Out There Screaming is a fresh & chilling horror anthology featuring Black authors. Some of the stories feel like classic horror, but there’s also a blend of some speculative fiction, sci-fi, weird fiction, and folklore.

Like any anthology, it’s hard to give it a rating because I had mixed feelings about the collection as a whole - but SO MANY of the stories are jaw-droppingly awesome.

We get murderous ghosts stuck in purgatory, chilling high-tech indentured servitude, glitches in the fabric of the world, monster-hunting siblings, a high stakes version of hide & seek, and so much more. Many of the narratives involve family, grief, and clever social commentary.

There were some truly incredible standouts, both from authors that were already beloved to me and from authors that I will definitely need to check out. In fact, I was pretty crushed that two of my favorite stories were written by authors who don’t have much published yet. I was dying for more!

Highly highly recommend this one.

CW: death, child death, murder, gore, racism, gun violence, child neglect & abuse, colonization, grief, addiction, fire, war, car accident, suicidal ideation, animal cruelty & death, vomit, pregnancy, infertility, trauma, anxiety, police brutality, mass shooting (discussed), lynching (discussed), slavery (discussed)

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(I received a free copy of this book; this is my honest review.)

A slow-moving but quietly mesmerizing story inspired by real events.

We follow Willie Somerset Maugham, a famous writer spending a short time in Penang and in desperate need of material for his next book. Willie and his “secretary” Gerald stay with the Hamlyns at Cassowary house, and he soon discovers that Lesley Hamlyn has a fascinating history alongside both Chinese revolutionaries and the murder trial of her former best friend. The novel then hops between Lesley’s storytelling to Willie in 1921, the events of 1910 told through Lesley’s eyes, and Lesley’s reflection on all from South Africa in 1947.

This is not a story that’s bursting with plot and action and tension. In fact, not much happens at all. But the prose is captivating - and the setting of Penang is so lyrically brought to life - that I felt as though I was truly there. 

It’s a story of antsy colonizers, of repression of desire and passion and sexuality (there are several gay characters - and also a lot of unhappy marriages and infidelity), of complicated racial and gender dynamics, and of power and sparks of revolution. 

Lesley is painfully restrained and very narrowly focused, and this sometimes made it difficult to truly connect with or root for her. I was quite interested in the supporting characters in her life, but they were shrunk down within her retellings. 

Tan Twan Eng has cleverly inserted truths about Maugham – I had to do some light digging on his real history to uncover just a few of what I’m sure are countless easter eggs. The story of Ethel Proudlock is true as well, and the Chinese revolutionary Sun Yat Sen did indeed stay in Penang for some time (though these two events were squished together). There are definitely some interesting parallels between Eng and Maugham. 

Overall, I had a nice time with this one, but it had more to do with the lovely prose than with the plot or execution of the themes. 

CW: murder, gun violence, death, infidelity, colonization, homophobia, racism & racial slurs, rape, xenophobia, war

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(I received an advance reader copy of this book; this is my honest review.)

The Ghosts of Rose Hill is an absolutely exquisite, musical, and folkloric experience told in verse. 

Ilana doesn’t want to leave her Miami community - and her violin - behind. But her parents, dismissive of her dream to pursue music, send her off to Prague for the summer to live with her aunt and straighten up. And when she’s inspired to clean up a forgotten Jewish cemetery, she meets a kind teenage ghost named Benjamin who shows her the magic of Prague.

But there are more sinister spirits stalking the streets, and Ilana soon discovers that she’ll have to become the fierce final girl of her favorite fairytales to rescue the lost children of the city.

It’s a story of stepping out of generations of survival and into a new world of magic & joy. It’s a story about honoring memories and beloved ancestors - but also honoring yourself and your own passions. It’s a story about loving fiercely, about healing from generational trauma, and about blanketing yourself in the beauty of your heritage.

Ilana is biracial, and holds the weight and pain of all those past generations on her shoulders. This isn’t so much a journey about her navigating her identity, but instead owning what she has always known to be true. Ilana faces down monsters. She’s ferocious and passionate and clever, and incredibly easy to relate to and root for. 

I did feel like there was some awkwardness around certain sections of the verse, where the prose would jump from gorgeous & elevated to teenage dialogue. But this is a story I’m going to savor and an author I’m going to follow. 

CW: child death, antisemitism (including references to the Shoah), grooming & adult/minor non consensual kiss, grief, drowning, starvation, kidnapping, abuse

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The Jasmine Throne is a lush, slow-moving epic fantasy with gorgeous writing & worldbuilding. It was sometimes halted by uneven pacing and narration, but overall I was captivated.

We’re following a disgraced imprisoned princess dreaming of vengeance, and a maidservant with a dangerous secret. They’re bound together in the Hirana, a temple only reached by a hazardous climb and the place where magical children once burned to death. They both desperately seek a change to the empire - Priya’s people have been brutally colonized and Malini’s brother is a religious zealot - and find their futures entwined. 

There’s a lot impressively woven into this story. 

→ Power and its demands; consequences; costs. 

→ Vulnerability when wielded by a woman - is it triumph, weakness, or savviness?

→ Questions about freedom and leadership: does freedom from colonization demand violence? What are necessary descreations? What is justice? What complicates leadership?

→ The dangerous corruption of religion, with the intent to harm others but conversely to retreat from the world and all responsibility, leaving things up to fate.

→ Men and their (inherent) violence.

→ The land fighting back - and so much nature imagery and magic. 

So yeah - lots of juiciness. 

But this story suffered a bit, both from its pacing and its unnecessary one-off points of view. I didn’t need to hear from a bystander firsthand, then hear a rehash of the events in the next chapter. It would have been interesting if these alternating narrations were perhaps used as a tool to see how those in power can distort the truth, but nothing clever was done with them. 

I would have preferred to stick with our main narrators - and just let them be limited when they are limited. I’m okay (and intrigued) when I don’t hold all the cards as a reader and don’t fully understand each event or act of violence.

Finally, I didn’t find either Priya or Malina to be morally grey. I thought Priya was quite the opposite, and we were told Malini had a “monstrous side” but didn’t actually see that happen. Maybe that’s coming later. And I didn’t love the character who really was framed as morally grey, because it felt a bit like a demonization of the resistance / of oppressed peoples rising up. 

I am looking forward to the next book, and I really hope to see the trilogy through. 

** Also a note that this story does have a magical cure plotline. ** 

CW: death, child death, murder, fire, violence, confinement, misogyny, war, religious bigotry, body horror, colonization, drugging, abuse, grief, genocide, addiction, classism, terminal illness, pregnancy, homophobia, xenophobia, suicide attempt, ableism, magical cure

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CW: discussions of genocide, colonization, violence, death (child death), islamophobia, religious bigotry, police brutality, war, antisemitism, mass shootings

(4.5 ⭐) A striking, somber, beautiful collection of stories following Latina & Indigenous women. The pieces are slices of life with themes around family, tradition, cycles of violence, and girlhood.

Though the themes culminated to create a very cohesive collection, the stories were each super distinct and memorable. The flow worked well, and I felt like the stories led naturally into each other while still standing out individually. The location - Denver, Colorado - was also its own throughline & character.

Fajardo-Anstine is such a talent. Usually I have difficulty reviewing collections because some stories are so much weaker than others - and because a short story format is so difficult to get right - but I didn’t feel like there were any weak links here. I loved the depth of characterization in each mini world and the varying structures.

These stories are often sad, with unresolved endings. There’s not a lot of hope in this collection, so I would recommend preparing to enter that space before starting. It’s beautiful, though.

CW: death, abuse, toxic relationship, addiction & alcoholism, abandonment, cancer, racism, terminal illness, grief, abortion, gun violence, misogyny, pregnancy, sexual assault, car accident, infidelity, body shaming & fatphobia

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Silver Nitrate is a smoldering suspense with messy characters – I couldn’t look away, but occasionally felt bogged down by exposition. 

We follow Montserrat & Tristán, friends who are both stumbling in their careers in the film industry. Montserrat is a brilliant sound editor who has been pushed out of job after job by the men in charge. And Tristán can’t quite get his soap opera charm back ever since a tragic death. The pair use each other in messy ways, but always find each other in the end.

Enter legendary horror director Abel Urueta. After a chance meeting, Abel shares the secrets of his missing unfinished film. He claims a Nazi occultist was using the movie to craft a spell, but after his death it was abandoned and everyone involved was cursed. As the trio work together to finish the film and lift the curse, the dark magic surrounding the project starts to seem very, very real.

It’s an atmospheric read, often propelled forward by Moreno-Garcia’s clear adoration of (and wealth of knowledge on) horror media. But I think the strength of the story is in Montserrat and Tristán’s relationship.

They’re sometimes callous and toxic to each other; they often fall flat and make poor decisions. Tristán in particular takes advantage of Montserrat’s friendship and loyalty. And yet they’re incredibly compelling, and even though I often wanted to knock some sense into them, I was also fiercely rooting for them as a pair. The story contains a lot of ugliness and darkness, but the love of these two friends still stands out. 

I enjoyed the explorations of ritual, of performance, of past trauma through hauntings. However, the scenes were often slowed down by heavy exposition and explanations to readers. I’m all for slow pacing and slow-rising tension, but I would have preferred that time watching our characters instead of going into so many specifics. The supernatural arc felt clear to me from the start, and some of the minor details detracted from it.

The dark arc involves some clever twists on white supremacist-backed notions of ‘ancient aliens’ and those sorts of conspiracies (ie. the belief that indigenous populations were not capable of great architectural, etc. designs). It is sort of strange that though the book mentions the villain is a Nazi on many different occasions, it never quite addresses what that means. We delve into his specific beliefs around the ‘great Aryan race’ and his racism and colorism, but not how that lands with his followers in the 1990s. His beliefs are refuted by the plot, but what does it mean that his spell requires a captive audience? What does it mean for his followers to exist, whether or not their leader is alive, whether or not the magic is ‘real’ or ‘successful’? Just felt like some missed opportunities here where the fact that he was a Nazi was dropped in to signify him as this Ultra Evil, but it’s never deeply unpacked. 

Silver Nitrate was definitely a ride – and I look forward to working my way through the rest of Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s works.

CW: murder, death, blood, gore, racism, car accident, fire, misogyny, grief, addiction, colonization, ableism, drug use, xenophobia, antisemitism, body horror, chronic illness, suicidal thoughts, religious bigotry, vomit, cultural appropriation, animal death, classism, biphobia

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Practicing New Worlds is a beautiful & honest offering from Andrea J. Ritchie – we get to follow along with her as she navigates thinking beyond the boundaries of our current system and welcoming emergent strategies to imagine and start to shift towards a better world.

Some of my favorite takeaways:

Joy. This is a movement filled with love, centering pleasure and imagination. You can’t ignite change if you are stuck in despair; you can’t imagine brighter futures if you are sinking into devastation. 

Change yourself first. Ritchie writes about her own journey clinging to top-down change, to the policies and rules of our present. But we can’t policy our way to abolition, and that’s a restrictive way of thinking. You have to let go of the old and be open to change. And this means yourself! You have to challenge your inner thoughts & resolve your own contradictions before you can go bigger and impact others. 

Emergent strategies are accessible. This book makes it easier to imagine how we can have an impact on massive, powerful systems. We are part of a smaller network that can ripple its way to larger shifts. This allows us to take an active role in shaping changes, and puts abolition in the realm of our imagined possibility.

Planning plus spontaneity. You have to be open to shifts and unexpected new visions, but this doesn’t mean tossing away all preparation. In order for this movement to be inclusive, there has to be some planning. Just don’t be afraid to adapt.

Fiction is revolutionary. Sci-fi allows us to dream. And you can’t leave all the imagination up to others - start challenging yourself to expand your perspective. 

I also really enjoyed the fictional inserts towards the end of the book. 

CW: mentions of police brutality, incarceration, confinement, murder, death, grief, racism, ableism, homophobia

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(I received an advance reader copy of this book; this is my honest review.)

Clear, compelling, and endearing introduction to Buddhism/fictionalized spin on the story of the Buddha. I enjoyed the illustration style & the accessible but not-distractingly-modern language. 

I also loved the inclusion of the story of Kisa Gotami – it’s one of my favorite ways to talk about grief.

CW: death, death of child, death of parent, grief, abandonment, starvation, illness, animal cruelty

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(I received a free copy of this book; this is my honest review.)

The Undetectables was a charming & sweet cozy mystery. Though it had its weaknesses, I loved the dynamic & healthy friendships, the fibromyalgia representation, and the often comedic writing style. 

A trio of witch friends are reunited after the first case arrives on the doorstep of the investigative agency they attempted to start as teens: The Undetectables. Their task? Find the killer whose magical whistling causes their victims to choke on their own tongues. Clever and forensically-minded Mallory is navigating life with fibromyalgia, flirty Diana is ready to socially engineer any potential witnesses, and bug expert Cornelia has to try to see clearly through her hatred of police. And Theodore - whose murder was the first they ever witnessed - is eager to assist in ghostly form. He’s also perennially stuck in a cat costume, but don’t mention it. With no leads and no obvious motives, the team has to pull it together and catch The Whistler before they strike again.

The world, lore, and different systems of magic were simple/not super developed, but definitely interesting. I also appreciated the queernormative world and range of identities. 

I really enjoyed our quartet of main characters. They’re all smart, they all care about each other, and they’re all doing their best to be good, supportive, accepting friends. However, their characterization was cartoonish at times, with Theodore’s dramatics, Diana’s never-ending parade of ex-girlfriends, the fact that they said things like “unalived”, etc. The characters did feel very young and immature for early 20s, and the humor felt a bit young as well.

I was so happy about the inclusion of fibromyalgia - and an exploration of what it means to have a chronic illness in a magical world. Also what it means for someone who has worked hard to become knowledgeable struggle with brain fog, someone who prides themself on their independence to ask for help and support from friends, and so many more little relatable tidbits. 

My biggest stumble was the overarching mystery. I think it was too long and too slow. The villain was frustratingly obvious, and for a trio that was so clever and scientifically advanced it was disappointing that they didn’t manage to put ANY of the pieces together. I felt like I was twiddling my thumbs and waiting for them to catch up to my thought process, which wasn’t super fun. 

Finally, one moment that has stuck with me involves the main character doing something needlessly cruel. I understood why it was happening in the moment/it narratively made sense, but in my opinion it was NOT resolved well at all - especially for a book with a lot of plot points around good friendship. 

I am overflowing with questions from the ending - and I think I would pick up the next book (if there is going to be a next book) to see how some of the remaining mysteries shake out.

CW: murder, death, animal death, animal cruelty, chronic illness, grief, kidnapping, gore, confinement, toxic relationship, ableism, fire

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(I received a free copy of this book; this is my honest review.)