The Mermaid's Voice Returns in This One

Women Are Some Kind of Magic #3

by Amanda Lovelace

Goodreads Choice Award-winning poet and USA TODAY bestselling author Amanda Lovelace presents the mermaid’s voice returns in this one — the third and final installment in her “women are some kind of magic” series, featuring a foreword from Lang Leav and 13 guest poems from leading voices in poetry such as Nikita Gill, KY Robinson, and Orion Carloto.

The mermaid is known for her siren song, luring bedroom-eyed sailors to their demise. However, beneath these misguided myths are tales of escapism and healing, which Lovelace weaves throughout this empowering collection of poetry, taking you on a journey from the sea to the stars. They tried to silence her once and for all, but the mermaid’s voice returns in this one.

Genres: Poetry, Feminism, Nonfiction, Adult, Mental Health, Contemporary, Audiobook

208 pages, Paperback

First published March 5, 2019

About the author

Amanda Lovelace is a bestselling American poet who rose to fame through her poetry posted to Tumblr and Instagram. She is the author of the women are some kind of magic series, including the Goodreads Choice Award-winning the princess saves herself in this one and women are some kind of magic.

Reviews

[demi. ♡ · Rating 2 out of 5]

❥ 2.5 / 5 stars

the more
i read
this
poetry collection,
the more
i realize
that
this is
not
a poetry.

it’s like
amanda lovelace
just
type
a sentence
and then,
tab
tab
tab.

and that
fricking
annoys
me.

- how can you call it a poetry when you don’t even know how to write one.



The Princess Saves Herself in This One (#1) : review
The Witch Doesn't Burn in This One (#2) : review
The Mermaid's Voice Returns in This One (#3) : review

[Claudia Lomelí · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me gustó, pero no supera al segundo.

Se me hizo un buen detalle que invitara otras autoras, nuevas voces, pero algunos de esos poemas no resaltaron para mí (hubo dos o tres que sí me parecieron muy bellos). En cuanto a los poemas de la propia Amanda, hubo menos de diez que realmente me hablaran o me hicieran sentir algo (en cambio, en el de las brujas marqué como 30 poemas. SÉ QUE NO DEBERÍA COMPARARLOS PERO NO PUEDO EVITARLO, AMÉ EL SEGUNDO POEMARIO).

EN FIN, es una serie que creo que vale la pena :). Más si apenas están comenzando con la poesía, como yo.

[destiny ♡ howling libraries · Rating 3 out of 5]

#1: The Princess Saves Herself in this One ★★★★☆
#2: The Witch Doesn't Burn in this One ★★★☆☆
#3: The Mermaid's Voice Returns in this One ★★★★☆

you
don't
get to say
it's
my fault
for
staying.
it's
his fault
for
making me
afraid to
stay
or go.

After how much I struggled with the middle book in this 'trilogy', I wasn't sure I wanted to read this newest and final installment, but friends' reviews were so positive that I finally decided I had to give it a try, and I'm glad that I did. I still feel like Lovelace's poetry lost its luster for me after the first collection and none of the rest have quite lived up to it, but I do appreciate that this one isn't as repetitive as Witch was (and doesn't feel as heavily borrowed from mid- to late-2000s emo band lyrics as that one did, either).

Mostly, this collection is about surviving sexual assault, and it's got a lot of good stuff going on in that regard; it wasn't the most powerful or empowering thing I've read as a survivor, but it was comforting and nice regardless, and had a few poems I really appreciated. Otherwise, there are some happy pages to give you that soft, soothing hug after the painful bits, and overall, it feels like a very natural and well-done ending to the series.

he exists.
therefore,
i know
for a fact
that
humanity
is not
dissolving
before
my
eyes.

All quotes come from an advance copy and may not match the final release. Thank you so much to Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

[✨ A ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

no
matter
how you choose
to tell your
truths
—a whisper
      melody
      s c r e a m—
you
are still
toppling
mountain
ranges.

  - you possess avalanches.

A powerful conclusion to this beautiful poetry collection series. I totally would not mind if Lovelace decided to continue these books, I adore them so much.

I know this type of poetry is not everyone's cup of tea but I have come to love it and it's all thanks to Amanda Lovelace and her words.

____
My reviews for:

#1 The princess saves herself in this one
#2 The witch doesn't burn in this one

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an e-ARC of this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I give this book 3.5 stars which rounds up to 4.

This book is really similar to the other two books in this series. So if you liked those, then you’ll probably like this one. That being said, I still think her first book is the strongest.

The subject matter of the book is very timely. A large majority of the poems center on the Me Too movement.



The theme of this book is mermaids/The Little Mermaid story. However, there wasn’t a lot of actual mermaid inspired poems. She seemed to revert back to princesses/queens and fairy tales in general. Given the focus on Me Too/sexual assault, there could have been a lot done with The Little Mermaid theme. To me it felt like a missed opportunity.

This collection also contains some guest poems from other poets and I loved that addition. It added some variety and it worked well with the Me Too message because it showed strength in numbers.

I did enjoy a lot of the poems. There were some that really spoke to me. I did love that one of her poems was an homage to The Chronicles of Narnia, which is one of my favorite book series of all time.

Overall, this collection is perfect for fans of Amanda Lovelace. If you’re looking for something different from her, you may want to skip this one.

[Rachel Reads Ravenously · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars

It's really weird that I didn't like this book because I am absolutely gaga over the first two books in this series. Both were 5 star reads. But while those felt powerful and deeply moving, this one was repetitive to me and I found myself rolling my eyes.

Maybe this book caught me in a bitchy time, but this third book felt convoluted and fake to me. Maybe I'll reread it in the future and see if I just have a case of the crankies or something....


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[Gabby · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the third poetry collection in this authors “women are some kind of magic” series and this one was good, but nothing really stood out to me. Poetry is so subjective and my favorite poetry collection from her is still the first collection about the princess. Her poetry is very whimsical and fairy-tale inspired, and she talks a lot about the abuse the experienced and how she overcame that abuse. This collection is good, but it’s not my favorite.

This was the second poetry collection I finished reading on my long six hour flight today haha, I like to try and make an effort to read a lot of the poetry good reads nominations!

[persephone ☾ · Rating 2 out of 5]

read this because i saw Anya Taylor-Joy (aka the love of my life, the woman i would absolutely give everything in the world to and so much more) read this but unfortunately this left me very disappointed.

i love when the style and the content of a book are directly correlated and make sense with each other however, in this book, the way the "verses" are formed don't serve the meaning of the poems at all, they make everything so complicated to read and it's just wasting so much paper it's crazy.

[Calista · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this entry much more in this series than the last book. I understand the point of the last book. When we are hurt, we need to get our pain out, but I wasn’t in that space. This is the healing book. Here, there are again good men in the world, and still there are one’s that hurt.

Amanda’s writing style is the same and being the 3rd book, the poetry is becoming a little stale. This is the last of the series and I think that’s probably a good thing. I did find some interesting poems in here that spoke to me. I still felt it was only a good book.

I did enjoy this line at the end when Amanda is talking with the reader. She says: “ May the chorus of mermaids follow you wherever you go, may they offer reassurance whenever you’re in need. Remember you are one of us. Forever. From the glittering sea to the starry skies.”

That might be my favorite line from the book and it isn’t even part of the poems.

[Daniela · Rating 1 out of 5]

women are
some kind of magic
but
amanda lovelace
surely isn't
some
kind of poet.

- honest review.

Enough with the self-pity already!!
Stop throwing in words like princess, crown, castle, queen, then strike a few and label it POETRY.
It's not. It's just a pathetic attempt at writing cheesy tumblr-like posts that not even a 14-year-old would reblog.

God. I am so done with the so-called writers/poets milking the issues around feminism, domestic violence, depression and what not like it's a cash cow.

The first book was bearable. The second volume was like reading a worse version of the first one, and now the last one is like reading a worse version of the second one. Do you get my point? I am PRO recycling.. but plastic, not words and concepts from what it's supposed to be a lyrical creation aka poetry?!!

now i need to scrubscrubscrub this disaster from my brain.

[Aliza Stump]

A third one? Yes, SIGN ME UP, please!

[Julia Sapphire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Big thank you to Andrews McMeel Publishing for sending me an early copy!!

For some background, I love Amanda Lovelace's books. This series starts with Princess and next is Witch and Mermaid is the finale (These are obviously short forms of the titles just an FYI). The previous two books are some of my favorite poetry collections ever. I have given them both high ratings and I love the messages in them. These collections do have a significant amount of intense content and messages in them so be sure to refer to the trigger warnings page at the beginning of the collection. Her new series Monsters was just an ok first installment for me, so I have been waiting for the final book in this series to release.

I was not disappointed! Lovlace's writing is beautiful and always has some underlying and important themes. Though I do wish some of the poems were longer and I am also sad to see this series come to a close. I also think there could have been more mermaid references, in comparison to Witch this is not as heavily focused on the topic in the title. This can be a pro or a con to people of course. I also enjoyed how this collection wrapped up the trilogy and made references to the prior collections. Honestly, this was pretty standard for Lovelace, which is technically not a bad thing. Though the ending did not leave me speechless, it was still a solid collection and I would recommend it.

Excited to see what else Lovelace publishes in the future!!

-julia sapphire

[Natasha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Review also on my blog • Twitter • Bookstagram

You know that disappointed underwhelming feeling after reading a really lacklustre book? That’s how I felt about The Mermaids Voice. It was a lacklustre disappointment.

I personally really loved The Princess Saves Herself and I also enjoyed the followup The Witch Doesn’t Burn.

Maybe I saw this disappointment coming after To Make Monsters Out of Girls. I genuinely like modern poetry, however I find the Lovelace’s work feels extremely… repetitive. The Mermaid’s Voice felt like she was trying to relieve the magic of The Princess Saves Herself.

I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with having a structure or a style. It’s just that if you do, you have to know how to also make it feel new if you continue to use it.

This instalment felt like a rehash of the previous collections. No poem stood out, and I’ve seen all these themes from this author before. Everything was just slightly paraphrased.

Overall, this was a real disappointment. I don’t think I’ll be reading anything else from Lovelace.

[Janani(ஜனனி)⁷ · Rating 2 out of 5]

i'm convinced that the poetry will sing to you only when your soul is on the verge of falling apart. dare i say, i didn't feel anything now because my soul is kinda being cheery to the extent i hate it?

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley and Andrews McNeel Publishing for an epub in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are entirely my own. Quotes are taken from the ARC and may not be on the same page number as the final edition

As an active member of the Goodreads community, I have been eyeing Amanda Lovelace's poetry works for some time. The Mermaid's Voice Returns in This One is the conclusion to her Women Are Some Kind of Magic trilogy. Much like ee cummings, lovelace writes all her poetry in lowercase lettering.

she didn't kiss frogs.
she kissed great white sharks.

I don't feel the need to place a trigger warning in my review because as you open the collection, the author begins with a caution that her poetry does cover a variety of sensitive material and so if you are an educator reading my review, I would strongly suggest that you take the time to make up your own mind before bringing into the classroom library.

some days, i still want to believe we can traipse into the forest & come across an enchanted pocket watch that will take us back in time to erase it all& start from scratch.
this isn't that kind of fairy tale.

I have never felt myself to be an expert when it comes to reading poetry and I always come away with mixed emotions. Having read the reviews left by readers who have experienced the entire trilogy, Amanda Lovelace appears to have brought forward a variety of reactions. I found the poetry to be honest and personal, but I am not sure I am completely on Team Lovelace yet.

[Gabriela Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 ★★★★☆

“most stories don’t have a clear, defined message. they aren’t supposed to. we must take the good with the bad with the grey & decide what we want to do with it all.”

I felt more connected to this one than to the others. It seemed more real to me, which made it magical and special. I really liked it 🥳

[Parker Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely fitting way to end the women are some kind of magic series.

[Sleepless Dreamer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read most of this book while listening to Tiny Moving Parts and Taylor Swift's new album in a hipstery coffeeshop in DC and it was such a beautiful time.

I'm quite sad to have finished this series. I wanted to read it for so long and now that it's over, I'm left with such a sense of longing. I want to be friends with the poet, to drink wine together as we realize that we don't need anyone else but ourselves in order to feel whole.

I had two encounters this week. In the first one, I met a guy and I really wanted something from him. In the second one, I met a girl and she really wanted something from me. Both of them were strangers from the internet, both of them were great people, people that I trusted blindly and don't regret it (and my god, someone should have already murdered me, with all of the bad choices I've made lately). And I was so vulnerable in front of that guy and that person was so vulnerable in front of me.

I could go on a rant about how fantastic the internet is but really, so much of this book made me think of those two encounters, how incredibly different they were but really, how they were exactly the same, how much of being a person depends on the ability to speak up, to say what you want, to make it clear to the others around, how kindness is such a powerful thing, how femininity is a raw and gorgeous entity, how much I've grown as a person to be able to go through these two encounters and truly take the most out of them, how fantastic it is to be able to connect with pure strangers and really see them. How magical it is to be seen.

There's much to say about this style and the future of poetry but really, all I want to do now is find a place to throw my suitcase in and go on a run through National Mall. Briefly, I like this. It's repetitive and if you read one of her books, you know what it's going to be about but this truly resonates with me.

I wonder what it'll be like to reread this book in 4 years, I somehow feel I'll still love it but also that I'll be more critical.

Welp, I essentially just got kicked out of this cafe and will probably never come back to finish this review but yeah, this is a nice quick read.

What I'm Taking With Me
- Say hello to fairies around you, enjoy the sound of mermaids singing.
- Enjoy moments of vulnerability
- Fight villains.

[Brittney Andrews (beabookworm) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me, pretending to be a mermaid:


FYI: This is the final installment to Amanda Lovelace's Women Are Some Kind of Magic series, and I freaking loved it. The author poured her heart and soul and her voice into this one!

I don't know about you guys, but I *always* used to pretend that I was a mermaid when I was younger - whether it was in the pool, at the beach, bath time, the living room floor (wait, I might of been doing the worm). Anyways. Somewhere along the way many of us lost or had our voices weakened - we lost our fearlessness to just be ourselves. We've become so heavily weighed down with the burdens of society and what is and isn't considered acceptable. We're told not to speak up, voice our concerns/opinions, to act our age (me: nevaaaa), or we're told to just "forget about it." So, often times (and I don't think this applies to just me), I would immerse myself in books to escape reality. Cuz let's be honest, I'd rather be living in a world full of elves (oh heyyy, Legolas).

star light,
star bright,
first star
i see tonight;
i wish i may,
i wish i might
flee my skin
for but a night.

- bibliophile



Amanda Lovelace reminds us that it's okay to trust (again), it's okay to speak up, to be yourself, and it's okay to escape reality and pretend to be a mermaid, too. So, if you're looking for an inspiring collection of modern poetry, then give this a try <3.

PS. Please practice safe reading. This book contains triggers of sexual assault, abuse, depression and suicidal thoughts.

Check out my other review:
The Witch Doesn't Burn in This One, Book #2

Thanks a million to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC. Quotes are subject to change upon publication.

[Rae · Rating 3 out of 5]

the mermaid's voice returns in this one by Amanda Lovelace is the third and final poetry book in the "women are some kind of magic series."

I enjoyed reading the mermaid's voice returns in this one. This was my first foray into Amanda Lovelace's poetry! Unfortunately, while I liked the poems, I can't say they blew me away. 

I did appreciate the emotion behind the poems and the cadence and rhythm that some of them had while reading them out loud. My favorites:

"hooks encrusted in sand." 
"shrinking violets"
"flight."
"not in any life, lovely."
"the good kind of drowning."

The five poems above sounded awesome while reading them out loud, and they had a fantastic amount of depth!

Now I'm not a poetry expert, and I know poetry is a very personal form of writing, so take my critiques with a grain of salt. There were two things I didn't love about this poetry book.

First, everything is written in lowercase script. I found this really hard to read, and somewhat cringeworthy. The topics covered within the poems are serious and very real, but because the poems were written in a fluffy script, I really struggled with them! I know this is the author's style, but this was such a turn off for me as a reader.

Second, and this one is probably because I don't read a ton of poetry, but some of the poems were simply a single sentence broken up into multiple lines. Some of them were pretty and flowed nicely, but some were ordinary sentences that could have been pulled from anywhere. The depth wasn't there, and I crave depth in poetry.

Critiques aside, I would still recommend this book to others! In short, if you already love Amanda Lovelace's books or love poetry, give this book a read! Poetry is such a personal thing, and while it was a 3-star read for me, it might be your next 5-star book!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing the Kindle version of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Noura Khalid (theperksofbeingnoura) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you Netgalley and Andrew McMeel Publishing for sending a review copy in exchange for an honest review

The final book to join Amanda Lovelace’s collection Women Are Some Kind of Magic. I’ve read the previous two books and if I’m being honest I didnt enjoy them as much as I wanted to. This one on the other hand I liked more. I love how she includes trigger warnings in the beginning of her books, and I really appreciate how she deals with different themes. I loved the guest poems that she had included in this collection too.

Trigger Warnings: child abuse, gun violence, intimate partner abuse, sexual assault, eating disorder, self-harm, suicide, alcohol, trauma, death, violence, fire, & possibly more.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

First things first: I received this book through NetGalley


Oh gosh, I just finished this and it was just so damn beautiful. Seriously. This is the first Amanda Lovelace poetry that I have read (I have 'the princess saves herself in this one' at home, but I haven't picked it up yet but I totally will do that SOON).

Her writing is beautiful. Of course not every poem worked for me or touched me the same that all the others did. BUT MAN, everything was just beautiful and so heartfelt and just everything!!!!

As soon as it's out, I'm going to buy the book and highlight the shit out of it.

[✨Bean's Books✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute little book of poetry that tells the story of a young girl.

[Renata · Rating 3 out of 5]

“do you
ever
find
yourself
nostalgic
for
the life
you never
got to
have?
- (because i do.)
do you
ever
find
yourself
nostalgic
for
the person
you never
got to
be?
- (because i do II.)”

“but the stars—
they see
everything & are
loyal to no one.
when she
whispered
her wishes
into them,
the voices from
her nightmares
came crashing
down.”

“&
so
she did
what any
rational woman
would do—
ever so calmly,
she reached out
& she tore
the stars
apart.”

“be
stronger
than the
villains.
be every
storybook
heroine
come to life.”

“be
victorious
in
everything
you do.
disturb
the gods,
if that’s what
it takes.
& maybe
especially then.”

[Prashasti · Rating 2 out of 5]

Each morning before school my mother did not feed me breakfast.
She fed me wisdom.
First, she brushed my hair with a fork.
Soon after, braids fell to my waist as she kissed the top of my head, whispering against it,
"now, don't you ever lean out of your window, and let it fall down.
You never know who will show up and climbclimbclimb on up.
Heed my advice: Even villains will go all dizzy and heart-eyed for you.
Do not ever become fooled by such trickery.
-Mother knows best

Couldn't actually connect to it as the previous two books still had to somehow read it!

[Sophia Hanson]

So honored to have a poem in this gorgeous collection alongside some of my favorite poets! Lift each other up, loves.

[Cora Tea Party Princess · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I'm a little bit disappointed? I loved the first two volumes so much, but something about this one just fell flat. It would have been two stars if it wasn't for the excellent contributors, and that makes me sad.

Maybe it's just me?

[Dannii Elle]

I'm not going to provide a star rating as it feels odd to assign a number to this collection, given how personal its contents were, for me personally. It didn't impact me in quite the same way as the previous series instalments but I appreciate how raw and unfiltered this collection was.

[Lauren James]

[Gifted]
A solid follow up to her other poetry, This is a quick and thoughtful read. It made me think. I love her approach to twisting fairy tales into feminist messages

[Mariah · Rating 2 out of 5]

"i watched
you watching me
wane. now, you have
no fucking choice
other than to
watch me
-become full.

Okay. I struggled a lot with this. I wanted to look at this collection objectively and in an isolated manner, however it is part of a series, so I do think it's fair to bring up the previous two titles.

We fought dragons with the princess in The Princess Saves Herlself in This One.
We used the fire designed to scorch us back against those who would watch us burn in The Witch Doesn't Burn in This One.
I wanted so much to take back the narrative in The Mermaid's Voice Returns in This One but I have to admit I was underwhelmed.

Poetry is something so personal, and though this book didn't ignite something inside me, like the two previous titles did, I know that doesn't discredit this book and the poems in it.
I still think amanda lovelace is a truly gifted writer, with a unique perpective because of what life has put her through.

Mermaid wasn't an instant favorite, but I am whiling to give it another shot later in the year.
I got a digital ARC from NetGalley but I am planning on keeping my pre-order for this book.
I still want Mermaid to join her sisters Princess and Witch on my shelves.

I felt there was a disconnect between the chapters in the book (the sky, the shipwreck, the song and the surviving) and the poems didn't really have that cohesive and organized feel I was used to from lovelace.

What shocked me was that the poem I enjoyed most in the book, and that I thought most related to the title and theme of the book wasn't written by lovelace but by a collaborator (Nikita Gill).