I already loved Severance but after reading Bliss Montage by Ling Ma (thanks to @fsgbooks for the early copy), it’s safe to say I’m a Ling Ma superfan. This story collection is so brilliantly perfect! It is my new favorite story collection.

Some of the stories are set in what seems to be our current reality, while others have a magical/speculative fiction or sci-fi-esque element (a drug that lets people turn invisible, an office space with a door that opens to a parallel world). Despite difference in settings, these stories feel like they fit together so well. I was in a flow while reading this book that I rarely get into with story collections, due to their often disjointed nature. Somehow one story leads so naturally into the next in this collection - I truly could not put it down. I can’t stress enough how rare this is for me with story collections. It usually takes me at least a week to finish them, as I only will read a story or two per day. This collection was different. I couldn’t get enough of these stories. I read this entire book in just over a day.

Basically every story in this collection was a standout for me, but some extra special standouts: G, about a complex friendship and a drug that turns you invisible; Returning, featuring an unfaithful marriage and a festival with major Midsommer vibes where the attendees choose to be buried alive for a night to be unburied the next morning changed; Office Hours, which reminded me a bit of the Netflix show The Chair with a mysterious element; Oranges, where the victim of an abusive relationship follows her abusive ex to his new home in reflection and disbelief, seeking some sort of closure…. Honestly I could go on because every story works.

If you liked Severance, you’ll like this one too. If you haven’t read Severance, stop everything and read it! And then wait eagerly for this one, with a preorder if you can - it’s out in September from @fsgbooks.