Winner of the 2016 Goodreads Choice Award for Best Poetry, amanda lovelace presents her new illustrated duology, “things that h(a)unt.” In this first installment, to make monsters out of girls, lovelace explores the memory of being in an abusive relationship. She poses the eternal question: Can you heal once you’ve been marked by a monster, or will the sun always sting?
Uncompromising and unforgettable. To Make Monsters Out of Girls is a bold, poignant, and sensitively crafted collection exploring the consequences of past trauma. Amanda Lovelace’s balance of a sharp, hard reality paired with her fearless optimism and unwavering belief in the resilience and strength of herself and all women has me returning to her work again and again and again. Her poems are a powerful testament to self-recovery.
As ever I’ve read a poetry series the wrong way round. I got an ARC of the second one and read it first and then bought this because I enjoyed the second one so much.
“this is how I finally bury you”
Firstly, the aesthetics of this book are beautiful. The art (by Munise Sertel) is gorgeous and really compliments the poetry. The magazine type pages are so different but very cool. The colour scheme (red, black and white) is also stunning. I always appreciate Amanda Lovelace for the trigger warnings at the beginning of all her books because it really helps readers who may need them.
“sometimes no closure tells us more than the closure ever could”
This book is split into three chapters (monster-boy, monster-girl, and sun-heart) and takes us on a journey through an abusive and controlling relationship. I think the ‘monster-girl’ chapter might even be a little hard on Amanda because a victim is a victim. There are no excuses for abuse whether you have done something to annoy the other person or not. But I can see that this book is a true account of what it is like to be in this type of relationship and the poetry sheds light on so many emotional issues and scars that come from these types of relationships (whether physical or emotional).
“there’s no such thing as deserving abuse”
I really loved the last chapter which is about Amanda’s husband and it leaves the book on such a lovely and positive note. She found true love which is really uplifting after reading about the previous abusive relationship. The book is full of sort form poetry and some longer pieces of prose. My favourite pieces are probably the three ‘letters I never sent’.
“if you start to keep score, can you still call it love?”
Of course, this is by Amanda Lovelace to there isn’t a capital letter in sight. I just don’t feel like her writing is progressing from book to book. She writes like she wants and that’s it. I just feel like she stuck in this really simplistic way of writing poetry that never gets any better so each book does feel the same. I did still enjoy this book overall.
‘ he says he’s done with me.
he actually means it this time. ‘ -two sentence horror story.
this book really captures hurt with so many situations, and in the end it actually turns out to be okay even though you may not be.
Amanda Lovelace’s newest poetry collection contains illustrations and a whole lot of teeth. First published on Wattpad as a poetry chapbook, Lovelace’s latest once more touches on the reality of living in the world as a woman. I appreciated her use of trigger warnings in particular. As always, Lovelace’s writing is keen and emotional, full of blood and grit.