the mermaid's voice returns in this one

#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'tget to sayit'smy faultforstaying.it'shis faultformaking meafraid tostayor 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 knowfor a factthathumanityis notdissolvingbeforemyeyes.

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!