If you’re ever looking for something that’s not necessarily a book, but something to read, look no further: the princess saves herself in this one, by Amanda Lovelace, is nothing short of spectacular.

This collection of poems written in four sections is something to admire. It digs deep into subjects society does not normally acknowledge as “okay” to write about. Sensitive topics basically make up the entirety of this short “story,” from the author’s childhood to college life. I would advise that only readers high school and up read this because of the topics and the occasional swearing.

Section one, “the princess,” is about Lovelace’s childhood. Through her journey of abuse, she talks about how her upbringing was something she will never forget, though it was horrible for her. Although this was not my favorite section, it was something that will stick with me.

Moving to section two, “the damsel” is very hard to get through. This section discusses the death of Lovelace’s mother and sister and how it impacted her. It also talks about how she began to mend the relationship with the father she never knew. The word choice in this section is nothing short of powerful.

My personal favorite section, “the queen,” is very powerful and uplifting. Lovelace starts to discuss college and how she met the love of her life. This section is compiled of endless happy poems about how her life is finally falling into place through the finding of her true love. I would honestly recommend this section alone.

Lastly, “you” is the most inspiring section of all. She discusses how you should continue to always live your best life, no matter what horrible things come your way. I really enjoyed Lovelace’s work in this section.

One thing in particular that I loved about the sections is that they all went together, or referred back to other sections. I found myself making notes at whatever poems I felt went together and sort of connected them at the end. I fell in love with the poetry in a new way.

For the poetry junkie, this is something I would one-hundred percent recommend. Lovelace’s writing style is very important in this poetry collection, and she uses her words very carefully. It appears that it took a lot of time for her to get the courage to publish her work. I not only appreciate that, but the way she wrote it, too.

The pages are set up in a very interesting way. Picking it up, it seems to be like a normal book. But when you flip through it, you see some pages have five words, while others have sixty. Also, some poems’ words are shaped into pictures, like concrete poetry. I found that to be very powerful for this book; the concrete poetry that did appear made the book that much more inspiring.

Additionally, I did happen to enjoy the way her poems were formatted. She could do one word per line or ten words per line– it did not matter. There could be one italicized word in a section, and it gave me chills. Each poem left me thinking about what could happen and how lucky I am to be living the life that I am.

Society thinks that a lot of these subjects are way too sensitive to write about. While I agree in some senses, I am completely in love with the way she threw all of these “unacceptables” onto paper.

Overall, the princess saves herself in this one is a poetry collection that I would definitely recommend. Although there are many sensitive subjects, it’s too great of a read to pass up.