misterkyle1901's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
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? It's complicated
4.25
maggiefan's review against another edition
4.0
I loved some of the stories and others I didn't like that much. However it is a really good story collection. My favourite stories are definitely "The Tower Princesses" and "The Man in the Ambry". I also really enjoyed reading "By Now, I'll Probably Be Gone", "The Lazarus Bride" "The Five-day Summer Camp", "Audrey At Night", "Skin Like Honey and Lace" and "The Clawfoot Requiem". I appreciate the authors ability to create such unique and unusual stories.
popularsong's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Pregnancy and Suicide
ashley__reads's review against another edition
5.0
Every story in here was absolutely incredible. They just got better and better as the book went on. I read them in order and I’m glad I did it that way because as the book went on the stories got more and more intense, in my opinion.
aliciar3ads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
An engaging collection of horror-tinged short stories, powered by grief, fairytales and injustice.
While consistently engaging and full of creativity, there was one stand one story—Audrey at Night—that may be one of the best short stories I’ve ever read. I’d recommend this collection for that story alone. It follows an expecting mother of her first child who is haunted every night by the ghost of her best friend who died a decade earlier. This story was WILD.
While consistently engaging and full of creativity, there was one stand one story—Audrey at Night—that may be one of the best short stories I’ve ever read. I’d recommend this collection for that story alone. It follows an expecting mother of her first child who is haunted every night by the ghost of her best friend who died a decade earlier. This story was WILD.
wpsmith17's review against another edition
5.0
This is an excellent collection. Gwendolyn Kiste is an absolute magician, weaving dark fairy tales that cut so very deep. Her writing is poetic, and I found myself easily enthralled with her twisted worlds. This makes me even more excited to read The Rust Maidens.
avereads's review against another edition
5.0
“I’ve found the best things are the ones you keep to yourself. The little truths about the world that everyone else thinks are crazy.”
And Her Smile Will Untether the Universe is a short story collection that I absolutely adored. I loved every single story, but I think my favourite has to be “The Man in the Ambry”, it’s so eerie and engaging. But, some other stand outs are “The Clawfoot Requiem”, “All the Red Apples Have Withered to Gray”, “Skin Like Honey and Lace”, and “By Now, I’ll Probably Be Gone”. I really enjoyed how the stories mostly had female characters and explore their issues too, with stories like “The Tower Princess” really highlighting that. The characters were also really enjoyable, smart, and knew how to take action for their own choices, which in horror can be really refreshing and in turn made the stories relatable in a way. Definitely my favourite collection I’ve read this year and maybe my favourite I’ve read ever. If you’re wondering if this is worth the hype, is definitely is and I can’t wait to read more by Gwendolyn Kiste in the future.
And Her Smile Will Untether the Universe is a short story collection that I absolutely adored. I loved every single story, but I think my favourite has to be “The Man in the Ambry”, it’s so eerie and engaging. But, some other stand outs are “The Clawfoot Requiem”, “All the Red Apples Have Withered to Gray”, “Skin Like Honey and Lace”, and “By Now, I’ll Probably Be Gone”. I really enjoyed how the stories mostly had female characters and explore their issues too, with stories like “The Tower Princess” really highlighting that. The characters were also really enjoyable, smart, and knew how to take action for their own choices, which in horror can be really refreshing and in turn made the stories relatable in a way. Definitely my favourite collection I’ve read this year and maybe my favourite I’ve read ever. If you’re wondering if this is worth the hype, is definitely is and I can’t wait to read more by Gwendolyn Kiste in the future.
madarauchiha's review against another edition
1.0
❤️ 🧡 💛 💚 💙 💜 my about / byf / CW info carrd: uchiha-madara 💜 💙 💚 💛 🧡 ❤️
I mean this in the worst way: Gwendolin Kiste is the diet no sugar fat free version of Joyce Carol Oates. They both revel in fragile white woman victimhood. Though Oates far more so, and with thorough hypocracy to boot. I'm not familiar with Kiste also being hypocritical and shitty and writing fanfic about irl massacres. Correct me if I'm wrong, but in your own review. Liver me alone.
The author has very white cissexist upper class views of lesbianism/WLW love, and life in general. Don't expect much in ways of diversity. As far as I can tell there are no Black characters or Characters of Color. And honestly, I am glad. The way the characters are written, default cis abled and usually cisgender, I don't want to see Kiste try to portray a Black man or a woman of color. Leave us alone.
When not focusing on how victimized and fragile and useless white cishet girlwomen against [other white and cishet] men, Kiste's writings are decent. The prose is pretty and purple and flowery, but more delicate organic violets than harsh artificially dyed plastic bouquets, heavy with chemical scent straight from the hobby store. The plots are interesting and fair unique. I enjoyed most of them aside from Tower Princesses, which was a real study in white fragile woman victimhood.
The Five day Summer Camp story is yet another tired 'secret revolution' wherein the white mc [and hypothetically you, the reader] silently undermines the ambiguous dystopian government--who just so happens to borrow concentration camp and gas chamber / cremation incinerator aesthetics. Hm gee that seems familiar. I am goy [not Jewish] so I'm not the authority on antisemitism, obviously, but in this case I think there is tactlessness when it comes to using specific elements from real life concentration camps that Jewish people [and many other 'undesireables'] were genocided in.
The plot was already set in an alternate universe dystopia where SPOILER children were magically brainwashed via Mysterious Science. You can go ahead and utilize magic Science Corporeal Form Evaporate that fuels the evil bad Mysterious Science. Ultimately, the plot is abruptly resolved by the MC resolving to save other children the same way she saved her sister. SPOILERS
It's cute and heartwarming. Or would be if you haven't seen this a million times over in other media. I've mentioned this elsewhere but the problem with white authors writing dystopias and revolution is that they don't understand was radical and drastic changes to the white cishet dominating society needs to happen. They are part of this society, both in real life and in the fiction they create. They don't know how to alter either, not really. So stories like these, however short, alternative from reality, fictional, etc etc, fall flat. The status quo never changes. We get a build up, the conclusion, but never a climax.
Fortunately, most storyes are less than fifty pages, so it's a quick read. I finished it in 1.17 hours.
Faves. Skin Like Honey and Lace. The Man in the Ambry.
───────────────
◆ Something Borrowed, Something Blue
medium vomit,
major pregnancy, animal cruelty, child death, medical content, medical abuse, body horror, infidelity
◆ The Clawfoot Requiem
minor murder,
major suicide, blood, death, grief, mental illness, insects,
◆ All the Red Apples Have Withered to Gray
minor rape, sexual assault, incest,
major child abuse?, minor
◆ The Man in the Ambry
minor animal death, drugs hard drugs, pregnancy,
medium pregnancy,
◆ Find Me, Mommy
medium medical content,
major grief, child death,
◆ Audrey at Night
minor vomit,
major suicide, pregnancy,
◆ The Five-Day Summer Camp
medium vomit,
major medical abuse, child abuse, gore,
◆ Skin Like Honey and Lace
minor sexual content, suicide,
major blood, death, cannibalism, pregnancy, murder, toxic relationships, body horror,
◆ By Now, I'll Probably Be Gone
major suicide, infidelity, death,
◆ Through Earth and Sky
medium child abuse,
major domestic abuse,
◆ The Tower Princesses
minor excrement, unsanitary, blood, violence,
medium incest, sexual content,
major suicide, child abuse, child death, sexual harassment, bullying, sexual assault, victim blaming, lesbophobia,
◆ And Her Smile Will Untether the Universe
medium infidelity, murder,
major victim blaming,
◆ The Lazarus Bride
minor sexual assault,
medium body horror, sexual content,
major fire, death,
I mean this in the worst way: Gwendolin Kiste is the diet no sugar fat free version of Joyce Carol Oates. They both revel in fragile white woman victimhood. Though Oates far more so, and with thorough hypocracy to boot. I'm not familiar with Kiste also being hypocritical and shitty and writing fanfic about irl massacres. Correct me if I'm wrong, but in your own review. Liver me alone.
The author has very white cissexist upper class views of lesbianism/WLW love, and life in general. Don't expect much in ways of diversity. As far as I can tell there are no Black characters or Characters of Color. And honestly, I am glad. The way the characters are written, default cis abled and usually cisgender, I don't want to see Kiste try to portray a Black man or a woman of color. Leave us alone.
When not focusing on how victimized and fragile and useless white cishet girlwomen against [other white and cishet] men, Kiste's writings are decent. The prose is pretty and purple and flowery, but more delicate organic violets than harsh artificially dyed plastic bouquets, heavy with chemical scent straight from the hobby store. The plots are interesting and fair unique. I enjoyed most of them aside from Tower Princesses, which was a real study in white fragile woman victimhood.
The Five day Summer Camp story is yet another tired 'secret revolution' wherein the white mc [and hypothetically you, the reader] silently undermines the ambiguous dystopian government--who just so happens to borrow concentration camp and gas chamber / cremation incinerator aesthetics. Hm gee that seems familiar. I am goy [not Jewish] so I'm not the authority on antisemitism, obviously, but in this case I think there is tactlessness when it comes to using specific elements from real life concentration camps that Jewish people [and many other 'undesireables'] were genocided in.
The plot was already set in an alternate universe dystopia where SPOILER children were magically brainwashed via Mysterious Science. You can go ahead and utilize magic Science Corporeal Form Evaporate that fuels the evil bad Mysterious Science. Ultimately, the plot is abruptly resolved by the MC resolving to save other children the same way she saved her sister. SPOILERS
It's cute and heartwarming. Or would be if you haven't seen this a million times over in other media. I've mentioned this elsewhere but the problem with white authors writing dystopias and revolution is that they don't understand was radical and drastic changes to the white cishet dominating society needs to happen. They are part of this society, both in real life and in the fiction they create. They don't know how to alter either, not really. So stories like these, however short, alternative from reality, fictional, etc etc, fall flat. The status quo never changes. We get a build up, the conclusion, but never a climax.
Fortunately, most storyes are less than fifty pages, so it's a quick read. I finished it in 1.17 hours.
Faves. Skin Like Honey and Lace. The Man in the Ambry.
───────────────
◆ Something Borrowed, Something Blue
medium vomit,
major pregnancy, animal cruelty, child death, medical content, medical abuse, body horror, infidelity
◆ The Clawfoot Requiem
minor murder,
major suicide, blood, death, grief, mental illness, insects,
◆ All the Red Apples Have Withered to Gray
minor rape, sexual assault, incest,
major child abuse?, minor
◆ The Man in the Ambry
minor animal death, drugs hard drugs, pregnancy,
medium pregnancy,
◆ Find Me, Mommy
medium medical content,
major grief, child death,
◆ Audrey at Night
minor vomit,
major suicide, pregnancy,
◆ The Five-Day Summer Camp
medium vomit,
major medical abuse, child abuse, gore,
◆ Skin Like Honey and Lace
minor sexual content, suicide,
major blood, death, cannibalism, pregnancy, murder, toxic relationships, body horror,
◆ By Now, I'll Probably Be Gone
major suicide, infidelity, death,
◆ Through Earth and Sky
medium child abuse,
major domestic abuse,
◆ The Tower Princesses
minor excrement, unsanitary, blood, violence,
medium incest, sexual content,
major suicide, child abuse, child death, sexual harassment, bullying, sexual assault, victim blaming, lesbophobia,
◆ And Her Smile Will Untether the Universe
medium infidelity, murder,
major victim blaming,
◆ The Lazarus Bride
minor sexual assault,
medium body horror, sexual content,
major fire, death,
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Medical trauma, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicide, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Medical content, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual content, and Vomit
Minor: Animal death, Blood, Drug use, Excrement, Incest, Murder, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, and Vomit