Review: The Witch Doesn’t Burn In This One | Amanda Lovelace

This review contains spoilers.

“my body 
is a historic city
& i’m the only one
allowed to set
the buildings 
ablaze.”
– reclaim yourself

Series: Women are some kind of magic
Published: 2018, by Andrews McMeel Publishing.
Pages: 208
Format: Paperback
Genre: Poetry, Feminism, Mental Health, Witches
Contains: Child Abuse, Abuse, Sexual Assault, Mental Illness, Trauma, Death, Violence, Fire, Transphobia, Body Image

‘The Witch Doesn’t Burn In This One’ is full of essential lessons every woman needs to learn. Split into four segments, it follows the narrators journey from traumatic experiences to self-care and love. With the metaphor of witchcraft, it follows her through her rage and hatred, to rising from the ashes and restarting her life.

This book was quite possibly my most anticipated read of the year. I adored Lovelace’s last collection and I couldn’t wait for this instalment in the ‘Women are some kind of magic’ series. Needless to say, it didn’t let me down.

I love anything that involves magic and witches, and using the metaphor of witchcraft to tell women to love themselves was just the thing I needed. This collection was full of anger and fire, telling stories of abuse, trauma and vengeance in such a beautiful way that I had goosebumps the entire time reading. Lovelace has an incredible way with words, getting the purpose out in a simple yet poetic way and with what makes the most impact. The modern poetry style is this book’s strongest factor, using fiery words to speak of taboo subjects in modern society, such as; identity, abuse and sexism, whilst still raising the reader’s own fires and advising them to love and accept themselves regardless of flaws.

Although, this collection features a lot of man-hating segments, the sole purpose of this book was to praise women, especially those who have suffered a traumatic experience at the hands of a man, which justifies the anger within the pages. It gives those women a voice, encourages them to speak out about their own experiences, and to move on freely with their lives. Personally, in this situation, the hatred towards men is a given and didn’t hinder my enjoyment of the collection.

Overall, I adored this book. It’s an intense collection of beautiful poetry, and is definitely one I will go back and reread in times of need.

5/5