I started out really enjoying the cleverness of these poems, but a little of them goes a long way, and this book ends up having far too many cliched, tired poems. Very disappointing.

Poetry is like a well-written book. Some prefer thrillers, some prefer romance. Helium is a welcome combination of both.

The book has four parts that try to take you through love, loss, America, and introduce you to Rudy. Raw. Happy. Sad. Rudy. While it’s difficult to stun with every line and every page, Francisco’s work is a welcome change from the current trend of prose. Some poems will make you think, some make you indifferent. But all of them will make you feel something.

Helium
Image – Button Poetry

My favourite out the entire collection is titled ‘Water’. I am yet to read a poem as stunning as that this year. Dive into the book an swim in it slowly. Let the words and pages take you on a journey.

If you’re in a hurry, let this book slow you down, let it make you rethink. Pick up this book and gift it yourself and someone you l

This was an incredible and outstanding collection of poetry. I absolutely loved each and every piece of this collection and Rudy Francisco has become a poet who I am going to watch. This collection looks at everything from sexism to toxic masculinity, racing and current American society for people of colour. If you're looking for a collection that is light and fluffy, this won't be the one for you. That said if you're looking for a collection that makes you examine the world around you in a different way and see the world through someone else's eyes. Of course, I gave this 5 stars, it's a wonderful collection. Thank you to the publisher, Rudy Francisco and Netgalley.

Beautiful pieces of poetry. The poems are very touching. They bring so many emotions to live.

Reflections on race, gender, mental illness — and love, naturally!

Your God stole my God’s identity.
So next time you bend your knees,
next time you bow your head
I want you to tell your God
that my God is looking for him.
(“To the Man Standing on the Corner Holding the Sign That Said ‘God Hates Gays'”)

Once, a friend of a friend asked me
why there aren’t more black people in the X Games
and I said, “You don’t get it.”
Being black is one of the most extreme sports in America.
(“Adrenaline Rush”)

Some days I forget that my skin
is not a panic room.
(“My Honest Poem”)

###

The first poem in HELIUM, “Water,” took my breath away – and more or less set the tone for the entire volume.

I have a terrible time reviewing poetry; I can’t tell you whether a poem is “good,” technically speaking, only if I liked it. Even then I fear I’m a poor barometer, since I’m as likely to understand it as not.

But Rudy Francisco’s poetry is accessible AF. Also daring, insightful, passionate, and unfiltered. I especially adore the poems that tackle mental illness – which is no surprise, as I struggle with anxiety and depression myself, and thus find this genre incredibly relatable and applicable to my own life.

Many of these pieces appear in Parts I and II; but it’s those poems centered on social justice issues (Part III) that really stunned me speechless. “Adrenaline Rush,” “Rifle II,” “To the Man Standing on the Corner Holding the Sign That Said ‘God Hates Gays'” — these poems will stick with me long after HELIUM claims its permanent home on my bookshelves. Not that it will stay there indefinitely: this is a book I’m likely to revisit again in the future.

Though Francisco is at his best when writing about social justice issues – toxic masculinity, misogyny, religious intolerance, art as resistance, police brutality, etc. – I cared less for his love poems. Though I suppose it could just be the jaded, 39-year-old widow in me silently screaming, “Please don’t be a love poet!”

I also actively disliked “Complainers” (to paraphrase: if you’ve never had to saw your own arm off with a rusty butterknife, stfu!), which is kind of a bummer: the second-to-last poem in the book, it left a bitter taste in my mouth.

I rarely read physical books anymore – I’m more an ebook kind of gal – but I found the font a little on the small side, and unnecessarily so, since many of the pages are dominated by white space. Borderline hard-to-read for my nearly middle-aged eyes.
These are all fairly minor complaints, though, given the sheer genius and raw emotion embodied in HELIUM.


Contents

I
Water
Good Morning
Ouch
Page
Drive
Horizon
Instructions
My Honest Poem
Machine
Correctly
12 am
Sip
Petal
To the Girl Who Works at Starbucks…
Alternatives to “Bae”
If I Was a Love Poet
Again

II
Sinking
When People Ask How I’m Doing
Mess
Vanish
Why Did You Leave?
Scars
Museum
To the Random Dude…
Haunted
How Did You Lose Her?
Chameleon
Windows and Mirrors
Lopsided
To You
To Him
And Then After

III
Waves
Skin II
Adrenaline Rush
Accent
98
Meal
Margin
Liberty
To the Man Standing on the Corner Holding the Sign That Said “God Hates Gays”
Brother
Sister
Rifle II
Simeona
In the Voice of Hip Hop
I Bet the Trees Are Thinking
Roulette
Mercy

IV
Forgiveness
Capacity
Strength
Cookout
Welcome
Silence
Complainers
Yes

I thoroughly enjoyed "Helium" by Rudy Francisco! His poetry is concise, powerful, personal, political, witty, truthful, all in one. What a talented guy!!

I would definitely recommend this book to others and look forward to reading more from this author.

Many, many thanks to NetGalley and Button Poetry - this never would've hit my radar without you!

Absolutely fantastic and a collection that can be used in such varied and complex situations. An instant favorite.

4.5 Stars

My reflections on each part.

I

Rudy Francisco is a ray of light with hopeful, humorous words and a positive outlook. There’s a light-hearted banter here that in no way diminishes the quality or meaning of his message.

His poems still talk of new love, of a life unfinished, and of finding his way, but there is something refreshing about the way he writes.

II

As good as he is at writing about optimism, he’s even better at writing about loss. His poems Vanish, Scars, and Museum struck a cord with me. This section is bleak in the best way. Rudy’s able to look at or experience a situation and beautifully, sometimes metaphorically, emotionalize it. From the few spoken word videos of his I’ve seen, I wasn’t expecting this. But I loved it.

III

I would call this the social issues section but that seems to trivialize how inspired and real these pieces are. Topics range from racism to masculinity and more. Rudy makes his experiences relatable, his thoughts coherent, and his verses flow in this section.

IV

A few last thoughts, a quick look at family, and a wrap up of a great collection of poetry.

A nice read. But just some of the poems were really special.

I absolutely loved this collection. Some poems really let me think. Some poems really let me feel. Some poems did both. I would recommend it if you liked The Princess Saves Herself in this One by Amanda Lovelace.

I love how raw and honest this collection. Some of it was deep and an eye-opener.

I received a free advanced digital copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This has no effect on my opinion, rating, or review

One of the things I loved the most about this collection of poetry is how it is both personal and a political commentary.I frequently found myself bookmarking poems and re-reading them to fully catch all the details hidden within.

This book seemed very personal and I really liked a lot of the themes that showed up throughout the book.

I didn’t love every single poem, but there were many beautiful lines, and I appreciate the thought that went into it.

Normally, when I review book, I have a rating in mind the moment I set it down. Helium, though, was different. I had such conflicting thoughts on it, that I forced myself to sit back, and to ask myself what I had problems with it. And, when I really thought about it, my main problem was the organization. Otherwise, I found the poems to be thought provoking and meaningful, and my e-copy of the book is very heavily highlighted. I actually ended up using a stanza as my senior quote this year, which I wasn't even expecting.

So, with the organization, the book was separated into chunks, parts, and there were four of them. The sections had no defined theme, and I found some of them to vary around, or even repeat themes that were already discussed. I didn't mind the poems, oh no, it's just that I didn't get what Francisco was getting at. What was really frustrating was how there were sections that had clear themes (like the second one focused on Francisco's relationship with a woman), but then others would jump all over the place.

I found the rest of the collection enthralling. Some of the poems were really inspirational and hard-hitting and I wanted more of that. Like I said, I ended up using a stanza as my senior quote, just because I found myself relating so much to his words. There were some poems that I really didn't care for (like the ones about his relationship. But, that's me, personally), but otherwise I wanted more poems like that. Francisco kind of made me look at poetry differently, because I've only ever seen two types of poetry before this: stuff that tries to be all deep and meaningful and just turns out to be a jumble of words, or poems that

read
like
this,

one word at a time, not really making these words anything more than words. Francisco changed that though. Poems can still be meaningful but not a jumble of words. Poems don't have to be one word a line to make sense either.

Final Rating: ★★★★☆

Overall?

For a book that I randomly chose off NetGalley, I'm really impressed! While I personally had struggles with the organization, and disliked a few of the poems, I overall found myself enjoying the collection and am interested in reading more of Rudy Francisco's works!

Would I Recommend?

If you like poetry, I would totally suggest this one! Not only is it thought provoking, but it was really interesting, and I wish there had been more to enjoy.

I'm a major fan of Button Poetry and their authors, Rudy Francisco's Helium proved to be another substantive collection from them. The first poem was a brief taste of some of the important issues this collection would touch upon. that would come. Francisco's poems were strongest when discussing depression, race, and toxic masculinity. The starting romantic poems were sweet and not very filling but subsequent sections led to deeper and more moving poems. The only place where I felt he truly lost me was Complainers because of its tough love message that did not make room for my experience as a disabled woman. However, the other references to depression and life's difficulties had heart so it was just a brief disappointment amongst a number of more nuanced poems.

I had not read or heard much of Rudy Francisco's poetry before, but I am a fan of many of the poets associated with Button Poetry. I really enjoyed reading his poems and being shown how everyday life can be affected by just the color of your skin. I will definitely be reading more of his works and would recommend this book to anyone.

This was such a delight to read. Rudy Francisco writes straightforward, vulnerable poetry that could best be described as ‘well-intentioned sucker punches’.
Francisco addresses his own struggles in this collection, at times self-deprecating, at others so unflinchingly honest it feels uncomfortable to read. But especially the poems tackling social issues were heart-breaking and eye-opening. It’s frightening how on-point Francisco describes issues of masculinity and sexism in our society. He does not shy away from calling out the perpetuation of toxic masculinity.
Francisco also addresses how others keep searching for the next adrenaline kick, the craziest challenge, the punch of fear mixed with excitement while he is forced to fear for his life every day because of racism.
It seems that no matter what issue he tackles, Francisco scores with raw commentary that resonates. This was such an insightful poetry collection, brutally honest and heart-wearming at the same time.

I read this lovely in one sitting and enjoyed it very much. Since the very first page, the one and only thought that came up in my mind was 'this' going to be a very good poetry' !! See, I'm absolutely right about it. :3

It told so much about diversity, including marginalized people, etc. I'm planning on reading other books by Rudy, it turns out he's one of my peots. I love his works a lot. so if you're into poetry, you must give this one a try, it's worth reading tho.

Raw and unflinchingly honest, these poems—especially those on racism and other social issues—land like sucker punches in the stomach. Read them and open your eyes if you haven’t already.

Honest and raw and so incredibly insightful. I loved it. A beautiful collection of poetry that resonates with people of all different backgrounds and conditions.


**I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.**