The Princess Saves Herself in This One by Amanda Lovelace

Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing

Pub. Date: 2017

Genre: Poetry, Memoir

Pages: 208

Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

This memoir/novel-in-verse tells the tale of a princess who saves herself. Told in four parts (the princess, the damsel, the queen, you), the author shares her life story in the first three parts and a message for the reader in the last. The Princess Saves Herself in This One by Amanda Lovelace poetically narrates a life of survival then triumph.

I saw this book at the library on display with a fairy-tale-and-lore theme for April, and I felt in the mood to read poetry. I don’t read many novels-in-verse. I expected this to be entirely fantasy, but it wasn’t. It took an unexpectedly dark turn with childhood abuse, but it worked. I found so many individual one-page poems that I loved, and they can be interpreted in several different ways.

The character development for the speaker is great. We see her become a victim and grow into a survivor. Other aspects of her character come out in some of the images.

There is little in the way of setting, but Lovelace wrote strong images on every page. One that I love focuses on what you are going to do with an English major. Her response is perfect. Reading this book showed me a different way of looking at contemporary poetry. Some of her poems set words or phrases to a certain margin, which can be read together to show another message.

As a final note, the marketing of the cover is perfect. The cover truly sells book. It’s clear that you’ll encounter poetry, and it tells you the plot and ending. The front tells you that

the
princess
saves
herself
in
this
one

and the back describes it a little further as

the story of
a princess
turned
damsel
turned
queen.

It’s perfectly intriguing, especially for someone who does not read a lot of novels-or-memoirs-in-verse. I recommend The Princess Saves Herself in This One.