and Yahaira, who lives in New York City. Camino and Yahaira are half-sisters – they just don’t know it yet.

But when their father unexpectedly dies in a plane crash, long-kept secrets are thrust out into the open. And Camino and Yahaira must come to terms with what they find out, and – amidst their grief – reconcile these truths with the image of the man they called Papi.