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4.59 AVERAGE
4.59 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
As far as poetry goes, my favorites are always wrapped up in yearning or want, love, even if it's unrequited, and complicated relationships. Whether those relationships are with the writer’s self or another person. There was a decent amount of that in this collection of poems, but not enough to knock the book above an even four stars. I appreciate the messages throughout the writing, but some of it felt like two separate ideas smooshed into one which worked sometimes, but other times didn’t.
I think the answer to ‘what is poetry?’ is very broad, and Gibson runs with that. There are poems that read more like short, flash fiction, but I loved them. ‘To Whom It Definitely Concerns’ is my favorite example, and when they write about their chronic pain, I relate the most. ‘Love Letter to the Tick That Got Me Sick’ was a fantastic, beautiful piece of writing that finds the most positive outcomes out of an awful illness. Thanking the tick for sparing their niece, and choosing to focus on breadcrumbs of hope made that piece of writing in particular stick to my heart. I’ll end this with one of my favorite lines:
𝐼𝑓 𝑤𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑦
𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑑
𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦,
𝑤𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑖𝑡
𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑢𝑙
𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑤𝑒'𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒.
I think the answer to ‘what is poetry?’ is very broad, and Gibson runs with that. There are poems that read more like short, flash fiction, but I loved them. ‘To Whom It Definitely Concerns’ is my favorite example, and when they write about their chronic pain, I relate the most. ‘Love Letter to the Tick That Got Me Sick’ was a fantastic, beautiful piece of writing that finds the most positive outcomes out of an awful illness. Thanking the tick for sparing their niece, and choosing to focus on breadcrumbs of hope made that piece of writing in particular stick to my heart. I’ll end this with one of my favorite lines:
𝐼𝑓 𝑤𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑦
𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑑
𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦,
𝑤𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑖𝑡
𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑢𝑙
𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑤𝑒'𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒.
Content Warnings
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
emotional
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Looooooved this collection of poetry!
I absolutely fell in love with this slim volume of poetry. I'm so delighted to have been introduced to Andrea's work. I felt their poems deep in my soul on multiple occasions. I'm buying this book for myself and others and looking into their other volumes of poetry.
As a person who considers themselves a poet, I can't imagine writing something that is both beautifully connective and as personal as You Better Be Lightning is.
This collection is gorgeous! I burst into tears reading The Year of No Grudges but there are so many that took my breath away including Queer Youth Are Five Times More Likely to Die By Suicide, To Whom It Definitely Concerns, Instead of Depression, Homesick: a Plea for Our Planet, and others!
…
When I don’t believe in myself,
I try to remember I have walked
on water, like, seven-hundred times
in Maine in the dead of winter.
Where I come from, you can drive
a pickup truck from one side
of the lake to the other, and people
have an unusually high quantity
of missing teeth and fingers,
but you can still count on them
to buy whitening strips and wedding rings
because where I come from
beauty is in the eye of anyone who sees
what’s missing but can’t stop pointing
to what’s still there.
If there’s no definition for love yet —
I think that’s a good one.
Lines from The Year of No Grudges that will be stuck in my head forever.
…
When I don’t believe in myself,
I try to remember I have walked
on water, like, seven-hundred times
in Maine in the dead of winter.
Where I come from, you can drive
a pickup truck from one side
of the lake to the other, and people
have an unusually high quantity
of missing teeth and fingers,
but you can still count on them
to buy whitening strips and wedding rings
because where I come from
beauty is in the eye of anyone who sees
what’s missing but can’t stop pointing
to what’s still there.
If there’s no definition for love yet —
I think that’s a good one.
Lines from The Year of No Grudges that will be stuck in my head forever.
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
God damn. I loved every moment and cried almost the same amount. I need a moment and will have to come back to this in the future.
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Andrea Gibson is awesome. I fell for them and their partner Megan after hearing them on Glennon Doyle’s We Can Do Hard Things podcast and I’m so glad to have read more of their work in You Better Be Lightning. My favorite poems in the collection are:
Acceptance Speech After Setting the World Record in Goosebumps
Every Time I Ever Said I Want to Die
What Love Is
The Day Prince Died
My Gender is the Undoing of Gender
The Night Shift
Love Letter to the Tick that Got Me Sick
The Test of Time
See This Through
Acceptance Speech After Setting the World Record in Goosebumps
Every Time I Ever Said I Want to Die
What Love Is
The Day Prince Died
My Gender is the Undoing of Gender
The Night Shift
Love Letter to the Tick that Got Me Sick
The Test of Time
See This Through
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Blood, Grief
Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual assault
emotional
reflective
fast-paced