(Read for my "Intro to 21st Century Literature" class.)

1.5 stars

I'm sure this has High Literary Merit, but I just had too much trouble suspending disbelief to get invested in the story. It doesn't help that there's a sameness — one might even say monotony — about the narrative: the minimal punctuation (no quotation marks around dialogue); the lack of chapters or "time stamps"; the long, winding sentences; the overwhelming focus on nature as a whole, the passage of time, rather than on characters or plot; et cetera.

Basically I was hoping for more of a cohesive story than I got, so I was disappointed.

content warnings:

Spoiler

major character death(s), grief, hunting (for food), blood

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CONVERSION: 4.5 / 15 = 1.5 stars

Prose: 2 / 10
Characters & Relationships: 1 / 10
Emotional Impact: 1 / 10
Development / Flow: 3 / 10
Setting: 7 / 10

Diversity & Social Themes: N/A
Intellectual Engagement: 2 / 5
Originality / Trope Execution: 1 / 5
Rereadability: N/A
Memorability: 2 / 5

3.5 stars

I am a crier, so imagine my surprise that this book did not make me cry. (Tear up, yes; I'm not totally heartless. Actually cry, no.)

But I think I just didn't like/care about the humans in this book very much — I found the narration kind of obnoxious, honestly, and some of the jokes really haven't aged well. There's a lot about their family life that has nothing to do with Marley until the author suddenly remembers he exists and drops a mention of something funny/dumb/weird that he does, which felt abrupt and disjointed (and frankly, if it doesn't center around the dog, I really don't care).

And there are moments where they just laugh at Marley where I feel like they should've been more concerned? Not that I'm an expert in dog raising/owning or that I doubt they loved Marley, but it was uncomfortable to read.

Basically it felt like the book tries to balance the life-with-Marley stuff with the other autobiographical stuff, and it doesn't totally work for me.

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CONVERSION: 9.6 / 15 = 3.5 stars

Prose: 5 / 10
Intellectual Engagement: 5 / 10
Credibility: 10 / 10
Organization / Structure: 8 / 10

Emotional Impact / Interest: 4 / 5
Rereadability: 5 / 5
Memorability: 3 / 5

This was fine? It's very tropey and populated by archetypes (not inherently bad, but not particularly memorable either); I think it's too early to tell whether I'm really invested in the series.

Unrequited love all around ... ouch. What a painful mess.

As much as I generally like the prickly love interest who can't figure out how to express that he'd like to be seen as a love interest, the constant negging makes it difficult for me to root for Zen. And honestly I'm still on the fence about Shimana — I don't feel like I have much of a read on her personality beyond the usual spacey shoujo protagonist quirks.

Honestly, I'm not really sure I "get" flash fiction. Conceptually it's an interesting medium, but it's hard to really develop and convey a complete story in so short a space. And as always with anthologies, the results were mixed.

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"Our Face, Radiant Sisters, Our Faces Full of Light!" by Kameron Hurley
★★★☆☆
This one was fine, a solid enough opening for the collection. It's a bit heavy-handed, but I like the imagery of statues and the symbolism of monsters.

"God Product" by Alyssa Wong
★★☆☆☆
Although I appreciate the Asian rep, I wasn't really sure what was going on. And it was a bit more gruesome than I was prepared for.

"Alchemy" by Carrie Vaughn
★★★★☆
Deceptively straightforward yet compelling.

"Persephone" by Seanan McGuire
★★★✯☆
I would've liked more ... something in the ending, but the scenario is emotionally-loaded. Also, implied WLW rep!

"Margot and Rosalind" by Charlie Jane Anders
★★☆☆☆
This one just seemed meandering? There was a premise but just a bare hint of plot.

"Astronaut" by Maria Dahvana Headley
★★★✯☆
Oh, this was funny.

"More than Nothing" by Nisi Shawl
★★☆☆☆
When I sat down to quick-review these stories, this was the only one on the list that I had already forgotten all about. It's a nice enough tableau, but so many threads that didn't go anywhere.

"The Last of the Minotaur Wives" by Brooke Bolander
★★★★☆
I absolutely love the depiction of the generational struggle and of the labyrinth itself.

"The Jump Rope Rhyme" by Jo Walton
★★★✯☆
Not totally sure about some of the lines, but some of the others resonated with me.

"Anabasis" by Amal El-Mohtar
★★✯☆☆
Lovely prose but I have no idea what was going on.

"The Ordinary Woman and the Unquiet Emperor" by Catherynne M. Valente
★★★★☆
This story does so much in so few words and I am in awe.

I'm actually not sure what it is about this one, but I connected with it more than I have with most of the other volumes. The characters are engaging, the plot intriguing and even poignant at times; so despite my heartbreak for Zen and my discomfort with Shimana's fixation on Taiga, it's a pretty solid installment. Also, Asahi seems to be coming back into the foreground of the story, and I am here for it.

3.5 stars

Really thought I would've liked this more, considering Zen is my favorite. But I just felt like there was more drama than plot or moments of character growth, which really isn't the most compelling reading.

I'm uncomfortable with so many of these developments: the grand-gesture public love confession, the age/maturity/power gap (puppy crushes are one thing, getting into an actual romantic relationship is quite another) compounded by the fact that Taiga isn't even into Shimana so really, he's using her.

"Deriving Life" by Elizabeth Bear
★★★✯☆
Poignant, thoughtful themes; however, there were too many rhetorical questions and I had trouble connecting with the characters.

"For He Can Creep" by Siobhan Carroll
★★★☆☆
Fun idea, but the execution was more ... absurdist (?) than I would've preferred.

"Beyond the El" by John Chu
★★★★☆
Wonderful Taiwanese rep, vivid imagery, lovely magical realism. My only critique is that the ending felt like it was rushed for the sole purpose of narrative closure.

"Zeitgeber" by Greg Egan
★★★✯☆
Another interesting premise, but the science bordered on overload; the hazy transitions also contributed to my confusion. The ending felt abrupt.

"One/Zero" by Kathleen Ann Goonan
★★☆☆☆
Really not a fan of Mai as a character, and her arc has uncomfortable white-savior parallels/themes; would've enjoyed this much more if it was just Vida's and Azul's story, though that part felt less developed (pun not intended).

"Skinner Box" by Carole Johnstone
★★✯☆☆
I didn't feel like the Black Mirror mindfuckery was executed very well; more science than story, so the characters and motives fell flat.

"The Song" by Erinn L. Kemper
★★☆☆☆
Nothing? really? happens? Despite my love of marine life, I just ... nope.

"Articulated Restraint" by Mary Robinette Kowal
★☆☆☆☆
Too much jargon and play-by-play descriptions, which buried any thematic or moral development. Also, it seems the MC is cast in a (white?) savior role which I'm uncomfortable with.

"Painless" by Rich Larson
★★✯☆☆
Cool premise and the plot is easy to follow, though too gruesome for my liking.

"Seonag and the Seawolves" by M. Evan MacGriogair
★☆☆☆☆
I found the writing style distractingly lush; the characters seemed like lifeless puppets for the plot, and the themes were too watered down (pun intended) especially at the end.

"Any Way the Wind Blows" by Seanan McGuire
★★★★✯
As always with McGuire, fantastic worldbuilding and vivid characters. Bonus points for naming the MC Isabelle!

"Blue Morphos in the Garden" by Lis Mitchell
★★★★☆
Lovely premise, with its nuances explored enough to give depth to the story without smothering it in its infancy. An empathetic picture of grief and loss.

"His Footsteps, Through Darkness and Light" by Mimi Mondal
★★★★☆
Vivid worldbuilding and classic tropes done well; the ending is just a bit too convenient/perfect.

"Old Media" by Annalee Newitz
★★☆☆☆
Blatant aphobia comes out of seemingly nowhere and is never addressed; the Ouran HSHC references really didn't do anything for me despite having nostalgia on their side.

"More Real Than Him" by Silvia Park
★☆☆☆☆
The raging misogyny is uncomfortable and hypocritical, as are all the relationships being portrayed. Could've been an interesting story, but I just couldn't get into it.

"The Hundredth House Had No Walls" by Laurie Penny
★★★✯☆
Love the ideas, confused by the themes, not totally sold on the characters.

"The Touches" by Brenda Peynado
★★★✯☆
Cool premise, but the plot is kinda meh.

"Knowledgeable Creatures" by Christopher Rowe
★★☆☆☆
Simultaneously overly-theatrical and overly-quirky; too much jumping between worldbuilding and plot. Could've been engaging, but I was disappointed.

"Blood is Another Word for Hunger" by Rivers Solomon
★★☆☆☆
Interesting but really gruesome (as you might expect from the title). Thematically I'm not sure what I'm supposed to take away.

"The Last Voyage of Skidbladnir" by Karin Tidbeck
★★☆☆☆
Hits most of the right notes and goes through most of the right motions, it just seems like there's something missing.

"Circus Girl, The Hunter, and Mirror Boy" by JY Yang
★★★★✯
Ooooh, I really like this. Would read a full-length novel of it, though it works really well in its current form.

"Water: A History" by KJ Kabza
★★★☆☆
A decent enough read, but not particularly compelling.

"As the Last I May Know" by SL Huang
★★★✯☆
This premise is an idea I've seen floating around the Internet, and I think the execution (morbid pun absolutely not intended) does it justice. Though the ending is a bit abrupt, lacking closure of any kind.

"The Time Invariance of Snow" by E. Lily Yu
★☆☆☆☆
I know the fairy tale, and I understand basic physics and theology. Yet I couldn't make any sense of this story or its themes.

3.5 stars