3.5 stars

Poetry usually means something to the people creating it. It takes a lot of emotional effort to write a poem, and when done right, it shows. With tumblr spacing, however, the words tend to come out very… empty. Anyone can strategically break apart a sentence until it sounds poetic. For instance:

If I hit enter
at just the right time
my words are no longer plain
and I’ve made poetry.

I mean, sure. That mess up there LOOKS pretty enough, but it’s a whole lot of nothing. It’s empty. And that’s usually what happens with poems of this kind. Poems with no rhyme structure or meter to speak of – and poems that aren’t spoken word poetry. When you just add breaks to sentences, you’re not giving them instant-poetry magic. You’re just making them look prettier.

And this is what, I think, makes Lovelace’s brand of poetry special. Yes, they’re just strings of sentences and/or paragraphs that have been given spacing treatment – but they’re definitely not empty. Somehow, inexplicably, Lovelace makes her emotions shine through in her words. All the things she felt writing those poems? It shows.

I suppose by now you’ve all guessed that this kind of poetry isn’t exactly my favorite. I personally prefer my poems to have some sort of structure. Which is not to say that I don’t enjoy free verse poetry. I do. It’s just that a lot of modern poets kind of make me want to roll my eyes and never stop.

But man, Lovelace’s poetry resonated with me. It helped that I found some of it very relatable. Some of the situations she writes about… I’ve been in them, too. And her words managed to impact me and conjure up a few ghosts from my past. This collection of poems was raw, powerful and it hit me a little too close to home more than once.

Poetry is extremely subjective and this book won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. But if you’re looking for a collection of poems that will make you feel incredibly strong emotions with and for their writer, then The Princess Saves Herself In This One is definitely for you.

This review and more here