Every Poem a Potion, Every Song a Spell

by Stephanie Parent

In Every Poem A Potion, Every Song A Spell, Stephanie Parent navigates grief and despair through poetry inspired by childhood fairytales. Each poem is a lens providing insight through a woman's internal struggle with identity and perseverance through adversity, the fight it takes to overcome despair, the strength of independence, and the hope that lingers, even still, despite it all. These poems invite the reader to pause and reflect on the fairytales we thought we knew as a child and to draw our gaze inward, searching for our own answers, our own truths, in this world we have come to abide.

-Lindsey Heatherly, author of GOLDEN HOUR MINUS THE GLOW (2021)

Genres: Poetry, Fantasy

100 pages, Paperback

Published August 1, 2022

Reviews

[Marquise · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't normally enjoy poetry, but this one was retold fairy tales in verse, which is more up my alley. I enjoyed some of the free- verse poems more than others, and my favourite was, unsurprisingly, the one for "Beauty and the Beast" (Clawed Creatures), followed by the series of poems based on the Jorinda and Joringel fairy tale. The rest of the poems had the right atmosphere as well, dark and truer to their non-sanitised originals.

I received an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[destiny ♡ howling libraries · Rating 5 out of 5]

And without those feathers, there
Was no lovely enchanted
Songbird, no pure
Princess, just me:

An ordinary girl
With a sore heart
And a map of words
Beneath my skin

There are few things I love more in the literary world than retellings and stories inspired by fairytales: specifically the dark, old versions of those fairytales, where the curses leave their victims forever changed, where true love is often paralleled by great sacrifice, where the good guy doesn't always win. All of that is exactly what inspired this poetry collection, and Stephanie Parent did an incredible job bringing back all of those melancholy, dimly lit waves of nostalgia through these poems. Not only do these poems offer a new perspective on those old stories, but they also weave in themes of feminism, being uncomfortable in one's own skin, and that slow, arduous journey to self-acceptance that so many of us have experienced.

I related immensely to one particular narrative about a young girl who is discontented by the real world and wishes she could be that heroine saving herself from the wicked witch's curse, escaping the brambles and thorns and crumbling castles. I also couldn't help relating to a separate but connected theme: a young woman who feels less than special, and finds herself idealizing the clawed grasp of a beast, if only to be his obsession. I was certainly both of these girls at some time or other, and reading these poems was a gentle but bittersweet reminder of where I've been and how far I've come.

In case you didn't notice, this collection meant a great deal to me and I enjoyed it immensely. I recommend it highly for anyone who enjoys fantastical poetry and fairytales, and I can't wait to read more from Stephanie in the future!

Thank you to the author for the review copy! All thoughts are honest and my own.

✨ Representation: brief implication of queerness

✨ Content warnings for: imprisonment, vague reference to self harm, violence, murder

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[The Bibliophile Doctor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you Netgalley and Stephanie Parent for the ARC.

The title really is beautiful and so is the concept of this book. Stephanie Parent has compiled a collection of poems inspired from the fairytales which you and me, we readers have been reading about since we were kids. Snow white and seven dwarfs, red riding hood and so many more.

Although I loved parts of it, it somehow failed to impress me. Few of the poems I liked but most I couldn't. They didn't make sense to me. Those which I knew about were enjoyable but those which I didn't know about, I couldn't make head or tail of it.

Maybe this was my failure to understand. I will recommend it to those who enjoy reading about fairy tales.

[Annette · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm always a little hesitant with poems and poetry collections. Poetry is mostly very personal. What can be very meaningful for one person, doesn't mean a thing for someone else and vice versa. However, when I saw that those poems were all based on fairytales I got curious and decided to accept the review copy BookSirens was offering.

Although the author states that it's not needed to have read the original fairytales to understand the poems, I have to admit that I think that's not entirely true. The poems are short and don't give more details than needed and with lesser known fairytales it's not always easy, and sometimes even impossible, to understand what's going on.

Just like it's quite clear that the author put a lot from herself in these poems, things she's been through, has suffered from, has felt or done. Since those experiences are really personal I couldn't always connect with the poems and sometimes didn't really understand what was going on exactly. And because of that I didn't always feel it either.

However, there was this one poem, this one poem that really did something to me, that touched me, that almost felt like it was written for me. It was a more generic poem about not being a princess and waiting for things to change, but that's exactly what I'm struggling with at the moment, exactly why I have therapy currently.

So, it was totally worth reading this, even though only that one poem really touched me.

[Cassie Daley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just love dark poetry *SO MUCH*, wow. Especially when the darkness is woven together with fairytales! This was such a unique collection - I've read lots of collections with a sort of similar theme of magic or fantasy or fairytales, but none done quite like this. I love the focus on tales from all corners of the world -- there were some I hadn't heard of before and I really enjoy books that help me learn something new or make me want to research something outside of reading, which this definitely did!

The poems in this were beautiful - I had several marked with 5 stars, and didn't give anything below 4 overall throughout. Sometimes collections by even folks I really adore the writing from can contain a couple misses, so to have such a solid collection here was a great way to spend my reading time!

I read this digitally but will be buying a physical copy so I can highlight all the bits I liked best - and such a cool cover! Definitely gonna be a great addition to my poetry shelf.

[Sara Tantlinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stephanie Parent’s Every Poem A Potion, Every Song A Spell invites readers into an enchanted forest where they will surely get lost in the twisted magic along the way. Weaving together contemporary takes on classic fairy tales and more timeless approaches, the collection offers up a variety of poems that will keep readers engaged.

I really enjoyed the combination of well-known fairy tales and others that were more obscure. I had a lot of fun looking up a few that I wasn’t very familiar with; I love it when a book gives me something new to learn, and fairy tales are such a delightful rabbit hole to fall down.

With strong themes of identity, freedom, womanhood, and more, the poems capture so much of what survival means in a world that would rather see you suffer. Poems like “Red Hood in the Woods” and “Little Cages” are great examples of this in the collection.

Some of my other favorite pieces included “Rampion”, “Walnut Heart”, “Marlene”, and “Part Three: Wild Gardens”.

Parent presents a great collection to get lost in, and fans of fairy tales will devour these poems. I really look forward to reading more from the author and hope she does another poetry collection someday!

[L.T. · Rating 5 out of 5]

For every woman who has endured, there is Every Poem a Potion, Every Song a Spell. An incredible collection of fairy tale-themed poetry which shines as an onyx beauty upon the hardships of life. Parent repurposes the conventional as well as the obscure fairy tales taught to us in childhood to create an amazing, heartfelt volume you'll want to read again, and again, and again.

[Vanessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection of poems reflects on grieving that ties into the fairytale stories we all know and love. These poems also highlight and acknowledge the struggles that women go through in today’s society, which makes it such a strong, gut wrenching feeling through their oppression.

My favorite was Poissonnier, the Little Mermaid themed poem that captures the way that love isn’t always what it seems and that it can be something you lose, and the effects it has on a person when they lose their love.

[Nikki Deeley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every Poem a Potion, Every Song a Spell is a delightful collection of poems based upon the original fairytales.

I really enjoyed these retellings of classic fairytales (not the Disney-fied versions) through poetry. I love how Stephanie Parent linked modern, personal themes throughout to mix with the mythical tales. One of my personal favourites was the retelling of Little Red Riding Hood (Red Hood In The Woods) and its feminism links. I also particularly enjoyed “Part Three: Wild Gardens” which explored the life we dream of versus the life we experience. Overall, a lovely collection of poems with much deeper meaning behind the classic story retelling.

Thank you to the author, the publisher and BookSirens for allowing me to review this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to Stephanie Parent, Querencia Press, and Netgalley for this advanced reader copy of "Every Poem a Potion, Every Song a Spell" for an honest review.


Oh. My. Word.

When I say that I was devoured by this book, I mean that I fell into it completely. I was made whole but the rapture of fairytales retold with any number of the questions I wonder why the main characters hadn't asked in my fairytales both as a child wide-eyed and unknowing and as a student/teacher of the English language digging deeper into literary theories and cultural relevance.

This was such a breath of fresh air. The retellings eschewed very close to the originals while shedding more light on the way things right of gone, choices that might have been made, or doubts that might have sprung up along the way. I found myself gasping so many times when I would turn to the next page and see which new fairytale was going to be spun into this golden poetry next.

Absolutely recommending this book for everyone, and buying copies for people's birthday's this year!

[Kelly Delvac · Rating 5 out of 5]

For anyone who has fallen in love with the enchantment of fairytales and who finds themselves questioning the darkness as much as they are drawn to the light. Parent’s prose capture the heart and leave you gasping as you see yourself within these familiar stories.

One of my favorites:

All those who search for something
They lost so long ago, they've forgotten
The substance beyond the ache

This whole book was a gem!

[H.V. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Parent loves fairy tales, and she understands their darkness, digging into the pain and trauma hiding under the surface. She also understands that the strength and longevity of these stories comes from their malleability, the way they shapeshift into different forms based on the time and circumstances of the teller and the listener. I really love Parent’s style which is easily accessible but layered with deeper meaning. Her gorgeous language and vivid imagery breathe new life into old stories.

Every Poem a Potion, Every Song a Spell also explores humanity’s longing–for love, for safety, for affection, for home. Whatever their actions, all of Parent’s characters are motivated by a longing, even if they themselves aren’t consciously aware of this.

I enjoy this collection’s balance of modernized and sometimes personal poetry with poems intentionally immersed in the timeless “once upon a time.” The poems set in contemporary times help ground the collection and show the continued relevance of these stories in our own lives and the lessons we can draw from them. The more timeless poems speak to universal themes and the ways we’re connected across time and space to other tellers and readers.


There are no “true” versions of “Little Red Riding Hood,” or “Cinderella,” or any of the other stories we know and love. Parent leans into the conflict and ambiguity generated by these multiple versions of stories, especially in her seven poems based on the story of Jorinda and Joringel (here is the article on Wikipedia for reference, though there are many variants). By reexamining this story from multiple angles, sometimes focusing on Joringel, or Jorinda, or the witch, Parent opens the reader up to the dazzling possibility of fairy tales.

Characters in fairy tales often act in ways that feel scripted. Some are good and some are bad, and the good live happily ever after while the bad are punished. Parent undermines the narrative certainty of these roles. She gives her characters interiority and uncertainty, thus challenging the simplistic division between “good” and “evil” characters.

For example, in “Gretel” the title character is almost sympathetic towards the witch. The witch herself seems like she might have something to teach lonely, unloved Gretel. In the end, Gretel does consign the witch to the flames of her own oven (the ending we all know), but her feelings and reasoning for doing so are more complicated than a simple triumph of good over evil.

Parent also examines her own ambivalent feelings about fairy tales. In the more personal poems and in her foreword, she shows that fairy tales aren’t static, and that loving fairy tales and daydreaming doesn’t doom the reader to wait passively in their assigned role for their destiny to unfurl before them, immutable and unavoidable. In fact, rewriting fairy tales can help us become the complex heroines of our own stories.

I highly recommend Every Poem a Potion, Every Song a Spell.

~

If you’re looking for more on fairy tales, there are many excellent resources available, including archive.org which contains many fairy tales in the public domain. If you’re interested in the Grimm fairy tales, I love The Original Folk and Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm edited and translated by Jack Zipes.

[Linda Crate · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection of Stephanie's is absolutely beautiful and gorgeous in every sense of the word. It is full of longing, yearning, bitterness, jealousy, despair, hope, and every human emotion. It tackles the issues of the patriarchy in fairy tale form showing how it hurts both women and men while the main focus is how it impacts the women. It showed me what I have always known to be true: sometimes there is more truth in fairy tales than what we're told. There's always a lesson beyond the beautiful girls, the witches, and the wanton desires. There is always something more. This collection really touched my spirit, and I related a lot to all of the women of these poems.

[Kristiana · Rating 5 out of 5]

The premise of Every Poem a Potion, Every Song a Spell by Stephanie Parent intrigued me from the very beginning. As a lover of fairytales and folklore myself, particularly those which haven't been adapted by Disney or, as Parent puts it, the 'unsanitised' versions of popular favourites, I looked forward to Parent's spin on the fairytale canon.

Parent's collection blends retellings with adaptations allowing a reader to experience stories they may have never heard of before - the Jorinda and Joringel poems are exceptional, for example, and brought to my attention a tale I was not familiar with. While poems like 'Red Hood in the Woods' used an existing tale to question the society we live in, with Little Red's plight at the hands of the Wolf being used to criticise rape culture and how it is perpetuated in the ugly phrase of 'asking for it'.

The poems in this collection also capture the double-edged sword of magic. As Parent mentions in the foreword, no happy ending is easily won and this is captured masterfully in the passage below:

"To leave behind a part of / Yourself / To weather the winter with no / Little dog, no magic, no / Lover, only the hope that / Spring would return and with it / That part of yourself buried beneath / The earth".

Parent weaves the everyday with the fantastical; brings fairytales into the 21st century without the cliches often found in work which attempts to do this. Parent has embraced the folk conventions but manipulated them to suit her own story and growth.

And so, through this collection, you will no doubt find yourself too - in the loss, in the innocence and in the wishing.

[Readingwiththeroberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have never really read poetry books before, except for when I was a kid and read "Where the Sidewalk Ends" like most kids. After that I stuck to fiction books. When I received a copy of this collection of poems I was a little apprehensive to read it. The title of the book really drew me in and when I learned that the poems were about fairy tales and their retellings that matched the original stories I knew I wanted to read it. I love that Stephanie Parent takes these stories that we grew up hearing/watching (yes the darker ones) and retold them in such a way that they connect with us with our modern problems. Women have struggled with some problems throughout time and even now we struggle with them and this book just really captures that.

Since I am really new to poetry I only gave this a 4 star review just because I'm not really used to it. I did really enjoy this collection and I will be reading it again once I get some more poetry under my belt. I'm sure my rating will go up then!

[TaniaRina · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘Fairy tales tell us we all have a forest within us’

The author asks a very thought-provoking question in the Foreword:
‘Couldn’t magic lose its power if we found it without first plunging to the depths of adversity?’

And her Question & Answer holds to secret to it all.


I’m set to go find more folk-lore like ‘Kate Crackernuts’ as I wait for more collections by this author.

This one’s a keeper…

[Emily Perkovich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every Poem a Potion, Every Song a Spell is a collection that uses fairytale themed poetry to express the modern day struggle of women and their fight against oppression. The retellings lose none of the magic of the original stories, but open up the reader’s eyes to the darkness that has been lurking behind women all along.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection of poetry is a treasure! My love of poetry and fairytales in one book amazing book. I can’t wait to share this with all the women and girls I know. Little Red Hood is a favorite poem. I can’t wait to dive deeper into the other fairytales the poems were inspired by. This book gives you a little bit of history with classic tales as well.

[Mia Caven · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love the concept - not my thing but great idea

[Tori Renee · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐️
The fairytale retelling aspect of this poetry collection room was really charming. A lot of the fairytales I recognized, and some I plan to look up to read now! I definitely connected to the poems that weaved in modern life with the tale. Also, the poems that had multiple parts helped me get into the story more.

Thank you to NetGalley for the copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Melissa Boles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stephanie's poetry collection is absolutely gorgeous. I love a good fairytale, so this collection of poetry inspired by fairytales will remain high on my list of favorites. Stephanie is a beautiful poet.

[eli · Rating 4 out of 5]

This poetry book was exquisite. Each poem/prose stemmed from a fairytale or story but had its own twist. Each page was worth reading, I literally binge read it! It felt as if you were part of the fairytale and everything was so breathtaking and deep at the same time. As a woman, this was an empowering and beautiful read that I will always love. Whoever you are reading this review, pick this poetry/prose book up, you’re sure to love it (especially if you’re a dreamer and reader like me).

[Melissa]

I am always down for fairy tale retellings, so this one was right up my alley. I particularly enjoyed how resonant so many of Parent's poems were with my own lived experiences--for example, in "When Everything Else Was Gone," the persona describes the essentially lifesaving power of fairy tales to recharge your spirit in the face of the anxieties and worries of a life consumed by work, bills, and frustration of your ambitions, hopes, and dreams, and "Part 1: Strange Creatures" nearly perfectly encapsulates my own ambivalence through puberty and proclivity to try to escape into the woods, into books and stories. Among my favorites in this collection: "Into the Forest," "Red Hood in the Woods," "Part Three: Wild Gardens," "Thorns and Wings" and "Part Four: Enchanted Castles." Recommended if you are a fairy tale kind of person (I am!)

[Kerry]

Stephanie Parent proves her love of fairy tales and verse with her magical poetry collection, every Poem a Potion, Every Song a Spell. She cleverly uses the imagery of classic fairy tales, some well known like Little Red Riding Hood, others more obscure, to craft compelling poetry of loss and longing, frustration and fear, but also hope. “...to wait is a sort of witchcraft.” Some of the poetry is obviously personal, while others touch the pulse of universal femininity. In one poem she felt “...cursed to make beauty with your words when you wanted so much to be beautiful in your body…’ Here’s a question she raises: “Can I still be a heroine when I’ve been stupid and selfish, ugly and foolish, the witch and the princess, the light and the dark?” Through these stories, she lives to tell how she found the heroine within herself.

This collection calls to lovers of the fairytale and of beautiful language.

[Raegen Pietrucha]

Most books tackling fairy tale do so from the third person or acknowledged persona, holding truths at a “safe” distance from both writer and reader. Not so with Stephanie Parent’s Every Poem a Potion, Every Song a Spell, even when third-person perspective is employed, because we are told outright that some of the tellings are her own life’s tales, and that’s what gives this collection its richness, humanity, accessibility, and relatability.

Readers do not have to be familiar with the original fairy tales to walk away with deeper meaning (though Parent does encourage people to revisit the originals at their leisure). She wonderfully weaves past and present, myth and memoir into a larger look at the many stories women today are told and believe, whether by others or themselves, holding a mirror up to even the most locked-away dream one’s never dared speak to a soul, revealing both their traps and the cracks by which we might escape (should we want and choose to).

My favorites include “Into the Forest, “Part One:Strange Creatures,” “Stepsisters,” “Poissoinnier,” “Part Two: Little Houses,” “No Dumb Bunny,” “Snegurochka,” “Part Three: Wild Gardens,” “Amphibious Love,” “Silver and Stone,” “Blessed Curse,” and “Epilogue: Disenchanted.”

As a woman, this book made me feel seen and made me see myself more deeply. Perhaps it will work the same magic on you.

[Kelly Jarvis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Each poem in Stephanie Parent’s collection Every Poem a Potion, Every Spell a Song showcases the poet’s love for traditional and popular variants of fairy tales that shape women’s lives. In a stunning blend of personal confession and narrative exploration, Parent weaves modern life into the plots of famous fairy tales like Cinderella, Snow White, and Rapunzel and introduces readers to lesser-known stories such as The Juniper Tree, Vasilisa the Beautiful, and The Maiden Without Hands. Often, as is the case with her series of poems on Jorinda and Joringel, Parent presents fairy tale plots through multiple lenses, providing new and seasoned readers with innovative ways of understanding the characters. Using words and images that both burn and soothe, Parent leads her readers to confront the beauty and horror of fairy tales as a way of exploring their own relationships, responsibilities, and desires, ultimately concluding that the tales, while imperfect, help us all to discover our identities and save ourselves. The writing in Parent’s collection will cast a spell over readers as they revel in her poetic potions which mingle the mundane with the magical, breathing new life into the old stories that remain an important part of our future.

[Paige Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

W/ how professionally Stephanie incorporated prose & mythology into her story of an aging dungeon sub in Slut Vomit, it’s no wonder she has the talent to explore a range of fairytales in poetry. Likewise, these stanzas explore what it means to be a damsel in distress when there are more knaves than knights. Yet you don’t have to know any inspirations, everything is spelt out: woods are for running, stepmothers suck as much as the men they raised, and it feels so unfair not to be fairy beautiful.

You can’t have a book like this without cliches because that’s basically what fairytales are, but here w/ the bent of feminism: comparing yourself to shampoo ads, girls asking for trouble, every rose being blood red. I like how she says she plays the part of a wolf in sheep’s clothing a bit, because her small-town mom doesn’t want to hear what a waste or wild party college was for her. I’d like to know what that entailed though, what specifics were on Stephanie’s side of the conversation. “Stepsisters” has some great sensual lines like “curled in bed like commas,” “shame sits hot and sticky beneath her skin,” it sounds like Lorde lyrics. I also like how the Red Hood isn’t just to draw seedy attentions, but a cry for help to be saved, which would ironically make a good religious poem. Calling snow “white blossoms” is also cute.

Many cross-poem refrains about witches with color-changing eyes, children looking for comfort when their parents are dead or should be. Bird girls, stream-blue eyes, and stumps for hands. So many witches and brothers in peril. It makes me wonder how threaded these classic tales are or if the metaphors/motifs are just so universal. If my inferences are correct, I did not know Belle wore a blue dress, or Rapunzel was pregnant, or The Cure’s “Hanging Garden” may be based on more than their own design or Wonderland inspo. “Curse of The Firstborn” about Sleeping Beauty is my favorite w/ the contemporary context of college and eating disordered sentiments. Cute, personal end.

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[Eryn McConnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't like fairy tales much. They've become very sanitised, I much prefer the original ones. This author has brought that haunting grace back to the fairy tales and I applaud her for it. This poetry book is exceptional. I recommend.

[Claire Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this! There was a warm, nostalgic sense of familiarity with the fairytale aspect of the collection but there was a great sense of darkness and horror woven into it that really made it so unique. Would definitely recommend to lovers of dark poetry!!

[Sara Dobbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

These poems carry the reader into a magical world of fairy tales through a lens of retrospection. From the adult view of an introspective and probing mind we revisit familiar tales to discover a deeper, darker meaning. Exploring themes of femininity, sexuality, love, death and despair, Parent writes with luscious prose, luring us deeper into the forest. As a fan of fairy tales and folk lore in general I personally find this work not only appealing, but intensely relatable. Parent's collection will strike a chord in your heart and whisk you away to the world of her creation.