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Marie’s Proof of Love by Mieko Kawakami
“Love doesn’t belong to any of us—it exists elsewhere, complete, from beginning to end. We simply have the privilege of coming into contact with it every once in a while.” The dreamlike mood permeating this short story by Mieko Kawakami is reminiscent of Elisabeth Thomas’s Catherine House, Sylvia Plath, and Fleur Jaeggy’s Sweet Days of…
abuse, all girls school, boarding/private school, dreamlike quality, female authors, GRIEF, heartbreak/breakups, JAPANESE AUTHOR, loneliness, Marie’s Proof of Love, melancholy, Mieko Kawakami, NOVELLA/SHORT STORY, published in 2021, read in 2022, sapphic, short stories, the female malaise, trauma, unnamed country -
Tread of Angels by Rebecca Roanhorse
In this novella Rebecca Roanhorse once again shows off her world-building skills. I was intrigued from the very start by the genre-defying world Roanhorse envisions in Tread of Angels. The story unfolds in Goetia, a town ruled by the mighty Order of the Archangels that is ‘segregated’ between the Elects and the Fallen. Celeste, our…
3.5 STARS, Adult, alternate history, amateur detective, AMERICAN AUTHOR, angels, casinos & gambling, dark fantasy, DEMONS, fantastic worldbuilding, FANTASY, female authors, gods, gritty aesthetics, indigenous author, it’s about the *aesthetics*, lesbian side characters, lgbtq+ side, MURDER, murder investigation, MYSTERY, Native American & First Nation authors, NOVELLA/SHORT STORY, PARANORMAL, published in 2022, queer side characters, read in 2022, Rebecca Roanhorse, ROMANCE, SISTERS, STEAMPUNK, Tread of Angels, URBAN FANTASY, western -
Men, Women, and Chainsaws by Stephen Graham Jones
Despite its short length Men, Women, and Chainsaws packs a punch. This novella is characterized by Stephen Graham Jones’ signature style, which is as propelling as it is chaotic. The central character’s knowledge of slashers and her intense personality brought to mind Jade from the author’s The Lake Witch trilogy, so I found myself rooting…
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The Tea Master and the Detective by Aliette de Bodard
Sherlock Holmes with a space opera twist…it works! An entertaining novella! This is one of the most refreshing Sherlock Holmes-inspired tales. The space opera setting was such fun! The Watnsonesque character here is The Shadow’s Child, a transport ship that lost its crew in a traumatic experience and now earns a living by brewing drugs…
3.5 STARS, 3rd pov, Adult, adventure, Aliette de Bodard, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, DETECTIVE, female authors, French American Vietnamese author, futuristic, LGBTQ+ Author, light reads, MYSTERY, NOVELLA/SHORT STORY, published in 2018, read in 2022, RETELLINGS, SCI-FI, sherlockiana, SPACE, SPACE OPERA, spaceships, SPECULATIVE FICTION, The Tea Master and the Detective, Vietnamese inspired setting -
We Had to Remove This Post by Hanna Bervoets
We Had to Remove This Post is one of those books that leaves me thinking…well, not much beyond: this is a thing that exists It doesn’t happen all that much but now and again I read books that spectacularly fail to elicit any discernible feeling or emotion in me (beyond ‘meh’). This is ironic given…
1st pov, 2 STARS, Adult, cold tone, Contemporary, dutch author, f/f, female authors, feverish, Hanna Bervoets, HORROR, jealousy, LESBIAN, lgbtq+, LITERARY FICTION, morality, Netherlands, NOVELLA/SHORT STORY, obsession, office, paranoia, psychological, published in 2021, queer, read in 2022, sapphic, social issues, social media, subject over characters/story, technology, TRANSLATED FICTION, unreliable narrators, violence, We Had to Remove This Post, work culture -
Rouge Street: Three Novellas by Shuang Xuetao
Rouge Street presents its readers with three novellas by Shuang Xuetao which have been translated by Jeremy Tiang who once again has done a stellar job. The prose of these novellas is smooth and engaging, contrasting with the sometimes stark realities experienced by the characters populating these stories. The backdrop to most of these stories…
3 STARS, Adult, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, China, chinese author, collection of short stories, Contemporary, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), family, intergenerational, MAGICAL REALISM, male authors, My reviews, NOVELLA/SHORT STORY, politics, Poverty, published in 2022, read in 2022, reading, Rouge Street, Rouge Street: Three Novellas, short stories, Shuang Xuetao, social issues, surreal, TRANSLATED FICTION -
Recitatif by Toni Morrison
A skilful and incisive short story by the masterful Toni Morrison Recitatif is the type of short story that seems made to be studied at school/college or discussed in a book club. The ambiguous nature of the central characters’ racial identities will lead readers to analyze every passage, trying to ‘find out’ the answers to…
1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 20th century, 3 STARS, Adult, America, AMERICAN AUTHOR, Black & Black heritage authors, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, female authors, friendships, HISTORICAL FICTION, LITERARY FICTION, modern classics, My reviews, NOVELLA/SHORT STORY, published in 1983, RACE, read in 2022, reading, Recitatif, short stories, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, TONI MORRISON, ZADIE SMITH -
Blood Feast: The Complete Short Stories of Malika Moustadraf by Malika Moustadraf
Blood Fest collects all of Malika Moustadraf’s short fiction. Set in contemporary-ish Morocco these stories explore fraught gender and family dynamics, highlighting the insidious nature of misogyny. Within these short stories, women are forced to marry men they don’t love, they are abused or mistreated by male relatives and struggle to retain freedom and independence…
2000s, 3 STARS, Adult, Blood Feast, Blood Feast: The Complete Short Stories of Malika Moustadraf, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, collection of short stories, Contemporary, female authors, Islam, lgbtq+ side, Malika Moustadraf, moroccan author, morocco, My reviews, NOVELLA/SHORT STORY, published in 2022, queer side characters, read in 2022, reading, sex, SEXUALITY, short stories, social issues, TRANSLATED FICTION -
The Embassy of Cambodia by Zadie Smith
This is the first story I read by Zadie Smith that I actually didn’t hate. In fact, one could even say that I quite liked The Embassy of Cambodia. Smith’s adroit storytelling is characterised by a razor-sharp social commentary and a trenchant sense of humor. While I was overall able to appreciate this short story,…
3 STARS, 3rd pov, Adult, Black & Black heritage authors, British author, class, Contemporary, england, female authors, LITERARY FICTION, LONDON, migration/immigration, NOVELLA/SHORT STORY, politics, PRIVILEGE, published in 2013, RACE, read in 2021, rich people, satire, short stories, sitter/au pair/governess, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, The Embassy of Cambodia, ZADIE SMITH -
Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au
“Maybe it’s good, I said, to stop sometimes and reflect upon the things that have happened, maybe thinking about sadness can actually end up making you happy.” Cold Enough for Snow is a slight novella narrated and characterized by a crisp prose. Despite the introspective nature of this work (there are no dialogues and the…
1st pov, 3 STARS, Adult, ART/CREATIVITY, AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN AUTHOR, Cold Enough for Snow, cold tone, Contemporary, female authors, hong kong, introspective, japan, Jessica Au, LITERARY FICTION, MEMORY, mothers & daughters, NOVELLA/SHORT STORY, published in 2022, read in 2021, restrained prose, style over character, travel, unnamed characters, unnamed narrator, WINTER, winter reads
luce [is reading] 