Break Your Glass Slippers (You Are Your Own Fairy Tale #1) by Amanda Lovelace

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ARC was given by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This review is being published on the release date (March 17th, 2020)

Content/Trigger Warnings: Child abuse, toxic relationships, toxic friendships, sexual harassment, eating disorders, body shaming, fat phobia, suicide, trauma, and more.

“You are limitless. You can have the lipstick. You can have the sword.”

It wasn’t that long ago that I finished To Drink Coffee with A Ghost and when I heard Amanda Lovelace had a new poetry book coming out, it felt like my heart almost stopped. I love Lovelace’s work with my whole heart and soul. Her poetry has a way to see into the deepest layers of my heart and say, “You’re not alone. I see you.” Needless to say, I all but fell in love with this book like I have past works by her’s.

In this poetry collection, the main focus in body positivity and addressing the way we can see ourselves when we don’t fit the mold society or relationships want for us. There’s also a lot of reaffirmation of loving oneself regardless of what others think. Each negative moment highlighted in this book, was countered acted with poems of love, kindness, and caring. This collection is truly a love letter to all those who feel like they are unworthy because of the way they have been treated by toxic influences in their life.

“You don’t need to look a certain way to deserve someone’s heart.
No matter your shape-
No matter your size-
Be proud of all the space your body dares to take up.”

On top of the way the author counteracts the negative poems with love poems, she also structured this poem collection in a clever and that will allow the reader to really appreciate it. Each poem of positive advice or love is from the fairy godmother perspective. She has the fairy godmother set up as an inner voice as a way to remind the reader to love oneself, to cherish the people who love and appreciate you, and really added that element of a loving parent who is trying to guide their child. It was really creative and it was one of the most captivating pieces of this collection.

I also have to say how beautiful the art was in this book, as well! There are these breaks in the book of a night sky with a moon and they are absolutely stunning. Every drawing in this book is beautiful, but I truly loved that the author included these night sky pieces. They are very dreamy and really set the mood for the book. Plus, it’s something to help ease the emotions you may feel while reading this book.

My only issue from this collection was wanting just a little more pull on the emotional side. In past works, the author has a way of really pulling the emotions out of the reader. However, this collection didn’t pull as much of an emotional reaction as I thought it would have. It still stirred a lot of feelings, a lot of memories, and a lot of thoughts with my reading experience, but when it comes to this author, I always anticipate tears and sniffles. Regardless, I still enjoyed my time reading each poem even if there weren’t any tears this time around.

Overall, I love Lovelace’s work. I say it all the time, but she is one of the the few authors who can tear down all my walls and show my scars for the world to see. I think I will always have a soft spot for Lovelace’s work and if someone were to ask me why I enjoy her work so much, I think I would say, “Her work means everything to me.” I can’t wait to pick up a physical copy of this book and add it to my personal poetry collection. And if you’re someone who needs a love letter of body positivity and self-love, then you definitely need to pick up a copy of this book yourself! I truly do recommend this book with my heart, my soul, and my everything because you can really tell that Lovelace understands the reader and what they have endured.