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afreen7's review against another edition
4.0
3.6/5
FICTION
A Witch’s Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies by Alix Harrow - 4.5/5
Just amazingly written. I love when stories combine paranormal with reality to the point where you can't tell if the fantasy is really happening or it's just in the character's heads. Also, I'm a sucker for stories about books and libraries being a form of escape
"And you really can’t do anything for the people who only read Award-Winning Literature, who wear elbow patches and equate the popularity of Twilight with the death of the American intellect; their hearts are too closed-up for the new or secret or undiscovered."
Work, and Ye Shall Eat by Walker McKnight - 3/5
great build-up, not a satisfactory payoff
Ghost Marriage by P. Djeli Clark - 4/5
Just a classic immersive, rich and well written Clarke work
Excerpt: Return to the Lost Level by Brian Keene - 3/5
Even though this is just one chapter out of a whole novel it needs proofreading. Telekinesis is not the ability to communicate through thoughts.
NONFICTION
Page Advice with Mallory O’Meara and Brea Grant - 3.5/5
This is about reading what you like and not wasting too much time on what you don't enjoy reading
Between the Lines with Laura Zats and Erik Hane - really liked this one. - 4/5
"It’s worth repeating once more, so say it with us: all writing is political. All the way from realist domestic dramas to high fantasies set far away from the here and now, storytelling is innately political because, quite simply, it engages with truths about our lived experiences as people. You can’t exist outside the political circumstances of your world, and the same is true of your characters in theirs, no matter how much or how little overt attention is paid to those circumstances."
Words for Thought by A.C. Wise - 3.5/5
My first time reading Apex Mag and I found this section really exciting. Its a collection of summaries of interesting shorts centering around a specific topic. In this issue it was based on human bodies, autonomy, and how they are treated, both ours and others. I liked the picks. There was one about children's bodies, about black women's bodies, women's bodies but I wish there was a little more diversity, especially besides cis-centered women's bodies.
FICTION
A Witch’s Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies by Alix Harrow - 4.5/5
Just amazingly written. I love when stories combine paranormal with reality to the point where you can't tell if the fantasy is really happening or it's just in the character's heads. Also, I'm a sucker for stories about books and libraries being a form of escape
"And you really can’t do anything for the people who only read Award-Winning Literature, who wear elbow patches and equate the popularity of Twilight with the death of the American intellect; their hearts are too closed-up for the new or secret or undiscovered."
Work, and Ye Shall Eat by Walker McKnight - 3/5
great build-up, not a satisfactory payoff
Ghost Marriage by P. Djeli Clark - 4/5
Just a classic immersive, rich and well written Clarke work
Excerpt: Return to the Lost Level by Brian Keene - 3/5
Even though this is just one chapter out of a whole novel it needs proofreading. Telekinesis is not the ability to communicate through thoughts.
NONFICTION
Page Advice with Mallory O’Meara and Brea Grant - 3.5/5
This is about reading what you like and not wasting too much time on what you don't enjoy reading
Between the Lines with Laura Zats and Erik Hane - really liked this one. - 4/5
"It’s worth repeating once more, so say it with us: all writing is political. All the way from realist domestic dramas to high fantasies set far away from the here and now, storytelling is innately political because, quite simply, it engages with truths about our lived experiences as people. You can’t exist outside the political circumstances of your world, and the same is true of your characters in theirs, no matter how much or how little overt attention is paid to those circumstances."
Words for Thought by A.C. Wise - 3.5/5
My first time reading Apex Mag and I found this section really exciting. Its a collection of summaries of interesting shorts centering around a specific topic. In this issue it was based on human bodies, autonomy, and how they are treated, both ours and others. I liked the picks. There was one about children's bodies, about black women's bodies, women's bodies but I wish there was a little more diversity, especially besides cis-centered women's bodies.
renery's review against another edition
5.0
After reading [b:The Ten Thousand Doors of January|43521657|The Ten Thousand Doors of January|Alix E. Harrow|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1548174710l/43521657._SY75_.jpg|63516505] by Alix E. Harrow, I'll read anything she writes.
rhodesee's review against another edition
5.0
This deserves every award it receives. I couldn't wipe the grin from my face while reading it because it is just utterly delightful. It is a love letter to books and to book lovers. I hope to read much, much more by this author.
mollyfischfriedman's review against another edition
5.0
I LOVED this. I'm a sucker for books about books, and the structure of this short story, which each section beginning with the book or books given out by the librarian, was adorable. It plays with the imagined and real magic of books in such a delightful way.
bookaneer's review against another edition
5.0
Review only for A Witch's Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies” by Alix E. Harrow:
Everything I ever want in a (short) story. Well-written, concise, fun, but immersive enough within the space of 7,499 words.
Anyone who likes books/reading/library must read this. Especially those who think that your local librarian is hiding something yet somehow always able to recommend books that suit you
Everything I ever want in a (short) story. Well-written, concise, fun, but immersive enough within the space of 7,499 words.
Anyone who likes books/reading/library must read this. Especially those who think that your local librarian is hiding something yet somehow always able to recommend books that suit you
secre's review against another edition
5.0
A Witch's Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies
Oh wow. For a mere 13 pages this little gem packs an incredible punch, tearing your heart out even as you glance nervously at the page numbers knowing it is going to be over soon and you don't want that. There is a wonderful combination of hurt and hope, escape and desperation and the escapism of the world of books. I adored this from beginning to end. It is so real and yet there is a smattering of humour and wit throughout. If you love books and you love beautiful wordsmithing then this is for you. If you a a sucker for a blend of hope and healing covering rawness and loneliness then this takes you on that trip. It is stunning.
Oh wow. For a mere 13 pages this little gem packs an incredible punch, tearing your heart out even as you glance nervously at the page numbers knowing it is going to be over soon and you don't want that. There is a wonderful combination of hurt and hope, escape and desperation and the escapism of the world of books. I adored this from beginning to end. It is so real and yet there is a smattering of humour and wit throughout. If you love books and you love beautiful wordsmithing then this is for you. If you a a sucker for a blend of hope and healing covering rawness and loneliness then this takes you on that trip. It is stunning.
shinychick's review against another edition
5.0
Just completely delightful! Spot on about librarians and our job in the world. ❤
nataliya_x's review against another edition
5.0
This is a review only for a brilliant Hugo-winning short story A Witch's Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies by Alix Harrow:
This story is told by the second kind of a librarian. Come again — which kind, you ask? Well, here you go:
There are books that people want to read. And there are books that they *need*, which surpasses mere “want”. The second kind of librarians can tell. But there are rules: “Both of them mean the same thing: We give people the books they need, except when we don’t. Except when they need them most.”
Sometimes what you need most is an escape. From life, from ordinary evils, from mundanity. Sometimes you are a yearner, and it’s really the matter of life or death.
It’s another one of those absolutely delightful stories that make you sigh with happiness. Well-written, perfectly developed for its length, and just lovely. Not to mention that any book set in a library already has a head start for the permanent spot in my heart. To quote Jo Walton, “I mean bookshops make a profit on selling you books, but libraries just sit there lending you books quietly out of the goodness of their hearts.“
Now I know that Alix Harrow is definitely not a one-hit wonder (I just read and loved her first novel, [b:The Ten Thousand Doors of January|43521657|The Ten Thousand Doors of January|Alix E. Harrow|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1548174710l/43521657._SY75_.jpg|63516505]).
5 stars.
Read it here: https://www.apex-magazine.com/a-witchs-guide-to-escape-a-practical-compendium-of-portal-fantasies/
——————
Recommended by: Tadiana
This story is told by the second kind of a librarian. Come again — which kind, you ask? Well, here you go:
“(There have only ever been two kinds of librarians in the history of the world: the prudish, bitter ones with lipstick running into the cracks around their lips who believe the books are their personal property and patrons are dangerous delinquents come to steal them; and witches).“
There are books that people want to read. And there are books that they *need*, which surpasses mere “want”. The second kind of librarians can tell. But there are rules: “Both of them mean the same thing: We give people the books they need, except when we don’t. Except when they need them most.”
Sometimes what you need most is an escape. From life, from ordinary evils, from mundanity. Sometimes you are a yearner, and it’s really the matter of life or death.
“I do my best to give people the books they need most. In grad school, they called it “ensuring readers have access to texts/materials that are engaging and emotionally rewarding,” and in my other kind of schooling, they called it “divining the unfilled spaces in their souls and filling them with stories and starshine,” but it comes to the same thing.“
It’s another one of those absolutely delightful stories that make you sigh with happiness. Well-written, perfectly developed for its length, and just lovely. Not to mention that any book set in a library already has a head start for the permanent spot in my heart. To quote Jo Walton, “I mean bookshops make a profit on selling you books, but libraries just sit there lending you books quietly out of the goodness of their hearts.“
Now I know that Alix Harrow is definitely not a one-hit wonder (I just read and loved her first novel, [b:The Ten Thousand Doors of January|43521657|The Ten Thousand Doors of January|Alix E. Harrow|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1548174710l/43521657._SY75_.jpg|63516505]).
5 stars.
Read it here: https://www.apex-magazine.com/a-witchs-guide-to-escape-a-practical-compendium-of-portal-fantasies/
——————
Recommended by: Tadiana
teetate's review against another edition
5.0
The only short I've read that made me cry. Elegant, beautiful, transformative. Exactly what great fiction is meant to be.