The first story was dizzyingly intricate, with story-strands weaving in and out of focus, characters blending into one another and atmospheric descriptions. These stories beg to be studied, picked apart and marveled at, just as much as they beg to be enjoyed for the sheer beauty of their prose and symbolism. I felt like I was walking along a baroque corridor, noticing dozens of doors slightly ajar on either side of me. I couldn't turn my head to see what lay beyond, but I knew there were many doors of equal splendour waiting for me if I stepped just a little out of the main narrative path.
Oyeyemi's writing has this hypnotic quality that makes me not-quite-conscious of the things I'm reading. It's really hard to describe. I'm reading about something, and without my being conscious of it, the focus shifts and suddenly I find myself reading about something else entirely. It made it quite impossible to keep track of the content warnings, for instance. I'm sorry for this messy review, but this collection was quite challenging in a good way.
I'd recommend this book to fans of The Shadow of the Wind and The Starless Sea looking for even stranger and deeper fiction.
Rep: queer MCs (bi, lesbian, gay MCs), black MC.