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A review by mcnan
You Know You Want This by Kristen Roupenian
challenging
dark
funny
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
4.25
Overall a really sting collection with a genuine voice. I would read so much more by her. I was blown away by the quality and novelty here - these stories are dark, emotional, wicked, complicated, sexual, and smart. Wow. Check the tw's for sure. Individual thoughts below:
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Bad Boy: 5/5. This story pushed me over, punched my teeth out, and kicked me in the stomach. Incredible. One of the most viscerally disturbing stories I've ever read, not saying that lightly.
Look at Your Game, Girl: 3/5. This captured the resonant paranoia and uncertainty of a time transitioning away from letting the kids play outside. A fine story, but not my favorite here.
Sardines: 3.5/5. An ultimately comical spin on a children game, I wonder how writing this story went into writing for Bodies, Bodies, Bodies.
The Night Runner: 3/5. I wasn't particularly grabbed by this story. A white man out of place, not understanding the world around him, can be seen in the classroom and in the village. He goes mad and stumbles his way into culture, becoming the monster, but a cultural monster, and his one companion runs with him in the end. He had to break first.
The Mirror, the Bucket, and the Old Thigh Bone: 3.5/5. I loved the writing in this story - it read like a true fairy tale. I don't think I get it. I had been convinced it was a tale about a woman knowing she had the power to rule and being denied it, but it was not. I then thought it could be about a strange tale, a strange person, that becomes a forgotten mundanity when compared to natural forces.
Cat Person: 4/5. Really really good. I didn't remember that that guy was *34* years old!
The Good Guy: 4.5/5. Fuck. This one made me uncomfortable because I've felt that selfish feeling of putting one's own feelings to the side to avoid hurting someone, but REALLY is because of cowardice. This man is a coward. A good dissection of a "good" guy. I want to think this is less common, but who even knows.
Scarred: 3/5. Not as emotionally resonant with me as others, but a solid story
The Matchbox Sign: 4.2/5. this one was crazy!! And so smart. It's kind of a weird twisted way to she love and faith and trust is a kind of parasite shared between two people fighting together against the system that doesn't believe in them
Death Wish: 3.5/5 .I really enjoyed her voice in this one. This is a character study of a person at a low. And a good one. Chekov's Suitcase.
Biter: 3/5. I thought I knew where this was headed and I was wrong. I thought she was flipping the script on burying sexual shame and making a comment on men's fantasies but the bad guy, and he was bad, was the target. Great twist and story.
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Bad Boy: 5/5. This story pushed me over, punched my teeth out, and kicked me in the stomach. Incredible. One of the most viscerally disturbing stories I've ever read, not saying that lightly.
Look at Your Game, Girl: 3/5. This captured the resonant paranoia and uncertainty of a time transitioning away from letting the kids play outside. A fine story, but not my favorite here.
Sardines: 3.5/5. An ultimately comical spin on a children game, I wonder how writing this story went into writing for Bodies, Bodies, Bodies.
The Night Runner: 3/5. I wasn't particularly grabbed by this story. A white man out of place, not understanding the world around him, can be seen in the classroom and in the village. He goes mad and stumbles his way into culture, becoming the monster, but a cultural monster, and his one companion runs with him in the end. He had to break first.
The Mirror, the Bucket, and the Old Thigh Bone: 3.5/5. I loved the writing in this story - it read like a true fairy tale. I don't think I get it. I had been convinced it was a tale about a woman knowing she had the power to rule and being denied it, but it was not. I then thought it could be about a strange tale, a strange person, that becomes a forgotten mundanity when compared to natural forces.
Cat Person: 4/5. Really really good. I didn't remember that that guy was *34* years old!
The Good Guy: 4.5/5. Fuck. This one made me uncomfortable because I've felt that selfish feeling of putting one's own feelings to the side to avoid hurting someone, but REALLY is because of cowardice. This man is a coward. A good dissection of a "good" guy. I want to think this is less common, but who even knows.
Scarred: 3/5. Not as emotionally resonant with me as others, but a solid story
The Matchbox Sign: 4.2/5. this one was crazy!! And so smart. It's kind of a weird twisted way to she love and faith and trust is a kind of parasite shared between two people fighting together against the system that doesn't believe in them
Death Wish: 3.5/5 .I really enjoyed her voice in this one. This is a character study of a person at a low. And a good one. Chekov's Suitcase.
Biter: 3/5. I thought I knew where this was headed and I was wrong. I thought she was flipping the script on burying sexual shame and making a comment on men's fantasies but the bad guy, and he was bad, was the target. Great twist and story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship