Helium by Rudy Francisco

Clues to describe this book: Past Love, Self Reflection, Race, Society

Disclaimer: I received a free advanced digital copy of this book from Button Poetry via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion. This has no effect on my opinion, review, or rating.

Review: Helium is the first poetry collection I read from Rudy Francisco. His poetry reminds me of Rupi Kaur’s, but from a male perspective. Rudy sheds light on sensitive and important topics such as gender, politics, race, and social issues in his powerful and emotional raw poetry. I wasn’t too fond of the beginning of his poetry collection which discusses about past love and depression. Those poems felt weak and trite. However, as the book progresses, his poems become deeper and more progressive. A few of my favorite poems from this collection are Sinking, Adrenaline Rush, Accent, and Mercy. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of Rupi Kaur or is interested in reading poetry about social issues and race.