emreads97's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-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? It's complicated
4.0
readingforfun's review
Liked the first 2 stories, not as interested after that. Need a break from short story collections for a bit.
mfrost's review against another edition
3.0
fabulous range of characters!!! some stories were stronger than others.
kiramekihoshi's review against another edition
4.0
A collection of queer short stories. Most of which were fun, strange, and cute, but I was pretty bored by the final story, which unfortunately was the longest.
l0u_stips's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
TL;DR come for the apricots, stay for the Buttsmobile.
A treasure trove of short stories, with the final one particularly perfect - space weasels, need I say more? They play with form and finality - sometimes revealing how this story might find its end past the span of its pages, but sometimes you just have to leave the tape recording or step into the ocean under the Swedish asshole's couch and discover on your own what's down there. Loving, nuanced depictions of queer and trans people of colour reckoning with desire, loss, wraiths, radio static, lots of hauntings, frankly. A really excellent trans time travel story - I haven't read anything quite like it, but has the ghostly imprint of Octavia Butler. Cipri's another Clarion Writers Workshop alum - from 2014, I believe - and the collection spans 7 years of their writing. I'm curious about when each story was originally published (and where), how their craft has evolved - their voice is so clear, confident and versatile. But I'm a sucker for some stylistic asides.
A treasure trove of short stories, with the final one particularly perfect - space weasels, need I say more? They play with form and finality - sometimes revealing how this story might find its end past the span of its pages, but sometimes you just have to leave the tape recording or step into the ocean under the Swedish asshole's couch and discover on your own what's down there. Loving, nuanced depictions of queer and trans people of colour reckoning with desire, loss, wraiths, radio static, lots of hauntings, frankly. A really excellent trans time travel story - I haven't read anything quite like it, but has the ghostly imprint of Octavia Butler. Cipri's another Clarion Writers Workshop alum - from 2014, I believe - and the collection spans 7 years of their writing. I'm curious about when each story was originally published (and where), how their craft has evolved - their voice is so clear, confident and versatile. But I'm a sucker for some stylistic asides.
thegracexu's review against another edition
dark
4.0
I’ve read some really excellent short story collections lately and though this one also great experimental speculative fiction/horror/fantasy elements, I think some of the stories just fell a bit short. That being said I thought “Presque Vu” was spectacular - grounded, romantic and creepy all at once.
lschoff's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
"That's about all any artist can hope for, I guess."
Wonderfully queer, mysterious, surreal heartwarming, scary. reflective, dark and sweet mixed throughout a beautiful collection of short stories. There were some stories that I found myself wishing were a bit longer, or left me with more questions than answers, but I thouroughly enjoyed them all. I appreciated the varied formats that were played with and found myself captivated by the writing style. It felt like a perfect introduction to Cipri's writing. From the beginning there was something about the writing style that made me know they were going to be an auto-read author for me. I'm excited to get into some of their longer works.
Wonderfully queer, mysterious, surreal heartwarming, scary. reflective, dark and sweet mixed throughout a beautiful collection of short stories. There were some stories that I found myself wishing were a bit longer, or left me with more questions than answers, but I thouroughly enjoyed them all. I appreciated the varied formats that were played with and found myself captivated by the writing style. It felt like a perfect introduction to Cipri's writing. From the beginning there was something about the writing style that made me know they were going to be an auto-read author for me. I'm excited to get into some of their longer works.