It is her telling us that we deserve to be here, that we need to take care of ourselves. Is the section where she starts to address the reader, it is the section where she realises that she is good enough, that she is not messed up but that society is. I guess it is nice to know that I’m not the only one, but the poem captures this essence, the pressure of not knowing. My absolute favourite poem in this whole collection is called: & It’s Okay Not To Know, because it resonates how I feel when people ask me what I am going to do with my degree once I have finished. Where she realises that she is the one who can save herself (hence the title!) It starts off with the grief of losing her mother, but then starts to move back into love, re-finding it and managing poetry again. This particular section looks at love and betrayal, lies, cancer, the sea, and death. In this section, we see her struggling, she feels she is the one who needs to be saved. Then it becomes a lot darker, exploring mental health, abusive family relationships and what I would decipher as the beginning of her eating disorders. This part of the collection, we read about her, the way she has a love of books and considers them friends. I’m glad this states this in the introduction, as I know for some people, it may cause triggers.

I’ve always liked it, but now I think I have more of an appreciation for it.Īmanda Lovelace’s collection has many themes, including: abuse, bullying, sexual assault, alcoholism, grief, suicide, cancer, eating disorders, racism, trauma, self-harm, eating disorders and more. I feel like poetry is something I really have found to enjoy reading more over the past five years or so. Thank you to my friend, Charlotte for my Christmas present! I have been wanting to read this book for a while now.

Ah, life – / the thing / that happens / to us / while we’re off / somewhere else / blowing on / dandelions/ & wishing / ourselves into / the pages of / our favourite / fairy tales.

The princess save herself in this one