Reviews with content warning for Self harm - You Better Be Lightning

This poetry book was stunning. I loved every single word. Certain poems I find myself going back to again and again because of how deeply I felt them and related to them.

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serena_andherstories's review

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

4.25

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sara_m_martins's review

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emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.75

I can always trust Button Poetry to publish incredible collections and this one is no different!
I knew Andrea Gibson's material, as I often watch their performances on Button Poetry's YouTube channel, but this collection is too great not to amaze.
A few went over my head or weren't for me, but I think every single one is incredibly good and for 99% of them I felt deeply moved.
While I think there's a particular soft spot that will hit queer people more squarely, this collection talks about all types of love and, thus, i think all people could benefit from it.

when I say god - I mean everyone
down here who understands why
when I get to heaven,

I will refuse to call it heaven
if the pople I love
(who put me through hell)

aren't there.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC.

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moonyreadsbystarlight's review

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emotional hopeful reflective sad

5.0

Andrea Gibson has put out another heartbreaking, heartmending collection. While this collection hits on many topics, with each peice, this digs deep into love -- not just romance, but the love you put out to the world, love of people, family, friends, learning to love yourself, love in the face of some of the hardest things. This is another brilliant poetry collection that I know I will continue to revisit.

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armontheroad's review

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emotional funny

4.0

TW/CWs: Sexual assault, rape, self-harm, depression, chronic illness, homophobia, transphobia, etc.

Very appreciative to have received an E-ARC from Button Poetry through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Immediately after finishing this, I went online to watch Andrea Gibson performing their poems live. My god, they are such a talented poet!! The wordplay is immaculate. A lot of these poems discuss hard topics, but it’s done brilliantly. Gibson knows just when to throw humor into their pieces, when to cut things short, and when to run with their point. With discussions on climate change, space, politics, transness, queerness, chronic illness, and being a rape survivor, this collection is unbelievably moving and deeply personal.

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chamomiatea's review

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dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad

5.0

Thank you to NetGalley and Button Poetry for providing me with a free e-ARC of You Better Be Lightning by Andrea Gibson, in exchange for review.

I have read and loved two of Andrea Gibson’s other poetry collections, Patsy, and Lord of the Butterflies. I find reading Gibson to be a full body experience. My eyes, whilst simultaneously gobbling up all their delicious words, are also constantly brimming with, and often spilling tears. My mouth, agape, gasping, or laughing. My emotional self, ignited over and over, as the poems wash over me in all their raw realness. My skin, constant goosebumps. Once you read the first poem of this collection, you will know why I felt Andrea must have been snooping around in my brain while writing this collection.

In You Better Be Lightning, Gibson speak on themes of queerness (both gender and sexuality), on climate change, on the beauty of the world, on abuse (yes, I do recommend checking trigger warnings before embarking), on grief, on therapy, and much more. As dark as these topics might seem, you will find humour within these pages, sometimes wry, always sharp. Often just when you need it the most. Gibson’s poems give a tantalisingly intimate peek into their life, their loves, their pain, and their growth and change over the years.

I will admit I am not a big poetry reader, and I think that my ability to connect to Gibson’s work speaks volumes. It is conversational and easy to approach. Gibson is a story-teller. I am never left reading lines over and over trying to figure out what they even mean, like I find I am when I try to read some styles of poetry. Don’t get me wrong, I read the lines over and over, but it’s because I love them and want to absorb them into me.

I especially love Gibson’s use of language. Their wordplay has always delighted me, the way they use homonyms and spin them into fantastic metaphors and imagery. Their craft and skill is tremendous.

You Better Be Lightning is Andrea Gibson at their best. Raw, relatable, emotional, fierce, beautiful, and with a delightful spark of humour. I whole-heartedly recommend this collection, and I can’t wait to get the chance to recommend this to my library patrons once released.

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