Thank you to the author, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I want to preface that I don't really read poetry books, but I will enjoy occasional poems here and there.
I really enjoyed the poems in this collection; I like how it was organized by moods, each one has a sprinkle of humour, and it really relates to a Millennial/Gen-Z audience. I researched later on that Lyndsay Rush shares her poems on instagram and I think that provides an indication of the types of poetry this is - lots of relatable, personal stories, with great humour.

I will say, in a book format, it became quite repetitive. I think the book would be lovely to kind of flip through and reference (hence the mood divisions are helpful), but as an overarching story or collection it's too much (haha) and doesn't create cohesion.

3.5/5

I’m sorry, did I write this book? It was so relatable and I loved every single poem. Thank you to NetGalley for the advance review copy in return for an honest review.

I like most people stumbled upon Lyndsay Rush through Instagram and her posts on @maryoliversdrunkcousin.
I have several of her poems saved. I have sent them off to friends and reread them when I needed comforting words. She speaks right to my millennial heart, with references to my childhood, and similar thoughts and feelings around the period of my life I am currently in. I was excited to get this early copy of A Bit Much from St Martin’s Griffin through Netgalley to read and review so I could read more of her work.

I loved so many of the poems. Some of my favorites from her Instagram made their way into print (She’s a Bit Much, Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic, I’ll Hold it for You, and It’s Called Maximalism, Babe).

But there were others I highlighted and marked and know I will come back to read again (Safe Travels, Be st Fri ends, Like Trying to Hold a Snowflake, It’s All Downhill After 30, A Race Against the Guac, For She’s A Jolly Good Fellow, Retirement Plans, What It Feels Like to Be at Peace with Myself).

“remember that, of all the things you should never postpone / make sure joy is at the top of the list”

A quick read, curated into four parts, there is bound to be a few that resinate with you. It is out 9/17 and I cannot wait to have a physical copy to highlight, mark up and see these words physically in my hands.

Thank you to the author, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. I just love that this book fell into my world! I loved these collections of poems so much that I preordered 2 copies…one for me and one to gift (PUB Date: 9/17/2024)

Evidently, I am a poet and I didn’t even know it! I am pretty certain that I have not read a collection of poems since I was in Highschool, and that was only because I was forced to! Don’t judge me, that has just never been my forté! This little collection of poems had me smiling, laughing and crying from start to finish! I even want to have some of these framed for my home! They are thought-provoking, smart, witty and powerful. I want my kids to read some of these too. There was one in particular that stood out to me and made me think about my beloved father, only to learn in the Acknowledgements that she wrote it for her dog…need I say more.

The poems are categorized by mood, making it easy to for everyone to find a connection within the pages.

The author is a literary magician and I highly encourage you to follow her on Instagram @MaryOliversDrunkCousin so that you can see for yourself what her writings look like and determine if this collection is for you. I came across more poems dedicated to her pup that are just perfection! Her poems are full of linguistical magic and spoke to my soul and I just know that I will continue to come back to this again and again! I miss them already!

“If cauliflower can be pasta then you can be whatever you want!” 5/5 magical ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for me!

Quick Synopsis…Lyndsay Rush’s debut collection of poetry uses humor to grapple with the female experience—from questioning whether or not to have children, to roasting the patriarchy, to challenging what it means to "age gracefully"—and each piece delivers gut-punching truths alongside gratifying punchlines. Readers walk away from Lyndsay’s work feeling seen, celebrated, and wholly convinced that joy is an urgent, worthwhile pursuit. With over 140 convention-bending poems—most of which are never-before-seen—this book is quite literally A Bit Much.

Follow me on Instagram @i.am.book.a.licious for more reviews like this!

I enjoyed this book of poems - sweet, fun, and to the point. i adored how the book was grouped by feeling; related to that on a deeper level.

This was fun to read! There was a bit of nostalgia throughout, along with some deeper feelings about the patriarchy and self-worth. Lyndsay was able to encapsulate the feelings of being in your 30s and balancing personal and professional relationships while staying true to yourself in a thought-provoking and humorous way (which I didn’t know was possible). This was a great collection of poetry and I’d say it’s worth a read, especially for anyone like myself who has recently got into poetry.

😭😭 i could not have loved this more. i just preordered a copy for myself and a friend. it spoke to my millennial soul in the best way. i cried the whole time i read. i can’t wait to re-read a hard copy!

In true Insta-poetry fashion, the poems in Lyndsay Rush’s A Bit Much blend affirmation, inspiration, humor, touches of gritty real life, and notes of self-help coaching. As a slightly older reader, I felt like I wasn’t really the intended audience for this collection. I think it would connect better with a Millennial or Gen-Z woman who’s highly engaged in social media and actively seeking empowering self-love messages to live by. That’s not me, but I still found lots to like in these poems. In particular, it struck me that Rush is a master of specifics—the kind of authentic details that resonate because readers are able to see their own lives and experiences in them. For instance, in the poem “Out of Office Message,” Rush writes, “I will be far, far away from my inbox until/the phrase ‘Can I pick your brain?’ is outlawed…” It’s such a specific and memorable way of expressing how most of us feel about email. Humor writers in general tend to be good at specifics, but Rush uses them skillfully in more heartfelt poems too.

Another fun thing about A Bit Much: The poems are organized by current or desired mood—kind of like a devotional. So, if you’re feeling defiant, you could skip straight to the section, “When You Have Main Character Syndrome and Aren’t Looking for a Cure.” The poems in this section were among my favorites.

What I didn’t like as much about this poetry collection is exactly what the title warned me about: It’s a bit much. I don’t mean that Rush’s personality is too much for me. I mean that, in my opinion, the book is way too long. The poems hit the same themes over and over again, and I felt a little bored by their repetitiveness. Several individual poems ramble on longer than they need to. And the blackout, or “Remix,” poems actually annoyed me. I enjoy a good blackout poem that manages to subvert an original text by selectively blacking out words and phrases. But Rush’s remixes never achieve that satisfying subversion. Instead, they deliver a condensed version of the poem I just read two pages ago. Ultimately, I felt A Bit Much would have been stronger as a shorter, tighter collection. But again, I’m a bit of an outsider here. I’m sure Rush’s genuine fans will be happy to have all the poems they can get.

My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for providing me with a copy of A Bit Much in exchange for my honest review.

Lyndsay Rush’s poetry collection is full of hilarious insights into what it’s like to be “a bit much”. I’ve been following her on social media for quite a while, and was so excited to be granted the opportunity to receive an advanced review copy.

"A Bit Much" is a delightful collection of poetry. I love Lyndsay's creativity and humor. Her work is light-hearted, fun, and relatable. This book will be a perfect gift for girlfriends.

A wonderful collection of personal poems that elucidate deep feelings, experiences, and emotions in a humorous way. I am just getting into more poetry and this was a great read for those just starting in the genre. I enjoyed the wordplay and how it was split into multiple sections where the author also included the "Current or Desired Mood."
I thought this was great.

This was so fun. I loved the mix of seriousness and playfulness. It really shows how one can grow to just accept happiness and how things are over time. I loved all the poems, but in particular my favorites were “Be st Fri ends” and “Good for Her.”

I’d like to preface this by saying I don’t often read poetry, other than reposts on Instagram, which is where I discovered Lyndsay Rush to begin with. I do often have emotions and so I am coming at this not as a poetry connoisseur but as a person who merely lives every day.

Rush has divided her poetry into four parts, with suggestions for specific times/feelings to read them during. I liked this, as I could see myself coming back to certain sections and poems according to my mood. I will say sometimes this made a couple of the poems per section feel repetitive, but I think that some of the repetitions were callbacks, and the others perhaps were more noticeable because I first read the book more or less straight through. I’ve already been rereading and I’m finding reading it out of order a good experience as well, and something I’d be more likely to do with a hard copy.

Themes in these poems include being genuine, giving yourself grace, finding joy, feeling rage, and so much more. I experienced many emotions through the book, joy, frustration, anger, peace, happiness. I felt myself agreeing with many of her experiences, struggles, and points to make. The poems that resonated with me the most were about motherhood, since I’m in a very specific stage of that right now, as well as the poems about female friendship, finding joy in every moment, and being and loving yourself.

Overall I really enjoyed this anthology, I would recommend it if you are finding yourself at a stage of life where you need reminders that it’s okay to feel your feelings and be yourself. There is joy to be found among the hard stuff and it’s important not to forget to let yourself feel it.

Admittedly, poetry is not my usual genre. However, as a longtime follower of Lyndsay Rush (shoutout to her podcast Fangasm), I have been following @maryoliversdrunkcousin from the beginning. The way she composes her poems and the topics she explores cut right to my heart. I have her work printed and framed. This poetry collection includes all of my old favorites and has added to that list with even more amazing poems. I was bookmarking and highlighting left and right. I think there is something in here for everyone and love the way it was broken up by mood. I know I will find myself revisiting this again and again.

Inspiring collection of deeply personal, tender & humorous poems. Loved reading through the collection & sectioning off those that I felt deeply connected to. So much goodness to be found within these pages

I loved this book. I've followed Lyndsay for years on Instagram and have always enjoyed her poetry. This just expanded upon the poems I've already enjoyed. The religion angle was new to me, but I feel similarly so did not find it off putting as others have mentioned. It just added another layer to her work.

A Bit Much was an excellent read. I loved the poems and was sad, laughing, or feeling the feels while reading. This is approachable poetry but still beautifully written.

This collection could be commended on its intention alone. A lovely little gathering of poems that have a true and gentle bend toward humor and wonder and all things lovely. With some real life sprinkled across as well.

I don’t think I’m the target audience for this sort of collection as the craft of the poems varies and swings like a pendulum. The hand of the poet is more often clumsy.

But many more people will like it than not.

I appreciated the way this book of poems was categorized into "moods" to guide the reading journey. In that sense, a person could pick and choose which chapters to read depending on how they were feeling in that moment. Overall, I did generally enjoy reading this as it was a light hearted contrast to the heavier content I have been consuming lately. However, I do think overall the writing style just wasn't my cup of tea. Because of this, most of the poems just didn't resonate with me on a deeper emotional level.

A Bit Much was a wonderful collection of poetry about self love and acceptance. The message I took from this was that you’re always going to be ‘a bit much’ for some people but you should be blissfully and unabashedly yourself. I SO related to so many poems in this collection. Rush speaks a lot about body shame and how women are trained from such a young age to believe they need to look a certain way or be apologetic for their bodies and they space they take up. I just really loved this. And the Taylor Swift references didn’t hurt a bit. ;)