katie_sterk's review against another edition
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
mj_them's review against another edition
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
nytekit's review against another edition
3.0
I am a huge fan of Janelle Monae. I am not a fan of short stories. But to read J Monae's debut publication, I would give short stories a(nother) shot.
This series of stories expands upon the world of Monae's Dirty Computer album and are co-written with a host of authors who each bring their own style to this work. Though the stories, for the most part, are connected through the dystopian world where the government controls who remembers and what, they don't read as very connected to each other. Each story focuses on new characters and new aspects of this future world known as New Dawn, and builds out from what we learned from the previous story. In that way, the stories seem kind of disparate but also expand on the size of the world we are initially introduced to.
Some stories worked better than others (as is usually the case with short story collections). The Memory Librarian and Nevermind really drew me in! It was a great choice to have these as the first two of the book. They both did great setting up different aspects of New Dawn and showing how one survives living at the heart of New Dawn while also hiding their full selves from the government that would erase it, and then how one lives outside of and against the system. These two stories worked really well together. And I could happily read more about Seshet - the Memory Librarian of Little Delta, Alethia - the love of Seshet's life and a deviant by Little Delta standards, Dee - Seshet's AI personal assistant and keeper of her memories, and that cast of characters.
Save Changes also draws connections to the overarching world of New Dawn, but unfortunately, I didn't connect much with this story until the very end. There is one scene that very clearly relates to Dirty Computer, so much so that I visualized Monae's scenes from the "emotion picture" while reading it. But to me, the interesting part of this story would have started where this one ended. Timebox and Timebox [Altered], on the other hand, seemed to pay only a passing service to the dystopia we'd been introduced to before. Timebox [Altered] takes place in a languishing region of New Dawn mostly ignored by the authorities, and because of that, the tone feels different from the rest. Timebox feels the most out of place to me in the group, but it also has the ending that has stuck with me the longest since reading it.
Overall, I would rate this pretty average. I found the stories enjoyable to read but I also wanted more from the writing: less of the main character telling me what was going on and more of the authors showing it to me. Right now, I'm rating this as a solid 3.
I won a copy of this book from a Goodreads giveaway but I had already pre-ordered one when I bought a ticket to the book release event, so not really sure if a disclaimer is necessary for this one...
This series of stories expands upon the world of Monae's Dirty Computer album and are co-written with a host of authors who each bring their own style to this work. Though the stories, for the most part, are connected through the dystopian world where the government controls who remembers and what, they don't read as very connected to each other. Each story focuses on new characters and new aspects of this future world known as New Dawn, and builds out from what we learned from the previous story. In that way, the stories seem kind of disparate but also expand on the size of the world we are initially introduced to.
Some stories worked better than others (as is usually the case with short story collections). The Memory Librarian and Nevermind really drew me in! It was a great choice to have these as the first two of the book. They both did great setting up different aspects of New Dawn and showing how one survives living at the heart of New Dawn while also hiding their full selves from the government that would erase it, and then how one lives outside of and against the system. These two stories worked really well together. And I could happily read more about Seshet - the Memory Librarian of Little Delta, Alethia - the love of Seshet's life and a deviant by Little Delta standards, Dee - Seshet's AI personal assistant and keeper of her memories, and that cast of characters.
Save Changes also draws connections to the overarching world of New Dawn, but unfortunately, I didn't connect much with this story until the very end. There is one scene that very clearly relates to Dirty Computer, so much so that I visualized Monae's scenes from the "emotion picture" while reading it. But to me, the interesting part of this story would have started where this one ended. Timebox and Timebox [Altered], on the other hand, seemed to pay only a passing service to the dystopia we'd been introduced to before. Timebox [Altered] takes place in a languishing region of New Dawn mostly ignored by the authorities, and because of that, the tone feels different from the rest. Timebox feels the most out of place to me in the group, but it also has the ending that has stuck with me the longest since reading it.
Overall, I would rate this pretty average. I found the stories enjoyable to read but I also wanted more from the writing: less of the main character telling me what was going on and more of the authors showing it to me. Right now, I'm rating this as a solid 3.
I won a copy of this book from a Goodreads giveaway but I had already pre-ordered one when I bought a ticket to the book release event, so not really sure if a disclaimer is necessary for this one...
sambish's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
kenmullo's review against another edition
It was a little all over the place. I liked the concept of the story but it just couldn't keep me engaged.
hstapp's review against another edition
5.0
A fantastic short story cycle. As with most short story cycles or collections there are some stories that I enjoyed more than others. The First Story The Memory Librarian I probably enjoyed the least. It has an interesting story, but I found it to be confusing fairly often, and the ending was lacking for me. It just didn't feel satisfying. This story felt a little bit more literary than the others in the book.
My 2nd least favorite was TimeBox I really loved the main character in this book, though I worried about her relationship. This one also didn't have a satisfying ending. It was just kind of awkward and painful.
My favorite 2 were Nevermind and Timebox Altared. Actually if it wasn't for Altared The book would only be getting 4 stars. Nevermind is the only story that features characters from the emotion picture, though the story is not about those characters. Still it helps you get into that world if you've seen the picture. Perhaps The Memory Librarian would have been better if it had come 2nd, but perhaps not since the reader would be more inclined to expect to see Jane and her crew in future stories. This story is probably closest to my heart because the main focus of the story is on a trans woman.
Timebox Altared is the perfect closing story for this book. It brings a lot of feeling and hope, and reminds me of the end of "How to be an Antiracist" Whether this is by design or by happenstance, it merges these two important black works in my mind in a similar way.
My 2nd least favorite was TimeBox I really loved the main character in this book, though I worried about her relationship. This one also didn't have a satisfying ending. It was just kind of awkward and painful.
My favorite 2 were Nevermind and Timebox Altared. Actually if it wasn't for Altared The book would only be getting 4 stars. Nevermind is the only story that features characters from the emotion picture, though the story is not about those characters. Still it helps you get into that world if you've seen the picture. Perhaps The Memory Librarian would have been better if it had come 2nd, but perhaps not since the reader would be more inclined to expect to see Jane and her crew in future stories. This story is probably closest to my heart because the main focus of the story is on a trans woman.
Timebox Altared is the perfect closing story for this book. It brings a lot of feeling and hope, and reminds me of the end of "How to be an Antiracist" Whether this is by design or by happenstance, it merges these two important black works in my mind in a similar way.
fernzommu's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
romiress's review against another edition
It just wasn't very good. I finished story two; both stories had flimsy, confused worldbuilding and paper-thin characters.