A review by divyareads
She followed the moon back to herself by Amanda Lovelace

emotional inspiring reflective fast-paced

3.0

I used to read Lovelace avidly in high school, but grew out of love with her writing as I got older and started taking my own poetry seriously. I would call this a book of affirmations rather than poetry, which doesn’t have to be a bad thing. I honestly found some light in this, especially in the poems about weight gain that made me feel okay in my body too and empowered to see this coming from another bigger person in the wake of 2000s fatphobia. With that said, it would be nice to see Lovelace push herself creatively - for example, in the poem “Luna” there is so much room to expand. That could transform into a poem specifically about sighting a luna moth or the intricacies of their design or their spiritual symbolism but it’s just a few, very general lines. Similarly, in “angel numbers” the same could be said - this can be easily expanded upon to truly captivate the mind of the reader and make them think. It could be about a specific number or a particular sighting or the stanzas could be organized by the order of the numbers and what each means to the poetess. Poetry is by definition a very intricate and detailed form of creative writing which I do not feel Lovelace taking into consideration. I still love the message she is sending into the world and believe it’s important work.