A riveting collection in which downtrodden, vindictive, and occasionally just plain evil women choose violence at every turn.
A 16-story anthology highlights a diverse list of authors who let their protagonists embrace their unhinged natures.
A smart-mouthed child locked inside a shed discovers a match and the intoxicating allure of fire (“All You Have Is Your Fire” by Yah Yah Scholfield). A disabled teenager takes the Devil, named Max, as her girlfriend through the summoning power of masturbation (“The Devil’s Doorbell” by Amanda Leduc). A Black woman ruthlessly disposes of men guilty of “the crime of wasting a Black woman’s time” (“Fuckboy Museum” by Deesha Philyaw). The protagonists of these stories bring new meaning to unsavory and unhinged and prove that characters—women especially—need not be well behaved or morally pure to have delightful literary value. Ranging from merely unlikable to downright deplorable, these women leave bodies, burning buildings, and broken plates in their wakes in these deeply disturbing and sublime narratives. The latter half of the collection is heavy on speculative fiction and magical realism. In Chantal V. Johnson's “MS Wrong,” Valerie contemplates the benefits of an Impenetrable Body Mod that seals up “all three holes” but instead turns to drugging men with an aphrodisiac—“ethical angle” aside—to enjoy mutually pleasurable kinky sex. Alison Rumfitt's “Buffalo” features a genderqueer woman who falls under suspicion when the skinned bodies of young women keep popping up in the neighborhood—just because she happens to own eight skin suits (“made from a clever mix of plastic, latex, and lycra,” not real flesh, thank you very much). While the book has a few weak links, standouts include Chaya Bhuvaneswar’s “The Monolith,” in which oncologist Jane Chun obsessively works to destroy the budding career of a young female medical student; Lauren Groff’s “Amaranth,” in which the title character spends years following her father’s death calculating the best way to ruin her mother’s happiness; and Chana Porter’s “Aquafina,” which takes the form of poetry written by the narrator about her best friend, whom she lusts after and envies in equal measure.
A riveting collection in which downtrodden, vindictive, and occasionally just plain evil women choose violence at every turn.Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2023
ISBN: 9781950539871
Page Count: 237
Publisher: Dzanc
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023
Though it falters a bit under its own weight, this series still has plenty of fight left.
In this long-awaited fifth installment of Shannon’s Bone Season series, the threat to the clairvoyant community spreads like a plague across Europe.
After extending her fight against the Republic of Scion to Paris, Paige Mahoney, leader of London’s clairvoyant underworld and a spy for the resistance movement, finds herself further outside her comfort zone when she wakes up in a foreign place with no recollection of getting there. More disturbing than her last definitive memory, in which her ally-turned-lover Arcturus seems to betray her, is that her dreamscape—the very soul of her clairvoyance—has been altered, as if there’s a veil shrouding both her memories and abilities. Paige manages to escape and learns she’s been missing and presumed dead for six months. Even more shocking is that she’s somehow outside of Scion’s borders, in the free world where clairvoyants are accepted citizens. She gets in touch with other resistance fighters and journeys to Italy to reconnect with the Domino Programme intelligence network. In stark contrast to the potential of life in the free world is the reality that Scion continues to stretch its influence, with Norway recently falling and Italy a likely next target. Paige is enlisted to discover how Scion is bending free-world political leaders to its will, but before Paige can commit to her mission, she has her own mystery to solve: Where in the world is Arcturus? Paige’s loyalty to Arcturus is tested as she decides how much to trust in their connection and how much information to reveal to the Domino Programme about the Rephaite—the race of immortals from the Netherworld, Arcturus’ people—and their connection to the founding of Scion, as well as the presence of clairvoyant abilities on Earth. While the book is impressively multilayered, the matter-of-fact way in which details from the past are sprinkled throughout will have readers constantly flipping to the glossary. As the series’ scope and the implications of the war against Scion expand, Shannon’s narrative style reads more action-thriller than fantasy. Paige’s powers as a dreamwalker are rarely used here, but when clairvoyance is at play, the story shines.
Though it falters a bit under its own weight, this series still has plenty of fight left.Pub Date: Feb. 25, 2025
ISBN: 9781639733965
Page Count: 576
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
It's almost enough to make a person believe in ghosts.
A disturbing household secret has far-reaching consequences in this dark, unusual ghost story.
Mallory Quinn, fresh out of rehab and recovering from a recent tragedy, has taken a job as a nanny for an affluent couple living in the upscale suburb of Spring Brook, New Jersey, when a series of strange events start to make her (and her employers) question her own sanity. Teddy, the precocious and shy 5-year-old boy she's charged with watching, seems to be haunted by a ghost who channels his body to draw pictures that are far too complex and well formed for such a young child. At first, these drawings are rather typical: rabbits, hot air balloons, trees. But then the illustrations take a dark turn, showcasing the details of a gruesome murder; the inclusion of the drawings, which start out as stick figures and grow increasingly more disturbing and sophisticated, brings the reader right into the story. With the help of an attractive young gardener and a psychic neighbor and using only the drawings as clues, Mallory must solve the mystery of the house's grizzly past before it's too late. Rekulak does a great job with character development: Mallory, who narrates in the first person, has an engaging voice; the Maxwells' slightly overbearing parenting style and passive-aggressive quips feel very familiar; and Teddy is so three-dimensional that he sometimes feels like a real child.
It's almost enough to make a person believe in ghosts.Pub Date: May 10, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-81934-5
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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