Name: You Better Be Lightning
Rating: 4.4 (15 reviews)
ISBN: 9781943735990

Andrea Gibson

You Better Be Lightning is a poetry collection guided by self-reflection. It is queer, political, and feminist.

You Better Be Lightning

Syrina

Beautifully written with excellent imagery,  emotion and honesty. 

I recently came across Andrea Gibson’s work due to seeing lamentations of their death on social media. Their work really strikes a chord with me, tugging at my emotions in a most vulnerable of ways. Their unencumbered honesty easily finds a way past my defenses and reminds me to let myself feel, to let myself relax into my humanity. Always after reading their work, I feel inspired to live as openly, as honestly, without the thicket of barricades I’ve unconsciously managed to erect. I only wish I’d known of their work sooner and had been able to appreciate it while they were still alive. 

Kierce

Beautifully written with excellent imagery,  emotion and honesty. 

I recently came across Andrea Gibson’s work due to seeing lamentations of their death on social media. Their work really strikes a chord with me, tugging at my emotions in a most vulnerable of ways. Their unencumbered honesty easily finds a way past my defenses and reminds me to let myself feel, to let myself relax into my humanity. Always after reading their work, I feel inspired to live as openly, as honestly, without the thicket of barricades I’ve unconsciously managed to erect. I only wish I’d known of their work sooner and had been able to appreciate it while they were still alive. 

Larissa zavala

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.

Brianna Brown

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!

Gabriel Noel 

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."

You Better Be Lightning

Reviews

Highlights