A Manual for How to Love Us is a beautiful short story collection with themes of womanhood, grief, identity, and isolation. Each piece was full of meaningful allegory and creative storytelling.

The earlier stories in the collection really blew me away - the first half had stellar stories including "You Too Can Cure Your Life" and "We Were Wolves." The author did a great job of developing characters quickly and giving us empathy for them, even the characters who were messy and broken. Near the end, "Nest" and "Coast" really blew me away. There were moments of heartbreak in each, and wonderful representations of emotion, grief, and hardship.

There were a few short stories that lost me and I had a harder time getting through. I felt as though they had thoughtful messages beneath the surface, too, but sometimes I just couldn't fully get what it was going for.

Overall, this is a beautiful complication of stories that all reflect similar feelings and themes. Even though they are all different, they flow well into one another and give you a lot to reflect on about life, love, and relationships.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and HarperCollins for the eARC. I will share my review on social media platforms as the pub day approaches!