You Better Be Lightning

This book gives me courage.

I received this e-book at no cost in exchange for an honest review. The last book of poetry I read was Zig-Zag Girl* by Brenna Twohy Wait, actually, I lied; it was The Age of Discovery by Alan Michael Parker, but that was for school. The last time I listened to any of Andrea Gibson’s poetry was when I was in my senior year of high school, and also sometimes when it comes up on my Spotify, but that’s involuntary. My favorite poem is “Sorrow is Not My Name” by Ross Gay, and most of my poetry reading comes from either poetry I have to read in school or screenshots that my friend Noor sends me through Discord DMs, or tucked into the body of a letter. Andrea Gibson was also probably the first person I heard talk about their gender in any way that felt meaningful to me, and it would take me another three years to find pronouns that fit me, even though the year I first heard them speak was the year I found my own name and told other people about it. Some poems start off a little silly before they move into heartrending, like “The Museum of Broken Relationships”, some poems start off heartrending and stay that way, like “Time Piece”; all would be better read out loud to me in a little bookshop downtown while I hold a cup of overpriced coffee in my hands. The following poems made me tear up: QUEER YOUTH ARE FIVE TIMES MORE LIKELY TO DIE BY SUICIDE EVERY TIME I EVER SAID I WANT TO DIE WHAT LOVE IS MY GENDER IS THE UNDOING OF GENDER THE NIGHT SHIFT If you’re looking for a queer book of poetry, you can’t go wrong with the hundred and twenty-eight pages that belong to YOU BETTER BE LIGHTNING. (4 stars)

Picked this poem book up randomly and started reading without knowing who/ or what the poems would be about. It's so brave to write one's heart on the pages of a book. Bleeding out for everyone to read. I cried in some of these. It's so beautiful to see someone's vulnerable moments on a page. To speak of love when this world has a lack of it. To see all the injustice and pain. And I do agree that world has been so unkind to the LGBTQ community. I had a classmate commit suicide because he didn't want to be gay (his words) and he didn't even want to come out to his parents for fear of what they would think. It's just so heart breaking. Despite our beliefs I believe everyone should try and see things from the perspective of someone who's been ashamed/ shunned their whole lives. When we all should just love. Do I agree with everything this person said? No. (Religion things) Is it still beautiful- yes. It's not my place to disagree I'm merely a spectator reading some of the pages in this persons heart.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this collection in exchange for an honest review! Andrea Gibson's newest poetry collection has some really amazing moments. Stunning lines about love and loss and trauma, they never disappoint. Unpopular opinion, however, this is not my favorite collection of theirs, and I've been avidly reading their work for years. There were some incredible poems mixed in with a bunch that were fine. But overall this was a great collection, and I would absolutely recommend!

ARC given by NetGalley for Honest Review "You Better Be Lightning" is powerful, comforting, and intensely imaginative. This collection of poems touches on themes of queer relationships, family, mental health, sexual assault, and healing. While I was reading, I could feel Gibson's internal growth as each page turned. There is a specific line from the poem "Time Piece" that says "Regret is a time machine to the past." This really encompasses the entire collection as a tribute to finding our way through the present. Fans of Neil Hilborn or Elaine Kahn will enjoy the long form and metaphor rich style. My favorite poems are: "Every Time I Ever Said I Want To Die", "The Night Shift", and "Note To The Stranger Six Feet Away."