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horrorbutch
Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology
Shane Hawk, Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.
Disclaimer: I received an e-ARC from netgalley in exchange for a review.
This anthology collects short biographical texts from various authors, who have undergone conversion therapy and how it affected them, most often while it was happening, but sometimes also what they experienced afterwards.
The introduction gives an overview on conversion practices, its history and a few laws surrounding it. It also tells us which stories we can expect in this anthology and that they very often come from a religious background. Most of the authors come from a Christian background, but there is also one author featured who comes from an orthodox Jewish background and one, who describes his life as growing up in a cult. There are no trans women in this anthology (except once a trans man meets a person speaking at an event that formerly identified as a trans woman) and while I was glad to see some trans men and both afab and amab nonbinary people featured here, I do believe that that is another very big oversight. Especially since the pieces by amab nonbinary people in here focused on their attraction to men, I feel an inclusion of the conversion therapy practiced on trans women and transfeminine individuals for their femininity could have been interesting. It also doesn’t feature asexual people and how conversion therapy is used against them. While the afterword acknowledges that voices from different communities are lacking (particularly from the global south, Muslim, 2-spirit, non-religious, intersex, non-white), I just found it a bit weird that there was no acknowledgement of the trans women missing from this collection.
While I do overall think there should have been more diversity in voices here, I did enjoy the diversity of ages and times when people underwent conversion therapy, spanning from the 1980s to 2017. While most of them happened a while ago, I do understand that it may be hard for people, who have just recently gone through conversion therapy to talk about it.
The writing style was interesting and if you are looking for short biographical pieces from people who survived various forms of conversion practices (from self-inflicted attempts to teenagers forced into institutions, from ‘therapeutical’ attempts to exorcism) there is a lot presented here. All in all, I enjoyed reading it and despite my issues with the voices that I found to be lacking, this was a heartbreaking and touching read and one that I think is deeply necessary considering the fact that conservatives are desperately trying to make conversion therapy (particularly for trans kids) acceptable again.
Most pieces feature homo- or transphobia language and so I didn’t include them in my trigger warnings for each piece, but you can find other trigger warnings and a short description of each piece here:
Sniffing the Gay Away by Gregory Elsasser-Chavez: A short description of an attempt at aversion therapy where the therapist told the participant to smell feces. What was most heartbreaking was the way the author attempted it so desperately hoping that this would cure him.
TW: fatphobia, disorder eating mention, unsanitary
Self-Destruction by D. Apple: A really interesting text about a queer kid growing up having attempted conversion therapy on herself, spiraling into an obsession with control and finally managing to break this apart in therapy. Very touching.
TW: depression, mention of drug-addiction, controlling behavior
Breathless by Peter Nunn: In this story a 15-year-old boy is taken to conversion therapy by his father. The real horror only begins after he has gotten out to live with his family again, now carrying self-loathing and hatred inside him.
TW: suicide attempt, depression
Psychological Striptease by Chaim J. Levin: In this short story the author faces conversion therapy in his orthodox Jewish community by a life coach. It was a quite interesting approach to story telling, but I would have liked this story to be a bit longer.
TW: sexual coercion
The Rage to Live by Jordan Sullivan: A young child growing up with sexual desires he believes to be sinful and wrong due to his conversative upbringing and a time skip to his later realization what those feelings where and attempts to fix himself after he has grown up. I also found the look into how damaging the idea that being gay or trans is something caused by faulty upbringing can be to familial relationships. Very heartbreaking, but I am so thankful that this one had a happy end.
TW: depression, suicide attempt
Away and Away by Nathan Xie: A short piece about conversion therapy in a cult and the way financial dependency keeps children trapped in abusive families.
The Script We’re Given by Lexie Bean: A short conversation between a child and a mother after the child has announced they want to get top surgery through an article on facebook. A more modern look at conversion practices, even though it didn’t come to actual therapy here, it very beautifully illustrated the way people on the outside often assume trans related surgeries are “rushed into”, when for the people themselves those are things, they have often thought about for a long time.
Something in the Soda by Megan Poirier: In this story the author’s attempts at conversion therapy began in 2013 during a service by ex-gay preachers. Reading about the whiplash of the author from finally finding a word to describe what she was feeling to being deeply drenched in shame and self-hatred was heartbreaking to read.
TW: eating disorders
The Calling by Kim Kemmis: A very interesting look into the life of a man, who preaches that conversion therapy works, through his unique perspective as a bisexual, married man and the way questions are raised for him during a trip to another conversion therapy event in America.
TW: sexual assault
The Boy Who Danced For God’s General by Jonathon Sawyer: A heartbreaking depiction of a young man who underwent a violent exorcism to rid him of gay demons. The public shaming involved in these rituals and the trauma presented here was quite tough to read.
TW: dissociation, physical assault
Into the Dark by Chris Csabs: A very upsetting look into the life of a man, who through attempts at conversion therapy, has become deeply detached from his own body. The descriptions of dissociation in here where really hard and heartbreaking to read.
TW: dissociation
Deliver Us From Evil by Rick Danielson: A man, who as a last attempt at ridding himself of his gay thoughts attempts an exorcism. Really interesting in it’s immediately knowledge that this doesn’t feel right.
Exodus of Shame by Syre Klenke: A young trans man is forced by his family to attend conversion therapy but soon finds himself unable to believe in any of the things they are teaching, as their narratives never work for him. This was a very interesting look at conversion therapy and how different levels of personal resilience and self-acceptance can mean a world of difference in if conversion therapy works on you or not.
TW: self-harm, csa
Behind Closet Doors by Colin Bland: A short story about a young person seeking conversion therapy for being attracted to men and being too feminine as a teenager in an attempt to avoid further bullying and harassment. The leading questions reported here where sickening including the way the therapist here insinuated that by coming out people would assume the teenager was abusing their younger brother.
TW: mentions of csa and incest
Convert by Gemma Hickey: In this story an activist showcases the way they overcame conversion practices in their youth and fought to get it banned as an adult. The mental pressure that conversion practices place on children is horrible and I am so happy to hear that they survived and managed to grow up to fight it.
TW: suicide attempt
Setting Captives Free by Tyler Krumland: The author reflects on his experiences signing up to an online conversion course and the way his assigned mentor there treated him. The psychological abuse described here was hard to read, but I did like that the author was able to look back at this now that the course has been discontinued. It is always good to hear about things changing.
Gay Christian Speed Dating by Lucas F. W. Wilson: In this story the author connects with another man during a group meeting for those trying to overcome same-sex attraction. It was kind of horrific to read about the way women are talked about in these circles as the only available sexual outlet for men (where masturbation alone is already vilified)
This anthology collects short biographical texts from various authors, who have undergone conversion therapy and how it affected them, most often while it was happening, but sometimes also what they experienced afterwards.
The introduction gives an overview on conversion practices, its history and a few laws surrounding it. It also tells us which stories we can expect in this anthology and that they very often come from a religious background. Most of the authors come from a Christian background, but there is also one author featured who comes from an orthodox Jewish background and one, who describes his life as growing up in a cult. There are no trans women in this anthology (except once a trans man meets a person speaking at an event that formerly identified as a trans woman) and while I was glad to see some trans men and both afab and amab nonbinary people featured here, I do believe that that is another very big oversight. Especially since the pieces by amab nonbinary people in here focused on their attraction to men, I feel an inclusion of the conversion therapy practiced on trans women and transfeminine individuals for their femininity could have been interesting. It also doesn’t feature asexual people and how conversion therapy is used against them. While the afterword acknowledges that voices from different communities are lacking (particularly from the global south, Muslim, 2-spirit, non-religious, intersex, non-white), I just found it a bit weird that there was no acknowledgement of the trans women missing from this collection.
While I do overall think there should have been more diversity in voices here, I did enjoy the diversity of ages and times when people underwent conversion therapy, spanning from the 1980s to 2017. While most of them happened a while ago, I do understand that it may be hard for people, who have just recently gone through conversion therapy to talk about it.
The writing style was interesting and if you are looking for short biographical pieces from people who survived various forms of conversion practices (from self-inflicted attempts to teenagers forced into institutions, from ‘therapeutical’ attempts to exorcism) there is a lot presented here. All in all, I enjoyed reading it and despite my issues with the voices that I found to be lacking, this was a heartbreaking and touching read and one that I think is deeply necessary considering the fact that conservatives are desperately trying to make conversion therapy (particularly for trans kids) acceptable again.
Most pieces feature homo- or transphobia language and so I didn’t include them in my trigger warnings for each piece, but you can find other trigger warnings and a short description of each piece here:
Sniffing the Gay Away by Gregory Elsasser-Chavez: A short description of an attempt at aversion therapy where the therapist told the participant to smell feces. What was most heartbreaking was the way the author attempted it so desperately hoping that this would cure him.
TW: fatphobia, disorder eating mention, unsanitary
Self-Destruction by D. Apple: A really interesting text about a queer kid growing up having attempted conversion therapy on herself, spiraling into an obsession with control and finally managing to break this apart in therapy. Very touching.
TW: depression, mention of drug-addiction, controlling behavior
Breathless by Peter Nunn: In this story a 15-year-old boy is taken to conversion therapy by his father. The real horror only begins after he has gotten out to live with his family again, now carrying self-loathing and hatred inside him.
TW: suicide attempt, depression
Psychological Striptease by Chaim J. Levin: In this short story the author faces conversion therapy in his orthodox Jewish community by a life coach. It was a quite interesting approach to story telling, but I would have liked this story to be a bit longer.
TW: sexual coercion
The Rage to Live by Jordan Sullivan: A young child growing up with sexual desires he believes to be sinful and wrong due to his conversative upbringing and a time skip to his later realization what those feelings where and attempts to fix himself after he has grown up. I also found the look into how damaging the idea that being gay or trans is something caused by faulty upbringing can be to familial relationships. Very heartbreaking, but I am so thankful that this one had a happy end.
TW: depression, suicide attempt
Away and Away by Nathan Xie: A short piece about conversion therapy in a cult and the way financial dependency keeps children trapped in abusive families.
The Script We’re Given by Lexie Bean: A short conversation between a child and a mother after the child has announced they want to get top surgery through an article on facebook. A more modern look at conversion practices, even though it didn’t come to actual therapy here, it very beautifully illustrated the way people on the outside often assume trans related surgeries are “rushed into”, when for the people themselves those are things, they have often thought about for a long time.
Something in the Soda by Megan Poirier: In this story the author’s attempts at conversion therapy began in 2013 during a service by ex-gay preachers. Reading about the whiplash of the author from finally finding a word to describe what she was feeling to being deeply drenched in shame and self-hatred was heartbreaking to read.
TW: eating disorders
The Calling by Kim Kemmis: A very interesting look into the life of a man, who preaches that conversion therapy works, through his unique perspective as a bisexual, married man and the way questions are raised for him during a trip to another conversion therapy event in America.
TW: sexual assault
The Boy Who Danced For God’s General by Jonathon Sawyer: A heartbreaking depiction of a young man who underwent a violent exorcism to rid him of gay demons. The public shaming involved in these rituals and the trauma presented here was quite tough to read.
TW: dissociation, physical assault
Into the Dark by Chris Csabs: A very upsetting look into the life of a man, who through attempts at conversion therapy, has become deeply detached from his own body. The descriptions of dissociation in here where really hard and heartbreaking to read.
TW: dissociation
Deliver Us From Evil by Rick Danielson: A man, who as a last attempt at ridding himself of his gay thoughts attempts an exorcism. Really interesting in it’s immediately knowledge that this doesn’t feel right.
Exodus of Shame by Syre Klenke: A young trans man is forced by his family to attend conversion therapy but soon finds himself unable to believe in any of the things they are teaching, as their narratives never work for him. This was a very interesting look at conversion therapy and how different levels of personal resilience and self-acceptance can mean a world of difference in if conversion therapy works on you or not.
TW: self-harm, csa
Behind Closet Doors by Colin Bland: A short story about a young person seeking conversion therapy for being attracted to men and being too feminine as a teenager in an attempt to avoid further bullying and harassment. The leading questions reported here where sickening including the way the therapist here insinuated that by coming out people would assume the teenager was abusing their younger brother.
TW: mentions of csa and incest
Convert by Gemma Hickey: In this story an activist showcases the way they overcame conversion practices in their youth and fought to get it banned as an adult. The mental pressure that conversion practices place on children is horrible and I am so happy to hear that they survived and managed to grow up to fight it.
TW: suicide attempt
Setting Captives Free by Tyler Krumland: The author reflects on his experiences signing up to an online conversion course and the way his assigned mentor there treated him. The psychological abuse described here was hard to read, but I did like that the author was able to look back at this now that the course has been discontinued. It is always good to hear about things changing.
Gay Christian Speed Dating by Lucas F. W. Wilson: In this story the author connects with another man during a group meeting for those trying to overcome same-sex attraction. It was kind of horrific to read about the way women are talked about in these circles as the only available sexual outlet for men (where masturbation alone is already vilified)
Disclaimer: I received an e-ARC from netgalley in exchange for a review.
A collection of unsettling short stories adapted as a comic. As I am not familiar with the original book this is based on some of the short stories left me a bit confused and wishing for more context. However, the art style is nice and I really liked the coloring. Since all the stories interlock you slowly get a bigger picture of this world and while I still wish for more context, I enjoyed this collection in the end. If you like stories exploring the American south and the darker aspects of the human psyche, check this comic collection out!
General trigger warnings for gore, violence, gun violence, torture and murder as that is something that happens in multiple stories.
Night People: This story follows two women, who found Jesus during their stay in prison. Except instead of prayer and church Miss Jesus has commanded them to rid the world of men. A fun, gorey romp, very Thelma and Luise. Unfortunately, since it is very short, I felt that the panels introducing side characters took too much space that I would have instead liked to learn more about Big Betty and Miss Cutie.
The Secret Life of Insects: In this story, we get to know Beatifica Brown, an abortionist, who is visited by the ghost of John Brown, the abolitionist. She spent some time in prison with Big Betty and Miss Cutie (just enough backstory to tie the stories together) and has now decided that if people won’t respect a pregnant person’s right to choose, she will force them to accept it. A bit tough to read due to very dark content, featuring one of the most unlikeable, abusive asshole characters, who as it turns out ties all the women in this story together. I enjoyed this one, but mind the trigger warnings for this one, it is not an easy story.
TW: sexual nudity, past incestuous abuse, sexual abuse, mass murder and some ableism in the implication that Down Syndrome is caused by being a child born from incest, transphobic language
The Ballad of Easy Earl: A man finds himself on the run after blacking out at a bar and coming to with a gun in his passenger seat and reports of a shot cop. Haunting and very enjoyable to read
TW: suicide, car crash
The Crime of Marble Lesson: Desperate to get back to her father, who she thinks cannot take care of himself, 14-year old Marble hitchhikes to see him. She gets lucky that time, but will she actually be any safer with her dad? Haunting, but also intriguing.
TW: domestic abuse, csa
A collection of unsettling short stories adapted as a comic. As I am not familiar with the original book this is based on some of the short stories left me a bit confused and wishing for more context. However, the art style is nice and I really liked the coloring. Since all the stories interlock you slowly get a bigger picture of this world and while I still wish for more context, I enjoyed this collection in the end. If you like stories exploring the American south and the darker aspects of the human psyche, check this comic collection out!
General trigger warnings for gore, violence, gun violence, torture and murder as that is something that happens in multiple stories.
Night People: This story follows two women, who found Jesus during their stay in prison. Except instead of prayer and church Miss Jesus has commanded them to rid the world of men. A fun, gorey romp, very Thelma and Luise. Unfortunately, since it is very short, I felt that the panels introducing side characters took too much space that I would have instead liked to learn more about Big Betty and Miss Cutie.
The Secret Life of Insects: In this story, we get to know Beatifica Brown, an abortionist, who is visited by the ghost of John Brown, the abolitionist. She spent some time in prison with Big Betty and Miss Cutie (just enough backstory to tie the stories together) and has now decided that if people won’t respect a pregnant person’s right to choose, she will force them to accept it. A bit tough to read due to very dark content, featuring one of the most unlikeable, abusive asshole characters, who as it turns out ties all the women in this story together. I enjoyed this one, but mind the trigger warnings for this one, it is not an easy story.
TW: sexual nudity, past incestuous abuse, sexual abuse, mass murder and some ableism in the implication that Down Syndrome is caused by being a child born from incest, transphobic language
The Ballad of Easy Earl: A man finds himself on the run after blacking out at a bar and coming to with a gun in his passenger seat and reports of a shot cop. Haunting and very enjoyable to read
TW: suicide, car crash
The Crime of Marble Lesson: Desperate to get back to her father, who she thinks cannot take care of himself, 14-year old Marble hitchhikes to see him. She gets lucky that time, but will she actually be any safer with her dad? Haunting, but also intriguing.
TW: domestic abuse, csa
A satirical, but very honest look at the publishing industry and the various ways people betray themselves and others in an attempt to thrive in it. Pearl, a lesbian trans woman writer, creates a gay cisgender man alter ego, Paul, to sell an “authentic” gay male romance to the straight female masses. Of course, things soon spiral out of control.
Pearl is not necessarily a very likeable character (taking her butch trans girlfriend as inspiration for the masculine partner in the gay novel without acknowledging why being compared to a man might be doubly hard for a butch trans woman? Yikes!), but she is certainly fun and sarcastic and she just doesn’t stop digging once she gets going, all traits I like in my fail-woman characters. She is incredibly interesting and intruiging and I do have a soft spot for messy women, so I had a great time. If you enjoy books where you can see your darkest impulses reflected and enjoy a trainwreck you can see coming a mile away: This absolutely fits the bill!
But Pearl isn’t the only character in this story. There’s also Barbs (the butch trans woman, my favorite side character, just because she is such a quintessential butch with a big heart and bigger hurt) and Pippin (Pearl’s trans roommate, whose picture Pearl uses for her cis-sona. I love him. He finds out she took his picture without asking and only cares that the fictional guy in question is cis. So he passes :)), as well as a variety of people in fandom and publishing.
This story not only examines the cis-gaze in publishing (Pearl is pressured to remove a trans side character from her story in order not to “offend” or “confuse” the audience, *cough* cowards *cough*), but also the way cis people are just always so eager to degender a trans woman at the slightest opportunity (Beatrice is a prime example of that. 10/10 would fight!) and finally the online fujoshi community on twitter and their never-ending quarrels as well as some of the most off-putting straight fujo comments I have ever encountered. Yuck!
If you are in speculative trans lesbian lit circles however you will also get a few lovely nods and hints towards the stories Pearl would actually like to write (“Yuri futures are up!” – and a guy ends up forcefemmed!), which I found a really nice change of pace to the otherwise deeply, tragically messy reality of getting published as a marginalized author presented here.
If you are a trans writer, in online trans writing spaces, ever interacted with fujo-spaces only to find they don't fit, like transfem MCs who make mistakes or just want to read a story that critiques publishing in a very enjoyable to read way: check this book out. 5 stars. I loved it.
TW: Misgendering, prejudice against butch trans women, lots of book discourse, wrong accusations of “bad behavior” (implications of aggression and sexual assault), discussion of suicide (no attempts, but it is considered and discarded)
Pearl is not necessarily a very likeable character (taking her butch trans girlfriend as inspiration for the masculine partner in the gay novel without acknowledging why being compared to a man might be doubly hard for a butch trans woman? Yikes!), but she is certainly fun and sarcastic and she just doesn’t stop digging once she gets going, all traits I like in my fail-woman characters. She is incredibly interesting and intruiging and I do have a soft spot for messy women, so I had a great time. If you enjoy books where you can see your darkest impulses reflected and enjoy a trainwreck you can see coming a mile away: This absolutely fits the bill!
But Pearl isn’t the only character in this story. There’s also Barbs (the butch trans woman, my favorite side character, just because she is such a quintessential butch with a big heart and bigger hurt) and Pippin (Pearl’s trans roommate, whose picture Pearl uses for her cis-sona. I love him. He finds out she took his picture without asking and only cares that the fictional guy in question is cis. So he passes :)), as well as a variety of people in fandom and publishing.
This story not only examines the cis-gaze in publishing (Pearl is pressured to remove a trans side character from her story in order not to “offend” or “confuse” the audience, *cough* cowards *cough*), but also the way cis people are just always so eager to degender a trans woman at the slightest opportunity (Beatrice is a prime example of that. 10/10 would fight!) and finally the online fujoshi community on twitter and their never-ending quarrels as well as some of the most off-putting straight fujo comments I have ever encountered. Yuck!
If you are in speculative trans lesbian lit circles however you will also get a few lovely nods and hints towards the stories Pearl would actually like to write (“Yuri futures are up!” – and a guy ends up forcefemmed!), which I found a really nice change of pace to the otherwise deeply, tragically messy reality of getting published as a marginalized author presented here.
If you are a trans writer, in online trans writing spaces, ever interacted with fujo-spaces only to find they don't fit, like transfem MCs who make mistakes or just want to read a story that critiques publishing in a very enjoyable to read way: check this book out. 5 stars. I loved it.
TW: Misgendering, prejudice against butch trans women, lots of book discourse, wrong accusations of “bad behavior” (implications of aggression and sexual assault), discussion of suicide (no attempts, but it is considered and discarded)
Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book by the publisher in exchange for my review.
Having only recently talked with a friend about wanting more disability representation in SFF stories I knew I had to pick this anthology up when I saw it. I feel incredibly lucky that I got an ARC and if you enjoy fantasy short stories with diverse characters this is a really great anthology to check out.
One thing I adored was that each story was followed by a short author bio as well as an explanation of either which disability was presented or what inspired them to tell the story, which I found fascinating and which I felt added to my enjoyment. Another thing I loved was the wide range of disabilities represented here, including physical and sensory disabilities, chronic illness, neurodivergence and food intolerances. Here I also found it very important that sometimes the thing that was negatively impacting the disabled protagonist was their environment or people not accommodating their needs, not their disabilities. In general, these stories take a stand against fantasy’s attempts to portray disabled people as villains or as people in search for a magical cure. Instead disability is something that is worked with and managed and sometimes even something that benefits you in other areas, but it doesn’t portray disability as something to be “overcome” or “gotten over” and I absolutely loved that. I already recommended it to my disabled friends, knowing that stories like these are what many of us are looking for.
I also liked that a wide range of fantasy was shown here from retellings of well known fairytales such as Rapunzel, Cinderella and Robin Hood, to lesser known local-to-the-author folktalkes (such as in The Changeling of Brushby and Angharad ferch Truniaw), to stories of dragons, fairies, witches and other, urban and dystopian fantasy, and even one tale that is very close to our current modern world, but with some fantastical elements to show the existence of magic. It certainly never gets boring.
My favorite short stories where “A Witch’s Tale”, “To Make her Eat”, “A Night For Mischief”, “Lessons in Botany”, “In Another World, I Twist The Knife” and “City of the Sun”, but I enjoyed all the stories collected here. I definitely found some authors I want to keep an eye on and see what else they have written or are planning to write.
Below you can find my thoughts on each short story as well as trigger warnings (which are also provided in the beginning of the book, but summed up for the whole anthology):
One Cream, Five Sugars by Harper Kinsley: A mercenary forced to take jobs that cause further damage to her already weak joints in order to pay for her brother’s medical treatments finds refuge in a magic coffeeshop. A very sweet, but also heartbreaking short story. I liked it a lot, especially the way it combined magic + healing magic + disability + class.
TW: injury, physical pain, horrible healthcare system
*FAV* A Witch’s Tale by Rascal Hartley: In this story a knight learns to accept a new disability caused by injury with the help of a witch, who was injured the same way. This is a very, very sweet story, that I enjoyed a lot and I adored the way it showed disabled found family.
TW: internalized ableism, injury
Use Your Words by Zira MacFarlane: A mute thief finds a way to use a magic system based on sounds through technological invention. This is a very intriguing story of sweet connection and disabled ingenuity.
The Changeling of Brushby by Natalie Kelda: An autistic take on the changeling myth, interesting, but with no particularly new or suprising views on the autistic-person-is-not-a-fae-but-finds-acceptance-with-them-unlike-with-humans genre of autistic fantasy lit (this might be just a me-thing though, because it is something I have seen done a few times). It was intriguing and I liked the worldbuilding of this Danish town, but the use of “speaking in tongues” to show that the autistic MC is not /that/ different to everybody else, felt a bit off to me in an anthology focused on disability in fantasy and I wish that had been examined a bit in the story. It makes sense that that would be something that a world like that would judge as worse than the character’s autistic traits (which aren’t acceptable either), but I wish it had been criticized in the rest of the text a bit more.
TW: threats of forced marriage, loss of autonomy, forced feeding, attempts to “cure” autism
*FAV* To Make Her Eat by M. Stevenson: A really intriguing take on visiting the Faerie-Land as a person with celiac disease. I also really loved the sweet romance between the MC and her best friend and I adored the “Goblin Market” by Christina Rossetti vibes.
TW: forced feeding, vomiting
Hope, Be It Never So Faint by Ashley N. Y. Sheesley: A wheelchair-using archer Marian (with POTS, ME/CFS and chronic migraine (which I recognized) and orthostatic intolerance (which was new to me)) and a female Robin Hood is a very, very sweet idea and I enjoyed this short story a lot.
TW: arranged marriage, eugenics
*FAV* A Night For Mischief by Elior Hayley: A Hard-of-Hearing Artificer sent by a Dragon to cause chaos during a King’s ball, meets the Knight’s Head Artificer, a woman who has lost an eye. I loved the really cool magically-enhanced hearing aids and the battle scenes where really well written. A fun short story!
*FAV* Lessons in Botany by Casper E. Falls: A retelling of Rapunzel featuring a trans man with ME/CFS and the former princess turned thief that rescues him from the tower he’s been locked into. This is such an incredibly sweet story highlighting the importance of solidarity and community for disabled people and I loved it! Plus, the not disabled friends are masking! Chef’s Kiss! I also liked that this changed a lot about the original story, while keeping parts of it legible, which could make this story interesting as a full novel as well!
TW: misgendering, confinement, forced isolation, medical abuse
Stroke of Midnight, Shoe of Glass by Adie Hart: A Cinderella retelling with featuring a Cinderella with chronic fatigue is a really great idea and wonderfully implemented here. It is very close to the original story, but it is also very sweet and I enjoyed that.
TW: ableism, domestic abuse (psychologically)
*FAV* In Another World, I Twist The Knife by Rory G.: A world where a certain form of OCD enables people to twist alternate realities into their own, changing things that have happened, but requires them to feed the compulsion. Really well written and deeply unsettling.
TW: intrusive thoughts, death, self-harm, eye trauma, medical setting
The Knife That Makes The Cut by Lynne Sargent: A magical place that only injured people can find promises a cure for their ailments, but a cursed woman knows that it only hides danger. A quite tense story, but with an uplifting end and a really great take on fairytale logic as it applies to Disability.
TW: domestic abuse (physical), alcoholism, injury, death by drowning
Angharad ferch Truniaw by Tam Ayers: A daughter sets out to find the missing men of her village, including her father. An interesting take on fairytales, this is a touching story about the connection between father and daughter.
TW: death, ableism
The Girl & The Gum-Riddle by Ella T Holmes: A young girl is afflicted with pain and exhaustion after an infection. Her parents desperate search for a cure for her, finally seeking out the help of a witch. This is a lovely story about care.
*FAV* City of the Sun by Kara Siert: In a world where rot caused mass disability, but also left people with new gifts and talents, we follow a young woman with the power to influence people as she attempts to gain citizenship to a safe town. A heartbreaking story of the demeaning nature of a world, where only a special few are granted help, as decided by those in power, but also of change and taking a stand against such exclusionary practices.
TW: illness, death
Having only recently talked with a friend about wanting more disability representation in SFF stories I knew I had to pick this anthology up when I saw it. I feel incredibly lucky that I got an ARC and if you enjoy fantasy short stories with diverse characters this is a really great anthology to check out.
One thing I adored was that each story was followed by a short author bio as well as an explanation of either which disability was presented or what inspired them to tell the story, which I found fascinating and which I felt added to my enjoyment. Another thing I loved was the wide range of disabilities represented here, including physical and sensory disabilities, chronic illness, neurodivergence and food intolerances. Here I also found it very important that sometimes the thing that was negatively impacting the disabled protagonist was their environment or people not accommodating their needs, not their disabilities. In general, these stories take a stand against fantasy’s attempts to portray disabled people as villains or as people in search for a magical cure. Instead disability is something that is worked with and managed and sometimes even something that benefits you in other areas, but it doesn’t portray disability as something to be “overcome” or “gotten over” and I absolutely loved that. I already recommended it to my disabled friends, knowing that stories like these are what many of us are looking for.
I also liked that a wide range of fantasy was shown here from retellings of well known fairytales such as Rapunzel, Cinderella and Robin Hood, to lesser known local-to-the-author folktalkes (such as in The Changeling of Brushby and Angharad ferch Truniaw), to stories of dragons, fairies, witches and other, urban and dystopian fantasy, and even one tale that is very close to our current modern world, but with some fantastical elements to show the existence of magic. It certainly never gets boring.
My favorite short stories where “A Witch’s Tale”, “To Make her Eat”, “A Night For Mischief”, “Lessons in Botany”, “In Another World, I Twist The Knife” and “City of the Sun”, but I enjoyed all the stories collected here. I definitely found some authors I want to keep an eye on and see what else they have written or are planning to write.
Below you can find my thoughts on each short story as well as trigger warnings (which are also provided in the beginning of the book, but summed up for the whole anthology):
One Cream, Five Sugars by Harper Kinsley: A mercenary forced to take jobs that cause further damage to her already weak joints in order to pay for her brother’s medical treatments finds refuge in a magic coffeeshop. A very sweet, but also heartbreaking short story. I liked it a lot, especially the way it combined magic + healing magic + disability + class.
TW: injury, physical pain, horrible healthcare system
*FAV* A Witch’s Tale by Rascal Hartley: In this story a knight learns to accept a new disability caused by injury with the help of a witch, who was injured the same way. This is a very, very sweet story, that I enjoyed a lot and I adored the way it showed disabled found family.
TW: internalized ableism, injury
Use Your Words by Zira MacFarlane: A mute thief finds a way to use a magic system based on sounds through technological invention. This is a very intriguing story of sweet connection and disabled ingenuity.
The Changeling of Brushby by Natalie Kelda: An autistic take on the changeling myth, interesting, but with no particularly new or suprising views on the autistic-person-is-not-a-fae-but-finds-acceptance-with-them-unlike-with-humans genre of autistic fantasy lit (this might be just a me-thing though, because it is something I have seen done a few times). It was intriguing and I liked the worldbuilding of this Danish town, but the use of “speaking in tongues” to show that the autistic MC is not /that/ different to everybody else, felt a bit off to me in an anthology focused on disability in fantasy and I wish that had been examined a bit in the story. It makes sense that that would be something that a world like that would judge as worse than the character’s autistic traits (which aren’t acceptable either), but I wish it had been criticized in the rest of the text a bit more.
TW: threats of forced marriage, loss of autonomy, forced feeding, attempts to “cure” autism
*FAV* To Make Her Eat by M. Stevenson: A really intriguing take on visiting the Faerie-Land as a person with celiac disease. I also really loved the sweet romance between the MC and her best friend and I adored the “Goblin Market” by Christina Rossetti vibes.
TW: forced feeding, vomiting
Hope, Be It Never So Faint by Ashley N. Y. Sheesley: A wheelchair-using archer Marian (with POTS, ME/CFS and chronic migraine (which I recognized) and orthostatic intolerance (which was new to me)) and a female Robin Hood is a very, very sweet idea and I enjoyed this short story a lot.
TW: arranged marriage, eugenics
*FAV* A Night For Mischief by Elior Hayley: A Hard-of-Hearing Artificer sent by a Dragon to cause chaos during a King’s ball, meets the Knight’s Head Artificer, a woman who has lost an eye. I loved the really cool magically-enhanced hearing aids and the battle scenes where really well written. A fun short story!
*FAV* Lessons in Botany by Casper E. Falls: A retelling of Rapunzel featuring a trans man with ME/CFS and the former princess turned thief that rescues him from the tower he’s been locked into. This is such an incredibly sweet story highlighting the importance of solidarity and community for disabled people and I loved it! Plus, the not disabled friends are masking! Chef’s Kiss! I also liked that this changed a lot about the original story, while keeping parts of it legible, which could make this story interesting as a full novel as well!
TW: misgendering, confinement, forced isolation, medical abuse
Stroke of Midnight, Shoe of Glass by Adie Hart: A Cinderella retelling with featuring a Cinderella with chronic fatigue is a really great idea and wonderfully implemented here. It is very close to the original story, but it is also very sweet and I enjoyed that.
TW: ableism, domestic abuse (psychologically)
*FAV* In Another World, I Twist The Knife by Rory G.: A world where a certain form of OCD enables people to twist alternate realities into their own, changing things that have happened, but requires them to feed the compulsion. Really well written and deeply unsettling.
TW: intrusive thoughts, death, self-harm, eye trauma, medical setting
The Knife That Makes The Cut by Lynne Sargent: A magical place that only injured people can find promises a cure for their ailments, but a cursed woman knows that it only hides danger. A quite tense story, but with an uplifting end and a really great take on fairytale logic as it applies to Disability.
TW: domestic abuse (physical), alcoholism, injury, death by drowning
Angharad ferch Truniaw by Tam Ayers: A daughter sets out to find the missing men of her village, including her father. An interesting take on fairytales, this is a touching story about the connection between father and daughter.
TW: death, ableism
The Girl & The Gum-Riddle by Ella T Holmes: A young girl is afflicted with pain and exhaustion after an infection. Her parents desperate search for a cure for her, finally seeking out the help of a witch. This is a lovely story about care.
*FAV* City of the Sun by Kara Siert: In a world where rot caused mass disability, but also left people with new gifts and talents, we follow a young woman with the power to influence people as she attempts to gain citizenship to a safe town. A heartbreaking story of the demeaning nature of a world, where only a special few are granted help, as decided by those in power, but also of change and taking a stand against such exclusionary practices.
TW: illness, death
Klischeehafte Charaktere, vorhersehbarer Plot und durch den Gimmick des inneren Kindes nur minimal interessant. Dafür aber strotzend mit Seitenhieben auf alle möglichen Minderheiten (von vegan bis trans sind wir ja schließlich nur selbstverliebte Mimöschen, die viel zu laut und nervig sind um wie vollwertige Menschen behandelt zu werden), die nicht nur den Hauptcharakter wie ein Arschloch wirken lassen, sondern auch den Autoren. Wünschte mir ich hät es nicht gelesen, denn es gibt wesentlich bessere Bücher auf dieser Welt.