Taylor Swift’s highly anticipated third album was released Monday, the follow-up to 2008’s Grammy Award-winning, six times-platinum Fearless. Taylor Swift’s exciting new album Speak Now with songs solely penned by Swift, shows no signs of slowing down the whirlwind of success.

Swift keeps the tradition of hidden messages in the form of capital letters in the songs in the lyric booklet. Being just a teenager when her self titled album was release, Swift steps into adulthood with Speak Now. While not abandoning her younger fans with an album full of familiar songs about love, pining away for that boy that doesn’t notice you, and relationships of a teenage girl, she’s created a new sound.

The album starts out with a tune, “Mine,” about finding love, despite its difficulties. The title track soon follows with its upbeat tune, about pining away for love. Swift is no stranger to controversial songs with “Innocent” written about Kanye West’s interruption of her acceptance speech at the MTV Video Music Awards. She makes it apparent with the lyrics, “32 and still growing up now.”

Swift has a gift for describing the feeling of innocence and the awkward transition into adulthood, with the song “Never grow Up,” describing the fight to hurry and grow up. Despite being in the eye of the media, Swift is in no way scared to call out anyone who does her wrong. In the song “Better Than Revenge,” the lyrics “Come on, show me how much better you are, see you deserve some applause, ‘cause you’re so much better,” is an obvious stab at former boyfriend Joe Jonas’ song “So Much Better.”

Swift isn’t afraid to put her personal life out there. Her usual upbeat tunes take a turn in the track “Haunted,” bringing a more Evanescence sound the the album. After listening to Speak Now in its entirety, it is clear that it’s an open, honest book of Taylor Swift’s life. Proving that she is one of the most promising young artists in music today, the compilation of songs deserves a five-star rating because it matches the experiences and concerns of a young adults while experiencing the joys and pains of life. Speak Now is a new and improved spin on the captivating music and relatable lyrics that have brought Swift millions of fans worldwide.