“A Bit Much: Poems” by Lyndsay Rush is everything I’d hoped for and more! As a longtime follower of hers on social media, I was eagerly anticipating this collection, and it absolutely delivered. Rush’s unique voice—honest, witty, and deeply relatable—shines in every poem. She tackles life’s messy, beautiful moments with both humor and vulnerability. This book made me laugh, reflect, and even tear up at times. It’s a must-read for anyone who loves poetry that feels personal and refreshingly real. Highly recommend!

I love the playfulness and creativity with which Rush writes. Her poetry is inventive and offers smart critiques of misogyny. She uplifts female experiences with accessible poetry that could convert non-poetry readers to enjoying the art form.

Thank you to the author Lyndsay Rush, publishers St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for an advance digital copy of A BIT MUCH. All views are mine.

If you’re looking for my eggs, though, / they’re usually all in one basket (I prefer / full-ass to half, thank you) "An Idiom-Proof Life" p92

I’m here to grab life by the clown nose and squeeze "Peace, Not Quiet" p99

It’s as though she’s / feeling her way through a / thinking world... "She's So Sensitive" p113

If cauliflower can be pasta you can be whatever you want. "Reassurance to Save for a Rainy Day" p

Three (or more) things I loved:

1. I love this poet! She Writes about growing up in the same era I grew up in. The 90s were so hard on girls, especially ones from small towns in the Midwest. This setting haunts much of her poems, but check out "What a Catch," "I'm Giving Up for Lent," and "Boo!"

2. I like to hear the perspectives of people who grew up in the Evangelical church, and left. I think these we perspectives are really important right now. From "Boo!": The spookiest haunted house / I’ve ever been to / is an evangelical church:... /...Wouldn’t you also be scared / if you were taught that / you are powerless / to save yourself? p61

3. A gorgeous statement about it never being too late, and how we feel about ourselves as we age. do have to own your becoming / You do have to have the courage to begin again / and again / and again / You do have to accept that defying the odds is not just for triathletes and Nobel Peace Prize winners / it’s for people like you / and people like me / people like World War II veteran Patricia Davies who began hormone therapy at the age of 90, so that she could spend every second she had left making herself proud. p83

4. I love the way she executes founds poem form! She even does her own, finding poems within her poems, like with "It’s Called Maximalism, Babe: The Remix" p94

5. Wonderful metapoetry! FYI if you ever see me make a typo / it’s just because I’m a method actress / trying to understand what it feels / like to be average and relatable "And The Oscar Goes To" p96

6. I adore this appreciative, positive tone that shines through in all Rush's poetry. Like these lines from "Strong Female Lead" on page 116: I'm too busy / romanticizing / this one, juicy little life I / have on this tiny, / spinning rock / to worry about the optics....

Three (or less) things I didn't love:

This section isn't only for criticisms. It's merely for items that I felt something for other than "love" or some interpretation thereof.

1. Poetry collections tend to be on the shorter side, 100 pages or less. That's because readers of poetry often only read a few at a time. 304 pages of poetry is...a bit much!

2. Poems take many forms in this book, and I love the variety. But I don't enjoy the form when the poet strings together a pile of idioms that may or may not group around a theme. They're hard to follow, since there are no narratives.

Rating: 🎉✨️🎊💖 /5 sparkley outlooks
Recommend? Yes!
Finished: Oct 15 '24
Format: Digital arc, Kindle, NetGalley
Read this book if you like:
❤️‍🩹 self help / self-help poetry
🪶 contemporary poetry
👭🏽 women's fiction and memoir
🌞 positivity and optimism
💝 radical self-love

My Favorite Poems:

1. What a Catch p27
2. These Are the Days p40
3. I'm Giving Up for Lent p51
4. Wet n Wild Geese p56
5. Boo! p61
6. Heck Yes, I Have an MFA: Major Freakin' Attitude p75
7. Bragadocious with the Mostess p97
8. Drinking Iced Coffee in January p100
9. Strong Female Lead p116
10. Reassurance to Save for a Rainy Day p128

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book. It was so wonderful!

Love love loved this! I don't usually read poetry, but this drew me in and kept me reading. I teared up and smiled at so many poems. It's enjoyable and engaging to read and I loved each page!

Thank you NetGalley and Lyndsay Rush!

A Bit Much is a refreshing take on life. A triumph in every way. It got me into poetry, which isn’t a genre I read much of. I would highly recommend to absolutely anyone.

I laughed, I cried, I felt deeply seen. I’ve been a fan of Lyndsay’s for a while and was not let down by this book.

This was definitely "a bit much" in the best way possible. I loved every bit of this collection of poetry. Her words resonated with me and I finished reading this feeling very seen. I have a new poet to add to my list of favorites.

thank you netgalley for the e-arc. i loved this just as much as i thought i would when it was first announced. poetry is usually boring or too flowery or not enough over all. lyndsay rush is perfection. she writes as if she's writing for me and my friends and the women in my life. i think i need this on kindle to save passages to re-read.

I really enjoyed the poetry found in this book. It's not something I typically read; however, I felt inspired and moved by the words on the page. I felt like I could be present with what that author was feeling.

This was one of my favorite poetry books ever. I don't read a lot of poetry but I screenshot this book so many times on my phone to refer back to it. I found the sections so relatable to many different people. I definitely will recommend.

i absolutely LOVE lyndsay's poetry -- seeing @maryoliversdrunkcousin pop up on my instagram feed is always a delight. her words resonate in a way few poets can, and this collection takes that to new levels. truly a masterful collection -- one i'll return to time and time again to find solace and comfort and joy. her humor and honesty and heart shine through every stanza. a stunner, this one!

Organized by mood and emotion so you can always find what you need, when you need it–I've been looking forward to this one.

I never read poetry, like, ever. I'm not really sure why...I guess it just never crosses my radar. But when I read the synopsis for A Bit Much on NetGalley, I knew this collection was for me -- a sensitive elder millennial who was raised on diet culture, parochial education, and evangelical Christianity.

Lyndsay Rush is an absolute riot who takes up more than the right amount of space and I, who have always been seen as "a bit much," am here for it. Her writing is funny and smart and feminist and poignant, and it truly speaks to my heart. I'm the opposite of Lyndsay in that I wrote soooo much poetry growing up, until the well ran dry when I was in my twenties and the angst started to subside somewhat. I'm seeking out a copy of this book (ahem, CHRISTMAS IS COMING) so that I can hopefully draw some inspiration.

Favorite poems include Frequent Crier, Code Red, Loving Each Otter, Hysterical, Things That Taste as Good as Skinny Feels, Reverse Aging the Easy Way!, Basically an Archaelogist, Boo!, How Lovely to Be a Woman, Promise Ring Pop, Mum's the Word, Hot Girl Walks, An Error Message Just for You, She's So Sensitive, Have We Met Before?, Reassurances to Save for a Rainy Day, Stillness and Silliness, and A Get-Together to Fall Apart.

Loved A Bit Much! The poems are perfectly relatable and well-written. I enjoyed how Rush broke the mold on traditional poetry with her style. There’s so much honesty in her work, while also managing to be self-deprecating at times which made it all better.

Such a fun read! A bit redundant, but isn't that part of being "a bit much"? Saying what matters until we really get it in every color? Did it have an Instagram vibe to it? Yes. Did I already read many of these poems on social media? Yes. Is it quirky and fresh? Yes. Do I want to have it on my shelf? Also yes. For what it is, it's a fun, insightful, sometimes gut-punching romp that reminds us it's okay to live life wide-open. And it's just as delightful as the perfect extra-crispy fry in the bottom of the bag. I also read it in the airport so I blame Lyndsay for making me cry in front of the early morning flight businessmen.

Favorite poems:
"Be st
Fri ends"
"Like a Duck Eating Lunch"

Favorite quote:
"You can't temper a storm
But you can sure as hell evacuate a beach."

As with most poetry collections, some of these poems I really enjoyed while other not so much. There are some "poems" that have that modern poetry aspect, aka you wouldn't really call them poems. Rush has a fun voice and the cover is also really cute!

I have been a fan of Lyndsay Rush's poetry for years and when I heard she was releasing A BIT MUCH, a book of poetry, I was overjoyed! I owe a huge thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher, St. Martin's Press | St. Martin's Griffin, for this ARC which I received in exchange for my honest review.

From start to finish, this book of poetry is a delight. Covering topics ranging from motherhood to mental health, friendship to love to loss to body image and more, Rush manages to do it all with grace and humor and honestly love pouring out from her poetry. I was so sad to read the last poem and so happy to know that I can return to this collection again and again. I'd recommend these poems to anyone and everyone, but it was particularly fitting for a millennial woman experiencing much of what Rush depicts in her own life.

Not enough nice things to say about this debut book of poetry, but alas I’ll try for our lord and savior Mary Oliver’s Drunk Cousin.

There are various different talents in the world, but one of my favorite ones is the kind of talent that seems to sharpen the people that interact with it. That kind of talent makes people stand up straighter, makes them feel more capable through making them feel seen. It’s a kind of talent that shines a light back on the observer.

That talent is one of Lyndsay Rush’s great gifts, that she presents as an offering with A Bit Much.

It is so special. It won’t be for everyone, but for the people it is for it will feel like a homecoming.

Thanks to net galley for giving me this to review!

The best book of poetry I have read in quite some time. I absolutely recommend this over and over again.