Dragonhearts

by Nikita Gill, Amanda Lovelace, Trista Mateer

“COME AND SEE HOW I HAVE TAMED THE MONSTER THAT ONCE TRIED TO KILL THE GOOD IN ME.”

three of today’s bestselling poets, nikita gill, amanda lovelace, & trista mateer come together to weave an empowering tale in their collaborative poetry collection, dragonhearts. through the combination of prose & poetry, the authors use fairy tales & myths to create something that is both timeless & extremely relevant to present-day issues, such as the #MeToo movement, reclaiming your voice, feminism, & the shared power of self-love & solidarity.

this book is a reminder that romantic love does not need to be the main plot of your story. sometimes friendship is.

(inspired by the bonus chapter in the barnes & noble exclusive hardcover of the 2018 goodreads choice award-winning poetry collection, the witch doesn’t burn in this one by amanda lovelace.)

Genres: Poetry, Feminism, Nonfiction, Ebooks, Adult, Friendship, Contemporary

132 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 15, 2019

About the author

Nikita Gill is a Kashmiri Sikh writer born in Belfast, Northern Ireland and brought up in Gurugram, Haryana in India. In her mid twenties, she immigrated to the South of England and worked as a carer for many years. She enjoys creating paintings, poems, stories, photos, illustrations and other soft, positive things. Her work has appeared in Literary Orphans, Agave Magazine, Gravel Literary Journal, Monkeybicycle, Foliate Oak, MusePiePress, Dying Dahlia Review, The Rising Phoenix Review, Eunoia Review, Corvus Review, After The Pause and elsewhere.

Reviews

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful, empowering collection of sisterhood and love. This collaboration of talented poets reminded me of the mystical games I would play with my childhood friend, when we would pretend to be among the fairies and mermaids.

[BookishStitcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

A friend in one of my classes gave this to me because really likes Nikita's poetry and thought I would too. It was good.

[Jessica C · Rating 4 out of 5]

"my spiraling thoughts are keeping me up late. again. i text her & i’m surprised to find that she’s still awake. she texts back to let me know that she’s being haunted too, & how she guesses that means we’re haunted together. for the first time in months, i sleep without needing some source of light. - i am never alone when i have you. by amanda lovelace"

AH I was so so surprised (but obviously incredibly happy) when Amanda, Trista, and Nikita came out with a self published poetry collection together. They are all such amazing, talented people, so to see their work come together like this was inspiring.

It was cool to see their work side by side like this, and their own distinct writing styles really shined through this collection.

I loved the poems so much, and they just gave me such a warm feeling inside- especially the ones about friendship. Definitely recommend it!

[maegan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This made me feel good while reading it

I found myself highlighting many parts of Nikita Gill’s poems, so I must say that hers really were my favourite part of this book.

Trista Mateer’s were quite good as well, but I think I prefer her other works.

Amanda Lovelace’s are not my cup of tea. I feel like she focuses too much on how they look on the page (pretty, with cursive and spaces) and ultimately lack depth. But this is just my opinion, I’m not doubting her effort.

Overall, an empowering collection, although some of the poems seemed to fall out of the main theme and were just randomly introduced (mangoes and spanx? what’s up with that?)

[The Story Girl (Serenity) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of poems by three poets, but of course I loved Nikita Gill's poems the best.

Also, despite this seemingly have come out this year, it is almost impossible to find a copy of??? If anyone knows where to find a hard copy of this, please let me know.

[Joyce Job · Rating 1 out of 5]

- Most of the poems in this book reminded me of the kind of conversations(silly, serious, motivating & overhyping ones) we would have with a friend/family member who just went through heartbreak and is still struggling with it.
- It's relatable. It has elements of shock, comfort and motivation. But overall the book didn't work for me.
- The book feels custom-made for a particular section of the society; also it feels like the writers are always following a pattern that works with their regular audience(popular patterns) instead of experimenting/ranging out in areas like diction, structure and themes.

"I will not give up the flowers in my heart for stones just because the world is a hard place. The world is only hard because it needs more flower-hearted people." - Nikita Gill

"Never stopped to wonder why my life needed to be great and couldn’t just be lived." - Trista Mateer.

"truth is,
we have control
over very little
in this life,

but we
have every say
in who gets
our love."
- boundaries.
by amanda lovelace

"The truth is, everyone has either loved a monster or been one, and sometimes both. There is nothing more dangerous than the thing that lives inside of you, waiting for love to wrong you, waiting to make prey out of someone else.

We all have it in us to be monstrous and there is still no excuse for monstrosity.

If we want to be the heroes of our own stories, and more than heroic—if we want to be good—we must face down the thing that lives inside of us. Commit to unpacking our anger in empty rooms. Understand our treacherous impulses and act against them, continuously." - Nikita Gill and Trista Mateer

[lauren ♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

i don’t think i’ve ever loved a poetry collection more in my life oh my godddd i don’t even have the words to say how much this resonated with me. i laughed and cried and smiled. it made me feel alive 💖.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a mixed bag for me. I absolutely adore Nikita Gill as a poet and have recently come to love Amanda Lovelace but I haven't read any poetry by Trista Mateer before and hers were probably the poems I enjoyed the least. There are some poems I really enjoyed within this work but others I could't really connect to. I think I struggled to know what the common theme was throughout this poetry as sometime they just seemed random and didn't seem to connect to one another. I do love that the women are so supportive of each other though and wanted to show that through their poetry, and I adore the cover art for this book it is so striking. I think as a whole the poetry collection just didn't work well for me and I think their voices are stronger on their own. But I will be keeping this for my collection.


"What is a queen without her king?"

I don't know,
but let's ask
Cleopatra,
Nefertiti,
Hatshepsut,
Sammuramat,
Victoria,
Elizabeth,
Amina,
Tzu-hsi,
and the countless other kingless queens
who turned mere kingdoms
into the greatest of empires"

"Honest Facts I have Learned About People

1. We are all 65-70% water.
2. We are all stardust.
3. We all suffer,
but we do no have to suffer alone"

"Your scars are a warning to all future monsters of the hell you have survived before them, every demon you have vanquished, and every battle you have won"

[Amanda Koger · Rating 4 out of 5]

a few poems read a bit weird to me, but overall this was wonderful. such a nice surprise that these lovely people published this. they are all such inspiring poets.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nikita Gill was the only good thing about this.

[Fizza · Rating 3 out of 5]

words that would make persephone proud indeed.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

I moderately liked this as a whole collection, I loved Nikita Gill's poems, she really carried this one on her back. I also enjoyed most of Trista Matter's works here, but didn't quite click with Amanda Lovelace's stuff. I actually mostly enjoyed her other works but I guess in comparison, her style least appeals to me.

Fav lines:

"I will not give up the flowers in my heart for stones just because the world is a hard place."
(Nikita Gill)

"You are simply doing what all galaxies are inclined to do. You are shattering the thing that holds you in. Remember that."
(Nikita Gill)

"I’m in love with my anger / my
war-won body / tense and vicious."
(Trista Mateer)

"On the page there is always a place for us. No oceans to stand in the way. No distance to cross. This isn’t why we write but it’s part of it. A place for our ivyhands to finally stop reaching. Here, we wind our words together until no one can tell our stories apart."
(Trista Mateer)

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had been searching for a copy of Dragonhearts for a long time. When I finally found one and read it, it did not let me down. In typical Amanda Lovelace and Nikita Gill fashion, along with new-to-me Trista Mateer, their words that express many of my own inner thoughts, experiences, emotions. As I read, I found myself rereading poems that spoke to my heart, or for my heart, rather. The collective and profound wisdom of these women warrior poets always touches my soul in ways I may not have written but have always felt.

[Valerie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heart Eyes Emoji

I felt such a strong connection with these poems. This collection feels like snapshots of my heart, my life, and my friendships. Absolutely love this!

Also, I just gotta say - I see you, lady knights, and mages, and spies! “For Tortal!” was my first ever war cry!

[Connie P · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely collection on what loving yourself, your friends, and all the imperfect wounds made in you may lead to. Some of the poems are vague enough to generalize while others are very specific and both are equally as poignant. You feel understood and empowered - and we could all use a little more of both in this world.

[Camille · Rating 4 out of 5]

Those poems of women empowerment and women love are just beautiful

[Jimena Patiño · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fue una linda compilación de poemas. Me acostumbré a los poemas de instagram ahre

[maja · Rating 3 out of 5]

sort of repetitive and a little cliche but some were actually very lovely <3

[Elizabeth Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great little collection of poems from some of my favorite poets. I really enjoyed the collaboration and how seamlessly each piece transferred into the next it was really lovely to read.

[Iria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book because I am familiar with amanda lovelace's and Nikita Gill's texts, but I have to say it was Trista Mateer's pages that I enjoyed the most, so that was a lovely surprise!

[Lubat]

DNF 34%

Duh! It was so depressing and I couldn't relate to anything, Alhamdulillah ❄️

[ThePhoenix93 · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Trista Mateer, I love Nikita Gill, (I'm no too fond of Amanda Lovelace's poetry tho), so in theory I should've adored this book, or at least liked it enough to give it 3-4 stars. I'm sorry to say that it just wasn't as enjoyable as I thought it would be. The only parts I did like were some of Trista's poems, everything else just felt like I've seen it before. There was nothing new to be brought to the table. I'm so over the "princess-with-a-sword-fairytale-twist" metaphors like, show me some other words then fire, sword, princess, queen, strong, witch, magic(k), universe, galaxy, etc. I've seen this s**t too many times now, it's extremely overused by this point. It doesn't make me FEEL anything. I'm sure there's plenty of other ways to say "I aM pOwErFuL!!!" And I know they can do it, I've been incredibly touched by Nikita Gill and Trista Mateer's work before, I seriously hope it happens again. But this, this just didn't cut it.

[Anastasiya M · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have a love-hate relationship with all three contributors in this collection. There are some collections I’ve loved and wished I had actually skipped from both Nikita Gill and Amanda Lovelace, while Trista’s work I feel just isn’t up my alley of interests.

It was easy to distinguish who had written which pieces because they all have distinct writing styles as well as writing structures. It was easy to know which pieces stood out to me and which didn’t, and why. The structures of the pieces were okay, and fairly readable but not original. You can have all the pretty in the world but if the pieces lack depth, then you don’t have that much to go on to make it stand out from other collections. It was an okay read, but I did find that some pieces seemed to stray away from the themes which was disappointing.

Read more here: https://sincerelyyoursannie.wordpress...

[Jillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Short Review (Because 3 Reviews of This Have Been Lost to My WiFi Connection)

I love Amanda Lovelace and Nikita Gill, and I have been recently introduced to Trista Mateer’s work, which I enjoy very much. It is clear that these poets are close friends and enjoy collaborating together. Their joy and friendship shines through this collection, and it mostly makes up for its shortcomings. The poems are very good, some even excellent, but I do wish the collection was a little better organized. Overall, recommended for any fans of these three poets or feminist poetry.

[Júlia Freitas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actual rating: 3.5

As always, I loved the writing of this poetesses. This collection is inspiring and it pushes you a step further into the self-love field. I really liked this book.

However, I didn't feel attached like I have with other work of this poetesses. I didn't love the format either.

Very enjoyable and inspiring.

[Manon · Rating 3 out of 5]

only a few of nikita gill's poems stood out! the rest was very disappointing and i really could not tell amanda lovelace and trista mateer appart, they have the same voice, use the same clichés and this shows just how unoriginal their poetry is.

[•°• gabs •°• · Rating 4 out of 5]

i really needed this.

[Sneha · Rating 4 out of 5]

solid 4.5 stars,

beautifully written book by three amazing poets.

[Hanna K. Brojan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25/5⭐️

[Malli (Chapter Malliumpkin) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Content/Trigger Warnings: Partner violence, domestic abuse, child abuse, emotional abuse, stalking, queerphobia, sexism, mental health issues, body image issues, bullying, trauma/PTSD, death, violence, gore, self-harm

“There is a spell for almost anything and if there’s not a spell, there is at least a poem.”

The top three best selling poets; Trista Mateer, Nikita Gill, and Amanda Lovelace come together in this empowering poetry collection, Dragonhearts. The authors use fairy tales & myths to create something that is both timeless & extremely relevant to present-day issues, such as the #MeToo movement, reclaiming your voice, & the shared power of self-love & solidarity. This book is a reminder that romantic love does not need to be the main plot of your story, sometimes friendship is.

My Thoughts
This has Amanda Lovelace so of course I was going to pick this up! However, trying to find a copy was incredibly difficult and I definitely think they need to do a reprint just for the fact that it is a very sought after poetry collection. If, you manage to snag one of these, never let it go because the words written within these pages…they will do something to you.

I say this all the time, but I love when a poetry collection shatters me in the best possible way or makes me feel things that I thought have been asleep for years. There are incredible pieces from this poetry collection that have broken me, pieced me back together, and broke me all over again. It’s the best kind of heartbreak to feel because it means you feel what the author or in this case, authors are sharing on a deep and emotional level. It made giant waves in my heart and I think the best way for any reader to take this book on is to go in blind and know that there are heavy topics that will make you emotional or be triggers.

I’ll be honest, I never read anything by Trista Mateer and the only work I’ve read of Nikita Gill’s was Fierce Fairytales: Poems and Stories to Stir Your Soul, and that wasn’t the best of experiences. However, I am very familiar with Amanda Lovelace’s work. Her poetry collection To Make Monsters Out of Girls completely wrecked me and since then I have loved her work. Seeing the three of these authors come together in this poetry collection, they really balance each other out, personality wise. This has made me reconsider Gill’s work and has encouraged me to pick up more of her work (to test the waters, if you will) and it put Trista Mateer on my radar for more poetry collections to read, experience, and enjoy. We really get to see the uniqueness and individuality of each author and how well they bounce off of one another, and I kind of loved that!

My only issue with this poetry collection was the lack of organization, themes, and direction. We don’t get a sense of what’s happening and poems that are themed and bounce well with one another aren’t always paired together. To give a better understanding, think of a giant maze and you’re running around with no map or any idea of where you’re supposed to go, that basically sums up how this poetry collection is organized. There are quoted images in the book, but if the purpose of them were to be “chapters” or “separators” then they should have come at the beginning o each section and not the end.

“I will not give up the flowers in my heart for stones just because the world is a hard place. The world is only hard because it needs more flower-hearted people.”

Overall, I don’t want to say too much about this poetry collection because a lot of poetry collections are best left with the reader going in blind. As always though, please pay attention to the content/trigger warnings and make sure you are practicing self-care. I personally seek out books that make me emotional and push that border of triggering, but that doesn’t mean that it’s for everyone. And I highly recommend being in the right head space when reading this collection. On another note, I was very pleasantly surprised by this collection and how it left me feeling. Also, the guest poets were absolutely precious and wish we had a little more from both of those guest poets! Just a wonderful experience all around!


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