I wasn't quite as into this one as her other volumes, but I still enjoyed how powerful all of her poetry is. ( )

This was the best Amanda work so far. I am really enjoying this new series way more than her Women Are Some Kind of Magic one. This really touched my heart and had me tears multiple times.

trigger warning: child abuse, eating disorders, sexual assault, self-harm, violence, cheating, deah, gore, blood, trauma, grief.
*they're all included in the book don't worry. i wish more authors could follow her example and make it simply the normality.

These are some of my favorite poems:

"the little girl was so desperate to feel loved, to feel like she existed at all, that she took anything she could get, even if it was nothing but a bunch of make-believe.

- don't accept scraps."

"you gave my pain a name & it sounded like rebellion, not depression. no one ever bothered to tell you about the sad type of daughter & you did everything possibole not to see her.

- blindfold."

"most of the time, the person who hurts you is the person who makes your face light up more than the moon at full brightness. they can even be the person who takes you out for your favorite dessert after you've had an awful day. or the person who teaches you the names of crystals, or the person who shows you which offerings to make faeries to get them on your side.

- it's not your fault that you trusted them."


"you showed me that blood is no competition for the bodies of water between us.

- long-distance friendships."


"you may be a product of whoever raised you.

- you choose.

but you belong to nobody except yourself.

- your own future. ( )

To Drink Coffee with a Ghost is the 2nd book in Things that Haunt by Amanda Lovelace. This poetry collection reveals pain and loss, but also acceptance and love. Mostly, Lovelace writes about a toxic mother-daughter relationship. She discusses the grief of losing a parent and the emotions that come from trying to overcome it.

Personally, I thought this book fell a little short in truly painting a picture. While I do think Lovelace poured her emotions into this collection, but there was something missing that didn't allow me to truly truly connect with her work. ( )

Stunning, beautiful, wonderful, sad poems. I love her work and will continue to read her books and save the poems for myself to remind me of who I am and where I came from. Words cannot describe what I feel when I read her poems. ( )

The follow up and conclusion to the things that h(a)unt duology explores Lovelace's relationship with and the subsequent death of her mother from cancer. Fully illustrated -- much like its predecessor -- to drink coffee with a ghost feels stronger in substance when compared to to make monsters out of girls, partially because of the departure in subject matter. While I don't have experience in losing a mother, as a member of the Dead Father's Club, the poems dealing with grief, regrets, mixed emotions, and forgiveness definitely hit home for me. ( )